Unique Capabilities
MobileAccess offers important and unique functionality for companies deploying Dynamics CRM. The following unique capabilities differentiate MobileAccess providing a user experience unlike any competitive solution. The result is a technically superior mobility solution that is actively used by mobile professionals and that enables organizations to better meet their business objectives.
In selecting a mobile CRM solution, there are critical design elements to consider. The sections below illustrate key advantages of MobileAccess, while highlighting competitive limitations. Discover how MobileAccess enables a truly unique user experience and positive business impact.
Multi-Window Navigation
MobileAccess is a multi-windowed application, much like CRM on a workstation. This patented approach means mobile professionals can open as many CRM screens as needed for use at one time. They can open an Account screen, a Contact, and also review an Opportunity. All the screens remain open for quick back-and-forth multi-tasking. This allows users to start typing a note in an Activity, and part way through reference an Opportunity, or perhaps leave MobileAccess and review an email, or even receive a customer call. When users come back to MobileAccess, even if hours later, the partly completed Activity note and all the screens are just as they were left. Users can close one or all the screens at once.
This ability to simultaneously work with multiple screens delivers a seamless workstation and mobile experience. It allows for the ultimate in productivity and usability, helping drive CRM user adoption and a greater ROI on your CRM investment.
By contrast, many CRM mobility products are single page applications that don’t allow multi-tasking. If users open an Account and then a Contact, the Account screen closes. The result is lost data: if users open Activity and start typing a note, but go back to review the History or some Account information, they lose the partially typed note. This causes no end of frustration for users and greatly impacts their productivity. Reduced user adoption impacts the quality of information entered in CRM and ultimately the value of CRM to the organization.
Persistent, Smartclient Application
Designed to deliver maximum impact, MobileAccess is a persistent smartclient that specifically addresses the common shortcoming of mobility options. MobileAccess is always available for users, regardless of connectivity. It allows users to have offline (locally cached) data on their smartphones for instant record access. Users are not dependent on the availability or quality of wireless signals. Virtually all the functionality in CRM is inherent in the client – providing a consistent workstation and offline mobile experience. System administrators can apply criteria to determine which records are pushed to smartphones, based on their organizational objectives. Common criteria include my accounts, my contacts, and my opportunities.
Due to its persistent smartclient design, MobileAccess allows users to truly utilize CRM anywhere, anytime (even on an airplane), helping ensure they maximize their effectiveness and productivity.
Other types of CRM mobility products, such as those based on micro-browsers, are only available to users when they have a wireless signal. If a wireless signal is slow or unavailable, or network traffic is slow, the user may face significant challenges in attempting to perform their tasks. And sometimes due to poor design, a task that may take one or two steps from a workstation, now takes many more steps to complete... and each step is prone to network delays. As a result, users will often abandon using the mobility tool, impacting the quality or effectiveness of their work and productivity.
Seamless Always-Available Application and Data Access
Although smartphone users often have a wireless signal, there are significant advantages to having an always-available application and “local data” as opposed to only accessing records over the air, in an “online” manner. MobileAccess provides a unique, always-available application and data access which enables users to access the entire CRM database (as security permits) when there is a wireless signal, and to also access their frequently required local data from their smartphone whether or not there is a wireless signal. The always-available application and records (data access) with MobileAccess enables much faster record access, enhanced usability and superior user productivity when compared to “online-only products”.
MobileAccess’ unique Always-Available application and data access, in conjunction with it’s fully automated synchronization, facilitates a superior user experience, faster data access, and supports greater user productivity, whether or not the user has a stable wireless signal.
Other CRM mobility products provide either “offline-only” or “online-only” data access that present significant practical limitations. The majority of CRM mobility products are micro-browser based with “online-only” data access. These products require that each page must be retrieved from the server each and every time it is required. If there is no wireless signal–there is no application or data. Some organizations assume that because users often have a wireless signal, that an “online-only” product will suffice. However, users of micro-browser products often complain about slow data access, a poor user experience, and reduced productivity. Typically this results in the product’s abandonment. Products that provide “offline-only” data access generally require that users manually download or synchronize a single set of records in bulk. These products lack automated data management and synchronization, negatively impacting usability, productivity and data integrity.
Fully Automated Record Synchronization and Management
MobileAccess includes a fully automated record synchronization and management service – keeping each user’s records constantly up-to-date by pushing updates to and from their smartphone. Each user’s records may be automatically pushed to their smartphone. Any changes a user makes to their records are cached on the device when there is no wireless signal, and then automatically synchronized back to the CRM server when the wireless signal is re-established. If a record is added or updated on the CRM server, such as a new lead, it is automatically pushed or updated on the appropriate smartphone. This ensures that mobile users always have access to all the latest information, and ensures management has access to the latest records and reports from CRM, while their mobile workforce is still in the field.
MobileAccess delivers significant advantages in terms of usability, productivity, and CRM data integrity by providing always-available data to smartphones with automatic push of “local” records and automatic synchronization of updates between the CRM server and smartphones.
Other CRM mobility products generally require that users manage their own data caching. Often these products don’t adhere to corporate data security standards or approved access methods. Users who want CRM records on their smartphone, generally have to manually initiate the download of those records. Some products even require that once the records are on the device, a manual synchronization process must be performed. To ensure users have all the latest changes in CRM, they must repeat this manual, full record-set synchronization process regularly, which is time-consuming and prone to conflict errors. This out-dated approach becomes so cumbersome for users that they often cease using the product, impacting their ability to use CRM in the field, while reducing productivity and overall business effectiveness.
Metadata Architecture
Most organizations customize their CRM deployment with new fields, forms, labels, entities, and custom security permissions. If organizations had to internally reprogram or pay expensive consultants to program these customizations for smartclients, the time and cost could greatly impact ROI and the ability to adapt quickly. MobileAccess has an inherent and unique metadata architecture that enables organizations to automatically adopt their CRM customizations and push them to smartphones. As processes evolve, changes made to CRM configurations are quickly made available to staff in the field by publishing a new MobileAccess client to users.
This ability to have CRM customizations automatically adopted by MobileAccess can have a significant and positive impact on productivity, costs and the ability for a company to adapt quickly to change.
Many CRM mobility products present significant limitations for CRM customization. Customizations often have to be manually programmed. Aside from the up-front time and cost, this impacts the ability to adapt quickly when CRM configurations evolve. If CRM has new customizations, it may require waiting for a high priced consultant, or an internal expert, to program the mobility client. The time and cost associated with this process can be prohibitive, negatively impacting budgets and ROI.
Form Rules for Client-side Logic
The implementation of client-side form logic on smartphones is a highly desirable capability–but presents unique challenges. There are numerous business benefits to using form logic, the most common being: improved data entry time, data consistency and quality. Attempting to leverage the extensive use of JavaScript logic found in most CRM forms, is simply not practical on a smartphone. First, some devices don’t support JavaScript - period. And those that do, struggle to perform these complex procedural tasks which were never designed for limited device processors. MobileAccess overcomes these challenges and enables custom client-side form logic through the use of declarative Meta Rules.
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MobileAccess Meta Rules enable an organization to deploy sophisticated client-side form logic to overcome the performance barriers associated with attempting to utilize JavaScript on a smartphone. The outcome is a robust, high-performance CRM mobility solution that better enables an organization’s business objectives.
Other CRM mobility offerings simply don’t provide a viable or effective means of enabling custom form logic. Some products attempt to reuse existing scripts resulting in sub-par performance and a compromised user experience. Others would like you to completely ignore this business requirement altogether. Of course, there are custom development tools that allow your development team build the precise mobile forms with embedded logic your business needs–but with added expense, risk and time to benefit. Not to mention the on-going maintenance costs to stay on top of new device advancements. Each of these scenarios may significantly increase costs, risks and overall project complexity. If client-side form logic is critical to your organization’s use of CRM, then the lack of an optimized solution for the mobile users simply isn’t an option.
Discover how MobileAccess enables a truly unique user experience and positive business impact.