The Microsoft Dynamics CRM team has been working diligently to recreate and provide helpful error messages that are surfaced to the user. These errors also contain links to self-help articles that correlate to that specific error code, client version, and server version. We want to bring awareness of this new feature and are also requesting feedback for anyone that may have used this feature already.
Overview
This feature was introduced in the Dynamics CRM 2015 for Outlook Client and is referred to as “Dynamic Help”. Prior to this feature, the Outlook Client included a help link that always directed you to the same troubleshooting page regardless of which error you encountered. For each error code that occurs during configuration, Dynamic Help can now direct you to a KB article designed to help resolve that specific issue. This feature was also backported to CRM 2013 Update Rollup 1 for Service Pack 1 and CRM 2011 Update Rollup 18. The Dynamic Help feature is also included in the new CRM App for Outlook.
Details
There is a table we maintain that maps error code combinations to specific help resources. When you click the help link, it uses an intermediate FWD link that passes the error code and info such as the client version, server version, and OS version. If there is a match in the table for those combination of values, you are directed to a targeted help article. If there is not an associated help article yet, you are directed to a page with links to the community and other help resources. This mapping table can be adjusted quickly as new issues/solutions are identified without having to modify code. This table also captures hit counts for each unique error code combination which can help prioritize fixes.
What are our asks?
Use Dynamic Help
If you encounter an issue with Outlook Client configuration, please use the help link ("Help me resolve this issue") that is surfaced:
Provide Feedback
If the help link did not take you to a resource that helped you resolve the issue, please provide feedback so the next person that encounters the issue can easily find the solution. You can comment on this thread.
To update the mapping table, we need to know the redirect link. You can capture this by clicking the “Help me resolve this issue” link and quickly pressing the Esc key on your keyboard. You can copy the URL from your browser which should appear similar to this:
Describe the issue you encountered (UI error message, repro steps, error that appeared in the Details section or log file, and what specific steps resolved the issue). Unfortunately we cannot offer direct assistance with individual issues via this post but will greatly appreciate any feedback you can provide. The community or the standard support process can be used if you need assistance identifying the solution to your issue.