How to Connect Guest Members in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement in 8 Easy Steps

Being able to extend the access of your CRM solution to external users can be very useful. For example, if one of your sales partners holds a territory of your customers, they may need to participate in some of your processes or complete forms for your company. Allowing them to enter data directly into your CRM solution will increase your efficiency.

How can you allow these external partners to enter their information directly into your CRM system? While setting up a customer portal remains the best way, the time and resources required for this project can be a hurdle. But there is a simple and effective alternative to open your CRM system access to external users: connect them as guest members.

Here's how to connect guest members in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement in 8 easy steps:

Configuration on portal.azure.com

1. Make sure you are the global administrator of your Office 365 Tenant and Dynamics CE administrator.

2. In the Azure portal, open the Azure Active Directory window

3. Add a user as a Guest User

4. In the Guest User window, add the email and a message for the welcome email.

Waiting for your guest's acceptance

5. The new member will receive an email and will have to accept the invitation by following the instructions to authenticate

Back in portal.azure.com

6. Complete the setup once the member has accepted, in the guest member's profile  

a. Complete the location in the user profile

b. Add a available Dynamics 365 / PowerApps license (or other)

Adding security in Dynamics 365 CE

7. In Dynamics 365 CE, join the guest member in the right division and assign them a security role (access to the right data)

8. Give the CRM URL to the guest member

And that's it!

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By following these 8 steps, your external partners will be able to enter the information you need themselves, thus lightening your tasks.

However, remember that the guest member login function does not diminish the benefits that a customer or partner portal can bring you. Connecting guest users increases the risk of exposing all the data, which can only be protected by a data security strategy through business divisions and targeted security roles.

Would you like to know more about best practices to optimize your CRM solution? Contact one of our experts, who can provide you with personalized advice. To stay up to date with the latest news, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

This article was made possible thanks to the expertise of our CRM architect Jean Lefrançois.