Dynamics 365 Monthly Update-November 2017

Featured News

Security Enhancements Announcement for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Government

By default, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Government sets a user session timeout of 8 hours. A user is not required to log in with their credentials for up to 8 hours regardless of whether the user was active or inactive.

With the implementation of the Security enhancements: User session and access management, customers can now set their own session timeout limit for their individual Dynamics 365 instances.

For greater flexibility and better customer experience, Microsoft is moving the maximum session timeout duration from 8 hours to 24 hours. This will allow customers to set a custom session timeout duration between 1 hour and 24 hours.

If the previous 8-hour session timeout duration is required, customers will need to set a custom session timeout for all their Dynamics 365 instances.

Please refer to FedRAMP guidance on recommended inactivity and session timeout parameters for your organization.

Review the highlights of these enhancements in the following video: Security Enhancements: User session management.

Unified Service Desk and TLS 1.2 Mandate for Dynamics 365 (Online)

As part of Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to stay up to date with industry security policies and best practices, the 9.0 update for Dynamics 365 (online) will begin requiring connections for customer engagement applications to utilize TLS 1.2 (or better). The in-market versions of the Unified Service Desk client desktops will be required to have the following registry entries set In order to connect to the CRM online instances running version 9.0:

For more information, please review the following articles:

Updates coming to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement connection security
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2017/09/28/updates-coming-to-dynamics-365-customer-engagement-connection-security/

Microsoft Security Advisory 2960358
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2015/2960358#ID0ETHAE

Portal Capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Version 8.3.3.152 Release

Portal capabilities version 8.3.3.152 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 is now available. This release includes an updated portal host and updated solution packages (new solution packages will be available after the portal host upgrades have been completed globally). The portal host will automatically be updated by Microsoft, but action must be taken by your organization to upgrade the solution packages.

Until the solution packages are updated, some enhancements will not be available to portal administrators and/or users. For instructions on how to upgrade the portal solution packages, please refer to this KB article.

New and updated features include:

• Added a new error message for password confirmation screen when attempting to send email fails due to contact email preference being disabled. Alert emails now provide a link to the Analytics area of the Social Engagement app
• Resolved issue of deactivated forum threads appearing in the portal
• Fixed intermittent issue that would not register the website bindings when a new portal is deployed
• Increased cache performance of knowledge articles in portal

For more information, review the release article.

Updates & Releases

Service Update 5 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 9.0.0 (online)

Service update 5 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 9.0.0 (online) is now available.

This update resolves the following issues:

• Recipient, and user information is missing in record form when using the Hebrew Language
• Inactivity script must read IsUSD and USDBrowserMode variables from top window instead of using iframe.
• Activities are not showing up unless youhover over it in Sales Activity Dashboard using an iOS device.
• "TypeError: Mscrm.CrmCrossBrowser is undefined" is thrown selecting save after creating rule item in a Record creation, and a rule update.
• An unexpected error occurs when attempting to enable a Language.
• A user can download another user's Report data.
• Knowledge Base form is throwing an onload error every time the form is loaded.

To determine whether your organization had this update applied, check your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online version number by clicking the gear icon in the upper-right corner, select About and look for:

Service update 5 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online 9.0.0

Service Update 3 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 8.2.2 (online)

Service Update 3 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 8.2.2 (online) is now available.

Some of the issues resolved in this update include:

• The Regarding field on tracked emails is getting cleared when using App for Outlook.
• Global workflows are not triggering on Business Process Flow process completion.
• SLA fields are not displayed in custom entities.
• When tracking meetings in the Outlook App, the list of participants is not synchronized to Dynamics 365.
• Unable to hide the tab name in mobile application with Jscript.

For more information about the update, review the following KB article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4056116

To determine whether your organization had this update applied, check your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online version number by clicking the gear icon in the upper-right corner, select About and look for:

Service Update 32 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 8.2.2

Unified Service Desk update 3.1.0

Unified Service Desk update 3.1.0 is now available. The enhancements are primarily focused on aligning with the latest security enhancements in Dynamics CRM online version 9.0:

• The Unified Service Desk version 3.1.0 supports TLS 1.2 out of the box. This means the client automatically connects to Dynamics 365 9.0 (online).
• Dynamics 365 9.0 (online) provides capabilities of preventing unauthorized access by supporting inactivity timer and session timer for users. Unified Service Desktop version 3.1.0 provides support for these enhancements, particularly in IE Process hosting type.

For more information, review the Unified Service Desk 3.1.0 is Released blog post.

Dynamics 365 for Field Service and Project Service Automation Update 4

With the goal of continuously improving quality, performance, usability, and responding to some customer feature feedbacks, Microsoft recently released an update for Dynamics 365 for Field Service and Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation.

Field Service enhancements include:

• Resolved error message "An item with the same key has already been added" when trying to upgrade from a version 6.0.x.x Field Service build to build 6.2.1.38
• Resolved error message "The work order must match the work order set on the booking." when users attempted to save Purchase Orders
• Resolved issue of work order forms not displaying in the portal for field service

Project Service Automation enhancements include:

• Corrected the timestamp for Accounting Date on Project Actuals to show the Approval Date
• Resolved issue with Project based line window not closing automatically after clicking Save & Close
• Performance improvements in the Time Entry & Expenses areas

For more details on the update, review this post in the Dynamics 365 Team blog.

Microsoft Social Engagement 2017 Update 1.10

Microsoft Social Engagement 2017 Update 1.10 is now available.

New and updated features include:

• Updated user experience for activity maps
• Alert emails now provide a link to the Analytics area of the Social Engagement app
• New training video on Microsoft Virtual Academy
• New social post packs

Enhancements include:

• Improvements on the backend for acquisition stability and reliability
• Resolved an issue with truncated text strings in previous Social Engagement versions
• Resolved an issue with keyword filters where the input field was limited

For more information, review the What’s new in Microsoft Social Engagement 2017 Update 1.10 article in the Dynamics 365 Team blog.

Deprecation of post.profile.id object in Social Engagement JSON payload

Social Engagement includes a feature that allows users to send posts to Azure Event Hubs by using Automation Rules in Social Engagement. The post content is sent in the form of a JSON object that contains the content of a post and its metadata.

As part of evolving functionality, Social Engagement is updating the JSON payload by replacing the post.profile.id field with a new post.profile.uri field.

The reason for the change is that the current implementation of the post.profile.id field is not source-specific. Consequently, the profiles of two authors with the same profile name on different platforms might end up having the same profile.id. Moving forward, post.profile.uri will also include a source-based identifier as part of the field value (for example: mse-tw://#12345678).

For more information on the impact of the this change and the timeline, please review this blog post on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Team blog.

Additional News

Sales & Marketing: New Dynamics 365 integrations across Adobe Experience Cloud

Microsoft and Adobe established a strategic partnership in an effort to help equip businesses to better respond to their customers in a digital environment. The joint efforts are are allowing enterprises to transform their customer experiences, and drive more efficient business processes. We are pleased to announce that the offering from the partnership: Dynamics 365 is now integrated with Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe’s industry leading content management solution in the Adobe Marketing Cloud. Available to both Microsoft and Adobe customers, this integration will help organizations optimize enterprise sales and lead management.

This integration will help solve some of the complex challenges such as:

• Audience: Helping organizations move from a disparate view of customers and poor segmentation, to a more holistic view with intelligent segmentation.
• Workflow: Shifting from teams using multiple systems and processes for customer engagement, to integrated systems and a unified view that empowers actions, collaboration and productivity.
• Personalization: Transitioning from manual process for defining and delivering customer experiences to data driven and automated content personalization.

Review the announcement here.

Build a redist folder to install Dynamics CRM 2016 without an internet connection

Several customers have requested an updated PowerShell script that can download the Dynamics 2016 pre-requisites and put them in a folder for installations without internet access. An updated script is now available.

Typically, PowerShell scripts are provided as a downloadable PS1 file, but for this version, the text and a txt download have been provided for review in the Dynamics CRM in the Field blog:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crminthefield/2017/11/20/use-powershell-build-a-redist-folder-to-install-dynamics-crm-2016-without-an-internet-connection/

Security Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

Microsoft publishes compliance guides and trust and transparency guides on the Service Trust Portal to demonstrate compliance with global standards and regulations and to provide customers with information on how we manage our cloud services and protect customer data. The Service Trust Portal includes a Compliance Manager application that can be launched to control management, integrated task assignment, evidence collection, and audit-ready reporting tools to streamline your compliance workflow.

The Service Trust Portal and Compliance Manager is currently in Preview and we need your feedback to make it as useful to you as possible. Have a comment or suggestion? Please use the Feedback button in the Service Trust Portal and tell us what you think.

The Microsoft Trust Center is an important part of the Microsoft Trusted Cloud initiative and provides support and resources for the legal and compliance community. It is an excellent resource for customers to learn how Microsoft implements and supports security, privacy, compliance, transparency in all our cloud products and services. For more information:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trustcenter/default.aspx

Report a Computer Security Vulnerability

The Microsoft Security Response Center investigates all reports of security vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft products and services. If a customer believes they have found a security vulnerability in a Microsoft product, then they are asked to report it and Microsoft will work with them to investigate it.

Please note: The Microsoft Security Response Center does not provide technical support for Microsoft products.

If you believe you have found an issue that meets the definition of a security vulnerability and is not resolved by the 10 Immutable Laws of Security, please send an e-mail to secure@microsoft.com. To help us better understand the nature and scope of the possible issue, please include as much of the below information as possible:

• Type of issue (buffer overflow, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, etc.)
• Product and version that contains the bug, or URL if for an online service
• Service packs, security updates, or other updates for the product you have installed
• Any special configuration required to reproduce the issue
• Step-by-step instructions to reproduce the issue on a fresh install
• Proof-of-concept or exploit code
• Impact of the issue, including how an attacker could exploit the issue

For more information, review this bulletin in the Security TechCenter.

Important changes coming in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Microsoft provides announcements on features that will be deprecated from the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement capabilities to assist Administrators and IT professionals with future planning and releases. “Deprecated” means Microsoft intends to remove the feature or capability from a future major release. The feature or capability will continue to work and is fully supported until it is officially removed. This deprecation notification can span a few years. After removal, the feature or capability will no longer work.

To see the list of current and past announcements, please review the Important Changes article on the Dynamics 365 Documentation site.

Training Corner

New Customer Engagement Developer Documentation for 9.0

With the release of Dynamics 365 (online) version 9.0, there are some changes coming with the developer documentation:

• New location: https://docs.microsoft.com/dynamics365/customer-engagement/developer/
• New name: Developer Guide
• No more monolithic Software Development Kit (SDK) download
• Separation and fusion of reference content
• Client API documentation overhaul
• Detailed entity documentation

The SDK is a combination of documentation and resources that developers use to build software. Until now, we were using the term “SDK” to refer to the developer documentation for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and for the download package containing assemblies, tools, and the offline version of the documentation. To clear up this confusion and to be consistent with the terms we use for all our documentation, we will now refer to the developer documentation as the Developer Guide.

In addition to the name change, customers will now be able to download the individual documentation, tools and sample code as needed rather than the entire package. The client scripting or client API has also been restructured to allow for better search results for individual APIs by providing dedicated pages for each and the entity metadata is being leveraged to generate reference documentation for most entities in the system together with a complete list of all the properties, attributes and relationships.

Take a look at What’s new for Customer Engagement developer documentation in version 9.0 for more information on this update.

Is Dynamics 365 Server-Side Sync filling up your database?

Dynamics CRM Server-Side Sync allows customers to capture logs which can aide in troubleshooting issues with user mailboxes. The alerts are shown on the alerts wall or the alerts section in the mailbox or email server profile records. If all the errors, information and warnings are being captured, then it can appear as though server-side sync is filling up the TraceLogBase table.

Customers have the option to remove the information they don’t want to capture from the database by creating a bulk delete job:

1. Login to Dynamics CRM Application as an administrator, then navigate to
   Settings >Data Management

2. Click Bulk Record Deletion

3. Click the New button to create a new job, then click Next in the Bulk Deletion Wizard. In the Define Search Criteria window, select Traces in the Look for drop down.

4. Select Level then click Enter Value: Level

5. Choose the values you want to delete, then click OK

6. Identify Server Side Sync for Regarding and then choose the Regarding Object Type. Continue through the wizard to finish creating the bulk deletion system job.

For more information, review this post on the CRM in the Field blog.

Customer Engagement Technical Journey Offering

Microsoft is pleased to announce the newly updated Customer Engagement technical journey is now available online, with the addition of seven new technical training webcasts. This resource is primarily available for Partners, but customers can access some of the information in the Microsoft Partner Network Support page.

The Technical webcasts are available for Partners, but Customers can also join them as Guests. Sessions are being offered in the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA with some beginning in December 2017:

• Enhance Your Business with Dynamics 365 Data Analysis, Insights & Power BI (L200): Partners will learn how to use built-in data analysis and reporting features within Dynamics 365 as well as Power BI integration options.
• Technical Deep Dive on Dynamics 365 for Field Service (L300-400): Help partners start building field workforce solutions by understanding the advanced functionality within Dynamics 365 for Field Service.
• Technical Deep Dive on Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Performance (L300-400): Partners will ensure the optimal Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement experience through performance optimization and troubleshooting.
• Technical Deep Dive on Dynamics 365 Portals (L300-400): Expand your partners technical knowledge of Dynamics 365 Portals capabilities, helping them understand real-world implementations.
• Technical Deep Dive on Dynamics 365 with PowerApps (L300-400): Partners will understand how Microsoft PowerApps helps people and organizations create custom solutions without lengthy development cycles.
• Enhance Your Business with Dynamics 365 with Cognitive Services & Cortana Intelligence Suite (L300-400): Partners will discover the relationship between Cortana Intelligence Suite and Cognitive Services with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.
• Introduction to Dynamics 365 (L100-200): Get partners introduced to the features and functionality with Dynamics 365 including IUR, technical onboarding and customization. (dates coming soon)

Please note: Additional dates and languages will continuously be added throughout FY18; please check back frequently.

New Training Courses: Microsoft Dynamics Learning Portal

New Field Service courses are available in the Microsoft Dynamics Learning Portal:

Introduction

https://mbspartner.microsoft.com/D365E/CourseOverview/1665

Agreements, Inventory, and Purchasing

https://mbspartner.microsoft.com/D365E/CourseOverview/1664

Mobile and Dispatch

https://mbspartner.microsoft.com/D365E/CourseOverview/1663

Setup and configuration

https://mbspartner.microsoft.com/D365E/CourseOverview/1660

Field Service Assessment

https://mbspartner.microsoft.com/D365E/AssessmentOverview/43

Field Service exam MB2-877 (available December 2017)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-mb2-877.aspx

Ideas for Microsoft Dynamics 365

Help us improve Microsoft Dynamics 365 and its family of products and solutions by discussing ideas, providing suggestions, and giving feedback. Use the forums listed on the Ideas page to share your thoughts. Search through the existing ideas, before suggesting a new one, and you can vote on them to help increase visibility.