Creating Report Subscriptions in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4

Now if you look at your Report grid in CRM you will see a new report listed with the same name referenced on the Save wizard dialogue window.  In this case the report name was:  Account Distribution – On-demand Snapshots 7_17_2009 9_15 AM

After you select the 4.0 folder, you will see a list of your CRM reports.  Locate the report that you created in the CRM application.  You can easily find it as the report name, which in this example was “Account Distribution – On-demand Snapshots 7_17_2009 9_15 AM”, is included in the Description field.

Select the Edit Icon link located to the left of the report

Select the Subscriptions tab

Select the New Subscription button

This will open the window that allows you to enter the details for the report subscription

You can now enter the information that will determine how the report is delivered, who receives it and the report delivery frequency. 

·         Leave the default delivery method of E-mail selected

·         Enter the e-mail address for the recipients

o    I generally include my e-mail address in the BCC field to ensure the report runs as expected at least the first few times and the format is what I intended

·         Enter the Reply-To e-mail address

·         Modify the Subject line for whatever you prefer

o    This will be the subject line of the e-mail

o    At a minimum Replace “ @ReportName” with the actual Report Name otherwise the value will be the GUID of the report which is not a user friendly name

·         Leave the Include Report and select the Render Format option you prefer.  I generally use Excel as this gives users the option to manipulate the report data in a format familiar to them.

·         Leave the Include Link only if it is ok with you that users open the Report directly from the Report Server rather than through the CRM application

·         Set Priority

·         Add Comments

·         Select the Schedule you want the Report to run by selecting the Select Schedule button

·         Select the OK button and the Subscription is created and saved

Saving the Subscription will create a SQL job that runs on the date and time you indicated to deliver the report to your recipients.  If you have not yet setup your Report Server for E-Mail Delivery then review this MSDN article for the steps needed to implement that service.

Once you create a few subscriptions, you will be able to take a few shortcuts that will reduce the steps needed to create new subscriptions.  After generating one or two of these subscriptions, you will be an expert.

Happy Subscription Reporting!