Hello Readers,

Taking a dive into Copilot features during a break from work, and I thought of compiling a guide. Hope you find it beneficial.

What is copilot?

Dynamics 365: Copilot for Dynamics 365 is an AI-powered tool designed to enhance the productivity and efficiency of various business teams, including sales, support, supply chain management, finance, and marketing. Operating within a chat interface, Copilot offers quick summaries of sales opportunities, lead updates, meeting preparations, account-related news, and more. Seamless integration with Outlook and Teams facilitates improved data management, and its generative AI capabilities enable users to summarize records and generate email content effortlessly. Copilot stands as a valuable ally for streamlining operations and facilitating intelligent insights within Dynamics 365.

Microsoft 365: Copilot for Microsoft 365 signifies a transformative approach to work, introducing a collaborative environment between AI and employees for heightened productivity. Recognizing the contemporary challenge of an accelerating work pace, Copilot aims to address the struggle of individuals managing time and energy. Business leaders now acknowledge the value of AI, not just for reducing workloads but for enhancing overall productivity.

This innovative tool, utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) and tapping into Microsoft Graph business data, reshapes the digital work landscape. Going beyond a mere ChatGPT integration, Copilot serves as a sophisticated orchestration engine seamlessly embedded in Microsoft 365 applications such as Teams, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel. Its goal is to not only inspire creativity but also elevate productivity and cultivate new skills. Copilot stands as a fusion of LLM strengths with Microsoft 365 apps, leveraging proprietary business data within Microsoft Graph.

Which applications within Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 are compatible?

Family	Apps
Microsoft 365	Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Loop
Dynamics 365	Dynamics 365 Business Central Dynamics 365 Customer Service Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys Dynamics 365 Field Service Dynamics 365 Project Operations Dynamics 365 Sales Dynamics 365 Commerce Dynamics 365 Finance Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

What are the license requirements?

Family	License 1	License 2
Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365	Microsoft 365 E3	Copilot for Microsoft 365 (USD $30)
	Microsoft 365 E5	Copilot for Microsoft 365 (USD $30)
Dynamics 365 Dynamics 365 Dynamics 365 Dynamics 365 Dynamics 365 Dynamics 365	Dynamics 365 Sales Premium	N/A
	Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise	N/A
	Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise with customer service add-in (for chat response and conversation summary)	N/A
	Dynamics 365 Sales Professional	Microsoft Sales copilot (USD $40)
	Dynamics 365 Customer Service Professional	Microsoft copilot for Service (USD $50)* This is purely a guess, I can’t find it anywhere in documentation as of 29/12/2023
	Dynamics 365 Customer Insights	N/A

What are some of the features of copilot?

Family	App	Features
Microsoft 365	Word	• Draft with copilot • Chat
	PowerPoint	• Draft with copilot • Chat • Light commanding copilot Chat Light commanding
	Loop	• Collaborative content creation
	Outlook	• Draft with copilot • Summarize • Coaching tips
	Teams	• Chat • Meetings • Whiteboard
	OneNote	• Draft with copilot
Dynamics 365	Sales	• Record summarization • Recent changes • Meeting preparation • Email assistance • News updates
	Customer Service	• Summarize a case and conversation • Respond to questions • Compose an email • Draft a chat response • Ask a question about knowledge base sources
	Customer Insights – Journeys	• Style your emails with AI-assisted themes • Kickstart email creation • Refresh and perfect your message • Create journeys • Target the right customers using query assist
	Field Service	• Work order recap • Work order creation
	Business Central	• Enhance bank reconciliation • Marketing text suggestions • AI generated product description and mappings
	Project Operations	• Task plan generation • Risk assessments • Project status reports

How to enable copilot for Dynamics 365 Sales

Sales Hub >> App settings (Area) >> General Settings>> Copilot>> Setup

How to enable copilot for Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Customer service admin centre>> Agent Experience>> Productivity

Customer service admin centre>> Operations>> Insights

How to enable copilot for Dynamics 365 Business Central

App>> Feature Management>> Create AI-powered product descriptions with copilot (or others)>> enable

How to enable copilot for Microsoft 365

• Go to https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?Q=learndocs#/modernonboarding/microsoft365copilotsetupguide
• Assign required licences

What about copilot extensibility?

There are many ways to customize Copilot; following three are most popular:

• Graph connectors
• Plugins (Preview)
• Power Platform connectors

Prerequisites

If you have the right licenses, it is assumed that all users will have Microsoft Entra ID.

Prerequisite by apps here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-365-copilot-requirements

Limitations

References

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/dev/copilot/copilot-for-dynamics365

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/introduction-microsoft-365-copilot/2-what-is-copilot

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/sales/enable-setup-copilot

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-service/implement/faq-responsible-ai-copilot#what-are-the-limitations-of-copilot-in-customer-service-how-can-users-minimize-the-impact-of-copilot-limitations

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/bank-reconciliation-with-copilot?tabs=fromlist#prerequisites

Are you in the process of assessing CRM applications and feeling overwhelmed by the multitude of options available? To simplify your decision-making, I’ve conducted a thorough comparison of two leading contenders in the market: Dynamics 365 and HubSpot.

Broad Capability	Dynamics 365	HubSpot
Scope of Functionality	Dynamics 365 CE is a robust customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers a comprehensive suite of sales, marketing, and customer service capabilities. It provides features such as lead management, opportunity tracking, email marketing automation, case management, and more.	HubSpot, on the other hand, primarily focuses on inbound marketing and offers tools for content management, social media marketing, lead generation, and email marketing.
Integration and Ecosystem	Dynamics 365 CE seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft products and services, including Office 365, Power BI, and Power Automate. This integration allows for a unified experience and data sharing across the Microsoft ecosystem.	HubSpot, on the other hand, offers integrations with various third-party tools and platforms but does not have the same level of integration with a specific ecosystem.
Scalability and Customisation	Dynamics 365 CE is highly scalable and suitable for organisations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises. It provides extensive customisation options, allowing businesses to tailor the system to their specific needs. Most flexible CRM in the market available today.	HubSpot is popular among smaller businesses, but its scalability may be limited as organisations grow and require more advanced CRM functionalities.
Sovereignty	US, UK, Europe and Oceania (including ANZ)	US and Europe.
ERP Integration	Dynamics 365 CE and Dynamics 365 Business Central offer seamless integration capabilities through their out-of-the-box setup within Business Central.	Custom Integration.
Workflow Automation	Dynamics 365 offers a powerful workflow engine that allows users to create and automate complex business processes. It provides a visual designer interface, making it easier to design and manage workflows with drag-and-drop functionality. Dynamics 365 can leverage the capabilities of Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow), offering additional automation options and integration with hundreds of third-party applications.	HubSpot focuses on marketing automation, offering tools for email marketing, lead nurturing, and lead scoring. While HubSpot offers some integration options, its automation capabilities are more centered around the HubSpot platform and have limitations when integrating with external systems.
Additional Benefits	Dynamics 365 licenses encompass Power Apps and Power Automate functionalities when utilised within the context of Dynamics 365. This means you have the freedom to create unlimited apps and automate numerous processes to suit your specific needs.	No such low code benefits.

Hope you find it helpful.

Hi Readers

This will be a crisp read but it covers all information to set up power pipelines as of January 2023.

We are going to explore ‘Power Pipelines’ today. It is a part of power platform ALM.

Both makers and developers can use it.

What is it?

My definition: Automate solution deployment in power platform including Dynamics 365 CE apps.

Microsoft’s Version: Pipelines in Power Platform aim to democratize application lifecycle management (ALM) for Power Platform and Dynamics 365 customers by bringing ALM automation and continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) capabilities into the service in a manner that’s more approachable for all makers, admins, and developers.

Current Status: Preview (do not use for production environments)

Expected General Availability: Unknown

Prerequisites

•Managed environments only

•Power Platform admin or DataVerse Admin

•Minimum environments 3 but recommended 4

•Must have a DataVerse database

Limitations

•Does not work on environments of type ‘Developer’

•Does not work on environments in different geo-locations

•D4T is not supported

•Preview

Steps

Step 1: Create a host environment for pipelines

Step 2: Go to resources

Step 3: Install Dynamics 365 Apps i.e., Power Platform Pipelines

Step 4: Create pipelines in host environment

Note: Two new security roles are created automatically

Useful References

•Overview of pipelines – https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/alm/pipelines

•Managed environments – https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/managed-environment-enable

Watch the demo

Download the PDF

This one is just to help you visualise all high level features of apps within Dynamics 365 CE.

Feel free to download.

Hope it helps!

Wondering, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬 365 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩 is fit for your organisation? Here’s a quick comparison of Dynamics 365 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐮𝐦. 

Hope you find it helpful.

Read this article on LinkedIn

Power Pages are generally available now, enabling you to build low-code, scalable, and secure business-centric websites. Follow the steps below to build a site in minutes:

(GIF for reference at the end of this article 😊)

For Existing Power Platform Customers:

Step 1: Go to https://make.powerpages.microsoft.com

Step 2: Sign in with your existing Microsoft 365 credentials

Step 3: Select the correct environment

Step 4: If it’s your first time trying, you probably won’t have any sites. So, click on ‘Create a site’

Step 5: Select a template suitable for your requirements

Step 6: Click ‘edit’ to add pages, forms, tables etc.,

For organisations who are still not on Power Platform:

Step 1: Go to https://powerpages.microsoft.com and create a trial

Step 2: Sign in

Step 3: Select the correct environment (you probably will have it selected by default as it is a new trial)

Step 4: You probably won’t have any sites. So, click on ‘Create a site’

Step 5: Select a template suitable for your requirements

Step 6: Click ‘edit’ to add pages, forms, tables etc.,

It will probably take 15-30 minutes to get the site ready, see the GIF:

Read more from #microsoft here https://powerpages.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-power-pages-is-now-generally-available/

#powerplatform #mspartner #msdyn365 #powerapps #portals #webdesign

Hello Readers

This one is to save you a lot of time. I am unsure, how many people are still to upgrade but sharing anyway.

Issue: When you upgrade from web client to UCI, some columns in the views will show as blank.

Reason: I couldn’t find any reason and then Microsoft came to rescue. This might occur because the missing data column is not in the FetchXML of the view. UCI depends on the view metadata to retrieve data from server. In web client this was different.

Solution: Remove column and add it back, save and publish. And the data will start appearing again. Make sure to do this in dev/test/sandbox environment first and then move the solution to production.

Hope that helps!