Dynamics 365 Monthly Update-February 2019

Featured News

Dynamics 365 April ’19 Release Notes

Customers can now download the Dynamics 365 April ’19 release notes. The notes describe all new features releasing from April 2019 through September 2019 for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. Review the release notes online and download them.

The enhancements to Dynamics 365 in the April ’19 release include hundreds of new capabilities. Microsoft continues to invest in Artificial Intelligence capabilities that leverage the power of Microsoft AI research, tools, data, and the Power Platform to help organizations transform customer service, sales, and marketing functions. The new Power Platform capabilities combine Power BI, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Common Data Service into an unmatched palette of tools to extend, customize, and integrate Dynamics 365 and Office 365. All these changes to help drive the digital transformation of your business on your terms.

Opt-In to April ’19 Updates

Customers can enable the features coming in the April 2019 update by opting in to the updates in the Power platform Admin center. Opting in will enable all changed user experience updates for Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, which will be enabled by default for everyone starting April 2019.

The environments (instances) that are eligible for enabling April 2019 release are Production, Trial, and Sandbox. This allows customers the flexibility to explore the preview features, and then adopt them across environments at a rate that suits their business. For more information, review this article in the Microsoft Docs site.

Note: This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change.

Dynamics 365 April ’19 Release Virtual Launch

Customers can get an in-depth look at the April ‘19 updates across Dynamics 365 and the Power platform in this free virtual launch event. Hear from James Phillips, Corporate Vice President, Business Applications Group, on how to optimize your business with Dynamics 365, Power BI, PowerApps and Microsoft Flow.

This live event will show customers how to:

• Transform on your terms by optimizing your operations with customizable applications that work seamlessly together.
• Remove business silos by unifying your relationships, processes, and data for greater impact across applications and ecosystems.
• Deliver actionable insights using built-in intelligence, including artificial intelligence and analytics.
• Create a flexible, scalable platform that lets you extend existing applications, build new solutions, and integrate your choice of technologies.

Register and tune in April 2, 2018 at 8am PST / 11pm EST

Updates & Releases

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online Release

The following Service Updates for Dynamics 365 online version 9.1.0 are available:

Service Update 20 (9.1.0.2001 or higher) resolved issues include:

• Custom base type currency fields displayed with the wrong formatting.
• Sales pipeline records were not visible in the mobile app in UI after being created.
• Existing users could not be added to user sub-grids.

Service Update 22 (9.1.0.2201 or higher) resolved issues include:

• The Lookup window unexpectedly contained a scrollbar.
• Reducing the width of a record window resulted in the top bar extending off the screen.
• Double-clicking a Marketing List member redirected to the wrong record.

Service Update 24 (9.1.0.241 or higher) resolved issues include:

• The Quick Create forms on Activities were not functioning.
• UCI permitted users to download Excel templates, even when those users lacked appropriate privileges.
• Appointments displayed the wrong start and end times.

Service Update 26 (9.1.0.2605 or higher) resolved issues include:

• Forms were not rendering properly when accessed in Chrome.
• Changes to a team's business unit value were not reflected in UI.
• Quotes could not be revised using a workflow.

Service Update 28 (9.1.0.2801 or higher) resolved issues include:

• The Currency field's default value was not overwritten when a new amount was entered, requiring the original value to be deleted first.
• Dashboards were missing the Save As function.
• Buttons in the main menu were truncated when displayed using Internet Explorer.

Field Service Updates

The latest update to the Field Service solutions for Dynamics 365 is available. This release is compatible with Dynamics 365 9.x.

Field Service enhancements (v 7.5.6.97)

Improvements:

• Background location sharing
• Oauth/Multi-factor Authentication
• Support for logging in with users who have AAD guest accounts via Oauth
• Navigation drop-down for tab navigation for the new form UI on Windows and Android/iOS tablet form factors.

Resolved issues include:

• Saving a new account with address information while auto-geocode was set to false required two clicks.
• In booking journal form, the duration field does not show the correct value from the server.
• The amount field was updated unnecessarily when updating a Work Order Service record or deactivating/deleting a Work Order Product.

For more information, review Release Notes for Field Service Version 7.5.6.97.

Project Service Automation Updates

The latest updates to the Project Service Automation solutions for Dynamics 365 are available. These releases are compatible with Dynamics 365 9.x.

Project Service Automation (v 3.3.0.258)

Resolved issues include:

• Adding a Boolean type field on a time entry control no longer throws an error when creating new entries.

• Users were unable to see requirements on the schedule board when customers upgraded from version 2.x to 3.x.

To update your instance, visit the Admin Center for Dynamics 365 online, and find the solutions page. For more information refer to How to update a preferred solution.

Universal Resource Scheduling Updates for Dynamics 365

Microsoft is pleased to announce the latest updates to Universal Resource Scheduling. These releases include improvements to quality, performance and usability. The updates apply to various versions of Universal Resource Scheduling, Field Service and Project Service Automation for Dynamics 365. To update your instance, visit the  Admin Center for Dynamics 365 online, and find the solutions page. For more information refer to How to update a preferred solution.

Enhancements include:

• Saving a filter on the schedule board now shows a green confirmation checkmark instead of a yellow warning symbol.
• A warning message displays when trying to change the latitude and longitude on a booking.
• Added validation check for a resource already assigned to a facility so it cannot be assigned as a child resource to a facility or pool for the same timeframe.

Resolved issues include:

• The schedule board map view was showing more requirements than it should.
• Duplicated bookings when many bookings scheduled in a short period of time.
• Permissions issue where users could not create booking alerts
• Issues with searching for resources on schedule board when the resource name contained an apostrophe

For more information on the features included in these releases, review:

Universal Resource Scheduling, November 2018, (UR 2)

Universal Resource Scheduling, November 2018, (UR 10)

Universal Resource Scheduling, December 2018

Dynamics 365 for Marketing Update

The February 2019 update of Dynamics 365 for Marketing is coming soon. This update will include several new features, plus plenty of performance and stability improvements. Preview features are scheduled to be part of the upcoming major release in April 2019.

Preview features include:

• New custom design elements to the graphical email designer
• Extensible content settings give you more control over standardized email content
• Improved marketing insights make it easier to evaluate and learn from your campaigns
• Add hidden fields to marketing forms to better capture submission context

For more information on all the preview features, review this post.

Preview: Email-based sign in for Dynamics 365 for phones app

The new email-based sign-in experience for the Dynamics 365 for phones app is available in preview for iOS users. Dynamics 365 for phones users will be able to sign into the app using their work email address with a single click. With this new sign in experience, users will also have access to all their apps in a single apps list.

For more information review this post on the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Team Blog.

Customer Service Webinar series: The new age of customer service

Customer service is quickly becoming the epicenter for leading customer experience and customer engagement initiatives. Consistently delivering a positive customer experience helps continually build engagement. Customers are demanding more control of the conversation. They want better access to information and their issues resolved immediately with self-service options.

In the midst of all this change, how is technology helping customer service organizations meet these demands? What type of infrastructure is needed? How do you move forward with legacy applications and databases? How do you leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, chatbots, and web self-service to provide the level of service your customers demand? The new age of customer service webinars answers these questions and more. If you missed the first two sessions, you can watch the replay.

The last session will be delivered on Thursday, February 21 at 10am PT.

Part 1: The Evolving Role of Customer Service, watch replay.

Part 2: The New Age of Customer Service, watch replay.

Part 3: Optimizing the Customer Service Agent Experience, register to attend

Free PowerApps App-in-a-Day Workshops

As a business leader, you need to react quickly to the changing market and cannot remain dependent on developing a software solution from scratch to do that. You want the ability to build a solution to meet your business needs swiftly. With the Microsoft Power Platform, you can build great business apps without writing code, plus digitize and automate your business processes and easily connect all your applications to share data.

The App-in-a-Day workshops are a great introduction to the Microsoft Power Platform. At the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to:

• Create custom business applications without writing code.
• Build sophisticated business processes and complex data relationships within your applications.
• Connect your app to a variety of data sources to bring it to life.
• Share your apps inside your organization securely.

Register for a workshop in a city near you.

Training Corner

New Dynamics 365 Certifications

At Microsoft, we’re committed to helping you and your career keep pace with today’s business roles and requirements. If you’re ready to take your skills and career to the next level and you want validated and industry-recognized credentials to bring to work, this is a great time to start training and get certified. You can prepare for role-based certifications with online courses, instructor-led training, or even microlearning available through Microsoft Learn.

Two new certifications are now available for Dynamics 365:

Dynamics 365 for Sales Functional Consultant Associate

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales Functional Consultants implement solutions that anticipate and plan customer connections, manage deals through processing and closing, and accelerate sales team performance using data analytics. Click this link for more details.

Dynamics 365 for Customer Service Functional Consultant Associate

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Service Functional Consultants build CX solutions that are fast, agile, and leverage AI to drive actionable insights that anticipate customer needs. Click this link for more details.

Stay current with relationship selling

With the combined power of LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, modern sellers can foster stronger relationships with buyers through authentic and personal engagement. Relationship selling translates into greater business success, higher profits, and new revenue streams.

Register for a free webinar to learn how to:

• Discover new, high-quality leads with the power of LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Boost win rates across your team with social selling
• Expand relationships to include additional members of the buying committee

Tune in March 7, 2019 10am PST / 1pm EST