CRM Online Non-Interactive User

The Non-interactive user is an access mode that is assigned to a CRM User that isn’t a ‘human being’. What I mean by that is it is used for programmatic access to/from CRM between applications. It isn’t legal to use the role to access CRM programmatically by real people. This is particularly valuable when using ISV applications to connect to CRM like event management or email marketing solutions or other back end database systems like accounting systems.

The nice thing about the non-interactive user is it does not consume a CRM license, although you will need an available professional license initially to setup the user.

For CRM Online when you are on Office 365 it is a little tricky to setup. But if you follow the instructions below you will end up where you need to be. One lesson I learned when going through the process is that if you move too quickly through the setting changes, Office 365 can’t seem to keep up with their sync and the user role will be set to Administrative. Your experience will vary but to be safe I waited one day between steps 3 and 4 and 4 and 5.

1. Add a new user to O365 (I like to call it Integration) and assign it a CRM Online Professional License.

2. Go to CRM and assign this new user the appropriate security role – in my case it was System Administrator.

3. In CRM make the user’s Access Mode Non-interactive.

4. In O365 remove the license from the user.

5. Go back to CRM and confirm that the user is still set for Non-interactive.

PS Don’t assign this user a role in O365.

To test, try logging in to CRM via the browser. If you get a screen message as below, then you are good, if you get something else then something isn’t right. BTW, the You don’t have … is a little misleading, you have all the necessary privileges, just via the SDK.