Microsoft Business Application News – Microsoft has been releasing new functions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform step by step since April. All functions will be available to the end users by September 2021. The first functions are already available and we as AlfaPeople would like to give you a preview of the innovations for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform that are waiting for you. 

The 1st wave of releases continues to focus on the integration of the Power Platform with Microsoft Dynamics 365 

With the new functions that Microsoft is providing it is clear that the Power Platform is playing an increasing role and will remain an important building block for interaction with Microsoft Dynamics 365. In order to keep an overview, Microsoft separates its release notes for Power Platform and Dynamics 365.  

Power Platform 

Power Apps: 

• In-App-Notification: In the future, users can be notified via pop-up if, for example, there is an update on an account that the user is following. But also third party systems can use this function. 
• Quick-Search: The function is now even more intelligent and shows you your last used search queries and data sets already based on your input.  
• Quick-Search: Soon you will be able to directly perform interactions on proposed records, such as sending emails to contacts or completing ongoing tasks via one-click 
• Business-Process-Flow: This can now also be edited across its various phases inside the app, making working remotely even more efficient. 
• Microsoft Teams: In the future, you will be able to provide your users with entire apps within teams so that they can access relevant data even faster. 

Power Automate: 

• Cloud-Flows: Administrators can now access license reports inside the Admin Center to view API usage of flows and users. 
• Process Advisor: Processes can now be recorded in order to add comments to them. This will allow them to be better normalized in the future. 

 Power Virtual Agents: 

• Bot-Configuration: In the future, policies will ensure that data used by connectors and functions is properly managed and authenticated. 
• Microsoft-Teams: Using Power-Automate workflows, bots can now proactively message users when an answer to a question has changed without requiring the user to ask the question again.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing: 

• Channels: Create and send personalized messages via the SMS editor as part of campaigns 
• Push Messages: Send customized notifications to users of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 app, including images and videos. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales: 

• Mobile App: Microsoft now provides its own app in the App Store for the Sales module, which is optimized for distribution. This can be used, for example, to transfer online conferences or phone calls directly from the device to the app. 
• Pipelines: A new interactive dashboard allows sales staff to access the deal manager. All important deals are displayed here. From here, further action can be taken with just one–click. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service: 

• Knowledge Management: Customers can integrate external search providers into the search via connectors. These include Sharepoint and Microsoft Search, to name just a few. Microsoft plans to integrate more connectors here in the future. 
• E-Mail: The personal settings will get their own section in the main menu where you can configure personalized email templates and signatures, which will be automatically applied in the system.  

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service:

• Knowledge Management: For the field service, the embedding of knowledge management is a useful tool to be able to link orders with knowledge articles, for example. The function is also made available for offline access in the app. 
• Power Virtual Agents: Support for technicians through the integration of virtual agents reduces the time and operating costs for finding solutions 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations: 

• Finance Insights: With the new budget proposal function, you can automatically create proposals for budget plans from the inventory data 
• Supply Chain Management: The new mobile app has been completely redesigned, which also increases the ergonomics and efficiency of your processes. 
• Human Resources: A new absence manager uses alternative hierarchies to automatically manage the approval processes for leave requests. 

Microsoft listens to the voices of its customers and not only impresses with the introduction of new features within the Power Platform and Dynamics 365, but also consistently improves existing features and always creates new bridges to give you the unique user experience even across application boundaries. Would you like to learn more? Then we as AlfaPeople are available to you at any time.