Microsoft has finally gone live with its on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) software.

The online CRM package offers marketing, sales and service capabilities which can be accessed through a web browser or via Microsoft Office and Outlook.

"Microsoft Dynamics CRM delivers the power of choice to customers, with a familiar and productive user experience and a multitenant platform that enables fast on-premise implementations or ‘instant-on’ deployments over the Internet," said Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM at Microsoft.

But the service is only available to Microsoft customers in the US and Canada. If European businesses wanted the hosted CRM software, they have to use one of Microsoft's reseller partners.

Users have a choice of two online solutions. The cheapest option is the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Professional, which gives businesses 5GB of data storage and 100 workflows. It is now available for a short period of time for $39 per user, per month, but its normal market price is set at $44 per user per month.

A more expensive option is the Professional Plus edition, priced at $59 per use per month, but the version contains offline synchronization and extra storage and is can be customised to suit users' requirments.