In this course, we will learn the offline mode in Dynamics 365 CRM. Before we start, make sure that you are subscribed to CRM Crate so that you are always updated in field of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

What is Offline Mode in Dynamics CRM?

In Dynamics CRM, the Mobile offline capability allows the users to use the Dynamics 365 for phones app in offline mode to interact with their data, even when the users are not connected to the internet. The Dynamics 365 for phones app provides a rich informative offline experience which helps them to stay productive. Dynamics provides use basic commands such as create, read, update, and delete when the users are offline. Once the users are back online, their changes are automatically synchronized with your Dynamics 365 for phones app. Lets now test the offline mode in our own Dynamics 365 CRM environment.

Enable entities for mobile offline synchronization

We will have to enable the existing entities for mobile offline synchronization.

• Open the Dynamics 365 CRM >> Navigate to Settings >> Customization >> Customize the system.

• Click on Customize the System >> Expand the entities >> Select the entity for which we have to enable offline synchronization. For demo purpose, we will enable the offline synchronization on Account entity. Therefore, select Account entity >> Configuration.
• In the Outlook & Mobile section, select the options “Enable for phone express, Enable for mobile, Enable for mobile offline” as shown below.

• Now, click on the “Organization data download filter“. Select the download criteria (A normal entity level filter). The data downloaded in our mobile application will be downloaded with respect to the Organization data download filter.

• Click on Save once the above configuration is completed.

Create a mobile offline profile to determine what data will be available while application is offline

We need to create mobile offline profiles for users to configure filters that determine how much of an entity’s data (and related entities’ data) will be available to the user while offline.

• Navigate to https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com. Login with your CRM credentials.

• Select the dedicated CRM Environment and click on Settings as shown below.

• Click on Users + Permissions as shown below.

• Now click on “Mobile Configuration” as shown below.

• In the Mobile Offline Profiles, click on + New Profile, fill the information and click on Create.

• In the above created profile, add the entity which we in offline mode in the “Data available offline” section. Add the user which needs to access the entity in offline mode. For example, we have added the offline entity as “Account” which is accessible to user named “Prashant Tirlotkar”. Once configuration is completed, click on Publish.

Configure conflict detection for mobile offline

• In the Dynamics 365 – custom app, go to Settings > Administration > System Settings.

• To configure conflict resolution behavior, select Mobile Client.

When there is a mismatch of data between client and server, conflict errors occur. To resolve those, you can choose one of the following settings:

• Select No – Conflict detection for mobile offline is turned off, so whatever changes are made by a user in offline mode are automatically synced to the server when the user is back online, and client wins over server.
• Select Yes – Server wins over client.

Enable the app module for offline

Now, we have to enable to offline mode capability for each specific unified interface app which needs to populate the offline data in the Dynamics 365 App for Phone.

• In the Dynamics 365 – custom app, go to Settings > My Apps.

• Select the desired application, click on the three dots (More symbol) and click on OPEN IN APP DESIGNER button as shown below.

• In the application’s property, navigate to the Advance section and check the checkbox “Enable Mobile Offline”. In the Mobile Offline Profiles, select the above created offline profile.

• Publish the application after completing the configuration.

Test the offline capability in Dynamics 365 App for Phone

• Download the application named “Dynamics 365 App for Phone”. Sign in with the same user credential which was configured in the offline profiles.
• Once logged in, the App will display list of available unified applications. Select the application which is configured for offline mode and open it.

• Now, once opening our application, the above configured offline entity “Account” will be ready for offline usage as shown below.

Conclusion

Thus, we learned how to configure and use the Offline capability of Dynamics 365 CRM.