Transcript MS CRM Integration – WhosOn

MS CRM Integration
WhosOn
Service Integration Presentation
MS CRM User Group
 Introduction
 Setup
◦ Service Installation
◦ Configuration
 Actions
◦ Chats, Callbacks
◦ Lead / Contact Creation
 Implementation
◦ Reasoning
◦ Methods
Contents
My name is Daniel Tallentire
 I’m CTO for Parker Software
 I work with the development, and also
manage the Technical Support side of the
business.

Introduction

Parker Software are a UK based software
house developing two main products on
the Windows Platform:
◦ WhosOn – Live Chat & Visitor Monitoring
◦ Email2DB – Email Based Automation Systems
We are based in Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire, and have been developing
WhosOn & Email2DB for the past 5 years.
 We are a technical company, and aim our
products at the more technical customers.

Introduction
We have been wanting for some time to
add CRM integration to WhosOn.
 Increase CRM approached us, and
suggested we look at MS CRM
 We tried it out, and found that we liked
the interface, and that it would be a good
fit for our business and our product.

Introduction
First the user enters a small wizard to
obtain the CRM settings, and to step
through the process of verifying the CRM
Connection.
 Once the connection is built, the client
tool will show the options for the sending
of the data into the CRM system.

Setup
Setup
Setup - 1
Setup - 2
Setup - 3
Setup – 4
Setup – 5
Setup has to allow for IFD & On-Premise
 Installs service and configures for use in
the client tool.
 Establishes that connection will work with
the data entered.
 Downloads customisations & entity types
for use in later methods.

Setup Overview
WhosOn Client is a fat client that receives
data from the WhosOn server via TCP/IP.
 It displays the visit data for the visitors
currently on the site
 The operator uses it to chat to the visitors
that come online.
 It allows data to be sent back to the
WhosOn server and stored against
individual records.

WhosOn Client
Move leads from WhosOn to CRM.
 Display CRM information inside WhosOn
when speaking to a known contact.
 Provide a framework for customisation
and flexibility.
 Store details of chat sessions from
WhosOn against the desired CRM Entity.

Our Aims
We wanted to provide a flexible interface
for our own products (WhosOn &
Email2DB) to be able to update CRM.
 Fast out of process updates so as not to
delay any client or server actions.
 Work with On Premise or IFD deployments
 Update custom entity types as required by
end users.

Our Approach
We have made a Windows Service that
receives CRM commands via TCP/IP. This
allows us to install it on a single machine
for stand-alone usage or on a server for
network usage.
 The protocol we designed is text based as
this is easier to visualise & test.

What we’ve created
CRMType:MSDYNAMICS
CRMAction:CREATE ENTITY
CRMServerURL:http://psldc:8076/
CRMOrgName:ParkerSoftware
ENTITY_NAME:contact
CRMFIELD_nickname:String|Mike
CRMFIELD_department:String|Sales Dept
CRMFIELD_accountrolecode:Picklist|1
CRMFIELD_preferredcontactmethodcode:Picklist|4
CRMFIELD_annualincome:Money|100000
CRMFIELD_emailaddress1:String|[email protected]
CRMFIELD_birthdate:Datetime|1980-08-07T12:00:00
CRMFIELD_lastname:String|Davidson
CRMFIELD_firstname:String|Michael
Text Protocol Sample
When the service connects, it stores the
Metadata Service object and the CRM
Service object in memory for future use.
 This enables the service to very quickly
execute CRM commands after the first
command has been executed.
 A single service can maintain multiple
connections to separate instances.

Service Internals
We download the metadata from the web
services using the sample for retrieving
the data types that comes with the SDK.
 Once downloaded, we load the data into a
file-based relational database (currently a
proprietary type) so that this can be
parsed by our programs.

Metadata Retrieval
Planned – Generic Mappings

Server will be able to create entities
based on filters
◦ Web site prospects into leads
◦ Web site visits into a web site visit entity type
so that customer website usage can be tracked

Server will be able to allocate visitors
automatically to CRM records
◦ Entity Type / ID is stored in WhosOn database
if allocated there.
◦ DNS & GeoIP information can be used.
Planned – Automatic Creation of
Entities
Option to modify unused activity entity to
fit the Chat Session type rather than
using a normal entity.
 Option to use the Campaign Response
entity to track web site entries
 Custom web form when a user requests a
chat session that requires them to fill in
information that relates to the entity.

Planned - Entities

We plan to add a real-time WhosOn view
to the CRM Interface. This will mean:
◦ The full client isn’t necessary for viewing the
real time statistics.
◦ Visitors can be allocated to the related CRM
records more quickly.
◦ Chat sessions can be recorded directly.
◦ Chat sessions can be taken or directed to the
Knowledge Base.
Planned – Customisations
We hope that users will make suggestions
for how they could best use this system.
 We found that combining the creation of
records in WhosOn with some simple work
flows allowed us to keep in contact with
prospective customers easily.


Questions?