Introducing the locking option for CRM records

Last modified on 06/04/2023: Record locking option in CRM is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all DCs. Note that it was an early access feature available only upon request.

Hello All,

Hope you're doing well!

We're thrilled to introduce our latest enhancement to CRM—record locking.

Certain business scenarios demand that records in your organization's modules be safe from editing or deletion once they reach a certain stage in your sales process or satisfy specific conditions.

For example, if a deal has reached the final stage—"closed won" or "closed lost"—then perhaps it shouldn't be further edited or deleted.

Alternatively, let's say a record is in its proposal or review stage. During such a stage, the details of the record need to be verified, and even though a sales rep may be the record's owner, you can't allow them to update the record while the review is ongoing.

There might also be situations where the record doesn't match certain criteria, but the user dealing with the record might want to lock the record to avoid changes. For example, when a sales rep is in touch with a prospect, they may want to temporarily lock the record while prospecting is in progress to prevent other reps from adding incorrect information to the record.

Zoho CRM's record-locking feature enables you to lock records manually or automatically when certain conditions are met.

NOTE (added on 02/03/23): The locking configuration must be set up separately for each module. You can navigate to the specific module in Modules and Fields under Customization in your setup page, and you will find the Record Locking Configuration tab.

Record locking configurations
Now that we've established why locking records can be useful or necessary, let's take a quick look at the different configuration options available:

Users can lock records manually from the record details page if they have lock permissions.
You can set up automatic locking by setting some default criteria. Create conditions, name them, and decide whether to apply the conditions and lock existing records, or to restrict the conditions only for newly created records.

There might be scenarios where, say, you want members of the accounts team to be able to edit quotes, but not other profiles. You can simply lock the records for all profiles except those belonging to members of the accounts team, any other set of exceptions using the multi-select menu. Additionally, you can also choose to lock records for all profiles.
You can lock the records that are accessible to your portal users.
For locked records, the edit action is disabled by default, but you can restrict other types of native actions, as well as custom buttons.

Even when a record is locked, you can configure certain fields which don't affect your business process to remain editable. For example, you might want the Description or comment fields to remain editable. You can leave a maximum of 15 fields unlocked.

What happens when a record is locked?

Once a record is locked, you will see the lock icon on the record image and in the UI of the record detail page itself. Only fields you've enabled will be available to edit.

The details of the locking, such as the reason (i.e., the locking condition), locking date, and the fields available for edit will be shown on the details button available on the record detail page.

In the record's timeline, you can also see timestamped details like when the record was locked and the condition that was followed.

On the record list view, locked records are indicated by a lock icon.

Additionally, you can filter records in the list view based on the pre-defined filter option, as well as based on the system-defined custom view.

Who can unlock records and how is it done?

If a user locks a record manually, they can unlock it themselves. Admins can unlock records, too. On the other hand, automatically locked records will be unlocked only when they're no longer subject to the lock conditions or criteria.

However, deleting a rule or locking configuration will automatically unlock all records the rule or condition had previously locked.

Additional notes

Set up to five rules per module. Each rule will have a name that is displayed on the record detail page when a record is locked.
System actions like automation and integration syncs will still be performed on locked records, even when a user who is excluded from locking triggers those processes.
Locked records are still displayed in list views. However, bulk actions done from list views are not allowed if the respective action is restricted under the record locking configuration.
Record locking configuration is available for enterprise and ultimate editions of Zoho CRM. If an user downgrades from enterprise edition, locking configurations will be ineffective and all records will be unlocked.

Locked status can not be regained upon upgrading back.

That's all for this exciting new enhancement. Read more about the record locking configurations and its usage in our help doc.

Thanks and have a good one!

Note:

Manual locking/unlocking of records is not available for the mobile app as yet.
Auto-locking of records will get reflected on the mobile app, and locked records cannot be updated from mobile app also.
The locking configuration must be set up separately for each module.

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