We will learn different types of searches in Microsoft CRM 365. Dynamics is the 2nd most used CRM product which has evolved significantly over the years. Microsoft Dynamics CRM comes with lot of Out-Of-The -Box box features which are inbuilt within the CRM system. And one of the most utilized Out-Of-The-Box functionality is the Searching capability of CRM. Below are the different types of Searching capability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Advance Find

Advanced find allows users to create ad-hoc queries in the CRM and save it as personal queries , export and share the results. These saved queries are called as Personal View.

To use the Advance Find, navigate to the top-right section of your CRM and click on the funnel like icon as shown below and click it.

Once you advance find window open, here you can see various filtering components such as primary entity selector, columns addition in views, downloading query XML etc.

In our scenario, we will search the Account entity records whose field “Account Name” begins with alphabet “A” as shown below. Once your query is ready, click on Results.

Once the results are populated, you will see all the Account records whose Account Name starts or begins with “A”.

Below are few top notch features of Advance Find search capability.

• Can be used to search any record type (entity)
• Users can create complex filters and queries based on any fields within or related to the record being searched
• Can be saved and turned into personal views
• Results can be exported to Excel
• Advanced Finds can feed charts
• Bulk operations can be carried out on Advanced Find results
• Mass Operations: Mail Merge, Edits, Share, Assign, Follow/Unfollow, Activate/Deactivate records
• Send Direct Email
• Add to Marketing List or create a dynamic marketing list
• Quick Campaign
• Run a workflow or start a dialog
• Add Connection (One Record at a time)
• Run a report
• Apply Excel and Word Templates
• Export to Excel

Relevance Search

Relevance Search introduced a more easier way to search for any information within CRM. The results returned using this method are more likely the search engine results such as searching a keyword on Google or Bing. The relevance search uses a search service external to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 and as a topping it is powered by Azure to boost search performance. There is no limit to entities searched, but it does require indexing of searchable entities.

However, you have to enable Relevance Search as it is not enabled by default. You can enable this setting by going to Settings>Administration>System Settings and scrolling down to the “Set up Search” area.

Categorized Search

Microsoft rolled out the Categorized Search a few versions ago. With the categorized search, not only you can search various entity categories, but also filter these categories. Although this is a great feature but you are limited to 10 entities that can be searched.

You can filter the categorized search entities by using the Filter which is present in the top-right screen of the Categorized Search window.

Classic Search

The legacy Classic Search has been around for a while within the Microsoft CRM. This search option is still available in the current version. The “classic” search is located within each entity area and is found directly straight above a View. To use the Classic Search, navigate to the any of your entities main landing view page and you will find the Classic Search as shown below.

Thus, we learned the top notch four searching capabilities of the Microsoft CRM.