This entry is part of our Feature Review Series. These short, to the point blogs, strive to provide a quick snapshot of information to a user looking for a quick overview of a feature, how it’s managed or configured, some insight into how a business/organization would use it, and provide links to resources or tutorials for a deeper dive.
The ability for colleagues to collaborate is a staple necessity in today’s digital workforce. As organizations, most of our remote collaborative efforts center around Microsoft Teams. In many cases, organizations want the ability to collaborate about their sales, customer service, or really any kind of business records stored within their CRM system.
With the integration of Microsoft Teams and D365 being rolled out, the possibilities are endless. Enabling options for both Teams Chat and Teams Channel integration, users now have a great deal of flexibility to condense their core systems by leveraging these powerful features.
How to Enable Teams Chat Integration
To enable this feature, navigate to the admin portal (admin.powerplatform.com) and select the D365 environment you wish to enable Teams Chat within.
Once in, expand the Integration section and click Teams Integration Settings.
Clicking this will load a new tab in your browser and provide several options to choose from, as shown below.
To enable the chat function, where it reads Engage in Teams chats with coworkers right from Dynamics 365. Requires tenant admin permissions, toggle the setting to Yes.
Note that at time of writing, this is a Preview feature and is subject to the Preview Terms.
There is also an option to Use record title as the default chat name for linked chats. This means that any chat created via Dynamics 365 and linked to a Dynamics 365 record will use the record title as the chat name. If not enabled, the chat will use the participants names as the default chat name.
Once enabled, users can see the Teams chats and channels integration icon in the upper right of the D365 system, as shown below.
Clicking this will expand a chat pane on the side of the screen, where you can start a conversation, or link the item (view or record), to a Channel in Teams.
Clicking the + Start a Conversation button will create a pop-up where you can begin a chat
Pick the people you’d like to connect with and begin your chat. The chat will remain visible within the Teams Chat pane, as well as show up in your Microsoft Teams chat area, so you can continue the conversation even after you’ve navigated away from that area in the system.
This fabulous addition to the solutions available in Dynamics 365 will likely provide great value for organizations seeking to have a more collaborative approach within their organization when working with customers.
If you’re looking for a partner to help you set up this integration, contact C5 Insight.
