Pull In Business Advantage with Office 365 Dynamics Integration

Creating a system to bring the “flow of work” is very hard to find these days. With discrete applications, businesses face multiple challenges like inefficiencies in data handling and the repetitive need to synchronize every other application.

Microsoft’s suite of applications has been widely regarded as a familiar and cost-efficient solution. With every Microsoft application operational from the cloud, Microsoft gives businesses the flexibility to work and collaborate from anywhere and from any device. Teams working on the Office 365 Dynamics platform can similarly leverage Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration to connect a whole range of Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, OneNote, Power BI, and many more. This integration enables a unified and accurate representation of business processes, reducing inefficiencies and improving workflows.

In this blog, we’ll explore the different Microsoft Applications, their utility with Microsoft Dynamics 365, and the advantages of connecting them. Read on to know more or navigate to your preferred section from the outline below. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 APPs

Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps include the following:

• Dynamics 365 Marketing
• Dynamics 365 Sales
• Dynamics 365 Customer Service
• Dynamics 365 Field Service
• Dynamics 365 Finance
• Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
• Finance and Operations cross-app capabilities
• Dynamics 365 Commerce
• Dynamics 365 Business Central, and many more.

Find more specifics on these apps here- Microsoft Office 365 Dynamics.

Business Benefits of Using Microsoft Dynamics 365

Ask any business professional about the many common problems they face while handling their business from multiple applications, and it’s highly probable you’ll hear terms like inefficiency and disconnected data. 

With regards to businesses, it is a waste of time and money to deploy and manage too many software programs that do not interact effectively. Microsoft Dynamics acknowledges this, which is why they provide an integrated suite of all Microsoft products from Microsoft 365 (previously known as Office 365). Microsoft Dynamics 365 now gets included as part of the Microsoft 365 subscription.

If your business uses Microsoft products to carry out your daily business operations, with Microsoft Dynamics 365, you can avail yourself benefits like:

• Accurate Unified View: Microsoft Dynamics 365 drives digital transformation for your business by giving you a unified view of all your activities through its portfolio of intelligent business applications. With strong data insights, Dynamics 365 empowers your employees to deliver operational excellence and create more engaging customer experiences.
  Users benefit from the Dynamics 365’ unified interface since they do not have to switch apps or transfer data while working.
• Access Data Everywhere: Being an integrated suite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 can connect with hundreds of data sources including your most used applications like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Azure, and LinkedIn. Microsoft Dynamics 365 syncs all your data to the cloud which means your team can collaborate from anywhere and from any device. 
• Smart Actionable Insights: Microsoft 365 subscription lets users avail the benefit of its AI-powered insights using rich data visualizations and dashboards. This functionality comes in through the use of Power BI, a Microsoft-owned Business Intelligence tool.
• Enhanced Protection: Dynamics 365 protects your data and maintains compliance with Identity Protection, Encryption, as well as Role-Based Auditing and Logging Access. Microsoft assures to secure your company’s and customers’ data and gives users total control over it.
• Limitless Analytics: Users can enrich their customer data with operational and Internet of Things (IoT) data using Azure Synapse Analytics. Azure Synapse Analytics offers predictive modeling and advanced analysis to derive insights from Data Warehouses with blazing speed.

What is Microsoft 365?

The de-facto cloud-based subscription service for small to large corporations, Microsoft 365 is an evolved version of the Office 365 subscription. It includes the same Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint along with 1TB of OneDrive storage (up to 6TB in total with the Family subscription) Skype minutes, Outlook, Family Safety (including apps for Android and iOS), and Microsoft Teams.

Users with a Microsoft 365 subscription receive security and maintenance updates, enhancements, and new features as soon as they are ready. Upgrades to the Microsoft 365 subscription are free and available for download across all devices (Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android). Unlike Office 2021 which provides limited features scope and no upgrades, Microsoft 365 may be a valuable resource for every individual, family, and business. 

Microsoft 365 has divided its subscriptions into three programs to meet their distinct demands.

• Microsoft 365 for Home which includes Microsoft 365 Family and Microsoft 365 Individual.
• Microsoft 365 for Business includes Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Apps for business.
• Microsoft 365 for Enterprise includes Microsoft 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 F1, and Microsoft 365 Apps for the enterprise.

How Useful is Office 365 Dynamics Integration?

Office 365 Dynamics integration can aid businesses in accelerating their sales and marketing operations. As an example, with Office 365 Dynamics integration, sales representatives can fetch & utilize data from the unified view and get a holistic view of the customer. These insights can help you build deeper relationships with your customers by engaging them in more meaningful conversations. 

Similarly, marketers may design personalized journeys to connect with customers across multiple touchpoints, resulting in more personalized and genuine engagement and higher conversion rates.

Office 365 Dynamics integration works seamlessly with Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, Sharepoint, OneNote, Cortana, Power BI, and Teams. Have a look at how you can leverage the power of Office 365 Dynamics integration for your business.

Microsoft Office 365 Dynamics Integration: Office Apps and Dynamics 365

1. Microsoft Word + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Working with Microsoft Word templates helps sales and marketing people save time while preparing a sales quotation or other opportunities. With Microsoft Word and Dynamics 365 integration, your employees can create customized documents that can pull data fields from Dynamics 365 CRM instantly.

Furthermore, by using these Word templates, employees can create professional documents like sales pitches, plans of action, invoices, and customer reports and save them for future use right within their Dynamics 365 platform.

Note: To use Office 365 Dynamics integration in your Microsoft Word documents, you’ll have to enable the Developer tab from File > Options > Configure Ribbon > Developer checkbox. 

In Microsoft Dynamics 365,

• To create a new Word template, visit Settings > Templates > Document Templates > New(New or Add button).
• To create a new Word template from a list of records, go to Sales > Client_Accounts > My Active Accounts. Select a single account, and then click More (…) > Word Templates > Create Word Template.

Following this, select your entity and relationships to be mapped onto the document. Download to acquire a Word file with the exported entity included as XML data on your local computer.

2. Microsoft Excel + Microsoft Dynamics 365

When it comes to updating a large number of records, exporting/importing data, or creating new Excel templates, Microsoft Excel Dynamics integration allows users to be able to refresh or edit Dynamics data directly from Excel using Dynamics worksheets.

Likewise, users can also perform analysis on data and create reports in Microsoft Excel. The integration automatically syncs all your information to your Dynamics dashboard, so next time you log in, you can resume from the same place. 

 In Microsoft Dynamics 365,

• To create a new Excel template, visit Settings > Templates > Document Templates > New(New or Add button).
• To create a new Excel template from a list of records, go to Sales > Opportunities > My Open Opportunities. On the menu bar, click Excel Templates > Create Excel Template.

Once you create a new sheet or open an existing one, you can customize the data in your Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet by clicking Enable Editing. Non-admins can also upload their custom Excel templates from Settings > Templates > Document Templates > Upload Template.

3. Microsoft Outlook + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Office Dynamics 365 integration with Outlook eliminates the need to switch between an email client and a CRM system. It allows users to track emails and calendars. With such functionality, they can schedule tasks, add records, and create activity tasks right from the Dynamics 365 dashboard. 

Dynamics 365 for Outlook can deliver all the data about your prospect without requiring any human input- by providing shared contacts within your team. Your team members can learn about and use the Customer Engagement Pane, which is located next to Outlook messages. The pane displays relationship details for each individual involved with the email, relevant account, previous cases, future activities, and so on. With such data at their disposal, your workers may create and execute personalized and targeted communications that resonate with buyers.

For your Dynamics 365 CRM, you may install the Microsoft Outlook Add-on. Visit Dynamics 365 apps for Outlook, version 9.0 (Outlook client), and then download and run the executable file that corresponds to the Microsoft Office architecture that is installed.

4. Microsoft SharePoint + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft SharePoint seamlessly integrates into Dynamics 365 to boost your collaboration and ensure timely actions. SharePoint, Microsoft’s Content Management System, sets a centralized, password-protected space for team members to share, edit and upload documents. 

SharePoint provides a highly responsive and secure platform that simplifies file sharing and collaboration to bring the best from your organization. Because SharePoint stores documents on a SharePoint Server, users who aren’t running the app can directly access documents on the SharePoint Server. 

Additionally, the platform comes with benefits like:

• Single sign-in option, which requires users to sign in just once, eliminating the need to sign in to both Customer Engagement Applications and SharePoint.
• SharePoint requires no additional software to be installed.
• All the documents get represented in a list format for easy access.
• Command bar to allow users to perform SharePoint activities.

5. Microsoft OneDrive + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Analogous to our previous Office 365 Dynamics integration, OneDrive is also a cloud-hosted storage solution to allow quick sharing and easy collaboration. With Dynamics 365 and OneDrive integration, data accessibility comes uncomplicated.

With OneDrive and SharePoint as shared storage services, your team members can utilize the power of the cloud to provide individuals and teams with access to the most critical and often used documents. The only distinguishing feature- OneDrive is more individual focussed, which SharePoint inclines more towards collaboration.

6. Microsoft OneNote + Microsoft Dynamics 365

What better way to take meeting notes and quick call feedbacks than Microsoft OneNote? OneNote is a digital notebook for business users that provides a lot of flexibility in terms of the various ways to capture information. OneNote supports text notes, drawings, screen clippings, audio commentaries, and even videos. All your captured ideas can be shared with your teammates and be accessed directly from your Dynamics 365 dashboard.

To set up your OneNote Dynamics 365 integration, visit Dynamics 365 Admin Center > Settings > Integration > Document management settings. Here you will find the OneNote Integration option. Click on it and follow the instructions in the wizard to complete your integration.

7. Microsoft Cortana + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Cortana Microsoft Office 365 Dynamics integration uses predictive intelligence to offer users what is most relevant to them from both personal and professional sources. Cortana with Microsoft Dynamics can notify your team on daily actions like tasks, sentiment in emails, and opportunities that are nearing their close date. Salespeople using this add-on will receive proactive insights on essential CRM operations such as sales leads, accounts, and prospects- getting the most relevant information at any given moment.

At present, this Office 365 Dynamics integration with Cortana is only available as a preview feature. Turning on and using this feature requires permission from the Dynamics CRM administrator.

To turn on Cortana with Dynamics CRM in your organization, head to Settings > Administration > System Settings > Previews. Here you’ll find all the available preview features which can be enabled. 

Note: Users are advised to kindly go through the license terms before making any decision. 

8. Microsoft Power BI + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Leveraging the power of business intelligence tools to be able to derive actionable insights has become imperative for every business. Power BI is Microsoft’s suite of business analytics tools that deliver organization-wide insights to drive business growth.

Microsoft Power BI’s capabilities to create stunning data reports and visualizations quickly can be embedded into Dynamics 365 Dashboard. Power BI automatically refreshes the Microsoft Dynamics 365 data. This enables different departments including Marketing, Sales, or Service to connect to concurrent data, transform and model to create charts and graphs and share reports with others. 

To get started with Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics 365, sign in to the Power BI service. Navigate to the Datasets section and choose Get Data. Under Services, click Get, and then choose one of the content bundles listed below:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) Sales Manager.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) Service Manager.
• Microsoft Dynamics Marketing.

Finally, in the authentication method, select oAuth2. This completes the integration of Microsoft Dynamics 365 with Power BI. You may now import data from your organization and generate visualizations.

9. Microsoft Teams + Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Teams is a wholesome team communication software offering for everyone. It’s cloud-based collaboration software, as a part of the Microsoft 365 suite, which includes features like messaging, calling, video meetings, file sharing, and secure editing. 

Microsoft Teams provides real-time collaboration on content from local and remote workers across different devices, including laptops and mobile devices. Its strong integration with Microsoft products such as Word, PowerPoint, Exchange, SharePoint, and OneNote makes it a very enjoyable and simple-to-use application within Dynamics 365. 

Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365 operate together in a uniform interface, allowing everyone from Sales, Marketing, HR, Front Line, and Service to collaborate from anywhere.

To integrate Microsoft Teams in Dynamics 365 for Sales, you may visit App Settings from the change area icon. Go to General Settings > Chat & Collaboration. To get the Basic Collaboration Experience, select Enable the linking of Dynamics 365 data to Microsoft Teams channels.

What’s Next

Microsoft is all set to release a new massive October 2021 update for its Dynamics 365 platform with a whole lot of improved features and tools to allow collaboration and business functioning in a smooth and seamless fashion. The new Office 365 Dynamics update brings immense business value by enabling access to all the features from the portal, giving you a complete modern maker experience.

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