Microsoft Business Applications launched its 2024 release wave 2, introducing new functionalities and improvements for Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and specialized Microsoft Copilot offerings from October 2024 to March 2025. These enhancements include advanced Copilot features for Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, Service, and Finance. They aim to empower your workforce, streamline business processes, and improve customer engagement.
Watch the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event for all the highlights and demos. You’ll discover how some of the top businesses across the globe are using the recently revealed features to inspire innovation.
AI CoPilots: The New Strategic Partners for Business Innovation
According to Microsoft’s analysis, 2.1 million users engage with Copilot across Microsoft business platforms each month. These Copilot experiences, while maintaining high standards of privacy, security, and compliance, have the potential to unlock new levels of productivity and efficiency.
The Future of AI-First Enterprises
In the future, AI-first enterprises will comprise agents, Copilot, and people. Copilot serves as a personalized AI assistant, allowing users to create, manage, and connect agents through Microsoft Copilot Studio. Organizations will utilize a network of agents to coordinate business activities.
These agents will vary from simple prompt-and-response systems to fully autonomous entities, acting on behalf of individuals, teams, or functions. Copilot serves as the interface for interacting with these agents, which manage sales orders, automate supply chains, and enhance lead generation.
At the Business Applications Launch Event, Microsoft showcased new features from Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, highlighting the capabilities of copilots and agents.
Enhance Growth with Customer Experience Applications
Microsoft Dynamics 365 customer experience apps are designed to offer tailored experiences for customers and employees. In the 2024 release wave 2, these apps will gain exciting new capabilities. These enhancements aim to streamline sales processes within your company and improve client relations.
The 2024 release introduces key features across Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. These include:
1) Copilot-Generated Prompts: AI-driven real-time suggestions for better decision-making.
2) In-line Email Functionality: Simplifies client communication directly within the platform.
3) Multilingual Bot Support: Expands customer interactions across various languages.
These advancements streamline operations and elevate client engagement, transforming how companies handle both internal processes and customer relations.
Real-Life Example: Multilingual Copilot Studio Bot
During the launch event, a real-life use case showcased an organization utilizing the multilingual Copilot Studio bot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. By employing AI voice recognition and Copilot-generated prompts, the company reduced client wait times and sped up case resolution.
The seamless data sharing between service and sales teams helped cut case review times while keeping sales teams informed. This integration improved customer service and enhanced collaboration across departments.
Empowering Sales Teams with Copilot
Copilot’s smart automation allows sales managers to focus on building stronger client relationships instead of being bogged down by administrative tasks. By automating processes and providing actionable insights, Microsoft Copilot boosts sales team productivity and drives business growth.
Key features include:
1) Sales Qualification Agent: Helps identify and qualify leads more efficiently.
2) Real-Time Prompts: Offers timely suggestions during interactions with clients.
3) Copilot-Generated Account Summaries: Delivers concise summaries for informed decision-making.
Discover the Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Dynamics 365 Sales, and Dynamics 365 Customer Service release plans.
Missed the Business Applications launch event? Watch it here.
Innovative Agents: A New Era for Autonomous ERP
Significant improvements enhance Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP solutions, focusing on both core features and unique capabilities. Five autonomous agents have been added to Dynamics 365 to enhance organizational efficiency and streamline processes. Businesses can concentrate more on strategic decision-making and adjust to the ever-changing market environment by automating repetitive processes.
Enhancements in Dynamics 365 Finance
A highlighted use case involved a well-known manufacturer of outdoor consumer products that has seen increased productivity through enhancements in Dynamics 365 Finance.
The Account Reconciliation Agent automatically identifies discrepancies between ledgers and sub-ledgers, providing helpful suggestions and minimizing manual effort. Additionally, automated bank reconciliation has improved accuracy and saved time by matching transactions and summarizing histories. These features have streamlined the month-end close process across multiple legal entities, enhancing productivity and compliance.
Impact on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Over 40,000 customers have benefited from enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The Sales Order Agent allows companies to efficiently process sales orders without extra staff, speeding up order processing while ensuring service quality.
Furthermore, the integration between Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service has simplified service order management. This interoperability has reduced errors and manual data entry, allowing technicians to work more productively, which in turn enhances client satisfaction and ensures timely service delivery.
Discover the next releases for Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Project Operations, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Commerce, and Dynamics 365 Human Resources.
Power Platform and Copilot Studio: Drive Value Everywhere
Microsoft Power Platform has introduced AI-powered tools that enhance automation and app development. Microsoft Copilot enables businesses to work more efficiently by streamlining workflows, creating apps, and supporting complex processes. With these new features, organizations can quickly develop comprehensive solutions.
Enhancing Vendor Invoice Management
At the launch event, the speakers showcased how Applied Information Sciences (AIS) uses AI-enabled features in Microsoft Power Automate to boost workforce productivity in vendor invoice management. AIS automates tasks like routing and approvals with Copilot, handling high volumes of invoices daily, which reduces manual input and increases efficiency. Users can easily adjust workflows, and the new summary feature ensures updates are clearly tracked and shared.
Streamlined Onboarding and IT Helpdesk Automation
AIS supports ongoing training with Copilot in Microsoft Power Apps through its onboarding program for new consultants. The AI-enabled paste tool simplifies onboarding forms by minimizing manual data entry. The “Search with Copilot” feature allows users to retrieve records using natural language queries.
Additionally, Copilot Studio improves IT Helpdesk automation by assigning tasks and utilizing knowledge management to integrate third-party data sources. This enhances accuracy and supports a continuous improvement process while providing analytics for tracking agent performance.
Discover the upcoming releases for Copilot Studio, Power Automate, Microsoft Power Pages, and Power Apps.
Microsoft Copilot: Driving Business Automation
Recent updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, Service, and Finance aim to enhance customer experience by automating repetitive tasks and leveraging autonomous agents for actionable insights. By offloading mundane operations to these advanced features, sales teams, customer support agents, and finance specialists can focus on strategic objectives. As a result, organizations can boost overall productivity and maximize efficiency.
Time-Saving Success Stories
For instance, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales and Finance has saved time drastically for businesses. Through automated reconciliation, Genpact was able to reduce payroll processing time by over 50%, while Lumen claimed a 94% reduction in research time for sales data. These improvements show how Copilot agents are boosting employee productivity in addition to streamlining processes.
Streamlined Lead Selection at Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is another company benefiting from these advancements. With the Lead Intelligence Agent, which analyzes customer interactions and external data, the sales team can efficiently prioritize leads. This streamlined approach allows salespeople to engage more strategically with prospects, ultimately boosting productivity and revenue.
Discover Microsoft Copilot for Finance, Microsoft Copilot for Service, and Microsoft Copilot for Sales‘ release plans.
Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event: Catch the Highlights
Learn about the latest developments in Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform, and Microsoft Copilot apps at the on-demand Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event. In case you missed the live event, watch the event here. Comprehensive demos of new autonomous agents and other features to improve workflows and expedite operations.
If you missed the earlier releases, remember to go over the Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform schedules in detail. Stay updated on the features and enhancements. And use the release planner to draft your own customized release schedule so you have the know-how to take full advantage of these new features.
For more details on how Microsoft Dynamics 365 can help your organization with the right technology – Microsoft Copilot and AI, reach out to us.
Apr 19, 2022
12:00:39am
