Transform technician experience with the new Field Service Mobile UX

Transform technician experience with the new Field Service Mobile UX

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We recently announced the preview of our new Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile experience. This blog details the new capabilities on how technicians can benefit from this new streamlined experience, which cuts down the number of taps required to complete a booking in nearly half! 

Home Page

Upon launching the app with the new experience enabled, you will notice several things. Firstly, the styling and theming follows the Microsoft’s Fluent design system – bringing an experience like other modern enterprise apps like Teams and Office to your field service technicians.

graphical user interface, application

There is a new bottom navigation bar with 3 main buttons: 

  1. Home – the landing page for the app, currently today’s bookings 
  1. Library – for helpful reference materials such as Guides 
  1. More – for easy access to the other areas of the app via the sitemap.

Tapping on your user avatar in the top left opens a familiar navigation menu where you can get help, provide feedback and access useful app settings, such as the ability to change your time zone and your applicable Dynamics 365 org. 

Throughout the app, you will notice that touch targets are larger to eliminate mis-taps for conditions out in the field. Labels and icons, such as for booking status, are color coded for immediate visual recognition. The UX is responsive and adjusts to various screen sizes and portrait and landscape modes. 

The Booking List 

Every row in the booking list highlights the most important fields at a glance – such as the customer’s name, the incident type, the service address, the booking start time and the current booking status. There are one-touch filters and sorting options at the top – enabling the technician to easily filter based on booking status or sort by columns other than time.

There are also nifty timesaving shortcuts – swipe gestures to change the booking status from within the booking list and one-touch “Get Directions” button to start navigation. All of these features are designed to reduce the time required to get basic information and perform tasks. To access the booking details, simply tap on the booking from the list. 

Booking details, tasks, services and products 

Within the booking form, there are tabs to keep the information organized in an intuitive manner. Technicians can smoothly swipe between the tabs, instead of having to tap on them. 

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

The General tab summarizes the key details of the booking and the associated work order. The “Edit Status” button at the bottom is both conspicuous and fixed at the bottom of the screen, making it easy to access and tap.

The one-touch “Get Directions” feature from the bookings list is available on this screen as well. Additionally, there are shortcuts to quickly start a phone call or send an email from to the onsite contact from this screen. The edit controls for the time and duration fields have also been completely redesigned using the Fluent mobile patterns. The summary field contains an expandable work description. 

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

The tasks, products and services tabs include the list of Work Order Service Tasks, Work Order Products and Work Order Services for the current booking respectively. The tasks sub-grid has multiple UX niceties – a progress bar at the top, large tappable icons to easily check off completed tasks, a task description below each task title, links to attached Guides and Inspections (more on that in a bit) and a floating action button to quickly add tasks. The products and services lists inherit many of the same UX enhancements, with the additional features to mark an item as used and update the quantity inline.  

These lists are designed to reduce the need to tap into the individual items by surfacing the relevant details and editing capabilities in the list itself. 

graphical user interface, text, application

If a user needs the unified client interface (UCI) for additional booking details, they can tap on the icon on the top right of any screen. Tapping on a record that doesn’t have the new experience also takes the user to the UCI experience – for e.g., tapping into a task will currently open the UCI form. 

Step by step instructions

An exciting new feature for service technicians is the ability to access their Guides on their mobile devices with the Field Service app! If the Dynamics environment contains both Field Service and Guides solutions, users can access guides from within the library tab in the bottom navigation bar. Technicians can use guides containing instructional images and branching logic to help them when they need to follow predetermined procedures or troubleshooting maneuvers.

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

Each guide also has an outline to enable the user to see all the steps briefly. Also, both inspections and guides can be initiated from the task list as long as they’re attached to a particular service task – surfacing the instructions in context of the work order! 

Taking notes and attaching images 

Technicians will love the new timeline experience in the booking. It provides a streamlined view of text and image notes from the annotations table. It is super easy to add multiple pictures in one go by selecting them from the phone’s image gallery – or just snap away in the control itself.  The image previews can also be seen inline. What’s more – rich formatted text is supported! 

graphical user interface, application

The new Field Service Mobile UX is packed with features simplifying the technician experience to enable them to be more productive in the field.

Try it out today by following our documentation. We are looking forward to your feedback as we bring additional enhancements, including support for our offline capabilities in the new experience as well. 

The post Transform technician experience with the new Field Service Mobile UX appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

MVP’s Favorite Content: New Series to Elevate Your Skills

MVP’s Favorite Content: New Series to Elevate Your Skills

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

In this blog series dedicated to Microsoft’s technical articles, we’ll highlight our MVPs’ favorite article along with their personal insights.


 


Sander ten Brinke, Developer Technologies MVP in Netherlands


Sander ten Brinke.jpg


Performance Improvements in .NET 8 – .NET Blog


“For the last few years, I have looked forward to Stephen Toub’s blog posts about performance improvements in .NET. It shows that performance is very important to the .NET team, and it’s jaw dropping when you realize that this blog post will take HOURS to read. The blog post goes very in-depth, and you will learn many new things about .NET when reading it.”


 


Jev Suchoi, Developer Technologies MVP in Netherlands


Jev Suchoi.jpg


Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure – Cloud Adoption Framework | Microsoft Learn


“It is the most comprehensive and tightly packed content library for Azure Cloud. Not only encapsulating technology and architecture topics but also addresses cultural and business best practices. It even covers well-known anti-patterns.


I use the Cloud Adoption Framework daily to explain “how to Cloud” to clients”.


*Relevant Blog:


Mastering Cloud Adoption Framework: Quick Start Backlog essentials :flexed_biceps: – (devjev.nl)


The perfect Azure naming convention – (devjev.nl)


 


Luke Murray, Microsoft Azure MVP in New Zealand


Luke Murray.jpg


What’s new in the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework – Cloud Adoption Framework | Microsoft Learn


“I use this almost every day as a reference point to learn and accelerate adoption! One of my favourite pages is the ‘What’s New’! As Cloud Adoption can change and new content gets added, the What’s New page helps me keep up to date with the latest Cloud Adoption frameworks.”


*Relevant Blog: Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure – Tools and Templates – luke.geek.nz The Cloud Adoption Framework also includes various templates and assessments to keep track of your Cloud Journey across the Strategy, Plan, Ready, Adopt and Govern cycles. The blog post, written below, is only a fraction of the content available.


 


Nobushiro Takahara, Data Platform MVP in Japan


Nobushiro Takahara.jpg


Migrate SQL Server workloads to Azure SQL – Training | Microsoft Learn


“This Microsoft Learn content is a exhaustive and easy-to-understand guide that provides useful information for Fit & Gap analysis, migration planning (assessment), and migration methods for migrating SQL Server on on-premise environment to Azure. It also describes how to assess the database using Microsoft Data Migration Assistant and specific procedures for data migration, so I believe that this is a good content you should refer to when planning a migration.”


(In Japanese: Azureへオンプレミス環境のSQL Serverを移行するための Fit & Gap 分析に役立つ情報、および、移行計画(アセスメント)、移行方式に関する情報が網羅的に分かりやすくまとまっています。また、Microsoft Data Migration Assistant を使用したデータベース評価の仕方、および、データ移行などの具体的な手順が記載されており、移行計画を立てる際に是非参照したほうが良いコンテンツだと思います。)


*Relevant Blog: 【保存版】SQL ServerのAzure移行に向けた移行フローチャート – NOBTAの気ままにITブログ (nobtak.com)

Release wave 2: Transforming customer experiences with generative AI and Microsoft Dynamics 365

Release wave 2: Transforming customer experiences with generative AI and Microsoft Dynamics 365

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

The innovation continues. Generative AI has opened the door to a new world of what’s possible.

In business applications, we’re using generative AI to break down silos and bridge gaps between data, insights, and people so sellers, marketers, and customer experience (CX) professionals can deliver exceptional experiences across the entire customer journey, seamlessly.

With our 2023 release wave 2, we’re taking these capabilities to new heights across our Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Microsoft Sales Copilot, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights applications.

As unveiled at yesterday’s Business Applications Launch Event, I’m thrilled to share highlights of what’s to come, including new ways that these applications—fueled by generative AI and Copilot—can help you use data and insights that used to be hidden, unlock capabilities previously out of reach, and reach new levels of productivity and collaboration more easily than ever before. With a focus on delivering value to each line of business employee, our solutions are proven to maximize business outcomes across your organization.

Many of these capabilities are available today; all of them will be generally available or in preview before April 2024. Let’s check it out.

Use data and insights that used to be hidden

To deeply understand your customers, it all starts with data. But if your data is incomplete or you can’t get to it or take action on it, how valuable is that data and the insights that come out of it?

The new AI-driven capabilities releasing in this wave are set to revolutionize your customer experiences. With Copilot’s assistance, marketers, data analysts, and CX professionals can rapidly unlock data for enhanced decision-making, obtain valuable customer demographic and behavioral insights, and streamline both journey orchestration and content creation processes to fuel customer experiences.

Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights will help you to harmonize disparate data sources into one complete 360-degree view of each customer; it will automatically assess incoming data and offer suggestions to improve the quality, resulting in a more complete view and better insights into each customer.

Screenshot showing the results of the automatic incoming data assessment in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Data.

For sellers to maximize the number of qualified leads or deals closed, it’s important that they spend their time with leads and contacts with the highest likelihood of conversion. Obtaining this clarity involves looking across a growing number of customer touchpoint signals that sellers often don’t have access to (such as website visits or store visits), nor have time to analyze. That’s where the combined power of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Dynamics 365 Sales comes in. As sellers are working their leads, Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales automatically summarizes the lead details, status, and recent activity details, including profile summaries from Customer Insights – Data. Combining sales data with important intent signals helps sellers get a full picture of their customer so they can tailor every engagement, right in their flow of work.

Dynamics 365 Sales screenshot showing a Copilot lead summary with information from Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Data.

Unlock capabilities previously out of reach

Another one of the many beautiful things about Copilot is that it can unlock capabilities that were previously out of reach, and it applies to various roles across your organization.

For instance, thanks to dialog with data—a Copilot capability in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights—marketers and CX professionals can get insights and define the right target audience just by asking a simple question instead of relying on data experts to do the work for them.

Creating customer journeys has also been completely transformed with Copilot. Marketers can now use everyday language to describe the customer journey they want to create, and Copilot instantly designs that journey for them, offering suggestions on segments, trigger-based actions, communication timing, branching options, and much, much more. What’s even better is that the suggested journey is now editable. So if the marketer needs to make a last-minute change to the journey’s scope, they can do so by simply asking Copilot to make the update.

graphical user interface, text, application

When it comes to creating marketing content, bottlenecks can often arise: organizations may not have the right creative resources, enough time, or funding to produce effective content. So unfortunately, many promising campaigns never see the light of day. However, now, with the assistance of Copilot, marketers and CX professionals can easily produce highly appealing content with none of those roadblocks. Copilot capabilities like content ideas and content rewrite help these professionals write or refresh emails, forms, and more. And to make sure that collateral is on brand, they can use style assist which automatically applies colors, fonts, and styles based on a web URL and brand profiles to ensure a cohesive brand identity.

And to make it even easier to both understand your customers through data and act on insights from that data, we’ve combined Dynamics 365 Marketing and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights into a single offering, with the name “Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.” 

Reach new levels of productivity and collaboration

With customer expectations on the rise and customer loyalty at stake, sellers and marketers need to be more on top of their game than ever, so infusing Copilot into the tools they already use—whether it’s Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, or Outlook—our solutions empower them to transform their day-to-day operations and supercharge their productivity.

Sales Copilot capabilities in Outlook deliver insights and opportunity summaries so sellers no longer have to work across multiple applications to get a comprehensive view of an opportunity or to prepare for a meeting. These summaries are accessible in various places, including collaborative deal rooms, ensuring collective visibility.

To ensure that collaboration flows smoothly across sales teams, Sales Copilot in Teams provides AI-powered planner tasks, like simplifying task assignments, setting due dates, and keeping everyone in the loop. And once it’s time for the presentation, the team is equipped with real-time tips and suggestions within the Teams meeting so they can take charge of the discussions.

GIF showing AI-powered planner tasks in a Microsoft Teams deal room

And with Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales, sellers no longer have to sift through tabs and sections, they have access to what they need at their fingertips, like AI-generated account summaries, and the ability to quickly follow up on emails using recommended actions.

Our goal is to equip sellers with the right information at the right time, in real time, so they can make every moment count when interfacing with a customer; and we’re making it all available within their flow of work.

Learn more about 2023 release wave 2 capabilities

The capabilities coming in this release wave are ushering in a new era of AI-powered efficiency and innovation, enabling you to use data and insights that used to be hidden, unlock capabilities previously out of reach, and reach new levels of productivity and collaboration.

To see how all of this comes to life, watch the CX overview segment of the Business Applications Launch Event.

The future of AI-driven success is here, and Copilot is leading the way. Stay tuned for more exciting updates, and be ready to implement these transformative capabilities in your organization.

A man who is smiling and looking at a laptop

Dynamics 365 2023 release wave 2

Generative AI has opened the door to a new world of what’s possible.

The post Release wave 2: Transforming customer experiences with generative AI and Microsoft Dynamics 365 appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Deploy Semantic Kernel with Bot Framework

Deploy Semantic Kernel with Bot Framework

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

If you’ve been working with Azure OpenAI for a while, chances are you’ve heard of Semantic Kernel. It is a library implemented in multiple programming languages that can handle prompt templates, manage conversation state, integrate with plugins and many other features essential to building an advanced LLM-infused application. But how exactly do you “deploy” Semantic Kernel?


 


Being a software library, Semantic Kernel can be deployed to any compute option capable of running Python, C# or Java. You’ve probably seen sample repositories with Jupyter notebooks you can use to explore the functionality. But in most cases you can’t give your end-users a notebook! In this article, we’ll give you an example and a solution accelerator that you can use to bring your AI application to production faster.


 


Solution Architecture


 

Below is the architecture diagram for the solution accelerator we put together. You can also pull the source code and deploy it yourself from our Github repo!


 


MarcoCardoso_3-1698325719740.png


 


As you can see in the diagram, Semantic Kernel is at the core of the solution, and will act as the orchestrator of the chat experience. It is deployed into an App Services instance, which will also be running the Bot Framework SDK. This enables our bot to be deployed across multiple channels, including web pages, Teams, and even third-party chat platforms like Slack.


 


The flow of chat messages is as follows:



  • End-users connect to a messaging channel your bot is published to, such as Web or Teams;

  • Messages get processed through Azure Bot Services, which communicates with a .NET application running on App Services.

  • The .NET application runs a Semantic Kernel Stepwise Planner at its core. The planner elaborates a series of steps to process the user’s request, and then executes it.

  • Each step of the plan is formulated through Azure OpenAI, and the executed against Cognitive Search (traditional RAG pattern), Azure SQL (structured data RAG) or any other externally connected plugins.

  • Now with the data gathered from plugins, the question is resubmitted to Azure OpenAI, where a final answer is formulated and presented to the end user. This concludes a conversation turn.


 


Built-in use cases


 


1. Traditional Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)


 


To test out the traditional RAG pattern, we integrated a sample from the Azure Cognitive Search product called hotels-sample. It’s an index containing names, descriptions and other information about hotels, which you can search and filter through to explore the service.


 


First, we implemented the SearchPlugin class:


MarcoCardoso_4-1698326850579.png


 


Notice how Semantic Functions – the functionality that Semantic Kernel can call upon – are structured. Each Semantic Function and each of its arguments must be annotated with a human-readable description. This description will then be passed to the LLM so it can decide when to utilize that function, and pass in the right parameters. You can check out the source code in our repo, but this function is basically submitting a search to the Azure Cognitive Search index.


 


With debugging enabled, we can see each step of how the interaction happens:


 


MarcoCardoso_2-1698327326764.png


 


1. Thought: GPT-4 receives the question and determines it needs to use the SearchPlugin to respond.


2. Action: In the same step, GPT-4 formulates an action call with the appropriate parameters. The action is constructed in JSON format.


3. Observation: The plugin returns some hotel names and descriptions.


4. Final Answer: GPT-4 determines it now has all the information it needs, and provides an answer to the end user. Typically, this would be the only response the user sees!


 


This process of Thought-Action-Observation may repeat multiple times until the model obtains the required information. We’ll see an example of that in the next scenario.


 


2. Structured Data Retrieval-Augmented Generation


 


Much like Azure Cognitive Search, a SQL Database can be consumed by Semantic Kernel using the same technique. Again, we start by implementing a Plugin:


 


MarcoCardoso_3-1698327851998.png


 


This is slightly more complex – we added three Semantic Functions:



  • GetTables: Gets all tables in the database;

  • GetSchema: Gets the schema for a specific table;

  • RunQuery: Runs a query on the database;


We then expect the Semantic Kernel Planner to combine these as needed to reach a response. Let’s see an example, again with the debugging enabled to view intermediate steps:


 


MarcoCardoso_4-1698328246266.png


 


MarcoCardoso_6-1698328425620.png


 


 


This time, the conversation flow goes like this:


 



  1. Thought: GPT-4 receives the question and determines it needs to use the SQLPlugin to respond.

  2. Action: The first action required is to list tables to get the right table name for customers

  3. Observation: The plugin returns the table names in the database.

  4. Thought: Now knowing the correct table name, GPT-4 can formulate a query to get the number of customers

  5. Action: The action is to run a COUNT query on the SalesLT.Customer table

  6. Observation: The plugin returns the count of customers

  7. Final Answer: GPT-4 determines it now has all the information it needs, and provides the number of customers to the end user. Again, in a production scenario, this is the only answer the end-user would see.


 


3. Upload and analyze documents


 


The third and final common scenario we added to the accelerator is the upload of documents. Users can use the built-in upload function to send PDF files, and the bot will break them down and use Vector search to find relevant information.


 


Once again, starting with the plugin implementation:


 


MarcoCardoso_7-1698328735382.png


 


And moving on to the Web Chat:


 


MarcoCardoso_8-1698328826630.png


MarcoCardoso_9-1698328838238.png


 


Conclusion


 


Semantic Kernel is a very powerful and extensible tool, but deployment can be a challenge if you don’t know where to start. In this article, we provided a solution accelerator template you can use to quickly get to production, and create your own plugins and extensions.


 


Also please note that you’re responsible for what plugins you place in the hands of your end users! Imagine what would happen if a user asked “please drop the AdventureWorksLT database”. For that reason, you need to make sure your application has the precise role assignments to enable the actions it needs to perform, while limiting anything that should be out of its reach. Always keep security first!


 


In case you missed the GitHub repository link, here it is! Make sure to drop a star if it helped you!


 


https://github.com/Azure/semantic-kernel-bot-in-a-box


 

Delegate Azure role assignment management using conditions

Delegate Azure role assignment management using conditions

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Were excited to share the public preview of delegating Azure role assignment management using conditions. This preview gives you the ability to enable others to assign Azure roles but add restrictions on the roles they can assign and who they can assign roles to.  


 


As the owner of an Azure subscription, you likely get requests from developers to grant them the ability to assign roles in your subscription. You could assign them the Owner or User Access Administrator role, but those roles grant permission to assign any Azure role (including Owner!), and that’s probably a lot more permission than necessary for that developer’s scenario. You could instead make role assignments for these developers on demand, but that makes you an unnecessary and impractical bottleneck in their workflow. 


 


Another common case we hear about is a deployment pipeline that needs to make role assignments as part of the deployment process, for example to grant a virtual machine managed identity access to Azure Storage and other resources. You don’t want to assign the deployment pipeline the Owner or User Access Administrator role because again, it’s a lot more permission than is needed for the scenario. 


 


We created this feature so you can grant permission to create role assignments, but only under specific conditions, such as for specific roles. You can do this in two ways: 


 



  • Make a role assignment that is constrained using conditions. 

  • Use a new built-in role that has built-in conditions. 


 


Let’s look at each scenario. 


 


How to delegate role assignment management using conditions


 


Meet Dara, a developer who needs to enable an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) managed identity to pull images from an Azure Container Registry (ACR). Now, you can assign Dara the Role Based Access Administrator role and add conditions so she can only assign the AcrPull and AcrPush roles and only to service principals. 


 


Figure 1: Delegate Azure role assignment management using conditions.Figure 1: Delegate Azure role assignment management using conditions.


 
 


Let’s look at how to do this step by step:


 


Step 1: When creating a new role assignment, on the Privileged administrator roles tab select the new Role Based Access Control Administrator role. You could also select any built-in or custom role that includes the Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/write action.


 


Figure 2: Select roleFigure 2: Select role


 


 


Step 2: On the Members tab, select the user you want to delegate the role assignments task to.  


 


Figure 3: Select membersFigure 3: Select members


 


 


Step 3: On the Condition tab, click Add condition to add the condition to the role assignment.


 


Figure 4: Add condition to role assignmentFigure 4: Add condition to role assignment 


 


 


Step 4: On the Add role assignment condition page, specify how you want to constrain the role assignments this user can perform by selecting one of the templates. For example, if you only want to restrict the roles that a user can assign (ex. AcrPull and AcrPush) and the type of principals the user can assign roles to (ex. service principals), select the Constrain roles and principal types template.


 


 


Figure 5: Select role templateFigure 5: Select role template


 


 


Step 5: On the Constrain roles and principal types pane, add the roles you want the user to be able to assign and select to what principal types the user can assign roles to.


 


Figure 6: Select role and principal typeFigure 6: Select role and principal type 


 


    


Step 6: Save the condition and complete the role assignment.  JMQuade_7-1697746408908.png


 


Figure 7: Review role assignment with conditionsFigure 7: Review role assignment with conditions


 


 


How to delegate role assignment management using a new built-in role with built-in conditions


 


Now Dara wants to control who can sign into virtual machines using Microsoft Entra ID credentials. To do this, Dara needs to create role assignments for the Virtual Machine User Login or Virtual Machine Administrator Login roles. In the past, you had to grant Dara the Owner or User Access Administrator role so she could make these assignments. Now, you can grant Dara the new Virtual Machine Data Access Administrator role. Then, Dara will only be able to assign the roles needed to manage access to the virtual machine. 


 


Figure 8: Virtual Machine Data Access AdministratorFigure 8: Virtual Machine Data Access Administrator 


 


 


Similarly, you can assign Key Vault Data Access Administrator role to trusted users managing key vaults, enabling them to assign only Azure Key Vault-related roles.


 


To assign the new built-in roles with built-in conditions, start a new role assignment, select the Job function roles tab, and select a role with built-in conditions, such as Virtual Machine Data Access Administrator. Then complete the flow to add a new role assignment.


 


Figure 9 Select Key Vault or Virtual Machine Data Access AdministratorFigure 9 Select Key Vault or Virtual Machine Data Access Administrator


 


 


Roles with built-in conditions have Data Access Administrator as part of the role name. Also, you can check if a role definition contains a condition. In the Details column, click View, select the JSON tab, and then inspect the condition property. Over time we’ll add more roles with built-in conditions, for the most common scenarios, to make it easy to manage resources and manage access to those resources with simple role assignments. 


 


Figure 10: Key Vault Data Access Admin JSON view definitionFigure 10: Key Vault Data Access Admin JSON view definition


 


Next steps


 


We have several examples for you to get started and customize as needed. Delegating Azure role assignments with conditions is supported using the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager REST API, PowerShell, and Azure CLI. Try it out and let us know your feedback in the comments or by using the Feedback button on the Access control (IAM) blade in the Azure portal!


 


Figure 11: Provide feedbackFigure 11: Provide feedback



 


 


Stuart Kwan 


Partner Manager, Product Management 


Microsoft Entra 


 


 


Learn more about Microsoft Entra: 


Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event introduces wave of new AI-powered capabilities for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform

Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event introduces wave of new AI-powered capabilities for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Today, at the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event, we kicked off the 2023 release wave 2 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a six-month rollout of new and enhanced capabilities scheduled for release between October 2023 and March 2024.

This release wave introduces hundreds of new features across Microsoft Power Platform applications, including enhanced capabilities for governance, administration, and professional development. Updates for Dynamics 365 include innovation to help employees be more productive, create exceptional customer experiences and deepen relationships, and drive meaningful growth across the business. This release also features new AI capabilities in Copilot—which more than 130,000 organizations have now experienced—that help to improve insights, save time, and enhance creativity across Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform.  

Tune in to the launch event, live or on-demand, for a concise overview of the release wave, as well as a firsthand look at how organizations like Nestlé, Kodak Alaris, Northern Trust, Centrica, Spark NZ, Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland, and Suffolk are adopting these capabilities to drive transformative changes in their businesses.

Some of the themes at the event include:

  • A new era of AI-powered customer service and field service
  • Transforming enterprise resource planning (ERP) with AI
  • Enhancing customer experience through AI-driven transformation
  • Leading a new era of AI-generated low-code app development with Microsoft Power Platform

A new era of AI-powered customer service and field service

As a frontline for customer loyalty, service agents and field teams need access to information and insights to understand customer needs and respond appropriately. New Copilot capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service will help reduce time spent on common tasks, as well as introduce enhancements to the Customer Service workspace. Updates include improved inbox functionality, a redesigned voice experience, enhanced collaboration through Microsoft Teams, and integrated diagnostics for administrators—all aimed at boosting agent productivity and operational efficiency.

During the session led by Jeff Comstock, Corporate Vice President, Customer Service, we demonstrated how Copilot assists customer service and field service processes, including customer self-service, across various channels.

We also revealed how customers like Northern Trust Corporation, a leading wealth and asset management institution, can use Copilot to assist the client services team with tasks ranging from account reviews and case investigations to post-resolution wrap-ups. Northern Trust Corporation has not only gained recognition for its innovative financial services, but also for its unwavering commitment to customer service. With Dynamics 365 Customer Service as a steadfast component of its journey, the latest capabilities in release wave 2 can help the client service teams at Northern Trust be even more efficient, effective, and customer-focused, streamlining its workflow and enhancing its ability to provide timely and accurate support to clients. 

The session also delved deeper into the field service domain, where Centrica, a global energy services company, effectively manages its sizable workforce of 12,000 field operatives on site by harnessing the new capabilities of Dynamics 365 Field Service, streamlining processes from task assignments to issue resolution.

To learn more about release wave 2 capabilities for Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Field Service, visit the release planner.

Transforming ERP with AI

The new release wave harnesses AI, automation, and analytics to help organizations drive greater operational efficiency across finance, supply chain, and operations—capabilities that enhance visibility, automate processes, extend coverage, and deliver a more integrated experience across departments.

Updates to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance include the general availability of extended planning and analysis, which brings together operational and financial planning to continuously plan, act, and analyze. In addition, the general availability of business performance analytics streamlines financial reporting by centralizing data from multiple business processes and in an easy-to-use interface.

Updates to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management include improvements in demand planning, as well as procure-to-pay processes. Copilot will now suggest actions that can help purchasing agents make better decisions in response to new and updated information that affects open purchase orders.

At the launch event, Georg Glantschnig, Vice President, AI ERP, showcased how Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland is improving its demand planning accuracy by using AI. These new features have greatly enhanced its capacity to serve more customers by precisely planning food requirements, thereby reducing food waste, and improving environmental sustainability through more efficient facility operations. Additionally, the process of fulfilling purchase orders has also seen a remarkable enhancement, thanks to Copilot.

We also demonstrated how New Zealand’s largest telecommunications and digital services provider, Spark NZ, is transforming its finance and supply chain operations with Microsoft Dynamics 365. It can now automate many of its financial processes—including vendor invoice processing, automatic revaluation of foreign currency transactions, transaction reconciliation, billing, and complex tax calculations. Human resources can also streamline processes, from hiring to self-service vacation time requests and tracking.

See the release plans for Dynamics 365 Finance, Supply Chain Management, Project Operations, and Human Resources.

Enhancing customer experience through AI-driven transformation

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, and Copilot you can use data and insights that used to be hidden, unlock capabilities previously out of reach, and reach new levels of productivity and collaboration.

The new release wave introduces a variety of solutions to help marketers and sales professionals use Copilot to deepen their understanding of their target customer base, streamline engagement processes, and push the boundaries in crafting exceptional customer experiences. 

In the closing keynote session, Lori Lamkin, Corporate Vice President, Customer Experience, demonstrated how Kodak Alaris, a global technology company, effectively used Copilot within Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Insights. Taking advantage of the new AI capabilities, it tapped into previously hidden data to target its customer base, unlocking capabilities that were once out of reach. Using Copilot, it was able to create unique personalized content to keep customers informed about its services and effortlessly establish new levels of productivity and customer connection, attracting new businesses like never before.

For more details, review the release plans for Dynamics 365 Sales and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.

Leading a new era of AI-generated low-code app development with Microsoft Power Platform

Copilot in Power Platform ushers in a new era of AI-assisted low-code development. Copilot features in release wave 2 make it even easier to quickly create solutions.

At the launch event, Sangya Singh, Vice President, Power Pages, showcased how Copilot plays a vital role in democratizing development, enabling a broader audience—both citizen and professional developers—to create innovative solutions using natural language.

Through the lens of Suffolk, one of America’s largest construction companies, we demonstrated how Microsoft Power Automate helped them streamline critical material request processes, enabling teams to use Copilot in Power Automate to build flows by describing what they need.

We also showcased how Microsoft Power Apps can help Suffolk facilitate efficient coordination of construction status updates, and how the generative answers capability in Microsoft Power Virtual Agents can search industry resources for answers, reducing manual research. We also demonstrated how Microsoft Power Pages improves collaboration with multiple partners on construction projects, and how Microsoft Power BI can help Suffolk visualize safety data at construction sites across the globe, highlighting the trends, causes, and outcomes of incidents and near misses so that preventative actions can be easily identified and implemented.

In addition to enhancing daily business operations, Copilot within Microsoft Power Platform has significantly improved the governance and administrative experience, expediting the development of these applications.

Visit the Microsoft Power Platform release planner for more details.

Tune in to the Microsoft Business Applications Virtual Launch Event 

Decision makers (DMs) collaborating on the go.

Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event

Tune in live or on-demand for a concise overview of the release wave.

Watch the launch event on-demand for in-depth insights and demonstrations of the new capabilities across Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. You can also delve into several deep-dive presentations on topics including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, responsible AI practices, and a fireside chat that explores the latest features in this release wave.

Don’t forget to explore the detailed release plans for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform to stay informed about what’s new and on the horizon.

We also invite you to learn more about the latest AI innovation at Microsoft Ignite 2023, taking place in Seattle from November 14 through November 17, 2023, with online sessions available live and on-demand on November 15 and November 16. Register today.

The post Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event introduces wave of new AI-powered capabilities for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Show declined events on the calendar

Show declined events on the calendar

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

A much-awaited calendaring feature is finally coming to Outlook: the capability of keeping the events you decline on your calendar.


 


In Settings, once you turn on the feature, declined events will no longer disappear but remain on your calendar so you can easily recollect related info or docs, find associated chats, or even take actions like updating your previous response (RSVP) and forwarding it to someone else; all while keeping your agenda free at that time slot.


 


Worldwide release for the ability to preserve declined events is planned for the second half of November 2023. Once it is out, this is what you can do to take advantage of it:


 


Step 1: Enable the feature


The ability to preserve declined events will be disabled by default. You can enable it in Outlook on the web or in the new Outlook for Windows by manually checking “Show declined events in your calendar…” in Settings > Calendar > Events and invitations > Save declined events.


Gio_0-1697661807413.png


 


 


Step 2: Decline Events


Once it’s enabled, you can start declining events or meeting invites and they will automatically be preserved.


Gio_1-1697661814461.png


Please note that events declined from the classic Outlook for Windows will not be preserved, but events declined from all other Outlook clients (new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, Outlook for Mac, Outlook for Android, Outlook for iOS) and Microsoft Teams will be preserved.


 


Step 3: View Declined Events


Once preserved, declined events will be viewable on any calendar surface, including the classic Outlook for Windows, Teams, and even third-party apps.


 


Gio_2-1697661820532.png


 


 


We hope this feature will improve your calendaring experience, making your time management easier.


 


Cheers!


 


 

Enable faster, more impactful frontline services with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service

Enable faster, more impactful frontline services with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

This post was co-authored by Caroline Dent, Senior Solutions Consultant, Velrada.

Due to fierce competition and increasing customer expectations, many organizations are looking to transform their field service operations to increase customer satisfaction, drive greater efficiency, and ensure higher service effectiveness. Digital transformation for field service operations is often focused on providing modern tools for service dispatchers who manage customer requests and create and dispatch work orders. But what about the people on the frontlines—the service technicians in the field?

Consider a utility provider with field service technicians who may work in remote areas with low network coverage or sometimes brave challenging weather conditions to support customers experiencing outages. Like any other organization, that provider needs a solution that enables it to streamline field service operations as much as possible, not only for controlling costs but also for providing the best possible experience for its customers. But when bad weather hits, it also needs a solution that ensures its field support can be productive even in extreme conditions and from the most remote locations.

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, organizations with service technicians on the frontlines can help maximize productivity with AI-driven assistance and remote expert support in the flow of work. And specifically for service technicians on the frontlines, Dynamics 365 Field Service offers a comprehensive Field Service mobile app for Windows, iOS, and Android devices that provides a set of digital capabilities that extend far beyond the traditional scheduling and dispatching of work orders.

Dynamics 365 Field Service

Transform your service operations

Male worker wearing utility suit using tablet. Industrial vats visible in background.

Implementing Field Service to optimize operations

As a long-term Microsoft global partner, Velrada has emerged as a pioneering force in implementing Dynamics 365 Field Service to empower frontline workers. With a rich history of innovation and a strong commitment to business transformation, Velrada has consistently demonstrated its expertise in implementing Dynamics 365 Field Service to help its customers optimize operations.

“The field service industry is undergoing a profound transformation, and at its forefront is the demand from our customers for innovative solutions that go beyond the scheduling and dispatching of jobs,”

David Conti, Product Director, Velrada

Let’s take a closer look at how organizations are empowering field service workers with more innovative solutions by deploying Dynamics 365 Field Service.

Empowering technicians with real-time information for better service

A primary benefit of Dynamics 365 Field Service is the Field Service mobile app, available on Windows, Android, and iOS devices. Service technicians can see their workdays at a glance in Microsoft Teams, including their latest work orders. They simply click on a work order to launch the Field Service mobile app, so they can view and update work orders, customer assets, accounts, and more, no matter where they are working—even in areas with limited connectivity. This means that even during the worst weather events, workers can get real-time dispatch updates from service agents that keep them informed about the latest outages and ready to tackle challenges regardless of the weather conditions.

Using the Field Service mobile app can also help organizations like the utility provider equip field technicians with digital workstations right on their mobile devices, so they can conduct digital inspections, manage forms, and complete service checklists—everything they were previously required to do on paper, often at the end of a long work day.

Enabling efficient on-site assessments

Using the Field Service mobile app, technicians can conduct on-site assessments with unmatched efficiency. They can capture photos, record notes, provide customers with immediate estimates, and even get their sign-off by capturing their digital signature in the app. This accelerates decision-making and facilitates faster service delivery, a crucial advantage in remote and challenging locations.

Ensuring seamless inventory management

Technicians can also easily access up-to-date inventory information on their devices. This eliminates the need for cumbersome manual inventory checks and reduces delays caused by missing parts because technicians can ensure they’re well-equipped for their service calls before they leave the service center.

Prioritizing safety and compliance

The Field Service mobile app incorporates safety checklists and real-time reporting, helping to ensure compliance with safety regulations. This not only upholds safety standards but also improves the well-being of service technicians who often work under hazardous conditions, such as near high-voltage transformers or natural gas compressors.

Revolutionizing service with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and mixed reality

What is dynamics 365 Remote assist?


Read the overview 

For many organizations, enabling service technicians on the frontlines with digital tools that help eliminate inefficient paper-based processes and ensure workers can be productive even in the most remote locations or extreme conditions is just the beginning. Conti says, “Our customers are constantly looking at ways to innovate, and our next step is to help them give technicians access to more than just transactional information by incorporating mixed reality on top of Field Service solutions.” Organizations using Dynamics 365 Field Service can also be integrated with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens, HoloLens 2, Android, or iOS devices to enable technicians to collaborate more efficiently by working together from different locations. This means service technicians can find and connect with technical experts working at other locations to share what they’re seeing, receive remote assistance, and quickly resolve customer issues. This is especially critical during outages that affect a large number of customers, but it can also help substantially reduce the need for on-site visits even for routine maintenance or smaller issues, resulting in improved first-time fix rates and elevated customer satisfaction. Using mixed reality in this way helps service technicians make well-informed, real-time decisions. In addition, Remote Assist call data can be securely stored in Microsoft Dataverse and accessed for future analytics on service performance.

In addition to Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Field Service can also be integrated with Dynamics 365 Guides to attach mixed reality guides to Field Service tasks. This makes tasks like equipment maintenance more precise as service technicians can use mixed reality to overlay digital instructions onto physical machinery, which helps them perform field inspections and review the areas that require maintenance. ensuring efficient upkeep and field inspections are enhanced through annotated issue documentation, improving accuracy and record-keeping. In addition, technicians can benefit from immersive training experiences, reducing onboarding time and accelerating skill development.

Dynamics 365 Guides


Learn more 

Overall, the integration between Dynamics 365 Field Service, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Guides, and tools like HoloLens helps to elevate field service operations by enabling them to optimize processes and deliver unparalleled customer experiences in today’s dynamic business environment. They can empower technicians with immersive training experiences, precise equipment maintenance guidance, and real-time remote assistance. Field inspections become more accurate, data-driven decisions become the norm, and customer interactions reach new heights.

Next steps

Learn how Dynamics 365 Field Service can help you optimize your service operations and deliver exceptional service. And read how Copilot in Dynamics 365 Field Service can help you accelerate service delivery, boost technician productivity, and streamline work order management with next-generation AI.

The post Enable faster, more impactful frontline services with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Use Application Insights to diagnose conversations in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Use Application Insights to diagnose conversations in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Every contact center wants to maintain system health with minimal usability disruptions to offer a delightful and seamless customer experience. Now, contact center managers can use Application Insights to get details about customer conversations and solve problems more easily. 

Application Insights, an extension of Azure Monitor, provides greater visibility into conversation-based operational telemetry in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. This helps contact center managers keep track of the application’s health across the full conversation lifecycle.  Metrics are available starting with initiation, virtual agent engagement, routing, and assignment, through to resolution. Application Insights tracks volumes, latency, scenario success, failures, and trends at scale. In addition to facilitating proactive system monitoring, it empowers developers and IT professionals to easily identify and diagnose problematic conversations. From there, they can self-remediate where applicable or get swift support.

Connect to Application Insights

This capability enables customers to establish connectivity between their Dynamics 365 Customer Service environment and Application Insights instance. Then they can subscribe to system telemetry for a core set of conversation lifecycle events across the channels they use. When these logs are available in Application Insights, users can combine them with additional data sets to build custom dashboards. 

graphical user interface, text, application
Enable Application Insights to get conversation lifecycle logs for your organization from Power Platform admin center
graphical user interface
Monitor conversation telemetry with ease and track performance through Application Insights
Create your own custom monitoring dashboards with Application Insights and other data sets

Application Insights in action 

Contoso Clothing, a retail giant in apparel, has recently launched their online shopping experience. With the approaching holiday season, they anticipate high volumes. Their workforce is prepared to provide a satisfying customer service experience using Dynamics 365 Customer Service. 

Tim is a supervisor for Contoso Clothing’s customer service division. He is responsible for the management and optimum functioning of their live chat queues. On his monitoring dashboard, Tim notices a sharp increase in conversations in the backlog, leading to longer wait times. He can see that his customer service representatives are busy with ongoing conversations. This means they are unable to receive new chats, which is leading to long wait times and low customer satisfaction. The overall conversation volumes are well within Tim’s capability, and something doesn’t seem right to him.  
 
He highlights this to Kaylee, an IT professional on his team. Kaylee has recently enabled App Insights for Contoso Clothing’s Dynamics 365 Customer Service environment to access conversation telemetry. This has been helping her monitor operational health as well as troubleshoot issues in real time. Based on Tim’s observation, she pulls up telemetry for all live chat conversations from the last few hours. Each conversation contains business events logged along with associated success or failure, duration, and associated metadata in Application Insights. 

While looking through anomalies and failures, she notices a high number of ‘customer disconnected’ events being logged repeatedly. Tracing these conversations, Tim and Kaylee determine that multiple chat conversations being created for the same customer within a short span of time. They see that customers are having to reinitiate a chat every time they navigate away from their app and come back to continue the conversation.  

Tim realizes the need to give customers the option to reconnect to a previous chat session. Being a business admin himself, can enable this through the Customer Service admin center in a few clicks. Using Application Insights data, Kaylee can set up auto-alerts for this scenario in case the problem happens again. Over the next few days, Tim and Kaylee see live chat wait times go down and customer satisfaction improve. They not only proactively detected the problem early but were also self-equipped to take the necessary steps to fix it and meet their customers’ needs. 

Learn more

To learn more, refer to Conversation diagnostics in Azure Application Insights (preview) – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn 

The post Use Application Insights to diagnose conversations in Dynamics 365 Customer Service appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Support for legacy TLS protocols and cipher suites in Azure Offerings

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Overview


 


Microsoft Azure services already operate in TLS 1.2-only mode. There are a limited number of services that still allow TLS 1.0 and 1.1 to support customers with legacy needs.  For customers who use services that still support legacy protocol versions and must meet compliance requirements, we have provided instructions on how to ensure legacy protocols and cipher suites are not negotiated. For example, HDInsight provides the minSupportedTlsVersion property as part of the Resource Manager template.  This property supports three values: “1.0”, “1.1” and “1.2”, which correspond to TLS 1.0+, TLS 1.1+ and TLS 1.2+ respectively.  Customers can set the allowed minimum version for their HDInsight resource.


 


This document presents the latest information on TLS protocols and cipher suite support with links to relevant documentation for Azure Offerings.  For offerings that still allow legacy protocols to support customers with legacy needs, TLS 1.2 is still preferred.  The documentation links explain what needs to be done to ensure TLS 1.2 is preferred in all scenarios.


 


Documentation Links


 




































































































































































Azure Offering



TLS documentation



API Management



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/api-management/api-management-howto-manage-protocols-ciphers



App Service



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/configure-ssl-bindings


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/deploy-staging-slots



Application Gateway



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/application-gateway/application-gateway-ssl-policy-overview


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/application-gateway/application-gateway-configure-ssl-policy-powershell



Azure App Service – Azure Arc



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/configure-ssl-bindings


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/deploy-staging-slots



Azure App Service Static Web Apps



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/configure-ssl-bindings


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/deploy-staging-slots



Azure Cognitive Search



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/search/search-security-overview



Azure Cosmos DB



https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cosmosdb/tls-1-2-enforcement/



Azure Database for MariaDB



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/mariadb/concepts-ssl-connection-security#tls-enforcement-in-azure-database-for-mariadb


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Azure Database for MySQL



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/mysql/concepts-ssl-connection-security#tls-enforcement-in-azure-database-for-mysql


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Azure Database for PostgreSQL



Single Server – https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/postgresql/concepts-ssl-connection-security  


Flexible Server – https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/postgresql/flexible-server/how-to-connect-tls-ssl


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Azure Front Door / Azure Front Door X



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/frontdoor/standard-premium/faq



Azure SQL



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Azure SQL Database Edge



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Azure Synapse Analytics



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Azure Web Application Firewall



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/application-gateway/application-gateway-ssl-policy-overview


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/application-gateway/application-gateway-configure-ssl-policy-powershell


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/frontdoor/standard-premium/faq



Cloud Services



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cloud-services/applications-dont-support-tls-1-2



Common Data Service



https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/server-cipher-tls-requirements


https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/important-changes-coming#tls-rsa-cipher-suites-are-deprecated



Dynamics 365 AI Customer Insights



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/search/search-security-overview


https://docs.microsoft.com/powerapps/maker/portals/faq


https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/power-bi-support-for-transportlayer-security/


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/hdinsight/transport-layer-security


https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cosmosdb/tls-1-2-enforcement/


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/transport-layer-security-configure-minimum-version?tabs=portal


https://docs.microsoft.com/security/benchmark/azure/baselines/service-fabric-security-baseline#44-encrypt-all-sensitive-information-in-transit


https://github.com/Azure/Service-Fabric-Troubleshooting-Guides/blob/master/Security/TLS%20Configuration.md



Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection



https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/power-bi-support-for-transportlayer-security/



Event Grid



https://docs.microsoft.com/security/benchmark/azure/baselines/event-grid-security-baseline



Event Hubs



https://support.microsoft.com/topic/add-support-for-tls-1-1-and-tls-1-2-on-service-bus-for-windows-server-1-1-92a6cf2c-1b3f-1ea6-185a-b9ced2840fb6



Functions



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/configure-ssl-bindings


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/deploy-staging-slots



HDInsight



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/hdinsight/transport-layer-security



IoT Hub



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/iot-hub/iot-hub-tls-support



Key Vault



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/key-vault/general/security-features#tls-and-https



Logic Apps



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/logic-apps/logic-apps-securing-a-logic-app?tabs=azure-portal


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/logic-apps/logic-apps-securing-a-logic-app?tabs=azure-portal



Microsoft Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra



https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cosmosdb/tls-1-2-enforcement/



Microsoft Forms Pro



https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/important-changes-coming#tls-rsa-cipher-suites-are-deprecated


https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/server-cipher-tls-requirements



Notification Hubs



https://support.microsoft.com/topic/add-support-for-tls-1-1-and-tls-1-2-on-service-bus-for-windows-server-1-1-92a6cf2c-1b3f-1ea6-185a-b9ced2840fb6


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/notification-hubs/notification-hubs-tls12



Power Apps



https://docs.microsoft.com/powerapps/maker/portals/faq  


https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/92811d44-1165-4da2-96e7-20dc99bdf718/can-power-query-be-updated-to-use-tls-version-12?forum=powerquery


https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/power-bi-support-for-transportlayer-security/


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/api-management/api-management-howto-manage-protocols-ciphers



Power Automate



https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/wp-compliance-data-privacy#data-protection


https://docs.microsoft.com/powerapps/maker/portals/faq


https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/92811d44-1165-4da2-96e7-20dc99bdf718/can-power-query-be-updated-to-use-tls-version-12?forum=powerquery


https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/power-bi-support-for-transportlayer-security/


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/api-management/api-management-howto-manage-protocols-ciphers


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/logic-apps/logic-apps-securing-a-logic-app?tabs=azure-portal



Power BI



https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/power-bi-support-for-transportlayer-security/



Power BI Embedded



https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/power-bi-support-for-transportlayer-security/



Service Bus



https://support.microsoft.com/topic/add-support-for-tls-1-1-and-tls-1-2-on-service-bus-for-windows-server-1-1-92a6cf2c-1b3f-1ea6-185a-b9ced2840fb6



Service Fabric



https://docs.microsoft.com/security/benchmark/azure/baselines/service-fabric-security-baseline#44-encrypt-all-sensitive-information-in-transit


https://github.com/Azure/Service-Fabric-Troubleshooting-Guides/blob/master/Security/TLS%20Configuration.md



SQL Server Stretch Database



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings#minimal-tls-version



Storage



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/transport-layer-security-configure-minimum-version?tabs=portal


https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/import-export/


https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/afstlssupport/



VPN Gateway



https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/vpn-gateway/vpn-gateway-vpn-faq#tls1



 


 


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)


 


What is meant by legacy protocols?


Legacy protocols are defined as anything lower than TLS 1.2. 


 


What is meant by legacy cipher suites?


Cipher suites that were considered safe in the past but are no longer strong enough or they PFS.  While these ciphers are considered legacy, they are still supported for some backward compatibility customer scenarios.


 


What is the Microsoft preferred cipher suite order?


 For legacy purposes, Windows supports a large list of ciphers by default.  For all Microsoft Windows Server versions (2016 and higher), the following ciphers are the preferred set of cipher suites. The preferred set of cipher suites is set by Microsoft’s security policy.  It should be noted that Microsoft Windows uses the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) cipher suite notation.  This link shows the IANA to OpenSSL mapping.  It should be noted that Microsoft Windows uses the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) cipher suite notation.  This link shows the IANA to OpenSSL mapping.


 


TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384


TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256


TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384


TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256


TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384


TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256


TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384


TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256


 


Why is ChaCha20-Poly1305  not included in the list of approved ciphers?


ChaCha20-Poly1305 PolyChacha ciphers are supported by Windows and can be enabled in scenarios where customers control the OS. 


 


Why are CBC ciphers included in the Microsoft preferred cipher suite order?


The default Windows image includes CBC ciphers.  However, there are no known vulnerabilities related to the CBC mode cipher suites.  We have mitigations for CBC side-channel attacks.


 


Microsoft’s preferred cipher suite order for Windows includes 128-bit ciphers. Is there an increased risk with using these ciphers?


AES-128 does not introduce any practical risk but different customers may have different preferences with regard to the minimum key lengths they are willing to negotiate. Our preferred order prioritizes AES-256 over AES-128.  In addition, customers can adjust the order using the TLS Cmdlets.  There is also a group policy option detailed in this article: Prioritizing Schannel Cipher Suites – Win32 apps | Microsoft Docs.


 


Thanks for reading!