Welcome to another exciting Dynamics news cycle… a whole slew of small updates make this a bit heavy for our online users. For those of you not yet on Version 9 you’ll want to be planning for that eventuality in the not too distant future. Don’t let the forced deadline derail your planned project work!

General News for Everyone

• Don’t forget about the Office support recovery tool… if you’ve been working in many different environments and your authentications starts acting up this might be the fix you need.
  • https://diagnostics.outlook.com/#/

 

News for Dynamics 365 online implementations

• Enhanced auditing capabilities including “Read” auditing and “Export” auditing (among others… click below for full details)
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-engagement/admin/enable-use-comprehensive-auditing

 

• Common Data Service (aka your online database) now has an Excel add-in.
  • Import, export, manipulate data in CDS/D365
  • https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/cds-for-apps-excel-importexport/

• Don’t forget… Virtual Entities are now available in D365 version 9.x
  • Connect to an external data source but use the D365 user interface components to display the data including the sitemap and Advanced Find.
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-engagement/developer/virtual-entities/get-started-ve
• For those of you still on version 8.1… you should have received a message to schedule your next upgrade. If you did you schedule your upgrade Microsoft may do it for you by July 31^st.
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/05/07/updating-dynamics-365-v8-1-organizations-to-the-latest-version/
• Developers… D365 version 9 now includes a new “WebApi” client API CRUD model.
  • This may simplify client-side CRUD operations in certain scenarios.
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-engagement/developer/clientapi/reference/xrm-webapi
• You may now include Category based tracking of Outlook items using Server-Side Synchronization.
  • Similar to folder tracking… Track emails, appointments, and tasks in Outlook using a designated Outlook category tag.
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/05/02/introducing-outlook-category-based-tracking-in-server-side-synchronization/
• Unified Interface is the future!
  • There are still some limitations to be resolved (for example… no advanced find) but the unified interface is the future of Dynamics. Check out some of the highlights through the link below.
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/04/11/unified-interface-overview/
• For Field Service… Still using FieldOne? There is not a migration tool available to assist with the move to D365 Field Service.
  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56966&WT.mc_id=rss_alldownloads_all
• For Field Service… release 6 is now available
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/05/08/release-notes-for-field-service-and-project-service-automation-update-release-5-2/
• Remember! Version 9 was released in April… we’re now up to version 9.0.2 including some performance and reliability enhancements. If you need a refresher on the new content please click below.
  • https://community.dynamics.com/crm/b/dynamicscrmpros/archive/2018/04/09/upgrade-to-v9-0-fall-2017-release-today
• Remember! Social Engagement is part of the platform… here is what is new in the latest version 1.6 to be release in June.
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/06/08/whats-new-in-microsoft-social-engagement-2018-update-1-6/
  • In case you missed it… here are the notes from May’s version 1.5 update
    • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/05/11/whats-new-in-microsoft-social-engagement-2018-update-1-5/
• Remember! Voice of the Customer (aka customer surveys) is part of the platform… here is what is new in the latest version 9.0.1162
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crm/2018/05/23/whats-new-in-voice-of-the-customer-version-9-0-1162/

• News specific to Dynamics 365 on-premise implementations

  • As always… sit tight for the next formal release which may include many of the online improvements listed above.