Overview

 In modern technology, there is a clear need to reuse objects and let the user configure each object once and repeatedly use it over and over again.
This is the basic assumption of the “Connection” configuration in Totango Customer Data Hub.

Connection to a data source is usually done by Ops or Data teams, and the main idea is that it will be configured once and you can reuse the same connection for several integrations.

Important note, the CRM integration family is a closed system, therefore, the data source connectors which are created can be re-used for only CRM integrations and not for other integration families.

Topics covered in this article: 

• Creating CRM Connections
• Configuring Salesforce Connection
• Configuring MS Dynamics Connection

Creating CRM Connections

1. Go to your Totango instance and click on Global Settings > Data Management >Customer Data Hub > click on CRM query-based card (note: you will need Totango Admin privileges). 
   
2. Create a new connection (or review your existing connections)
   
   
   
   
   

Configuring Salesforce Connection

Salesforce configuration is based on OAuth credentials and requires a dedicated connected app configured in Salesforce. The dedicated connected app is the authentication endpoint and the OAuth user holds the object permissions to your Salesforce.

First, you will create the connected app in Salesforce, and then create the CRM connector in totango.

Create Connected App in Salesforce

Creating a connected app is needed for creating an authentication endpoint within Salesforce. The new connected app informs Salesforce of this new authentication entry point and includes the relevant authentication configuration. Read more about Salesforce connected apps.

Follow these steps to create a new connected app to sync data to Totango:

1. Open SalesForce, using Admin access.
2. create a new connected app.
   In Lightning View:
   • Open App Manager under Platform Tools --> Apps
     
   • Click 'New Connected App' from the header
     
     
     In Classic View:

• Click Apps under "Build" > "Create" menu
  
• Scroll the bottom of the page, under the "Connected Apps" section click New to start defining a new connected app.
  
• Enter the name of your application.
• Enter the contact email information, as well as any other information appropriate for your application.
• Select Enable OAuth Settings.
• Enter this Callback URL: https://app.totango.com/auth/connector/callback 
• OAuth copes are permissions given by the user running the connected app.
  Add these scopes to the "Selected OAuth Scopes" and click "Save": 
  • Full access (full) 
  • Perform requests on your behalf at any time (refresh_token, offline_access) - enable it to allow the integration to ask for a token refresh without user intervention.
• Token validation is usually configured to 12 minutes, you can change it per your company standards.
  
  
• Click the "Save" button

Important note, it might take 2-10 minutes before your new connected app is created on Salesforce server.

Create a CRM Connector to Salesforce in Totango

After the Salesforce connected app is created, create the connection in Totango.
Enter the connection name and description, and then choose the "Salesforce" type.
enter the client id, client secret, select the Salesforce environment type (production or sandbox), and click the “Test and Save connection” to connect using your OAuth credentials.
You will be asked to enter your Salesforce credentials unless you are already connected in a different tab of the browser. In the later, the oAuth configuration will take the credentials stored in your active browser session.

Important note, the OAuth user holds the object permissions to your Salesforce. We recommend creating a dedicated user for this integration which has the desired object access permissions (for example, the dedicated OAuth user can access Account object but not Contact object). 

Configuring MS Dynamics Connection

MS Dynamics configuration is based on OAuth credentials and requires a dedicated connected app configured in MS Dynamics.

First, you will create the connected app in MS Dynamics, and then create the CRM connector in totango.

Create App in MS Dynamics

Creating an app is needed for creating an authentication endpoint within MS Dynamics. The new app informs MS Dynamics of this new authentication entry point and includes the relevant authentication configuration. Read more about MS Dynamics connected apps.

Follow these steps to create a new connected app to sync data to Totango:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal using an account with administrator permission. You must use an account in the same Office 365 subscription (tenant) as you intend to register the app with. You can also access the Azure portal through the Office 365 Admin center by expanding the Admin centers item in the left navigation pane and selecting Azure Active Directory.
   
2. Navigate to Azure Active Directory > App registrations > Click + New application registration.
   
   

3. In the Register an application page, enter your Totango app registration information:

   • In the Name section, enter a meaningful application name like "Totango main data sync".

   • Select "Accounts in any organizational directory" option from the supported account types section.

   • Keep the Redirect URI to https://app.totango.com/auth/connector/callback 

   • Click on "Register" to create the application.
     
     

4. On the app Overview page, hover over Application (client) ID value, and select the Copy to clipboard icon to copy the value as you'll need to specify this in your application's authentication code or app.config file where appropriate.
   
   

5. Select Manifest tab, in the manifest editor, set the allowPublicClient* property to true and click on Save button.
   
   
   

6. Select API permissions tab, click on Add a permission.
   

7. Select Dynamics CRM under the Microsoft APIs tab.
   

8. Click on Delegated permissions and check the options and click on Add permissions.
   
   

9. Select Certificates & secrets tab, click on New client secret. Add a meaningful description and select expires Never.
   Important note, copy the client secret and later on use it in configuring the Totango connector. You will not be able to copy it later.
   
   
   
   

10. This completes the registration of your application in Azure Active Directory.

11.  Now that we have our Azure app set up complete, we’ll move on to creating an application user.

    • Once you create the app user, make sure to give it a custom Security role that has the access you want this user to have.

    • Navigate to your Dynamics 365 org > Settings > Security. Change the view to Application Users and then click +New.

      

    • This will show you a new user form (make sure to change the form to “APPLICATION USER”) where you will only need to fill the “Application ID” field. Use the application ID you created from your Azure app in the previous steps.

       

Create a CRM Connector to MS Dynamics in Totango

After the MS Dynamics app is created, create the connection in Totango.
Enter the connection name and description, and then choose the "MS Dynamics" type.
Enter the MS Dynamics details below: 

1. Client ID: Azure Active directory application ID
2. Client secret: Azure Active directory application secret (you have copied it in the steps above)
3. Organization domain: MS-Dynamics CRM domain
4. Directory (tenant) id: Azure tenant ID

MS-Dynamics CRM domain:

Click the “Test and Save connection” to connect using your OAuth credentials.

You will be asked to enter your MS Dynamics credentials unless you are already connected in a different tab of the browser. In the later, the oAuth configuration will take the credentials stored in your active browser session.