This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
On June 4, 2024, we introduced the latest milestone in our journey towards modernizing customer engagement: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, a Microsoft Copilot-first contact center solution that delivers generative AI to every customer engagement channel. This standalone Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution enables customers to maximize their current investments by connecting to preferred customer relationship management systems (CRMs) or custom apps.
Today, we are excited to announce that Dynamics 365 Contact Center is generally available, offering a complete but fully-composable solution for contact centers. Organizations will benefit from new native capabilities such as generative AI, technology from Nuance, and much more all built from the ground-up to power mission-critical service operations with extensive scale and reliability on the hyperscale cloud platform of Azure.
Key benefits of Dynamics 365 Contact Center
Dynamics 365 Contact Center key capabilities include:
Effortless self-service
Customers have the freedom to engage in their channel of choice across voice, SMS, chat, email, and social media apps.
Sophisticated pre-integrated copilots for digital channels drive context-aware, personalized conversations for rich self-service experiences.
Provide a frictionless conversational interactive voice response (IVR) experience in real time through natural, human-like interactions.
Accelerated human-assisted service
Intelligent unified routing steers incoming requests that require a human touch to the agent best suited to help, enhancing service quality and minimizing wasted effort.
Agents gain a 360-degree view of customers and AI tools for real-time sentiment analysis, translation, transcription, and more to help streamline service.
Let Copilot automate repetitive agent tasks such as conversation summary, drafting emails, suggested responses, and knowledge search.
Operational efficiency
Generative AI based real-time reporting allows service leaders to optimize contact center operations across all support channels including their workforce.
Maximize Copilot by connecting it to an organization’s existing data and business applications using more than 1,200 pre-built connectors that eliminate the need for expensive IT integration.
Empower employee helpdesk and human resources functions using Microsoft Teams as a secure, integrated engagement channel.
Dynamics 365 Contact Center customer stories
We’re thrilled to see the initial impact that our early adopter customers and partners are having with Dynamics 365 Contact Center:
“With Lenovo’s Premier Support Plus and Dynamics 365 Contact Center, we’ve established a transformational partnership that strives for customer satisfaction, alongside operational excellence”
Lishuang Xu, Executive Director, Customer Engagement Center, Lenovo.
“Sales and marketing thrive on smooth customer interactions. With Dynamics 365 Contact Center, early adoption means we’re ahead, modernizing our approach with AI for increasing effectiveness and improving customer satisfaction”
Ian Au-Yeung, Chief Revenue Officer, Synoptek
“With Dynamics 365 Contact Center powered by Copilot, we see tremendous potential for significant enhancement in contact center staff productivity, ensuring quicker and precise responses that elevate our customer service and affirm our leadership in the insurance industry.”
Ritu Thakur, Head of Group Operations, AIA Group
Take the next step
Available now for $110 per user/month, Dynamics 365 Contact Center includes digital and voice channels as well as individual channel options for purchase.1
Additionally, we are introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service Premium—a new offer combining Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise with Dynamics 365 Contact Center for customers seeking to consolidate on an integrated, generative AI-powered contact center and CRM service solution that delivers personalized customer journeys. Dynamics 365 Customer Service Premium is available now for $195 per user/month.2 Customers with existing Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise licenses adopting Dynamics 365 Contact Center will have the ability to move to Dynamics 365 Customer Service Premium.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Welcome to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series!
In this series, we will hear and learn from current and old Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors about their personal experiences with the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program and why they think students should join and be a part of the program and community.
Today, I will interview Deepthi Balasubramanian, a Gold Student Ambassador from India. Who is currently a final-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai (India). His interests lie in AI, Cloud Computing, and Software Engineering.
How did you get to know about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
As a freshman at my university, I joined the Microsoft Innovations Club. A senior from the club introduced me to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program, which immediately caught my interest!
When did you join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
I became a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador during my sophomore year, in October 2022.
What activities have you contributed to as a student ambassador in the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador program?
This program’s goal of empowering students to ‘be a force for good’ aligns perfectly with my goal of making technology accessible to all. It has provided me with a comprehensive platform for skill-building, community-building, and networking, which is essential for my professional growth. And also the opportunity for me to collaborate with Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, and fellow student ambassadors,
I have organized over 16 workshops and events on technologies such as Azure AI Studio, Copilot, Responsible AI, Power Platform, and GitHub, reaching nearly 1500 students and promoting inclusivity in tech.
I have actively led two teams in Ambassadors AI project cycles, winning one cycle and placing among the top 5 teams in another. During these cycles, I developed social impact projects and presented them during demo days. Recently, I served as a Gold Ambassador judge for the AI project cycle held between March and May 2024.
As a peer mentor, I’ve guided fellow ambassadors, enhancing their program experience. The recognition and appreciation for our efforts from the Microsoft Learn Student Program have helped foster a strong sense of inclusion and value within the community. Overall, being a Microsoft Student Ambassador has been incredibly fulfilling.
Being a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador how are you able to manage your time as a student?
I’m always drawn to opportunities that enhance my skill set, like being a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador. With effective scheduling and prioritization of my tasks, I can manage my academic workload and allocate sufficient time toward every task or responsibility.
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program supportive environment and flexible time frames makes it possible and easy for me to navigate between the program and my studies.
What have you benefited from the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program gave me an identity as a tech leader, provided me with the resources to learn and also skill learners on industry-relevant skills.
This community values every individual and offers extensive opportunities for personal development. Giving us direct mentorship from MVPs, cloud advocates, and experienced FTEs which has given me invaluable insights into the industry’s technical landscape.
Connecting with passionate students globally who share similar goals has been incredibly motivating, and the opportunity to collaborate with fellow Student Ambassadors.
Additionally, as an ambassador I enjoy access to a variety of perks, including digital and physical swag items.
What advice do you have for students and why do you think they should join the program?
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program offers extensive opportunities for learning and growth. I encourage students passionate about technology and eager to empower their peers through technology to join this vibrant community.
You can join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program by applying here
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In this guide I am going to show steps to connect Windows Azure VM to Azure SQL DB using Managed Identity covering create user in Azure SQL DB , connect using SSMS and connect using powershell
Requirements:
Windows 10 or 11 Azure Virtual Machine with system managed identity enabled and admin privileges to run powershell scripts Azure SQL DB server with entra admin access and database for testing SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) latest version
Get required information from VM and managed identity:
Use Object (principal) ID to get Application ID
Go to Entra ID and search Object (principal) ID
Select result to get Application ID
Provide access to Azure SQL DB:
Connect to server/database using Entra user with admin privileges and create user in this case is the name of the computer
— DROP USER [managediddemo] –remove user if exists CREATE USER [managediddemo] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER; ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER [managediddemo];
Connect from Azure VM:
Connect using SQL Server Management Studio SSMS …
Open SSMS and provide server name , select authentication Microsoft Entra Managed Identity and user assigned Identity will be Application ID from VM
In connection properties provide database name otherwise you will receive an error if user is not administrator and finally connect
Now is connected
Connect using powershell…
To be able to connect using powershell you need to Install modules required for Azure
Open powershell as administrator and run commands below
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In February, we announced the general availability of Copilot for Service, which helps organizations realize the benefits of generative AI by extending their existing investments in CRM and contact center solutions. Copilot for Service helps quicken agents’ time to resolution by assisting them with common tasks using the full context of the customer journey.
With prebuilt integrations for common CRMs, you can embed Copilot for Service inside the agent desktop to help agents be more productive and create seamless customer experiences across channels.
On July 1, we are introducing several new capabilities in Copilot for Service to further support agents working in their CRM of choice.
Email assistance
Copilot can help agents draft emails to answer customer queries. Using the context of customer records and actions, such as cases and emails, Copilot can provide an email draft written in the voice of the organization. Agents can review and alter the draft as needed before sending, and they can adjust the tone. With Copilot, agents can spend less time authoring and more time helping customers solve complex issues.
Context-aware multiturn chats
When an agent is involved in a customer conversation, they sometimes encounter difficult questions they can’t answer on their own. Instead of making a customer wait while they ask a colleague or conduct research, agents can ask Copilot a question. Copilot identifies the agent’s intent and understands the context of CRM data, including customer records and cases, so it can provide answers tailored to service scenarios and better support the resolution of customer issues.
Case summarization
With case summarization capabilities, Copilot understands which case an agent may be working on and summarizes the details for them, so agents can ramp up on their assigned cases faster. Armed with the most important aspects of a case, agents can then reduce time to resolution for customers. And because Copilot understands the context of CRM data, agents can be confident that they are giving customers the most informed answers.
Real-time streaming
When agents use Copilot to write an email response or ask a question, including multiturn questions, they can read the generated responses on the user interface incrementally, without having to wait for the entire response to be generated. Agents can also choose to stop Copilot from generating a response and start fresh. This helps reduce wait times and gives agents a chance to refine their requests if needed.
Learn more
These features will begin rolling out on July 1. You can access them by selecting the Start with Microsoft Copilot option when using the Copilot for Service landing page.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
We’re thrilled to announce the public preview of the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module, a new high-quality and scenario-focused PowerShell module designed to streamline management and automation for the Microsoft Entra product family. In 2021, we announced that all our future PowerShell investments would be in the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. Today, we’re launching the next major step on this journey. The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module (Microsoft.Graph.Entra) is a part of our ongoing commitment and increased investment in Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK to improve your experience and empower automation with Microsoft Entra.
We’re grateful for the substantial feedback we’ve heard from Microsoft Entra customers about our PowerShell experiences, and we’re excited to hear your thoughts after evaluating this preview module. We plan to build on our investment in the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module going forward and expand its coverage of resources and scenarios.
What is Microsoft Entra PowerShell?
The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module is a command-line tool that allows administrators to manage and automate Microsoft Entra resources programmatically. This includes efficiently managing users, groups, applications, service principals, policies, and more. The module builds upon and is part of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. It’s fully interoperable with all cmdlets in the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, enabling you to perform complex operations with simple, well-documented commands. The module also offers a backward compatibility option with the deprecated AzureAD module to accelerate migration. Microsoft Entra PowerShell supports PowerShell version 5.1 and version 7+. We recommend using PowerShell version 7 or higher with the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module on all platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Benefits of Microsoft Entra PowerShell
Focus on usability and quality: Microsoft Entra PowerShell offers human-readable parameters, deliberate parameter set specification, inline documentation, and core PowerShell fundamentals like pipelining.
Backward compatibility with AzureAD module: Microsoft Entra PowerShell accelerates migration from the recently announced AzureAD module deprecation.
Flexible and granular authorization: Consistent with Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, Microsoft Entra PowerShell enables administrative consent for the permissions you want to grant to the application and supports specifying your own application identity for maximum granularity in app permission assignment. You can also use certificate, Service Principal, or Managed Identity authentication patterns.
Open source: The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module is open source, allowing contributions from the community to create great PowerShell experiences and share them with everyone. Open source promotes collaboration and facilitates the development of innovative business solutions. You can view Microsoft’s customizations and adapt them to meet your needs.
Next steps
Installation: Install Microsoft Entra PowerShell, which uses the “/v1.0” API version to manage Microsoft Graph resources, from the PowerShell Gallery by running this command:
Authentication: Use the Connect-Entra command to sign in to Microsoft Entra ID with delegated access (interactive) or application-only access (noninteractive).
To see more examples for using your own registered application, Service Principal, Managed Identity, and other authentication methods, see the Connect-Entra command documentation.
Find all available commands: You can list all available commands in the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module by using the command:
Get-Command –Module Microsoft.Graph.Entra
Get Help: The Get-Help command shows detailed information about specific commands, such as syntax, parameters, cmdlet description, and usage examples. For example, to learn more about the Get-EntraUser command, run:
Get-Help Get-EntraUser –Full
Migrating from AzureAD PowerShell module: You can run your existing AzureAD PowerShell scripts with minimal modifications using Microsoft Entra PowerShell by using the Enable-EntraAzureADAlias command. For example:
Import-Module -Name Microsoft.Graph.Entra
Connect-Entra #Replaces Connect-AzureAD for auth
Enable-EntraAzureADAlias #enable aliasing
Get-AzureADUser -Top 1
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK and Microsoft Entra PowerShell modules?
Microsoft Entra PowerShell is a part of our increased investment in Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. It brings high-quality and scenario-optimized Entra resource management to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. Still, it keeps all the benefits of Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK for authorization, connection management, error handling, and (low-level) API coverage. As Microsoft Entra PowerShell builds on the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, it is completely interoperable.
Is the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module compatible with Microsoft Graph PowerShell?
Yes. You don’t need to switch if you’ve already used the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module. Both modules work well together, and whether you use Entra module cmdlets or Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlets for Entra resources is a matter of preference.
I need to migrate from the deprecated AzureAD or MSOnline modules. Should I wait for Microsoft Entra PowerShell?
No. One of our goals with Microsoft Entra PowerShell is to help you migrate from Azure AD PowerShell more quickly by setting Enable-EntraAzureADAlias. Microsoft Entra PowerShell supports simplified migration for scripts that were using AzureAD PowerShell, with over 98% compatibility. However, the legacy AzureAD and MSOnline PowerShell modules are deprecated and will be retired (stop working) after March 30, 2025. We recommend that you act now to begin migrating your MSOnline and AzureAD PowerShell scripts.
Both modules use the latest Microsoft Graph APIs. For test environments and non-production systems, you can migrate to Microsoft Entra PowerShell. We recommend migrating to this module for production systems only after it reaches general availability. If you migrate scripts to Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK now, there is no need to update them again with Microsoft Entra PowerShell, as it enhances and will not replace Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK.
Should I update Microsoft Graph PowerShell scripts to Microsoft Entra PowerShell?
This is not necessary but a matter of preference. Microsoft Entra PowerShell is part of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell solution, and the two modules are interoperable. You can install both modules side-by-side.
Will Microsoft Entra PowerShell add support for more resources in the future?
Yes, it is a long-term investment. We will continue to expand support for more resources and scenarios over time. Expect new cmdlets for Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Entitlement Management, Tenant Configuration settings, Per-User multifactor authentication (MFA), and more. We’ll also enhance existing cmdlets with additional parameters, detailed help, and intuitive names. Check out GitHub repo for ongoing updates.
Will Microsoft Entra PowerShell use a pre-consented app like AzureAD or MSOnline modules?
No. Microsoft Entra PowerShell permissions aren’t preauthorized, and users must request the specific app permissions needed. This granularity ensures that the application has only the necessary permissions, providing granular control over resource management. For maximum flexibility and granularity in application permissions, we recommend using your own application identity with Entra PowerShell. By creating different applications for different uses of PowerShell in your tenant, you can have exacting control over application permissions granted for specific scenarios. To use your own application identity with Microsoft Entra PowerShell, you can use the Connect-Entra cmdlet:
I am new to Microsoft Entra PowerShell; where do I start?
Explore our public documentation to learn how to install the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module, authenticate, discover which cmdlet to use for a particular scenario, read how-to guides, and more. Our best practice guide will help you start on a secure foundation.
How can I provide feedback?
You can provide feedback by visiting our GitHub repository issues section. Create a new issue with your feedback, suggestions, or any problems you’ve encountered. Our team actively monitors and responds to feedback to improve the module.
How can I contribute?
We welcome contributions from the community, whether it’s through submitting bug reports, suggesting new features, or contributing scenario and example improvements. To get started, visit the GitHub repository, check out our contribution guidelines, and create a pull request with your changes.
Learn more about Microsoft Entra PowerShell module
Explore our public documentation, to learn how to install the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module, the authentication methods available, which cmdlet to use for a particular scenario, how-to guides, and more.
Try It Today
Try out the new version and let us know what you think on GitHub! Your insights are invaluable as we continue to improve and enhance the module to better meet your needs.
Thank you!
We want to thank all the community members who helped us improve this release by reporting issues on GitHub during the private preview! Please keep them coming!
Prevent identity attacks, ensure least privilege access, unify access controls, and improve the experience for users with comprehensive identity and network access solutions across on-premises and clouds.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
We’re excited to announce that the migration tool for Active Directory Federation Service (AD FS) customers to move their apps to Microsoft Entra ID is now generally available! Customers can begin updating their identity management with more extensive monitoring and security infrastructure by quickly identifying which applications are capable of being migrated and assessing all their AD FS applications for compatibility.
In November we announced AD FS Application Migration would be moving to public preview, and the response from our partners and customers has been overwhelmingly positive. For some, transitioning to cloud-based security is a daunting task, but the tool has proven to dramatically streamline the process of moving to Microsoft Entra ID.
A simplified workflow, reduced need for manual intervention, and minimized downtime (for applications and end users) have reduced stress for hassle-free migrations. The tool not only checks the compatibility of your applications with Entra ID, but it can also suggest how to resolve any issues. It then monitors the migration progress and reflects the latest changes in your applications. Watch the demo to see the tool in action.
Moving from AD FS to a more agile and responsive, cloud-native solution helps overcome some of the inherent limitations of the old way of managing identities.
In addition to more robust security, organizations count greater visibility and control with a centralized, intuitive admin center and reduced server costs as transformative benefits of moving toa modern identity management.Moreover, Entra ID features can help organizations achieve better security and compliance with multifactor authentication (MFA) and conditional access policies—both of which provide a critical foundation for Zero Trust strategy.
Prevent identity attacks, ensure least privilege access, unify access controls, and improve the experience for users with comprehensive identity and network access solutions across on-premises and clouds.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Recently, I received a question about unattended uninstall for SQL Server Express edition. This article describes how to perform this task.
We need to take in consideration before to proceed
User that performs the process must be a local administrator with permissions to log on as a service. You can review more information about required permissions here.
If the machine has theminimumrequired amount of physical memory, increase the size of the page file to two times the amount of physical memory. Insufficient virtual memory can result in an incomplete removal of SQL Server.
On a system with multiple instances of SQL Server, the SQL Server browser service is uninstalled only once the last instance of SQL Server is removed. The SQL Server Browser service can be removed manually fromPrograms and Featuresin theControl Panel.
Uninstalling SQL Server deletestempdbdata files that were added during the install process. Files with tempdb_mssql_*.ndf name pattern are deleted if they exist in the system database directory.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
As enterprises are asked to manage increasingly complex business processes and data environments, context-aware AI summarization by Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 streamlines operations by synthesizing data from multiple sources across Supply Chain Management, Finance, Commerce, and Human Resources. By delivering clear, actionable insights from ERP data, this generative AI feature eliminates context-switching and allows users to make better decisions faster.
Transformative AI summarization in Dynamics 365
Copilot generative AI features are revolutionizing the user experience in Supply Chain Management, Finance, Commerce, and Human Resources. Insights that used to require literally dozens of clicks, searches, and views in multiple windows—and a lot of deep thinking about complex data—are now presented to the right user, at the right time, automatically. Let’s take a closer look at how Copilot aggregates data from multiple sources and displays it in easily digestible and context-aware summaries.
Vendor summary streamlines understanding of vendor performance and financials
What do we mean by “context-aware”? One meaning is that Copilot summarizes data based on the user’s role to deliver real-time, role-specific insights. Take the vendor summary, for example. Traditionally, procurement managers had to navigate multiple forms to understand vendor performance. Copilot summaries streamline these insights by providing quick access to crucial information, such as active contracts, purchase orders, late deliveries, and overdue payments. For accounts payable teams, however, the vendor summary presents essential financial details about a vendor. For both roles, the vendor summary enables faster, data-driven decisions for better vendor interactions.
Real-time vendor summary helps optimize supplier interactions and negotiations.
Sales order and purchase order summaries pinpoint critical items in open orders
Another perspective on “context-aware” is AI summarization based on task. Consider purchase and sales orders. Procurement and sales teams often spend significant time following up on open orders. Getting a comprehensive overview or pinpointing lines that need attention can be challenging, because the necessary data is typically spread across multiple forms. Copilot summaries consolidate the information, enabling users to easily identify critical items.
Copilot sales order summary highlights potential delivery issues, aiding in efficient order management and customer service.
It’s not just about summarizing data, though. AI summarization also facilitates quicker action on next steps. Copilot’s summary includes convenient one-click filtering options, allowing users to swiftly access the information they need to act.
One-click filtering options right in the Copilot summary help users quickly find the information they need.
Customer summary streamlines insights by role for more effective customer relationships
When it comes to customer information, “context-aware” refers to everything that creates a relationship between an organization and its customers—information that’s often found in multiple, disparate tables, reports, and modules. Copilot addresses the challenges faced by roles such as accounts receivable agents, sales order agents, and customer account managers, who need comprehensive and role-specific information about customers that’s often scattered across multiple systems. For example, while accounts receivable teams need quick access to open invoices, sales order teams require details on open orders and shipments. Copilot consolidates all relevant data into a single, context-aware summary that’s specific to each role, allowing agents and account managers to tailor their interactions with customers, strengthen relationships, and enhance operational efficiency.
Customer events, statuses, and insights are summarized in Dynamics 365 Finance.
Warehouse worker home screen brings warehouse teams up to speed quickly
“Context-aware” can also refer to a user’s surroundings and situation. Warehouse start-of-shift stand-up meetings can miss important updates, and they don’t cover changes that happen throughout the day. Copilot’s dynamic operational summary on the Warehouse Management home screen brings warehouse workers up to speed at the start of their shifts and keeps them on top of the situation as they go about their day, helping them quickly adapt to changes and ensure daily goals are met.
Warehouse workers get up to speed fast at the start of their shifts with a dynamic overview in Warehouse Management.
Workflow history summary streamlines review and approval of invoices and expense reports
AI summarization streamlines examination of workflows by providing a concise overview of recent actions and comments, allowing approvers to quickly act without navigating through separate detail screens. Copilot summaries apply to workflows in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Finance, Commerce, and Human Resources, aiding review and approval processes and supporting informed decisions for things like vendor invoices, time-off requests, and expense reports.
Workflow history summaries help stakeholders make informed decisions about future activities.
Product preview summary consolidates product details for quick consumption
Procurement managers typically must navigate multiple forms to gather product details such as name, description, dimensions, hierarchy, life cycle state, and release policy. Copilot consolidates this information and other key product attributes in a single, concise summary, making these details quick and easy to consume.
Copilot aggregates and summarizes product information based on the user’s role.
When a warehouse manager views the product detail page, Copilot’s summary focuses on relevant information that would take multiple clicks to find, such as on-hand inventory levels, purchase information like main vendor, and batch numbers that are expiring soon.
The product detail summary includes information about stock on hand and recent sales.
Employee workspace summary makes leave management easier for both HR and employees
An organization’s success relies on both employees and customers. Effective time-off management is crucial for employees to make informed decisions and for the organization to optimize time-off utilization and manage financial liabilities from unused leave. Time-off information is scattered across multiple screens in the employee self-service portal. Copilot consolidates key details like vacation and sick leave balances and potential forfeitures due to policy, and includes a link to submit leave requests, all in one summary view.
Employees can view available leave and request time off right in the Copilot summary.
Retail statement summary provides insights about risky transactions across multiple stores
Physical stores send cash-and-carry transactions to Dynamics 365 Commerce for inventory and financial updates. The store operations team must ensure proper posting, but identifying pending transactions can be difficult across multiple stores. Summaries of posted and unposted retail statements highlight stores needing attention and flag risky transactions like returns without receipts or price overrides. Brief error summaries for failed statements aid in quick resolution, enhancing store management efficiency.
Copilot summarizes retail transaction errors in Dynamics 365 Commerce.
For retail merchandisers, the challenge lies in managing complex product configurations without errors. Copilot addresses this challenge by streamlining merchandising workflows, offering a clear summary of settings, automating data validation, and providing a risk preview to anticipate issues. Here, context-aware AI summarization enhances efficiency, reduces the risk of lost sales, and drives growth.
Merchandise workflow summary aids management of retail merchandise.
More benefits of context-aware AI summarization of ERP data
Beyond the specific benefits we described earlier, Copilot summaries in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Finance, Commerce, and Human Resources enhance user experience and operational efficiency in multiple ways.
Enhanced productivity: With key data points automatically summarized, users spend less time analyzing vast datasets and can focus on strategic decision-making and core activities.
Proactive problem-solving: With real-time summaries, users can anticipate challenges and address them proactively, improving business agility and resilience.
Improved accuracy and insight: Copilot highlights critical information and trends, reducing the risk of human error in interpreting complex data. Analysis is more accurate and insightful, crucial for effective decision-making.
Customized user experiences: Each summarization feature is tailored to the specific needs of different roles within an organization, ensuring that every user receives the most relevant and actionable insights.
Seamless integration: AI features integrate seamlessly into your existing Dynamics 365 framework, providing a smooth user experience without the need for extensive setup or training.
Scalable decision support: Whether for small tasks or large-scale strategic decisions, Copilot summaries meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, scenarios, and requirements.
These benefits collectively contribute to a more streamlined, efficient, and informed ERP environment, setting the stage for more advanced AI features to come.
Introducing generative AI responsibly
Integrating generative AI into ERP products presents challenges. It requires ensuring that the AI features are reliable and robust enough for mission-critical business settings. It also requires building customer trust in the AI capabilities. Our vision is an autonomous ERP system that automates and optimizes business processes with minimal human intervention. However, this is a journey we’re embarking on together to instill confidence in the results and encourage greater adoption over time.
Our approach is to gradually introduce low-risk AI features that provide immediate benefits and time savings, gather user feedback, and build excitement. This way, we can improve the AI features based on user needs and business operations, laying the foundation for more advanced AI features in the future. We prioritize the safe deployment and continuous improvement of AI features in our ERP suite and are leading the way for responsible and impactful integration of AI in the ERP landscape.
Ensuring the ethical use of AI technology
Microsoft is committed to the ethical deployment of AI technologies. Through our Responsible AI practices, we ensure that all AI-powered features in Dynamics 365 adhere to stringent data privacy laws and ethical AI usage standards, promoting transparency, fairness, and accountability.
Learn more about AI summarization in Dynamics 365
Interested in learning more about the power of AI summarization to transform your business processes with unparalleled efficiency and insight? Here’s how you can dive deeper:
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In this post, we’ll cover some details on how to track the lifecycle of a SharePoint Site in the Microsoft Graph Data Connect (MGDC), using the date columns in the SharePoint Site dataset. If you’re not familiar with MGDC for SharePoint, start with https://aka.ms/SharePointData.
All Dates in the Sites Dataset
One of the most common scenarios in MGDC for SharePoint is tracking the lifecycle of a site, which includes understanding when the site was created, how it grows over time, when it stops growing and when it becomes inactive or abandoned.
The SharePoint Sites dataset includes several columns that can be used to understand the site lifecycle in general. For instance, here are the datetime columns available:
Site Created
Creation date is straightforward. There is a column (CreatedTime) with the date when the site was created. As with all other dates, it uses the UTC time zone.
Last Modified
In the Sites dataset, you also have the date and time when any items under the root web were last modified (RootWeb.LastItemModifiedDate). This includes the last time when files were created, updated or deleted. This is a great indication that the Site is still in active use.
You also have the date the site security was last modified (LastSecurityModifiedDate). This shows when permissions were granted, updated or revoked. That includes permissions granted through the manage access interface and permissions granted through sharing links.
Last Accessed
Last access is available at the site level (LastUserAccessDate). This shows when an item in the site was last accessed (this includes simply reading the file). This is an important indicator to help understand when the site is becoming inactive or abandoned.
Note that, while there is an effort to identify here only access performed directly by users, this date might also include automated actions by applications, including internal SharePoint applications.
Snapshot Date
Please note that there is one more date (SnapshotDate), but that one is not relevant to the site lifecycle. The snapshot date simple tracks when the data was retrieved by MGDC.
File Actions
Besides what’s captured in these datetime columns in the Sites dataset, you also have the option to capture detailed file activity in the site using the SharePoint File Actions and accumulate those over time.
Keep in mind that MGDC for SharePoint only keeps actions for the last 21 days due to compliance issues. More specifically, you can get file actions between today minus 2 days and today minus 23 days. For instance, if today is June 30th, you can get file actions between June 8th and June 28th.
If you query this information daily, you could build a longer history of file actions over time. For instance, you could keep the last 90 days of data from the File Actions dataset. With that you could find recent access or otherwise say “no access in the last 90 days”.
This would also let you know more details about recent file activities, like who last accessed the site, which file or extension was last accessed, what was the last action, etc. You need to decide if you can rely solely on the date columns provided in the Sites dataset or if it is useful to keep these additional details.
Please do check with the compliance team in your company to make sure there are no restrictions on keeping this information for longer periods of time in your country. There might be regulatory restrictions on how long you can keep this type of personally identifiable information.
Calculated Columns
Keep in mind that these dates use a datetime data type, so grouping by one of them can sometimes be a challenge. If you’re using Power BI, you can show them as a date hierarchy and get a summary by year, quarter, month or day.
It might also be useful to create calculated columns to help with grouping and visualization. For instance, you can create a new date column (without the time portion) for daily summaries. Here’s how to calculate that in Power BI:
I hope this clarifies what is available in MGDC for SharePoint to track the lifecycle of a SharePoint site.
Let us know in the comments if you think we should consider additional lifecycle information.
For further details about the schema of all SharePoint datasets in MGDC, including SharePoint Sites and SharePoint File Actions, see https://aka.ms/SharePointDatasets.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Azure SQL Managed Instance with Zone Redundancy to begin billing in Italy-North, Israel-Central, and West-Europe
Microsoft Azure continues to enhance its services, ensuring that customers have access to the latest innovations and features. The latest update is particularly exciting for businesses operating in Italy, Israel, and West Europe: Azure SQL Managed Instance with Zone Redundancy is available in these regions and starts billing for all configurations.
What is Azure SQL Managed Instance?
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a fully managed database service that offers the best of SQL Server with the operational and financial benefits of an intelligent, fully managed service. It provides a near-100% compatibility with the latest SQL Server (Enterprise Edition) database engine, which makes it easy to migrate your SQL Server databases to Azure without changing your apps.
Understanding Zone Redundancy
Zone Redundancy is a feature designed to improve the availability and resilience of your database instances. In the context of Azure SQL Managed Instance, Zone Redundancy means that your instances are replicated across multiple availability zones within a region. Each availability zone is a physically separate location with independent power, cooling, and networking. This separation ensures that even in the event of a data center outage, your database remains available and operational.
Benefits of Zone Redundancy
1. Increased Resilience
By replicating your data across multiple zones, you safeguard your applications from data center failures. This redundancy minimizes the risk of downtime and ensures that your critical business applications remain online, providing a more reliable service to your users.
2. Improved Business Continuity
With Zone Redundancy, you can achieve higher availability SLAs. For many businesses, this means meeting stringent uptime requirements and maintaining customer trust by ensuring their services are always available.
3. Cost Efficiency
While Zone Redundancy does come with additional costs, the benefits of reduced downtime and the potential financial impact of data loss often outweigh these expenses. In essence, investing in Zone Redundancy can save your business money in the long run by avoiding costly downtime and data recovery efforts.
How to Enable Zone Redundancy
Enabling Zone Redundancy for your Azure SQL Managed Instance is straightforward:
During Instance Creation:
When creating a new managed instance, you can specify Zone Redundancy in the configuration options.
For Existing Instances:
If you have an existing instance, you can modify its settings to enable Zone Redundancy in configure blade
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