Preparing for Winter ’16

I found it a bit difficult finding the resources for preparing this time. Here they are:

• Winter ’16 Administrator release exam
• Winter ’16 Developer release exam
• Winter ’16 release training for certified professionals (login required)

Salesforce Summer ’14 Release Notes

It’s about time to start looking at the summer release exams to maintain your Salesforce credentials. As usual my preferred way is to watch the videos provided. See my notes below. for both the Developer and the Administrator track. They might be useful in case you want to double check something.

Also see the release notes since there a loads of more information there.

 

Chatter

Communities Enhancements

• Communitiy engagement console. One-click access to a central place to monitor the communities health and manage its reputation system right within the community itself.
• Dashboards available in the overview area via different pages. Which dashboards that is displayed on the pages can be configured by an administrator.
• New community custom report types:
  • Network membership daily metrics
  • Network activity daily metrics
  • Network unique contributor daily metrics
  • Network tenant usage entitlement weekly metrics
• Salesforce Communities Analytics package available on AppExchange
• Reputation. Different levels and points for users depending on their actions.
• Enable Chatter access without login. Access public group and guest feed without a license.

 

Sales Cloud

Price Book Entry Enhancements

• Customize price book entries from the setup menu
  • Create custom fields, validation rules and page layouts

Opportunity Splits Enhancements

• Opportunity Splits can now be customized
  • Create custom fields, validation rules, triggers and page layouts
• Administrators can add custom split types based on any Opportunity currency field

Acitivites Enhancements

• Default new event global publisher action
• Activity Date and Date/Time available in formulas
• New Activity relationship object
  • user in custom report types
• Status and Related To columns in task lists

Salesforce for Outlook Enhancements

• Side panel is now available on Contact Manager and Group Editions of Salesforce providing access to all users
• Users can create more records using the Side panel publisher (account, contact, lead, opportunity, case and custom objects)
• Configure outlook publisher layouts and assign to specific user profiles to customize which actions are available for each outlook configuration
• Users can easily access online help documentation
• The system requirements are now checked when a user downloads Salesforce for Outlook
• Refresh token policies can be set for Salesforce for outlook

 

Service Cloud

Case Feed Enhancements

• Variable width Case Feed
• Auto-collapse  publishers on Case Feed
• Enable these settings in the Case Feed page layout
  • Use Full-Width Feed in the Console
  • Automatically Collapse Publisher

Salesforce Console for Service Enhancement

• New related list component
  • Related objects to the selected object in the left panel
• New look and feel of the Lookup component
• New interaction log buttons
  • New add call data button
  • New clear log button
• Users can save settings of their multi-components

Live Agent Enhancements

• Agents and customers can transfer and upload files during a chat.
• Agents can also transfer multiple chats to chat button queues or other agents.
• The Knowledge One widget has replaced the live agent article tool giving agents better access to articles they can share with customers.

 

Analytics

Analytics Enhancements

• Mass delete public reports that are not used in dashboards or analytic snapshots
  • Deleted reports goes into the recycle bin
  • Enable historical trending for forecasting items when using Collaborative Forecasts
    • Track historical changes using lookup fields

 

 Mobile

Salesforce1 Enhancements

• Use the Salesforce1 mobile browser app on more browsers
• Create and access publisher actions even if Chatter is not enabled
• Users can drill down to reports and records from dashboards
  • Up to 100 records
  • Tabular, Summary reports are supported
• See upp to 200 list views

 

Force.com

Permissions Enhancements

• Previously, Manage Users was the only way to grant certain user-management permissions. Now introducing eight new user-management permissions in Summer 14 to give more granular control (found in User section).

User Sharing Enhancements

• The button for manual user record sharing can now be enabled or disabled for all users (user visibility settings)

Spring ’14 Release Training Notes (Administrator)

Thought I should share my notes from the Spring ’14 release training videos.
Below are the ones for the administrator maintenance certification.

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* SALES CLOUD
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Salesforce Orders
– New standard object which bridges the gap between the Sales cloud and the service cloud
– Allow you to create agreements between your company and a customer to provision services or deliver products
with a known quantity, price and time.
– Use orders to customize your order management process
– Depending on your company’s needs users might need to add orders to a contract or directly to an account.
– Reduction orders and negative quantity allow users to process returns and reduce services.
– Admins can enable orders, reducation orders and negative quantity from the setup menu
– Add orders related list
– Account and Contract fields on an order cannot be modified
– Orders follow the sharing model of its account
– Automatic permissions for the order object
– Three new user permissions:
– Activate orders
– To change the status of an order from draft to activated
– Create Reduction orders
– Edit Activated orders
– To edit or deactivate an activated order
– Only activated orders can be reduced
– Users can reduce multiple orders with one reduction order
– Reduction orders must be first removed from an activated order before an order can be deactivated
– If a reduction order has been deactivated, products can be deleted or added to that order
– Only a pricebook can be associated with each order
– Once a pricebook has been assigned to an order it can not be changed or removed
– Add orders tab
– Reduction orders
– Reduction order is an agreement between a company and a customer to process product returns,
de-provision services, or reduce services that have been provisioned. For example,
if a customer has purchased 30 items through an order and later requests to cancel that order,
you can create a reduction order to track the request.
– Negative Quantity
– Process returns with a negative amount
– Use the Place Order REST API to load or synchronize order data from external systems
– The SOAP API includes reference information about objects related to orders and order products

Collborative Forecasts
– Provides a real-time view of the forecasts
– View different types of forecasts to predict sales from multiple perspectives
– Eg. view forecasts by forecast types:
– Opportunities revenue
– Product family quantity
– Revenue splits
– Opportunities quantity
– Product family revenue
– An administrator can enable up to 4 forecast type for an organization
– Reports for collaborative forecasts now supports the ‘My direct reports’ forecasting items filter.
This option allows sales managers to easily filter forecast reports to display only data from their direct reports.

Salesforce for Outlook Enhancements
– Users can now create cases from the Salesforce side panel in outlook
– Receive update notifications in the side panel when a newer version is available
– Administrators can track which version users are running (Setup – Manage Users -> Login History)

************************
* SERVICE CLOUD
************************

Case feed Enhancements
– Drag and drop attachments to case emails from the case feed email publisher
– Use inline images in emails
– Resize the email message pane in the case feed
– Automatically assign outgoing emails with existing contacts
– Add, edit or remove topic tags to case feeds

Salesforce Console for Service Enhancements
– Multi-Monitor Support. Split the work places of the console across several screens
– Primary and secondary console windows
– Popped out footer components
– Multi-component support allows you to combine visualforce, knowledge, lookups and other components.
All in the same sidebar region of a side of a console tab.
– These features also applies to the Salesforce Console for Sales

Salesforce Knowledge Enhancements
– Knowledge is now available as a widget that you can plugin to the Salesforce Console for Service
– Enable the Knowledge One Footer onto any page via the console footer
– Create article reports filtered by data category
– Attach topics to articles to improve search quality
– Users can choose from suggested topics
– Topics add relevance and are searchable

************************
* CHATTER
************************

Salesforce Files Synch
– A cloud-based file management system that allows users to easily synch files to their Salesforce org
– Share synched files with others
– Collaborate on shared files
– Download a desktop application which provides a folder for synched files. Files in this folder are automatically synched
– Users can share files with Chatter or with external collaborators via a link
– Files can be accessed via desktop, browser and the Salesforce1 app
– Synched filter
– Chatter -> Settings -> Allow File Sync
– Activate Sync for profile (Sync Files) or use permission sets (Sync Files)
– The amount of available storage has been increased for all file types

Topic Enhancements
– Topics for objects
Allows you to tag specific records with information that links them to related content, conversations and knowledgeable people
Organizes records
– Setup -> Customize -> Topics -> Topics for Objects
Eg. Enable topics for Accounts
Use topic suggestions from default fields
Automatically enabled for all standard objects
Chatter is not required to enable topics for objects
Knowledgeable People and Endorsements widget which helps users identify experts for each topic
Signals of knowledge include how often a person
is @mentioned in posts or comments
receives likes on comments or posts
receives endorsements
Topics make findings records and experts easier

Chatter Group Enhancements
– Allows group managers and owners to post announcements
– A chatter group announcement is posted in a feed and appear as a persistent message to the left of the chatter feed
– Only group owners, group managers or users with the modify all data permission can post and delete group announcements
– Publisher actions must be enabled to use the announcement feature
– In Salesforce1, a group announcement will be shown on top of the feed

Communities Enhancements
– Flag files for moderation (if inappropriate content) (members can do this)
– Triggers can automatically flag items
– Moderation actions such as flagging items, removing flags and deleting flagged items are now tracked in an audit trail. Moderators can
can use custom reports to view this activity.
– Communities are now available in Salesforce1
– Members can now send each other private chatter messages
– Members can give recognition to one another by giving and creating badges or endorsing each other as knowledgeable people

************************
* DATA.COM
************************

– List pool purchase history and usage are now visible
– Data.com User limits expire monthly
– Data.com List User limits expire 1 year from purchase date
– Less management effort for List Pool User licenses
– Add data.com list user is now tied to the data.com user license so that list users have access to monthly addition limit and
administrators don’t have to worry about switching license types.
– The ability to add and export records without adjusting the selection
– The ability to bypass skipped records, triggers, and workflow rules
– Overwrite Salesforce record field values that differ from corresponding Data.com fields
– Manually refresh D&B Company records (even if the organization doesn’t use Clean jobs)
– Three free reporting packages downloadable from the AppExchange.
– Data.com Prospector Reports
– Data.com Premium Reports
– Data.com Clean Reports

Spring ’14 Release Training Notes (Developer)

Thought I should share my notes from the Spring ’14 release training videos.
Below are the ones for the developer maintenance certification.

************************
* FORCE.COM
************************

Data Import Wizard (new)
– Data Management -> Data Import Wizard
– Use the same wizard for all available objects
– Accounts and Contacts
– Leads
– Solutions
– Custom objects

Steps:
1. Select object
2. Choose what to do with the imported data
– Add new records
– Update existing records
– Add new and update existing records
3. Where is the data located?

– Field mapping with examples and error messages
– Review a summary before import
– Monitor import progress and results
– Makes it easier for all users to import data
– Can import up to 50000 records at a time
– The import wizard uses bulk api calls, meaning that imports may not process immediately and might be subject to delay

************************
* MOBILE
************************

Salesforce1 Mobile App
– Let’s you access your Salesforce data on the go
– Optimizied for easy navigation and data interaction on a touch screen
– View, update and create records
– View chatter feeds
– View dashboards
– Today feature to view all your events from the mobile calendar you selected and connects them to your salesforce tasks
– Customizations are available without any additional configurations
– Access Salesforce files, access Salesforce communities
– The Today feature is now available on Apple iPads
– Users can also access Salesforce1 using a supported mobile browser
– Salesforce1 is enabled for all organizations
– Administrators can manage the Salesforce1 apps from the Manage Apps -> Connected Apps
– Can control which users can use an app

– SalesforceA
– A mobile app for administrators
– Manage users from their mobile devices
– Administrators can now
– Freeze a user
– Deactivate a user
– Unlock a user
– Reset a user’s password
– View and edit a user’s information
– Assign permission sets

************************
* ANALYTICS
************************

Analytic Enhancements
Enhancements to reports
– When running a summary report, users can now sort the data in a grouping by any summarized field or custom summary formula in the report.
– Freeze the headers at the top or left of a report
– Hide report types from all users
– Remove footer information from exported reports
– Enable historical trending on the case object
Enhancements to dashboards
– Group and name dashboard filter values
– Display fractions as percentages in table components
– Edit a dashboard without needing the ‘View All Data’ permission

 

Passed the Salesforce.com Service Cloud Consultant Exam

I have not been working as much with the service cloud as with the sales cloud. Therefore this exam was a bit tougher for me. However, this time I passed and I actually felt pretty confident during the test.

Here are some areas on what to focus on.

Know:

• Salesforce Knowledge and Articles
• Entitlements
• Service cloud console
• Call center and contact center terms and how an agent works in a contact center
• Case management
• Data categories
• Email-to-Case and OnDemand Email-to-Case

Basics on:

• Methodologies like KCS and ITIL (check wikipedia)
• Salesforce for Twitter and Facebook
• Workforce management
• Performance. For example how is performance affected if you have many records in an org? What can you do make it better?
• Portals and Sites. Available choices. What is available where?
• Business Continuity Planning
• Visual workflow
• Salesforce data- and sharing model
• Metrics. What is important to different roles?
• CTI integration
• Different types of rules, what they do, where they are
• Web-to-Case and Web-to-Lead
• Migration tools and techniques