Setting the WorkHourTemplate in the right way to the resource in PSA
Improve Knowledge Article search results with Dynamics 365 Relevance Search
Knowledge base search control in Dynamics 365 is now powered by Relevance search. This empowers administrators to fine-tune search as per their business requirement and have their agents get the most relevant search results quickly. Relevance search leverages Azure search service and delivers the results with improved performance and accuracy.
This blog uses a customer service scenario as an example to look at the few benefits of Knowledge Search in Dynamics 365 with Relevance search turned on:
- Highlighted search term matches
- Search tuning on any knowledge article field
- Search in notes and attachments of Knowledge Articles
Highlighted search term matches
Bert is a customer service agent with Contoso travels and is working on a case where a customer is facing issue while booking a hotel. Bert looks for guidance from knowledge base and searches for ‘book hotel’ keyword and gets corresponding knowledge article results.
With the highlighted search term matches, Bert can view details about the article results from the summary card view itself without having to open and read them. The matching occurrences of the search keyword in the article content are highlighted in yellow, and summary card view fetches the content blurb from where this match was hit. You can see this in the screenshot below:
Bert can take any further actions on the article, like opening it for complete reading or emailing it to the customer with more understanding of what the article is about.
Search tuning on any knowledge article field
You can now tune your KB search to search a knowledge article on any OOB or custom field. For example, in this scenario Bert has more than one results for booking hotel and wants to find an article that is most relevant to the country that the customer is trying to book the travel for. He identifies that customer is trying to book hotel in Singapore, so he modifies his search keyword to ‘book hotel in Singapore’ and gets the booking travel article specific to APAC region as the top result.
key point to note here is that Singapore is not present in the ‘Booking Travel for APAC’ article’s title or content, but still this article was ranked higher compared to the other article when Bert was searching with Singapore. Contoso administrator achieved this by configuring a custom ‘country’ field in the knowledge article and enabling it for Relevance search.
The ‘Booking Travel for APAC’ article has country field populated with Singapore, and when Bert searched for ‘book hotel in Singapore’ the match was found in the country field also, in addition to other keyword matches which were same for both the articles. Please find screenshot of this article below which has country field configured as Singapore.
Contoso administrator can leverage this benefit to enable or disable search on any knowledge article field. For example, if a business requires knowledge articles to be searched only on keywords and content, but not on title, the admin can enable only keywords and content for search and disable title for search. Similarly, if a business has any custom field that captures critical information in a knowledge article, an admin can enable the custom field for search, as described in the example scenario.
Search in notes and attachments of knowledge articles
Relevance search can also search in notes or attachments of knowledge articles. For example, in the screenshot below, Bert got the second article in the search results because the keyword ‘book’ was found in an attachment of the ‘Support Request’ knowledge article. Bert also has feedback input that this article is shown because the result was found in attachment, as highlighted in the screenshot.
Other benefits
Relevance search on Knowledge Base also leverages all other platform features of Relevance search like advanced scoring of search results, Microsoft natural language processing, and inflectional word matching. Since Relevance search is based on Azure indexing, you also get improved performance. Relevance search combined with KB search control’s power of delivering automatic suggestions, contextual results, filters, sorting and inline actions, helps agents resolve customer issues quickly.
See more
Refer the links below to know more about Relevance search & Knowledge Base search and to get started with enabling them in your organizations.
Search knowledge articles in the Customer Service Hub
Customize Knowledge Base search control
If you are looking for more information or have any other feedback, please let us know in the comments section below.
By:
Anjali Gupta, Karthik Reddy Gangidi
Bridging Logic with IFTTT and Flow
In a previous post, we demonstrated how to set up an alert that would activate a pool light when Olympic superstar Michael Phelps sent us an email. In this post, we will find a way to be alerted when we receive an email from Mr. Phelps in a personal Gmail account. Not just any alert, though – we want all the lights in the house to turn on.
We thought it would be great to do this codeless and use Microsoft Flow and connect it to a Wink Hub at home. However, Flow does not currently offer a service to connect to Wink Hub; however, IFTTT does provide this service. However (again), IFTTT and Flow do not directly connect. Fortunately, they both play well with Google Sheets (Sheets). So, to address this challenge, Sheets will be the bridge between IFTTT and Flow. To achieve this, we will build an IFTTT Applet and a single Flow to both work with the same Google Sheet. One will listen for changes to the Sheet and the other will make the change to the Sheet.
To summarize the challenge:
- We need this connection: Flow àWink.
- Flow doesn’t offer that service!
- IFFT does: IFTTT à Wink.
- So, we need this connection: Flow àIFTTT.
- Flow doesn’t offer that service either!
- Sheets plays nice with both: Flow à Sheets and Sheets à IFTTT.
- So, what we really need is this connection: Flow à Sheets à IFTTT à Wink.
To make it happen, my prerequisites are as follows:
1. Gmail and Google Drive Accounts (free version)
2. Microsoft Flow Account (free version)
3. IFTTT Account (free version)
- Connect to Wink Hub
- Connected to Google Sheets
4. Dynamics 365 Sales (paid service)
5. Wink Hub (hardware investment)
- Connected to smart lights
To make it happen, my prework is as follows:
1. Create a Google Sheet to work with
2. Connect Google Sheets to Flow and IFTTT
3. Create a Wink Shortcut that turns on a group of lights
4. Connect Gmail to Flow
5. Connect Dynamics 365 Sales to Flow
IFTTT Service Steps: Creating the Listener for changes to the Sheet
1. Create “New Applet”
2. For “If,” search for and select Google Sheets as Service
3. Choose “New row added to a sheet” as a Trigger
4. Enter the Folder and Filename of the Google Sheet
5. For “That” Search for and Choose “Wink” as Service
6. Select “Wink Shortcuts” as an Action
7. Select “Activate Shortcut”
8. Select your shortcut that turns on your lights
9. Click “Create Action”
10. Click “Finish”
Now that the above is in place, it’s time to manually test adding a new row to our Google Sheet and watch all the lights in the house turn on. From there, we need to create our Flow to listen for a new Gmail Message and trigger a row insert into our Google Sheet. In addition, we also want to create a Lead in CRM based on the sender of the email (just to ensure we capture this hot lead).
Flow Service Steps: Creating the change to the Sheet and Lead in D365 Sales
1. Create a “New Flow from Blank”
2. Search for and select Gmail in Triggers
3. Within the Trigger, select “Advanced” and enter Michael’s email in the from email (or some other unique way to identify Michael Phelps)
4. Click New Step> Add an action
5. Search for and select “Dynamics 365”
6. Click Create a new record
7. Select your:
- Entity Name (or entity of choice)
- Last Name
- Topic (using Dynamic Content)
- Email (using Dynamic Content)
8. Click New step> Add an action
9. Search for and Select “Google Sheets”
10. Enter your:
- File
- Worksheet
- item (what’s being inserted into the row, using Dynamic Content)
11. Click Save
Now we will trigger a test to ensure the Flow executes correctly and inserts a row into our Google Sheet. To do so, click on “Test” within the upper right corner of the Flow. (Note: I updated the email address clause to use my work email during this test.)
Below is the successfully completed test in Flow:
Below is the outcome within the Google Sheet, resulting from the Flow test:
We did it! Flow will listen to my Gmail “from” and update the Google Sheet. The IFTTT service will then listen for a row to be added to my Google Sheet and, when it happens, turn on all the lights in the house no matter the time of day.
In conclusion, we think we can agree that this scenario is not likely: Michael probably won’t email (but if he does…) However, let’s not allow the unlikeliness of this scenario take away from the key learning point: we can overcome any challenge using the technology we have on hand. We were able to connect Gmail to D365 Sales for lead generation, link actions between disparate logical systems, and have fun along the way – all at a low cost and without custom code. Flow and IFTTT are indeed great tools alone, but in this case, they are even more powerful together.
Be sure to subscribe to our blog for more tips and tricks!
Happy D365ing!
Whatever you sell, Pacejet can help you ship
From human cells to embalming solutions, Pacejet enterprise shipping software ships all kinds of interesting materials and items throughout the world on a daily basis. Do you sell something out of the box and think you can only use one carrier? Think again. Pacejet has helped many companies navigate carrier solutions, receive lower rates and find easier options for shipping.
Whether you need to ship a compressor, a pool table or printing supplies, we love helping customers navigate the world of carriers through a Pacejet integration into your ERP system. We pride ourselves are being the most customer-focused shipping software on the market and our implementation/services teams are a direct reflection. We sat down with Thomas Hoang from AllCells, to talk through how Pacejet helped AllCells have the confidence they needed to guarantee shipping to every customer, every time.
"With Pacejet, we were able to streamline complex shipping operations and ensure transparent pricing for customers at the point of sale. Now we can tell our customers that shipments will be delivered quickly in perfect condition: as cold as ice."
-Thomas Hoang, AllCells
Shipping bone marrow, furniture, or bar supplies
Pacejet transforms the shipping dock into a launch pad for profitability. We know you love your business and want to see it grow. In order to stay competitive with ‘Amazon’ and other top players in the 2-day delivery promise, it’s important to focus on ways to utilize cost savings in any way that you can. Insert Pacejet here. Pacejet provides rate shopping solutions to help you determine the correct carrier for the right price.
Providing a best-in-class cloud-based shipping software platform, seamless integration with leading ERP and WMS software systems, and consultative support, Pacejet enables customers to thrive in the 21st-century shipping economy.
Reach out to our team to learn how Pacejet can help reduce your shipping costs, improve your customer service, and streamline your operations, all in one cloud-based solution.
Updating product unit pricing on open sales orders in Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers price locking on sales order products, which can cause users to experience difficulties when they attempt to update unit pricing. When this situation arises, it can be managed in two ways:
- Via the toolbar ribbon
- Via the lock icon found directly above the sales order products sub-grid
By default, when sales orders are created from sales quotes, order product prices are flagged as locked.
This means that if a given user attempts to modify an order product from a given sales order, the action of overriding the Price Per Unit will be unavailable.
In other cases, “Pricing” might be available; however, an error message might still show up with the following details: “The product and the unit cannot be updated while the entity is locked.”
Unlocking the capability of overriding order product unit pricing can be done via the sales order form by clicking on “Use Current Pricing” or the lock icon (shown unlocked) as seen below:
From there, reopening the order product form will allow the user to switch the Pricing to “Override Price” to unlock the Price Per Unit field for updating.
Locking order product pricing is done via the same means, by clicking on “Lock Pricing” or the lock icon (shown locked) as seen below:
Note that some users might not be able to see the button on the toolbar ribbon. This might be due to user permission constraints or configuration settings or to some ribbon customization. For more information, contact your system administrator.
The post Updating product unit pricing on open sales orders in Microsoft Dynamics 365 appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.
Dynamics 365 Monthly Update-December 2018
Quick Links: Featured News | Updates and Releases | Additional News | Training CornerFeatured News |
Get started with Dynamics 365 Service SchedulingThe new scheduling experience in Customer Service Hub is now live. Powered by Universal Resource Scheduling, this experience provides an efficient way to schedule resources for service activities. It considers the availability of employees, facilities, and equipment to plan schedules accordingly. It also helps customer service organizations improve service quality by preventing over-scheduling. Review this post on the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Team Blog for more information and instructions on how to install the feature. |
Microsoft Ignite | The TourIntroducing a new global 17-city event designed to bring the best content from Microsoft Ignite directly to technical practitioners worldwide – ensuring they get the most out of Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Power platform. With 100+ deep-dive sessions and workshops, attendees will explore the latest developer tools, cloud technologies, and learn how to put their skills to work in new areas. Upcoming stops on the tour include:
Connect with our community to gain practical insights and best practices on the future of cloud development, data, IT, and business intelligence. Visit the Microsoft Ignite | The Tour website to find a stop in a city near you. |
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Updates & Releases |
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online ReleasesThe Service Updates for Dynamics 365 online version 9.1.0 and 8.2 are now available. Service Update 9 (9.1.0000.0946 or higher) resolved issues include:
Service Update 10 (9.1.0.1064 or higher) resolved issues include:
Service Update 12 (9.1.0.1201 or higher) resolved issues include:
Service Update 1 (8.2.3.0114 or higher) resolved issues include:
Service Update 2 (8.2.3.0177 or higher) resolved issues include:
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Dynamics 365 Resource Scheduling Optimization v3.0 ReleaseMicrosoft is excited to announce the general availability of the Resource Scheduling Optimization (RSO) v3.0 release. New features include:
For more information on the new features, review this post in the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Team Blog. |
Field Service and Project Service Automation UpdatesThe latest update to the Field Service and Project Service Automation solutions for Dynamics 365 is now available. This release includes improvements to quality, performance, and usability, based on customer feedback and requests. Field Service enhancements (v7.5.5.48) Resolved issues:
For information on how to install, update or remove the solution, review this article. Project Service Automation (v3.2.0.246) Enhancements Improvements include:
Resolved issues include:
For more information on the Project Service Automation enhancements, review this blog post. |
Portal Capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 v9.0.12.12Portal capabilities version 9.0.12.12 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 is now available. This release includes an updated portal host as well as solution package updates (v9.0.12.10). New solution packages are only applicable for v9.x Dynamics orgs. 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. Resolved issues with Portal Host includes:
Resolved issues with Portal Solution includes:
For a full list of all portal updates released to date and their corresponding KB articles, please reference this KB article. |
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Additional News |
Using Clone Solution to remove Managed Solution componentsThe ability to clone a solution in Dynamics 365 has been around for a while, but did you know you can use the feature to remove managed components, entities or entity assets? For customers already familiar with Solutions and Customizations, you can use this guided lab that showcases a simple example of managed component removal using Clone Solution and explains the “Stage for Upgrade”. |
Dynamics 365 App for Outlook Blog SeriesWith the release of the new version of Dynamics 365 App for Outlook along with v9.0 and the new unified interface, organizations are transitioning from the legacy Dynamics 365 for Outlook client. There have been many questions about the new features, so to help our customers we’re launching a new Dynamics 365 App for Outlook multi-part blog series. The content will be based on a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (online) to Exchange Online environment, but much of the information will also be valid for hybrid and on-premise environments.
Part 3 – Tracking and Correlation:
Part 5 – Working with appointments:
The series is posted to the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement in the Field blog so check back often for the latest. |
Training Corner |
Business Applications BootcampsThe Business Applications Bootcamps are 3-5 day, in-person events around the globe focused on improving functional and technical skills for solution architects, functional consultants, industry experts, application consultants, HR analysts, and data professionals. The bootcamps focus on 5 workloads:
Visit BizApps Bootcamps the learn more and to register for a session near you. A Microsoft login account is required. |
Free PowerApps "App-in-a-Day" WorkshopAs a business leader, you want to react quickly to the changing market and cannot stay dependent on developing a software solution 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.
Learn how to use these features with a free App-in-a-Day workshop. Classes are happening now, so visit this link to review the agenda and register for a session near you. |
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January 2019 Hot Sheet partner training schedule
Welcome to the US Partner Community Hot Sheet, a comprehensive schedule of partner training, webcasts, community calls, and office hours. This post is updated frequently as we learn about new offerings, so you can plan ahead.
Community call schedule
Community calls for the US Partner Community are led by experts from across the US Partner Team, and provide practice-building and business-building guidance.
Community name | January calls information | February calls information |
Applications & Infrastructure | ||
Business Applications | January 8 – Uncover new services opportunities with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) | February 8 – Gain a competitive advantage with Machine Learning |
Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI) | January 3 - Internet of Things (link will be available shortly) | |
Marketing SureStep Office Hours | January 17 – New Year’s Resolutions January 24 – Plan a great EOD Webinar January 31 – Keep your customers
| Every Thursday (registration links will be available soon)
|
Modern Workplace – Productivity | ||
Modern Workplace – Security | ||
Modern Workplace – Modern Desktop | ||
Partner Insider | ||
Partner investments Office Hours | Every Wednesday (registration links will be available soon) | |
Public Sector | February 7 – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Government Community Cloud (GCC) for partners |
Week of December 17-21
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
December 19 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
December 19 | Office Hours | Business roles | |
December 19 | Online | Technical roles | |
December 20 | Office Hours | Marketing roles | |
December 20 | Online | Technical roles |
Week of December 24-28
No events currently scheduled
Week of December 31- January 4
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
January 2 | Office Hours | Partner Investment Office Hours
| Business roles |
January 3 | Community call | Data & AI Community call: Internet of Things (link will be available shortly) | Technical roles |
Week of January 7-11
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
January 8-10 | Bellevue, WA | Technical roles | |
January 8 | Community Call | Business Applications Partner Community call: Uncover new services opportunities with GDPR | Technical roles |
January 8 | Online | Learn the Azure Government Hybrid Cloud story and how networking is the key to differentiation | Technical roles |
January 8 | Online | Dynamics 365 for Field Service - Universal Resource Scheduling | Technical roles |
January 9 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 9 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 9 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 9 | Online | Part 1: Introduction to Cognitive Search and getting started with your project | Technical roles |
January 9 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 10 | Community Call | Public Sector community call: Microsoft Teams for Government Partners | Technical roles |
January 10 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 10 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 10 | Online | Part 2: Building and Architecting your Cognitive Search Solution | Technical roles |
January 11 | Community Call | Technical roles |
Week of January 14-18
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
January 15-17 | Dallas, TX | Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations Financial Management Bootcamp | Technical roles |
January 14 | New York, NY | Technical roles | |
January 14 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 14 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 15 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 16 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 16 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 18 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 18 | Community Call | Technical roles |
Week of January 21-25
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
January 22-24 | Dallas, TX | Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations Supply Chain Management Bootcamp | Technical roles |
January 22-24 | Downers Grove, IL | Technical roles | |
January 22 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 22 | Online | Learn the foundation of IaaS in Azure Government with Azure Virtual Machines | Technical roles |
January 22 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 22 | Online | Adopting Dynamics 365 for Sales, Customer Service - Data analysis | Technical roles |
January 22 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 23 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 23 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 23 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 23 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 23 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 24 | Online | Introduction to Dynamics 365 for Sales, Customer Service - Technical Onboarding | Technical roles |
January 24 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 24 | Online | Creating apps for the Intelligent Cloud: Architecting cloud apps for scale | Technical roles |
January 24 | Online | Technical roles |
Week of January 28-February 1
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
January 28-30 | Houston, TX | Technical roles | |
January 29 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 29 | Online | Learn about the various Azure Storage types and Cloud Identity in Azure Government | Technical roles |
January 29 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 30 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 30 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 30 | Online | Azure Marketplace and AppSource publisher payouts and seller insights | Technical roles |
January 31 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
January 31 | Online | Technical roles | |
January 31 | Online | Technical roles |
Week of February 4-8
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
February 4-8 | Edina, MN | Technical roles | |
February 4 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 5 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 5 | Online | BCDR: How and why Government organizations need backup and disaster recovery services | Technical roles |
February 5 | Online | Optimize your Marketplace listing with featured apps and services | Technical roles |
February 6 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
February 7 | Community Call | Public Sector community call: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Government Community Cloud (GCC) for Partners | Technical roles |
February 8 | Community Call | Technical roles |
Week of February 11-15
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
February 11 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 12 | Community Call | Business Applications Partner Community Call - Gain a competitive advantage with Machine Learning | Technical roles |
February 14 | Online | Technical roles |
Week of February 18-22
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
February 19 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
February 19 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 19 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 19 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 20 | Online | Technical roles | |
February 20 | Online | Technical roles |
Week of February 25-March 1
Date | Location | Course, webcast or call | Who should attend |
February 26 | Community Call | Technical roles | |
February 26 | Online | How to leverage an ADS to win SQL Migration deals to Azure Government | Technical roles |
February 26 | Online | Incidents, maintenance, and health advisories: Stay informed with Azure Service Health | Technical roles |
February 26 | Online | Hybrid Cloud management & security: Introduction and Log Analytics | Technical roles |
February 27 | Online | Technical roles |