CRM Online Supplement
(last updated May 2008)
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Note that this page is a supplement to the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement. In order to understand the data collection and use practices relevant for a particular site or service, you should read both the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement and any applicable supplement.
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Transfer of data
In order to use some of the CRM Online functionality (e.g. Outlook Client, dynamic export to Excel and Data Migration Manager), you will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID credentials (an e-mail address and password). You may choose to save this information locally so that you are not asked for your credentials each time you try to access CRM Online. If you choose to save this information, your CRM Online component will automatically connect to CRM Online every time you open the component.
When you make requests to the CRM Online system, your computer sends two globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) – a CRM User ID and a CRM User Organisation ID –to Microsoft’s CRM Online servers. Each GUID is a randomly generated number; it does not contain any personal information. These GUIDs are used only to identify you and your organisation in the CRM Online system and are not used to identify you or your organisation outside of CRM Online.
User Invitation
When a new user is invited to CRM Online, an invitation e-mail is sent to the new user. The invited user must then accept the invitation in CRM Online using a Windows Live ID profile that is associated with the e-mail address to which the invitation was sent.
Error Reporting
The Error Reporting feature allows users to report to Microsoft the errors they encounter whilst using CRM Online. When an error occurs, if you have an Internet connection you can immediately report it to Microsoft. By default, you are prompted each time an error occurs to send an error report to Microsoft. You have the option to automatically send error reports to Microsoft in the privacy tab of the personal settings area (select Tools > Options… and click on Privacy) in CRM Online.
Error reports may include the error description, the URL of the Web page where the error occurred, a unique identifier for your organisation, the version of the CRM Online service you are using, standard computer information and your organisation’s name as it is registered with CRM Online. Although error reports do not intentionally collect personal information, it is possible that such information may inadvertently be captured in the report. If present, Microsoft will not use this information to identify or contact you.
We use error reports to help improve our software and services. Microsoft employees and contractors may be provided access to error reports. If an error report indicates that one or more third-party products were involved in causing the problem, Microsoft may send the report to those third parties. However, they may use the information only to repair or improve the products that they publish or manufacture.
Data Export to Microsoft Office Excel
CRM Online allows you to export your CRM data from CRM Online to Microsoft Office Excel (“Excel”). There are two different methods of exporting data: you may export data as a static worksheet or as a dynamic worksheet/pivot table.
During static export, a local copy of the data being exported is created and stored on your machine. No connection is maintained between this local copy and the CRM Online Service. The data is transferred from CRM Online to your computer via SSL.
During dynamic export, a link is maintained between the Excel worksheet and the CRM Online Service. Every time a dynamically exported worksheet is refreshed, the user opening that file will be authenticated with CRM Online using the user’s credentials. CRM Online only allows the users to see the data that they have permission for.
An administrator may determine whether your organisation’s users are permitted to export the data to Excel by changing the users’ security roles. This can be done via the settings area in CRM Online.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 for Microsoft Office Outlook
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 for Microsoft Office Outlook (“Outlook Client”) lets you track CRM-related information automatically, including e-mail, contacts, tasks and appointments.
In order to use the Outlook Client, you will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID credentials (an e-mail address and password). You may choose to save this information locally so that you are not asked for your credentials each time you open Microsoft Outlook. If you choose to save this information, your Outlook Client will automatically connect to CRM Online every time you open Microsoft Outlook.
After the first time you sign in to Windows Live ID and use the Outlook Client, the connection between your computer and CRM Online will always be open when you have access to the Internet. This enables you to sign into and use CRM Online more quickly. You may choose to turn off the connection between your computer and CRM Online through the Options area of the Outlook Client. If you choose to de-select this option, the Outlook Client may suffer from decreased performance.
You can use the Outlook Client to track e-mail in CRM Online. If you do, the e-mail thread will be visible to the users in your organisation who have permission to view it. You can track your e-mail in CRM Online in four ways: (1) automatically tracking only the responses to the e-mails currently being tracked, (2) automatically tracking all e-mail that you send and receive, (3) automatically tracking only e-mails from CRM Online contacts, accounts, leads etc. and (4) tracking no e-mails. You can change the tracking mechanism by going to the personal settings area in the Outlook Client. Your administrator can also set this setting for you. Option 1 is the default option – in other words, by default, only the responses to the e-mails you have chosen to track are tracked in CRM Online. All responses (by you and others) will be tracked until you choose to stop tracking a particular e-mail thread. Once you stop tracking an e-mail thread, the previously sent or received e-mails that were tracked in CRM Online will remain in CRM Online unless you delete them manually.
For every e-mail you receive, the Outlook Client will send CRM Online the sender’s e-mail address, the recipients’ e-mail address and the subject line of the message. This enables CRM Online to validate whether any particular mail should be stored by the CRM Online service. For e-mail that you, another CRM Online user in your organisation or an administrator has chosen to track, the service will, after validating, request the Outlook Client to send the entire e-mail to CRM Online. E-mails created by CRM Online (e.g. a workflow action sending e-mail on your behalf or e-mails you sent via the CRM Online web application) may be submitted/sent via Outlook Client.
Even if you choose not to track a particular item (e-mail, appointment or task) in CRM Online, the item may still be tracked by CRM Online if any of the people on the sender or recipient list of that item have opted to track it. If an item is being tracked by CRM Online, Microsoft Outlook will display a different icon than the icon usually displayed for that type of item (e-mail, appointment etc.).
The Outlook Client also lets you track other Microsoft Outlook items like contacts, appointments and tasks. You may track any of the items by clicking the “Track to CRM” button on the toolbar in that item. If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2007, an item may be untracked from CRM Online by using the same button. Once an item is tracked, a copy of that item will be maintained by the CRM Online service and will be visible to the other users in your organisation who have the right permissions. If you’re using Microsoft Outlook 2007, when an item is untracked, that copy is automatically deleted from the CRM Online service only if that item is owned by you.
The Outlook Client Laptop version lets you take your CRM Online data offline. The functionality can be used by using the “Go Offline” button on the Outlook Client toolbar in Microsoft Outlook. This functionality is not related to the connection of Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft Exchange or your browser’s functionality.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-Mail Router
Like the Outlook Client, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-Mail Router (“E-mail Router”) lets you track CRM-related information automatically. The e-mail tracking functionality in the E-mail Router operates in the manner described above in the Outlook Client section. The E-mail Router also lets you send and receive e-mails via the browser based CRM Online client.
Customer Experience Improvement Programme
You have the option of joining our Customer Experience Improvement Programme to improve the quality, reliability and performance of Microsoft software and services.
If you join, Microsoft will collect information about your hardware configuration and how you use the CRM Online service to identify trends and usage patterns.
The feature does not collect your name, address or any other contact information. For more information and a complete privacy statement for the Customer Experience Improvement Programme, view the Privacy Statement for the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Programme.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Data Migration Manager
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Data Migration Manager can help you migrate your customer relationship data from other systems to CRM Online. During migration, this tool may contact CRM Online to get the metadata information (such as field names and field types) needed to migrate your data. Once you choose to upload the data, all the data you chose to migrate from your computer to CRM Online will be uploaded.
In order to use the Data Migration Manager, you will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID credentials. You may choose to save this information locally so that you are not asked for your credentials each time you open Data Migration Manager. If you choose to save this information, your Data Migration Manager will automatically connect to CRM Online every time you open Data Migration Manager. Data Migration Manager also downloads the user information from the CRM Online server locally. This is used to map the users from source system, if available, to CRM Online. This activity allows the migrated records to retain the same owners as in source system.
Import/Export Customisations
You can import and export your CRM Online customisations to and from CRM Online. When you do so, the customisations, which may contain your name or other personal information, are transferred over an SSL connection between your computer and Microsoft’s servers.