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Charity Golf Tournament in Chilliwack to Benefit Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
Chilliwack, BC: The Chilliwack MS Golf Tournament is back for its fifth year at the Cheam Mountain Golf Course on September 12, hosted by Dominic Systems and Manulife Securities. The event hopes to raise $15,000 to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada; last year the event raised $10,000 for this cause. Ray Murrell from Dominic Systems was inspired to host this charity golf tournament to support his wife, Patricia Murrell, who has been living with an MS diagnosis for the past 20 years and now uses a wheelchair to help manage her symptoms.“The MS Society not only contributes to the long-term goal of finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis, but they are also a lifeline for thousands of Canadians living with this devilish disease. Every dollar really helps someone in need!”- Ray Murrell, CEO, Dominic Systems On average, every day around 12 Canadians are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve, MS can affect vision, memory, balance, and mobility. In fact, Canada as a country has one of the highest incidences of Multiple Sclerosis in the world: over 100,000 Canadians currently live with MS. Events like the Chilliwack MS Golf Tournament help the MS Society come closer to answering questions about MS by providing funds for research and resources for those affected. Funds raised at these kinds of events have provided wheelchairs and other equipment, care, education and counselling for MS Patients and their families.“The MS Society’s mission to empower the MS community to create positive change is made possible through community-led events like the Chilliwack MS Golf Challenge. Your fundraising will support MS research, advocacy efforts, and programs and services essential to changing the lives of Canadians affected by MS. We are grateful for the support of the entire Chilliwack Golf community and together we move one step closer to realizing our vision of a world free of MS.” – Meredith Bongers, Senior Director, Community – Western Canada Register for the Chilliwack MS Golf Tournament to support this important cause while enjoying a fun day of golf and a meal together. Where: Cheam Mountain Golf Course When: September 12, 2022, at 9am – 6pm PST For more information about how to register and prices, please visit the Chilliwack MS Golf Challenge website: https://www.chilliwackmsgolf.com/ Please share this event with friends, family, co-workers, as well any golf enthusiasts that want to spend a great day on the golf course in Chilliwack while supporting MS. If you have a business or know a business interested in sponsoring or supporting this event, please reach out for more information about sponsorship opportunities. View Sponsorship Packages About Dominic Systems: Dominic Systems is a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CRM) Implementation and Services company with a specialization in SYSPRO ERP Integration https://www.dominicsystems.com/ About Manulife Securities: Manulife Securities Incorporated is one of Canada’s foremost independent investment dealers and provides clients with choices tailored to fit their financial goals and advanced investment needs https://www.manulifesecurities.ca/clients.html Press Contact: Ray Murrell, CEO of Dominic Systems Phone: 604-617-3704 Email: rmurrell@dominicsystems.com
Discover How Powell Embraced Dynamics 365 As A Customizable CRM
Introduction to Powell Founded in 1964 and based in Saint Louis, Powell Solutions provides custom chemical manufacturing equipment to users across the entire globe. Specializing in Sodium Hypochlorite (NAOCI) production and Chlorine (CI2) processing equipment, Powell also offers services to chemical processors, toll blenders, distributors, contract packages, and end-users. Powell is able to offer customers custom production equipment for chemicals covering a wide range of industrial, municipal, and consumer uses. There are a large variety of chemical systems offered to customers, as well as custom process designs to meet specific consumer system needs such as air treatment systems, filter systems, scrubbing systems, and more. Challenge Powell was in need of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage its customer interactions, as their clients are offered a wide variety of customizable chemical products, equipment, and services. Their products are custom-engineered solutions that involve complex installation and commissioning, as well as long-term support and maintenance. Dynamics 365 is designed to manage all the communications around installation and support issues. Powell needed a CRM solution that could manage all communications around installation and support issues. CRM Integrations When first introduced to Dominic Systems, Powell had purchased and implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM (On-Premises). To begin the collaboration, Dominic Systems first implemented an early version of the Dynamics 365 Connector for SYSPRO. For an example of the new integration, Powell was finally able to pass data from ERP to CRM, like creating RMA’s in SYSPRO from cases in CRM. CRM User Coaching Dominic Systems worked with Powell employees to ensure they were fully educated and engaged with the new system of Dynamics 365. Dominic placed and continues to place heavy emphasis on this step of CRM implementation, as sufficient user coaching makes certain that Powell gets the most success and use of Dynamics 365. More recently, as Powell’s business began to evolve, their CRM system developed to Dynamics 365 (Online) and Dominic Systems fully supported the migration and applied all necessary changes required to the integration setup for a successful transition. The Outcome of CRM Design, Integration, and User Coaching Powell is now fully equipped and trained to use Dynamics 365 as their CRM. By embracing Dynamics 365, Powell has successfully been able to manage all customer interactions and custom orders in a CRM that provides all their customer information and orders. Dominic Systems is Powell’s primary Dynamics 365 partner and provides continuous support for the entire system. Dominic also provides additional support for any enhancements and upgraded features for their CRM system. Powell is extremely satisfied and pleased with their CRM implementation and continuous support, sharing that “Dominic Systems met our deadlines. Their ERP/CRM integration package is thorough. Their people are personable and professional.” Learn more about how we can expertly tailor a CRM to your custom products! Schedule Consultation
See How Lee Spring Optimized Their CRM for Highly Custom Manufactured Parts
Introduction to Lee Spring Lee Spring is a manufacturer of stock and custom springs and has developed its company to serve countless different businesses and customers. Their sales and operations cover the globe in countries such as the United States, Mexico, China, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Lee Springs has over 25,000 stock products and each of which has 25 quantity-break price levels in multiple currencies in each jurisdiction. Customers also have the customizable option to order springs that specifically meet their needs. Lee Spring is heavily customer-oriented and therefore requires a smart and efficient system that is able to maintain its customer engagements. Challenge Prior to hiring Dominic Systems as a trusted advisor, Lee Spring required a strategic systems plan for efficiently managing all of its customer interactions. Lee Spring needed a system that would help its team excel in customer interactions while maintaining a smooth and efficient flow of operations. The system also needed to keep track of a large variety of projects. Dominic Systems was ready to help with a strategic plan centred around Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. CRM Solution Design To begin this collaboration, Dominic implemented Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and integrated it with SYSPRO so that all the product information could be tracked alongside customer information. Since Lee Spring offers customers the ability to order their own customized springs, it was important that there would be a solution that covered all the product variations; for an example, each Stock Spring has 50+ specifications such as diameter, length, max twist, etc. Dynamics 365 was able to keep track of all the product variations, and even had features for measuring in imperial or metric units, along with a price breakdown of the springs by quantity. Dynamics 365 also supports multiple different languages and currencies within the system and even meets important regulatory requirements such as ITAR. CRM Integrations To fit in with Lee Spring’s various customer touchpoints, the CRM also required extensive integrations with Gatekeeper, eCommerce websites, Lee Design, and other in-house systems. The Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement implementation would now be a central repository for all the data, essentially ‘one version of the truth.’ CRM User Coaching To begin the journey of Dominic Systems as Lee Spring’s trusted advisor, the user of the CRM system was primarily the Customer Service Team. As time went on, the usage extended to the Marketing Team as well. To be noted, there were also several acquisitions of other spring manufacturers. The Outcome of CRM Integration and User Coaching Dominic Systems continues to act as a trusted advisor to Lee Spring to this day, after years of a successful relationship. Dynamics 365 is now a mission-critical core component that helps Lee Spring process customer orders with little to no human involvement regarding stock orders—business processes have been efficiently automated! Lee Spring is very happy with the CRM implementation, telling us “The Dynamics 365 Connector for SYSPRO has allowed us to share critical data across all departments. Accurate data improved our customer service quality and increased sales.” Learn more about how we can effectively tailor a CRM to your custom product inventory!
What will happen after the COVID-19 crisis?
What will happen after the COVID-19 crisis? Right now, we are all (understandably!) focused on protecting our loved ones, fighting the spread of the virus, and dealing with the immediate fallout in our jobs, businesses, and communities. BUT when life starts to return to normal, what will this new “normal” look like and how are we going to have to adapt? I do not have a crystal ball (ah… if only…), but there are a couple of things that I am predicting… 1. Many of those employees and contractors that were told to work from home will find they LIKE it. 2. Many of those employers that were forced to have their staff work remotely will find that (sometimes to their surprise), their people were more responsible, efficient and productive (oh… and they did not have to provide space, coffee, power etc, reducing overhead costs). In other words, some of those people forced to work off site will probably stay there! As we get our heads above water and start looking beyond immediate survival, we should plan for this potential (accelerated) shift in mindset – a mindset that has already seen a gradual change over the past 10 or 20 years but could now show a sudden larger surge in popularity. Being techies, we naturally focus on the technology that can enable remote workers to communicate, collaborate, be accountable, and be productive without being chained to a traditional work environment. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Office 365 are two of the strongest toolsets that we feel can really help keep us all efficient and connected (not to mention somewhat sane!). What other tools does your manufacturing company recommend? Please add your comments and tell us how technology was/is/will be helping you and your team in this new paradigm.
Protect Yourself and Others During COVID-19
Yes… Protect Yourself and Others During COVID-19 Upon reflection of my last post, I wondered out loud what our “new normal” might look like after the COVID-19 crisis has passed. However, it occurred to me this week that I was getting way ahead of myself. We currently have a different “new normal” to adjust to first! Let’s call it Coronanormal. COVID-19 will take at least a few months to slowly spread through our communities and businesses. In fact, we want it to spread slowly – so that it follows that flatter curve chart model we have seen on all the news reports, allowing our Health Care Systems to handle the load. So, what does living with COVID-19 look like? For some of us, COVID-19 means layoffs and self-isolation. For others, it means working from home. For all of us, it means keeping our distance. We are community-centric creatures of habit and we hate change! Coronanormal is not going to be easy. Over the past week or so, we have seen all our meetings moved to online, most of our clients move to working remotely, and all the T.P. disappearing from the supermarket shelves. (Don’t get me started on that!). At Dominic Systems, we were (conveniently) already used to most of that (except the T.P. bit), and I think that gives us a responsibility to help out those who are struggling. I admit that I do not have a mountain of goods ideas on how to do so, but I am hoping others out there can share some suggestions. Best ideas to manage life with COVID-19 So far, the best ideas I have come across (not my own) to keep up with COVID-19 include: Calling a friend or family member who might be going a little stir-crazy If you know someone who is in forced quarantine, they should be first on the list Help an elderly or at-risk neighbour with groceries or other purchases so they do not have to venture out to public places like a supermarket Make sure to sanitize your hands before you do their shopping and before you deliver anything to them You might even want to leave the supplies on the doorstep and call to let them know they are there, just in case Go on your Community web/Facebook/Instagram/Reddit/whatever page and see if there are any worthy causes you can support Keep COVID-19’s good habits I know we have heard it before, but it bears repeating …. the most important thing we can do right now is try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, so: • Keep your distance. • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. • Do not touch your face, eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. • Cover your mouth and nose with a disposable tissue or the crease of your elbow when you sneeze or cough. • Stay at home if you are sick. Please add a Comment if you have another good idea or have heard of one somewhere! Stay safe everyone.
What are My Mapping Options in Dynamics 365?
What are My Mapping Options in Dynamics 365?There are 3 general map options in Dynamics 365: Bing Map, Google Maps Standard, and Google Maps Premium. In this blog post, we will look at all pros and cons of each feature. Mapping Address 1, Address 2 or Custom Address Locations Dynamics 365 comes with Bing Map. You will find this on the Account form. Clients using Dynamics 365 on-line have immediate access to Bing Map functionality. On-premise clients will see Bing Map but will require a license key to enable mapping functionality. For those who prefer Google Maps the option is available and we can help! As of last year Google requires clients using their Map API have an API key. This key is included in the web resource created in CRM to view the map. Google has 2 options for API license keys which we can also assist with: • Standard – Free – 25,000 views per day per license key • Premium – Fee’s – 25,000+ views per day For many of our users the Standard version is adequate. For corporations with a large number of users who are opening Accounts and Contacts frequently on many devices, the usage will increase. Suggestions to decrease usage include: • Have the Map on the Account form only, not on the Contact form • Turn off the map feature for mobile devices Learn More about Mapping Options in Dynamics 365 To learn more about the fees involved with a Google Premium account visit Google Premium. Contact us today to learn more about all map options in Dynamics 365 and many other features of the system. At Dominic Systems our focus is CRM Success, helping our clients design & implement best solutions to maximize their business processes and increase profitability.
Managing Holiday Schedule In Dynamics 365 Section: Cases
Manage Holiday Schedule In Dynamics 365 with Functional CRM Consulting • Admin Level Needed: System Administrator • Pre-Requisites: Setup Holiday Calendar Seeking a functional CRM Consulting expert? We can help. In this blog, we will cover how to use Customer Service Schedules & Holiday Schedules with the Service Level Agreement. Avoid having your service level agreements affected during the busy holiday season when your organization is closed by creating the customer service schedule ahead of time and adding it to your service calendar. Before creating an SLA it is necessary to set up the Customer Service Schedule & Holiday Schedule. You need to know what hours the employees will be available to solve the incoming cases. Depending on the Business Hours & Holiday closures on SLA, the SLA timer starts. The holiday is created and associated with your customer service calendar. Then, if a customer submits a case on that holiday, your SLA is clear and is not affected by the holiday closure. Create and manage holiday schedule In Dynamics 365 Section To create Customer Service Schedule: 1. Click on Setting and go to Service Calendar. Select ‘New’, enter the Name & Description for the Service Schedule and click Create. • For Weekly Schedule, under the ‘Set the recurring weekly schedule’ you can set Work Hours, Work Days& Holiday Schedule. • For Work Hours, you select ‘same each day’, or you can select ‘Set Work Hours’. Then set the Start and End times of work hours. To create Holiday Schedule: 1. Go to Settings, and click on Service Management and select Holiday Schedule. 2. Select New and in the Create Holiday Schedule dialog box, enter a name and description for the holiday, and then select Create. 3. When the holiday opens, select New in the Holidays grid to add the holiday to your customer service calendar. 4. In the Add a Holiday dialog box, specify the Name, Start Date, End Date, and Duration of the holiday, and then select OK. By using these scheduled holidays, the SLA timer will be more accurate, and you can manage customer expectations more effectively. If you need help managing Holiday Schedule in Dynamics 365 Section, our functional CRM consulting company can help you. We wish you lots of happy customers and Happy Holidays!
Best Uses of Activities & Notes in CRM
Best Uses of Activities & Notes in CRM Activities & Notes – Flexibility Comes at a Price Dynamics 365 is an incredibly flexible solution providing users with many options but flexibility can come at a price. Sometimes less is more… Best Practices for Tracking Activities & Notes in Dynamics 365 Users have the ability to create Activities (emails, appointments, phone calls, etc ) and Notes in Dynamics 365 but beware of the differences before you decide what is best for your business process. Where do I Create or Track my Activity? Whether you are creating an Activity or a Note we recommend it be created at the most specific record. For example, if you had an Opportunity for an Account, this would be the most specific record but if you only had a Contact for an Account, this would be the record to use. Activities vs Notes Two powerful features of Dynamics 365 are the search capabilities and the “roll-up”functionality. When an Activity is created or tracked against a Contact or Opportunity, the system automatically “rolls up” the Activity to the associated Account allowing users to see all communication at the Account level. This is not the case with Notes.It is often recommended not to use Notes in Dynamics 365 for the following reasons:1. They are not “searchable”2. They do not roll-up ( ie. from a Contact to Account )For those that use Activities and Notes in CRM users enjoy the ease of creation, the date/time stamp that is captured at the time of creation as well as the ability to attach files. Have the Best of Both Worlds– Our Recommendation At Dominic Systems we recommend adding a new Activity Type called “Note Activity” that works much like a Phone Call activity but give the users a “Note” option that is searchable and rolls up. We can hide the standard Note functionality so that there is less confusion and more consistency.Less is more… We can explain further. Get in touch.
What’s New in Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 in 2017 – What’s New? As of the December 2016 update for Dynamics 365 (online and on-premises), Dynamics CRM functionality is now included as a part of Dynamics 365, a suite of intelligent business applications. Now included are the new Dynamics apps for Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, and Project Service Automation 1. Suite of Business Apps You can now pick from the following role-based apps to do your daily work with Dynamics 365 in 2017: Sales Customer Service Field Service Project Service Automation These apps come with simplified navigation in Dynamics 365 CRM. For example, in the Customer Service app site map, you’ll only see service entities. The apps you see are based on your organization’s licensing options and your security role. The administrator or customizer can also design custom business apps to create a simplified work experience tailored just to the tasks you need to do. 2. Mobile App Enhancements Dynamics 365 in 2017 made the following enhancements to the mobile app: Meet the mobile workspace: The all-new mobile workspace is a personalized action hub in the mobile app to help you get to common tasks more quickly. A pane that appears when the app is launched, the workspace includes a list of suggested priorities (“action cards”) in the left column that could include upcoming meetings, info relevant to that day’s activities, and other things that need your attention. New colors and layouts: The mobile app has new colors and a new look and feel. Layouts are more compact to give essential info at a glance with minimal scrolling. The dashboard now stacks related elements, exposing more info at once. Forms are organized so you can see more at once, and get the info you need faster. The process bar is now more prominent in forms that use it, so it’s clear where you are in any given process. Enhanced notes: Now you can create a note in-line when you’re in a form, so you can view relevant details while writing your note. Notes now also include a preview of attached images so you can see them at a glance without opening them individually. Device integration: You can now access your device’s camera and other functions from within the app. Open a new or existing note, and tap the icons under the text box to add multimedia content. Mobile offline: The mobile app will now synchronize data when it’s operating in the background, so you can get updated data even while you do other things on your device 3. Dynamics 365 App for Outlook Enhancements Microsoft improved Dynamics 365 App for Outlook in many ways. With the latest enhancements, Dynamics 365 App for Outlook paired with server-side sync is the preferred way to integrate Outlook email with Dynamics 365. When you start Dynamics 365 App for Outlook, the app is pinned to the right side of screen. The information displayed in the app shows the recipient list and related info for the selected email message. With the updated Dynamics 365 App for Outlook, you can: See info about all email recipients (including distribution lists). Email recipients are automatically mapped to Dynamics 365 contacts, leads, or users, so you can see the recipient’s picture (if available), name, job title, company name, business phone, and mobile phone. If a recipient is unknown, you can quickly add the recipient as a contact or lead. You can also set the regarding record with a single click, call the recipient, or add an activity (appointment, phone call, or task). 4. Custom Learning Path Content In Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2016 Update 1, Learning Path was introduced, which provided contextually rich training, walkthroughs, videos, and articles right in the app at just the right time. With the December 2016 update for Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online), you can now create your own Learning Path experience for your Dynamics 365 (online) users. For example, create a custom Learning Path experience to train your sales team. Learning Path allows you to deliver custom content specific to the security role assigned to a user. This means, for example, that salespeople see Learning Path sidebars and guided tasks specific to their role, and service reps see a different set of content. You can also display different content for the same security role in different organizations. You can even localize your content in different languages for different users and organizations. Learning Path provides a great way to help people discover new features and become familiar with new forms or business processes at their own pace right from the app. This can help reduce training time and costs and enable team members to quickly become productive using Dynamics 365 (online). Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service Enhancements Connected field service: Connected field service, new in this release, helps service organizations move from a costly break-fix model to a proactive and predictive service model by combining monitoring and predictive maintenance with Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning Key benefits include: Reduce downtime with proactive alerts from connected devices. Address issues faster by remotely monitoring devices and keeping customers in the loop. Reduce maintenance costs by dispatching a technician with the right expertise, availability, and location to do the job. Resource scheduling optimization: With resource scheduling optimization, you can set up the system to automatically schedule multiple items on a recurring basis to minimize overall travel time and make efficient use of all schedulable resources. Common Scheduling Solution: With the new Common Scheduling Solution, you can schedule anything. You can enable it for any entity, including custom entities. For example, you can turn it on to schedule marketing visits for an opportunity. 6. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation Add-in for Microsoft Project: With the new project service add-in you’ll be able to do all of your project planning in Microsoft Project, and then publish the project plan into Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation. You can also bring a project that you started in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation into Microsoft Project to finish planning work, and then publish it back to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation. Relevance Search enhancements With new facet and filter support, you can drill into and explore search results without having to repeatedly refine the search terms. Four global facets for Relevance Search are shown by default on the left side of the Relevance Search results page. They represent Record type, Owner, Modified On, and Created On fields that are common to most Dynamics 365 entities, as shown below: If you select a specific entity in the Record type face, you will see a list of entity-specific facets that you can choose from. For example, if you select the Account entity, you may see additional information about the account’s annual revenue, the industry they are in, and the primary contact information. The facet list is configured by an administrator. If you want to see different information, you can ask your administrator to provide that for you. Other new capabilities: You can now search in documents attached to emails and appointments, as well as documents attached to a note. The Option Set and Lookup fields are searchable fields in this release. We also added support for showing results for records that are shared with you. More information: Use Relevance Search for faster comprehensive search results Introducing editable grids With the new editable grids provide many versatile capabilities, such as inline editing, grouping, filtering, and sorting on columns. Editable grids are available at the entity level, in sub-grids inside a form, or in a dashboard. Editable grids are supported on forms in the Dynamics 365 Web client, Dynamics 365 for tablets, and Dynamics 365 for phones. For dashboards, editable grids are available in Dynamics 365 for tablets and Dynamics 365 for phones. Editable grid capabilities include: Edit a row with most Dynamics 365 field types. Group and filter on any column in the current view. Sort on any column in the grid Paginate and move or adjust columns in the grid. Show Lookup values based on the value of the field of the related entity. Show Calculated and Rollup fields as read-only with the associated last updated date. Enable and disable fields based on security role You can also: Export editable grids to Excel. Integrate with the chart panel. Toggle between a read-only grid and an editable grid. Save the user state (filters, sorting, adjusted columns) within the session. Use business rules and complex grid logic based on events, such as saving or updating a record. Use command bar actions and buttons Lots of new and existing features have been added to Dynamics 365 in 2017 to help manufacturing business improve their business processes and increase profitability. If you are looking for a team of Dynamics 365 CRM experts, we are here to help! Get in touch