In this month’s blog post, we’ll have a look at a very effective and visually powerful ISV Add-On for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, xRMConsultancy Timeline v2.
Image Source (http://www.xrmconsultancy.com/ )
In recent years, my focus has been on developing Case Management Solutions for the commercial and government sectors. A key challenge is how do you represent the hundreds of artefacts that are created out of a case and present this to the user in an intuitive fashion?It seems like xRM Consultancy has the answer, with the Timeline v2 ISV Add-On for Dynamics CRM.
What is Timeline v2?
- A commercial third party ISV Add-On for Dynamics CRM developed and supported by xRM Consultancy.
- A timeline solution that allows related entities (custom and core entities) to be displayed in a fluid HTML5 control.
- Timeline v2 allows for zoom and drill down (clickable) views into related entities.
User Interface
What I found pleasant about this ISV Add-On is that, it does not feel out of place in the Dynamics CRM UI. The labels, icons, and default colour schemes all are consistent with Dynamics CRM. In fact, I would go as far as to say if you weren’t familiar with Microsoft Dynamics you’d think this was a standard Microsoft control, and I guess that’s why this is a hit with users. Everything is where you expect them to be, the zoom controls, the record pop-out controls, refresh icons and so forth.
Performance
In my demo environment, it pulled down around 50 related records as quickly as it would have if I were using a standard sub-grid control – about 2 seconds, that’s fast in my books. It uses client side rendering via the browser, and on a semi-decent workstation, it didn’t seem to have any problems with scrolling through dozens of records at a time.
Drill Down
This is an example of what is displayed when a record is clicked. What I love about this ISV, is that it’s completely configurable as to what attributes you see when you drill down, and it is also possible to customize the drill down view using your own custom HTML code.
So how do you install it?
Start by downloading the correct package for your CRM Version.
Then install the Managed Solution through the Solutions page within your Dynamics CRM instance.
Click on the newly installed solution, and accept the T&C’s.
Add the following installed Web Resource (xrmc_/Timeline.html) to thedesired page you want to enhance with Timeline v2.
Set your users up with one of the following security roles.
Pricing
Their website lists the following pricing for a perpetual license.
- <50 users = £995 GBP (or roughly $1960 AUD)
- 50 or more = £1995 GBP (or roughly $3930 AUD)
Final Notes
Their email support appears to be very responsive. I gave a demonstration at a CRM User Group last year, and the developers were very helpful in answering any query that I had.
All in all, I hope to see more slick ISVs like this. It really has set a new benchmark for me, and would highly recommend this product for use in a production environment.
(Note: I have no affiliation with XRM Consultancy whatsoever.)