Options for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Free 30-Day Trial

Colin Maitland, 18 January 2017

In this blog I will provide a short description of the solution options when setting up a free 30-day trial of one or more of the CRM solutions in Microsoft Dynamics 365. The solution options are Sales, Customer Service, Field Service and Project Service Automation.

The process for setting up a free 30-day trial of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is simple and can be completed within a few minutes from here by navigating through a few pages, providing some required information for the trial.

At the Setup page you will be asked to select a scenario. Each scenario aligns with a specific Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution and your selection here ensures that the trial is pre-configured with the solution and sample data that best suits your intended use of Microsoft Dynamics 365. One of the factors that determines the success of a trial is ensuring that the trial focuses on presenting a solution that meets your particular business requirements.

The following scenarios are provided:

Dynamics 365 for Sales (this is the default option and includes Marketing)
Dynamics 365 for Customer Service
Dynamics 365 for Field Service
Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation
All
None

Not included in these options are solutions for Operations, Marketing or Customer Insights. These are not included because they are not core components or direct extensions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of business applications that work together across CRM and ERP and this particular trial focuses on the CRM solutions. The Marketing solution mentioned here is not to be confused with the core CRM Marketing components, such as Campaigns, Marketing Lists, and Quick Campaigns provided in Dynamics CRM as part of the Sales solution.

The following sections in this blog provide a short outline of the key areas of CRM functionality that each option provides. Sample data is installed for all scenarios except if you selected None.

Dynamics 365 for Sales

The Sales solution provides access to the Dynamics 365 CRM Sales components such as Dashboards, Activities, Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Competitors, Quotes, Orders, Invoices, Products, Sales Literature, Goals and Reports. This scenario also provides access to Marketing components such as Marketing Lists, Campaigns and Quick Campaigns.

Access to all Settings required to fully configure CRM can also be enabled in this scenario by navigating to Settings, My Apps and then clicking the Sales icon.

Dynamics 365 for Customer Service

The Customer Service solution provides access to the Dynamics 365 CRM Dashboards, Activities, Accounts, Contacts, Social Profiles, Goals and Reports and also to a range of Customer Service solution specific Service and Collateral components such as Cases and Queues.

The use of Social Profiles requires the addition and use of Microsoft Social Engagement.

The Customer Service solution can also be configured via the Settings area in CRM to provide access to Entitlements and Service Level Agreements. Entitlements and Service Level Agreements are a replacement to Contracts and provide enhanced functionality.

Access to all Settings required to fully configure CRM can also be enabled in this scenario by navigating to Settings, My Apps and then clicking the Customer Service icon.

The Customer Service solution also provides access to the Interactive Service Hub. The Interactive Service Hub includes access to Knowledge Articles which are a replacement to Articles and provide enhanced functionality. The Interactive Service Hub may be accessed by navigating to Settings and then clicking Interactive Service Hub.

This solution also provides access to schedule, manage and complete Service Activities. However, Service Scheduling required requires the configuration of Business Closures, Facilities/Equipment, Sites, Services, and Resource Groups. These are not configured with sample data in the trial. The configuration is somewhat complex would best be trailed with the assistance of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Business Partner. With respect to Service Delivery and Scheduling, you can however trial the Dynamics 365 for Field Service solution.

Dynamics 365 for Field Service

The Field Service solution provides access to Dynamics 365 CRM Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Quotes, Orders and Invoices as well as to a range of Field Service and Resource Scheduling solution specific Service Delivery, Inventory & Purchasing, Scheduling and Settings components such as Agreements, Purchase Orders and RMAs.

Access to all Settings required to fully configure CRM can also be enabled in this scenario by navigating to Settings, My Apps and then clicking the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 365 for Field Service icon.

Project Service Automation

The Project Service Automation solution provides access to Dynamics 365 CRM Dashboards, Customers, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Quotes and Reports as well as to a range of Project Service Automation solution specific Planning and Delivery, Billing, Resources and Settings components.

Access to all Settings required to fully configure CRM can also be enabled for this scenario by navigating to Settings, My Apps and then clicking the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 365 for Project Service Automation icon.

All

If you choose All, then you will be provided with access to the full set of Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Field Service and Project Service Automation components along with sample data. As previously mentioned the Sales solution also provides access to the core Dynamics CRM 365 CRM Marketing components.

None

Finally, if you choose None, then you will be provided with access to the Dynamics 365 for Sales and Customer Service components but not to the Field Service and Project Service Automation components. By default, no sample data will be installed, however you can install sample data by navigating to Settings, Data Management and clicking Install Sample Data.