Microsoft provides a 30-day free trial of Dynamics CRM 2013 Online which provides full access to all functionality. But do you know how to best utilize it to add more value to your business or personal skill set? This blog will discuss how to make the best use of this 30-day trial.

What is a CRM trial account?

• A 30 day license an individual or small team can use to access CRM

• Provides full access to all functionality

• Can be converted into a paid account after 30 days

What do I get with the free trial?

• Ability to share access with up to 25 users
• 5GB of storage
• No payment, contract or obligation - you don't need to enter credit card information
• No software installation
• Sample data as you get to know the solution capabilities
  
• Import wizard for your own data
  
• Plenty of helpful resources to get you started
• Access Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online through Microsoft Outlook or your web browser

Why get a trial account?

• Are you considering CRM and want to check it out first? A trial account is a good tool for you to have a taste of what is Dynamics CRM looks like and how it works. It contains all the functionality found in the paid version so you can make an informed decision.
  
  
• Are you consider a career in CRM and want to develop your skills? Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is considered a leading powerhouse in this field. The trial period provides a terrific free training environment, allowing you to dive in and really put your hands on it.
  
  
• Considering making updates to your CRM and want a test environment? Even if you are already a user of CRM, we still strongly recommend you to keep a trial version which can be used as a “sandbox”. A sandbox is an environment where you can make changes without risk of damaging your production environment.  Note that Microsoft also provides the ability to create sandboxes that can copy all of your configurations and data - for a much richer test environment (these are a paid subscription option).    

How do I set up a trial account?

• You have two options, signing up for a 30-day free trial is easy and only takes about 3 minutes. 
  • Click here to setup your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 30-day free trial with standard access.
  • Click here to provide C5 Insight with "delegated access" to your CRM trial (allowing our team to remotely configure your CRM trial in partnership with you).

• Click Create my account after you fill out the form and you are good to go!
  

• You will be setup as an administrator of your trial account by default, and there are some basic settings need to be adjusted the first time you log in.  

• The demo video is a very good starting point to increase your familiarity with CRM if this is your first touch. Click Launch CRM Online and it may take 1-2 minutes to prepare.

• Welcome! Now you are in your account and don’t be hesitant to play around. Notice there is already some sample data embedded for you to test every function. But you can also import your own data easily. We’ll talk about it later.

How do I add more users?

• Select Settings on the ribbon

• Select Administration. Then click Users.

• Right now you are the only user of the organization. Click New and you will be linked to Microsoft Office 365 server to add new users.

• Add new users.

• Notice that you can just leave Assign role as "No" for simplicity. We’ll talk about how to set CRM security role in a minute.

• Be sure to check the box to assign the user a CRM license.  Click "Next" on the last screen to add the new user to your organization.
  

   

How do I activate these users in CRM?

• Go back to your CRM and click Settings/ Administration, then select Users and you will see a list of users of CRM. Remember you can have up to 25 users for the free trial. 
  
  

• Select the user(s) you want to give permission to sign in to, and click Manage Roles. 
  
  
• On the pop-up form, check "System Administrator" and click the OK button. I am assuming that all users will be system administrators for now. Of course there are many other options and you can easily change it as you need.  

Add/ Remove sample data

• You can also add or remove sample data. If you're just testing out CRM, it can be helpful to have sample data available so you can see the impact that your changes have.  Check this blog for more details.

http://www.powerobjects.com/blog/2013/11/05/adding-and-removing-sample-data-in-dynamics-crm-2013/

What To Do When Your Trial Account Expires

• You can let it expire if you are done
• You can create a new trial account for another 30 days if you’d like
• Or you can pay to extend it for a full year - here is the link for pricing

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-purchase-online.aspx

More Information

http://www.crmsoftwareblog.com/free-30-day-trial-for-microsoft-dynamics-crm-online/