This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In this edition of our monthly roundup, we’re recapping the biggest news from Microsoft Build 2025 and announcing new resources for Copilot Studio adoption and training.
The post What’s new in Copilot Studio: May 2025 appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.
Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Running an effective contact center requires real-time insights into key operational metrics. Dynamics 365 Customer Service introduces real-time analytics for record routing, a practical tool that helps supervisors monitor and manage contact center performance as it happens. By providing an up-to-date view of workloads, agent activity, and case progress, this feature ensures your team can quickly adapt to meet customer demands and maintain service excellence.
Comprehensive reports:
Enhanced security and permissions: Real-time analytics leverages Microsoft Dataverse security permissions, ensuring that supervisors only see metrics relevant to their business unit-level data based on the security configuration set in you
Seamless work item lifecycle tracking: Unified routing in Dynamics 365 Customer Service uses work items (conversations) to monitor cases, record routing, and assignments. This feature ensures a seamless tracking process, even when cases are reassigned.
Customizable dashboards: Supervisors can tailor the visual display of reports to suit their needs and save personalized views as bookmarks. This flexibility ensures that the most relevant data is always at their fingertips.
By providing supervisors with actionable insights, real-time analytics for record routing helps maintain high service levels and customer satisfaction. It enables efficient management of operational metrics, service representative allocation, and ongoing cases, ensuring that customer service teams can deliver exceptional experiences.
To access this feature, supervisors need the CSR Manager role, or they need to add appropriate permissions to the custom roles. The dashboards are available in the Copilot Service workspace app.
Dynamics 365 Customer Service continues to redefine the customer service landscape, offering tools that empower organizations to excel. With real-time analytics for record routing, supervisors can make data-driven decisions that elevate their contact center’s performance and customer satisfaction.
To learn more, read the documentation: Overview of the real-time Omnichannel analytics dashboard | Microsoft Learn
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CRM systems have come a long way since their inception in the 1990s. What began as digital rolodexes evolved over the decades to accommodate cloud hosting, mobile access, and integrations across an organization’s tech stack. But for many businesses, the core experience of using a CRM system hasn’t kept pace with the evolving expectations of modern customers, or the realities of the people managing those relationships.
Legacy CRM systems often rely heavily on manual data entry. They’re difficult to adapt as businesses grow and are frequently designed more for reporting than for allowing sellers, marketers, and service teams to succeed in real time. While this might have sufficed when field reps had hours between customer visits or when service agents had time to type up detailed call notes, those conditions no longer exist.
Today’s customers do their homework. They research independently, engage across multiple digital channels, and expect seamless, personalized experiences. Meanwhile, customer-facing teams need tools that work in the flow of their day, not ones that add friction. Companies trying to meet these demands with yesterday’s systems are feeling the strain.
With Microsoft Dynamics 365, organizations are embracing a modern, AI-first approach that redefines productivity and customer engagement. Embedded Microsoft Copilot capabilities help sellers and customer service agents work smarter by generating content, surfacing insights, and summarizing customer interactions.
AI agents take this a step further, automating repetitive tasks and allowing teams to focus on what truly matters—building relationships and closing deals. In the near future, legacy CRM systems will become background systems, while AI-powered workflows will take center stage.
Together, copilots and agents can accelerate your business outcomes. For example, imagine a sales rep preparing for a big client meeting. Copilot can pull together a summary of recent customer interactions, generate a tailored pitch based on account details, and suggest case studies that may be relevant to the customer. Meanwhile, an AI agent is working in the background, logging customer inquiries, triggering follow-up tasks, and updating the sales pipeline based on real-time interactions.
Microsoft has worked with hundreds of companies navigating CRM system modernization, and while each journey is unique, several pain points come up time and again. Here’s a look at the most common challenges, and how organizations are overcoming them with Dynamics 365.
Legacy CRM systems often sit apart from the tools employees use every day. Sales leaders have to jump between systems to get a full view of the customer, resulting in time lost, inconsistent data, and disconnected experiences for both employees and customers.
Dynamics 365 provides a unified platform across sales, marketing, and service. It brings together internal and external data in one place through Microsoft Dataverse and connects with the Microsoft tools people already rely on, like Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft Power BI. That means relevant insights are available in the flow of work and updates happen in real time, which can reduce manual effort and improve accuracy.
Many organizations are trying to retrofit AI into systems that weren’t built for it. As a result, they miss out on the true potential of AI to personalize engagement, suggest next steps, and automate time-consuming work.
Dynamics 365 is built with AI at its core. With embedded Copilot capabilities, sellers can draft emails, generate proposals, and summarize meetings based on real-time customer data. AI agents go even further by handling complete workflows, like qualifying leads or following up on customer inquiries. With tools like Sales Agent, Sales Chat, and Sales Qualification Agent, sales teams can scale their impact and focus on high-value interactions.
Legacy CRM systems often require costly add-ons, third-party integrations, and ongoing maintenance. The systems that once seemed quick to deploy become difficult to scale or adapt and drain resources instead of delivering value.
Dynamics 365 consolidates capabilities on a single platform, reducing redundancy and unlocking efficiencies. Since it uses tools that many companies already use—like Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, and Power BI—organizations can get more from their existing investments.
ABN AMRO, one of the largest banks in the Netherlands, embraced Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and has lowered total cost of ownership for its customer engagement platform by up to 40%.
Companies that have made the leap to Dynamics 365 are already seeing measurable impact, including shortened sales cycles, improved responsiveness, and greater customer satisfaction.
For instance, Lenovo, a global leader in technology solutions, used Dynamics 365 to build a unified global view of customer activity and power its digital sales transformation.
“We’re seeing the benefit of having one standardized system and a global view to all geographies’ activities. This is the foundation for Lenovo’s sales digital transformation—enabling better connections and an increase in sales productivity and actionable insights.”
Wei Bi, Business Strategy Senior Manager, Lenovo
Lexmark, a global innovator in cloud-supported printing and internet of things (IoT) solutions, migrated from Salesforce to Dynamics 365 to streamline and modernize its sales operations.
“We’ve been on the journey with Microsoft after moving from Salesforce to Dynamics 365 Sales. We’re excited to be one of the first customers to use Sales Qualification Agent and look forward to the ability to scale our sales team with agents and provide an exceptional experience to our customers.”
Kyle Farmer, Vice President, Global Sales and Strategy, Lexmark
Gardens Alive replaced its legacy CRM system with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, integrating voice, chat, and email channels through third-party connectors and unified routing. The result was a more than 7% improvement in customer service delivery.
And the momentum continues. In our Fiscal Year 2025 Third Quarter Earnings, Satya Nadella stated: “When it comes to business applications, Dynamics 365 again took share as companies like Avaya, Brunswick, SoftCat, switched to (Dynamics 365) from legacy providers. Verizon, for example, chose Dynamics 365 Sales to improve the efficiency of its sellers”.
For CROs and CSOs, the decision to modernize CRM systems is about more than upgrading technology. It’s about unlocking new potential. Companies want more than just a vendor; they’re looking for a strategic partner to help them navigate change, scale intelligently, and lead with data and empathy.
With Dynamics 365, Microsoft brings not only a powerful AI-first platform, but also a global ecosystem of expertise in sales, engineering, and business transformation. The result? A CRM system that’s intuitive, connected, and future-ready, so companies can deliver standout customer experiences and drive sustainable growth.
Take a guided tour, see a demo, or start a free trial.
The post AI-first CRM systems: Learnings from organizations making the switch appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.
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This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Retail is constantly evolving, shaped by changing consumer behaviors, new technologies, and unpredictable macroeconomic shifts. While digital channels continue to grow, physical retail remains a cornerstone of the shopping experience. As Gartner® puts it, “Despite the growth in the popularity of digital channels, the physical store remains the most powerful, competitively differentiating touchpoint in unified retail commerce execution.”i
Despite assumptions that digital-native shoppers would abandon brick-and-mortar stores, reality tells a different story. According to Gartner®, “Sixty-four percent of Gen Z, the first generation of ‘digital natives,’ prefer the physical retail experience versus shopping online, signaling that the retail store is here to stay for the foreseeable future.”i This is not just a generational quirk, it reflects a broader industry reality. The National Retail Federation reports that nearly 70% of total retail sales still happen in brick-and-mortar locationsii. These spaces are far more than transaction points; they are where consumers connect with products, experience brands firsthand, and engage in ways digital channels cannot match.
Retailers looking for growth can’t afford to treat stores as legacy infrastructure. They need to make targeted, future-ready investments that unlock the full potential of in-store experiences. That means going beyond maintaining a physical presence—today consumers expect consistency, convenience, and personalization across every channel. In-store experiences must match the intelligence and adaptability of their digital counterparts. Seamless transitions between online, in-store, and hybrid journeys are now table stakes.
At Microsoft, we’re modernizing Dynamics 365 Commerce to reflect this shift. The Point-of-Sale (POS) is evolving from a checkout tool into an intelligent platform that supports agentic, AI-driven retail experiences. With built-in Copilot capabilities, Dynamics 365 Commerce POS now offers actionable insights that help store associates tailor interactions in real time. From understanding customer preferences and shopping behavior to accessing inventory and pricing insights, store associates can respond faster and more effectively.
The impact of copilot and agentic capabilities goes beyond customer engagement. These AI tools also reduce friction for employees, streamlining decision-making and boosting productivity. As Gartner® notes, “By 2027, over 50% of Tier 1 retailers will pivot from general to role-specific GenAI for store associates or risk increased labor churn.”i Empowering associates with smarter, context-aware tools isn’t optional; it’s a strategic move to retain talent and deliver next-generation service.
Take a look at how AI-driven product discovery in a POS can increase purchase conversion while driving customer satisfaction in this video.
Dynamics 365 Commerce POS offers Copilot driven insights for products and customers that will help a store associate provide a personalized shopping experience tailored to the customer’s needs. These insights surface quick actions to the store associate on customer behavior, preferred price ranges, lifetime value, suitable products, product discounts, inventory levels etc.
In addition, Store report insights by Copilot provide precise and succinct overview of critical metrics such as sales, revenue, profit, margin, and overall store performance—all in a single workspace for optimal visibility. Copilot’s near real-time analysis keeps you ahead, updating summaries as new data arrives, empowering your store associates to communicate effectively, accurately, and instantly.
“Instant value of Copilot experiences in Store commerce app at Vera Bradley which helps as conversation starter for their store employees and helps with upsell and cross-sell” – Aaron Feagler, Director, Vera Bradley
For more information on the Customer insights by Copilot, see here.
Customer insights by Copilot in Dynamics 365 Commerce
To power the next generation of omnichannel retail, we have modernized the Dynamics 365 Commerce POS with a new framework built on React and Fluent 2 Design. This modern framework goes beyond a visual refresh – it supports agentic experiences, extensibility, and accessibility compliance.
React provides faster load times, smoother screen transitions, and a more responsive interface, especially on mobile and touch devices, making the experience more intuitive for store associates. The React-based framework sets the foundation for mobile experiences, which translates to a faster checkout resulting in sales conversion and better customer satisfaction.
1. Faster checkout with new transaction page workflows
The redesigned transaction page, now built with React-based controls and Fluent 2 Design, brings a faster, cleaner, and more intuitive checkout experience.
Store Commerce Transaction Page with React-based controls and Fluent 2 Design
With the new inline actions feature, store associates can now perform common actions like voiding a product, applying line discounts, or overriding prices directly within the transaction grid. Inline actions surface the most frequently used operations at the top, so there’s no need to scroll through long lists or dig through nested button grids. On mobile and touch devices, these actions are even easier to access with a simple long press. This makes the experience more intuitive and efficient.
Inline actions in Dynamics 365 Commerce
Updating item quantities is now just one click away. Store associates can tap the quantity directly within the grid. This removes the need to find a separate “Set Quantity” button and reducing steps during checkout.
With these improvements, the transaction page has fewer buttons and clearer calls to action. It fully supports existing extensibility features, so custom columns, fields, and controls will work seamlessly without extra development.
2. Optimized Payment Capture Workflow for Faster, lower friction Transactions
The new payment experience simplifies checkout by consolidating payment actions into a single-pane window, reducing clicks and prompts. This streamlined design speeds up processes for customers and associates, allowing configuration to skip unnecessary screens. Additionally, configuration options allow users to bypass specific screens and proceed directly to the actions required for common scenarios.
For cash transactions, Smart Denominations intelligently suggest the most logical bill and coin combinations based on configured increments. Associates can then quickly provide the correct change. When customers pay the exact amount, the Pay Exact payment method skips the “Enter Amount” screen, applying the full balance due immediately. This completes payment capture with just one click.
“The ability to easily navigate a payment is important, for both our company and the customer. We see a lot of potential in this style of payment flow, streamlining the process and reducing unnecessary button grids” – Chad Davidson, Senior Engineer, Memory Express
Optimized Payment Capture Workflows in Dynamics 365 Commerce
3. Loyalty Upsell Prompt for higher sales conversion
Loyalty Upsell Prompt in Dynamics 365 Commerce
The loyalty upsell prompt helps store associates inform customers about their progress towards the next loyalty tier, timely and accurately. This can nudge continued customer engagement to unlock new benefits leading to increased average order value through strategic upselling.
4. Toast Notification Framework
The new toast notification framework brings flexible, real-time alerts to Store Commerce, helping retailers modernize the POS experience. With full extensibility support, this framework can be extended to build your own store notifications meeting your unique business needs. Use it to share policy updates, flag low-stock items, and alert staff to customer assistance requests.
Toast Notification in Dynamics 365 Commerce
Visit Modern workflows in POS – Commerce | Dynamics 365 | Microsoft Learn for more about these improvements and how to enable them.
Watch this video to see some of these capabilities in-action.
Looking ahead, agentic experiences are poised to play a central role in retail transformation. The modern Point of Sale (POS) is no longer just a transactional endpoint. It now has the potential to serve as a platform for intelligent, AI-supported engagement. It can enhance customer satisfaction and improving sales conversion.
Imagine a retail environment where associates have timely access to real-time data and actionable insights. This enables more personalized and context-aware interactions. Whether guiding a customer toward discovering relevant products or helping bridge online and in-store experiences, these AI-assisted workflows support more cohesive and engaging shopping journeys. Features like personalized follow-ups, product tips, and feedback prompts can help reinforce customer value and ongoing connection. Over time, these interactions may support repeat business and help build long-term customer trust.
Dynamics 365 Commerce is continually evolving to meet the demands of this new landscape. It supports innovation and delivers capabilities that help retailers offer connected, adaptive experiences. Stay up to date on what’s new and what is coming by visiting our release planner.
i Predicts 2025: Transform Retail Stores’ Profitability With Private Label, Role-Specific GenAI and Computer Vision, Gartner®, 4 February 2025
GARTNER® is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
ii NRF Forecasts 2023 Retail Sales to Grow Between 4% and 6%, NRF
The post Under the Hood: Building an AI-Driven Storefront with Dynamics 365 Commerce appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.
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Customers don’t just want fast service—they expect businesses to stay one step ahead. Today’s customers want companies to anticipate their needs before they even ask, for example: sending a reminder before a payment is late; giving a heads-up when a delivery is delayed, or following up after a dropped call. These aren’t just nice-to-haves—we believe that they’re the new standard for customer experience.
That’s why we’re announcing proactive engagement and conversational journeys with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys, now available in public preview. With this solution, organizations can use custom-built AI agents and service representatives to proactively reach out across channels—like informing a customer about a canceled flight and guiding them to a resolution in the same conversation. Businesses can benefit from lower call volumes and support costs, while customers can get faster, more personalized experiences that drive satisfaction and brand loyalty. General availability is expected later this summer.
Of course, delivering proactive service at scale isn’t easy. Organizations can be under pressure to do more with less—fewer resources, tighter budgets, and higher customer expectations. Reaching out at the right time, with the right message, on the right channel takes orchestration, insight, and intelligent automation. That’s exactly what these new capabilities are designed to deliver: smarter, highly personalized engagement.
Looking ahead, the influence of AI on customer experience will only deepen. According to the Microsoft Work Trend Index, 82% of leaders expect to expand their use of digital labor to boost workforce capacity in the next 12 to 18 months.
Our customers are already reaping the benefits of AI-powered digital teammates. Tourism and travel segments, for example, are using proactive engagement and conversational journeys to assist customers with travel planning—from bookings to itinerary guidance—with human reps available to further assist as needed.
Apollo Travel, a travel agency that fields more than 350,000 reservations annually across Scandinavia, is using proactive engagement to reduce inbound reservation calls.
“We’re always looking for ways to better serve our customers, and these new capabilities open up exciting opportunities to engage with them more proactively. We see clear potential for benefits on both sides—improving the experience for our customers while driving efficiency for our business.”
—Johnny Nilsson, Head of Group Power Platform Center of Excellence at Apollo Travel (part of DERTOUR Group)
Other use cases demonstrate the broader value of this approach: shipping and delivery delays, appointment reminders, system outages, prescription refills, loyalty reward notifications, and service updates are all possible through AI agent-based outreach. The interactions feel natural and helpful, and if needed, seamlessly transition to a service representative for personalized support—turning a potential issue into a moment of brand loyalty. Customers can communicate naturally with the AI agent, which, based on that dialogue, will offer resolutions like transferring to a different flight or issuing a refund. Depending on your requirements, proactive engagement can then follow up with additional actions like a confirmation email or text message.
Because these repetitive, time-consuming tasks are now automated, reps can focus on more critical problems and delivering meaningful engagements to each customer. This helps build trust and ensure customers feel valued, while allowing service teams to focus on more complex, high-value interactions—helping to reduce operational costs and improve overall efficiency.
A typical scenario has three parts. The first part is a customer journey that tells the AI agent who to call, when to call, and how to process choices that the customer makes during the call. The second part is the AI agent, which can communicate with customers using natural language. The final part brings it all together, with authors managing the agent’s customer queues, phone numbers, and the like. If a customer asks, this is also where an agent would transfer the call to a service rep and then manage that call until resolution. The entire solution can be authored with no code (including the ability to design the AI agent using natural language), making it accessible to non-technical business users to define their customer experiences with ease. With integrated consent management and designated quiet times/days, compliance with customer preferences and regulatory requirements can be effortlessly maintained. Additionally, it offers the flexibility to respond to real-time events or schedule an outreach in advance.
To enable the solution, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights-Journeys and Microsoft Copilot Studio are required. As you use the solution, please send your feedback to pefeedback@microsoft.com, and continue checking this blog for updates about this and other upcoming releases.
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Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.
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