Dynamics 365 Spring Update & Team License Requirements

Posted on: March 19, 2021 | By: Guy Logan | Microsoft Dynamics CRM

To serve Dynamics 365 users, Microsoft offers a biannual release of major product updates across the entire Dynamics product line. These two update releases are generally referred to as the Spring and Fall Updates. The general update notes are typically published about 2 months prior to their release date, with early access options to begin testing the updates on a sandbox environment. Microsoft has released the Spring 2020 release notes here.

Please be aware that some of these enhancements are completely new features and may require specific configurations. Other enhancements include new features that can be used immediately.

One thing that is prevalent across the range of updates: Deeper Teams Integration. Teams has become an important tool across all of Microsoft’s Platforms. The Spring update will introduce exciting new Teams functionality across the entire Dynamics 365 platform.

Below are some highlights of the Spring 2021 updates:

Sales

  • Deeper Teams Integration, including record editing within a Team chat and creation of notes and activities from the context of Teams messages. Also, if desired, users can directly call a Customer through D365 sales in Teams, capture notes, and let Teams provide a complete summary of the call along with highlights- all prepared automatically through Teams integration
  • Enhancements to Personal Settings (A first in many years!)
  • New Mobile Experience
  • Deal Manager Experience – New Way of handling Opportunity updates with fewer clicks; specific installation of components is required to access this capability

Customer Service

  • Deeper Teams Integration
  • Customer Service Rep Experience – making core navigation easier with fewer clicks
  • Configuration to allow updates to resolved cases!
  • Improved Embedded analytics

Field Service

  • New Mobile App to replace the original “Woodford App” (Available Now)
  • Technician Location Tracking
  • Self-Service Scheduling for Customers (Mid-Summer 2021)
  • Deeper Teams Integration
  • Simplified Field Agent set-up

Marketing

  • Personalized Interactions with real-time customer journey orchestrations
  • New Teams integrations with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing — put hosts in touch with attendees prior to webinars and after they have ended
  • SMS Texting within a customer journey
  • Push Notifications to Android and IOS apps
  • Quicker and personalized email creation
  • Deeper Artificial Intelligence integration

The spring updates are available now for preview. Users can try out and test these new updates within specific environments in the Power Platform admin center. We strongly urge users to only turn on new updates in a sandbox environment and test thoroughly.

Next steps

Replace your old ways of doing business with a modern, secure, and customizable system that already works with the Microsoft Office tools that your team is familiar with – Teams, Outlook, Excel & Word. Choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 for managing Sales, Customer Service interactions, and Marketing Outreach programs.

Logan Consulting is a proud Microsoft partner. We have helped many businesses transform their processes using Microsoft Dynamics CRM and similar products. Please contact us if you have any questions on using Teams Licensing, and find out how we can help!