Microsoft has been driving Teams as the communication and collaboration hub for a while now. Teams offers a significant number of apps that integrate from third-party providers, but you can also integrate with Dynamics 365 and model-driven apps based on the Dynamics platform. The intend of this article is to show you how to integrate with the out-of-box Dynamics 365 Customer + contact management app.

Model-driven apps are essentially an app built using the Dynamics 365 framework. They look like Dynamics 365 and have a lot of the features of Dynamics 365 as explained in my previous blog Build Feature Rich, Codeless, Business Applications using Microsoft PowerApps . They use the Common Data Service as their data source. MORE

We continue to discover new capabilities within this integration, but here is a quick-start on how to install the app and use some of the basic features.

By default, within Teams you can simply add the Dynamics 365 app and start discovering Dynamics data directly within Teams. I say by default because you don’t need to make any changes within Dynamics for Teams to pull records from Dynamics. However, if you want to enable Collaboration from Dynamics you first need to enable Model-Driven apps. Microsoft goes a bit more in-depth on the set up here.

Install the Dynamics 365 Customer + content management app

1. In the Teams desktop app, you can click the three dots (…) or click on the Apps icon. Type in “Dynamics” and you should see the Dynamics 365 – Customer + contact management app.

   

2. On the Dynamics 365 description pop-up, click Add. This will install the Chat Bot capability in Teams.

   

3. Within the Dynamics 365 – Chat bot window, you will need to configure the bot to connect to your Dynamics 365 environment. Click Configure.

   

4. On the Dynamics 365 window, under Connect data, select your Environment from the dropdown menu.

   

5. Verify your credentials by entering your password for the account that has permissions to this Environment.

   

6. If you are enabled for Multi-Factor Authentication, verify your account with the Code.

   

7. On the Permissions requested screen you have the option to Consent on behalf of your organization and click Accept. You can continue without checking the box, but your users will be prompted that the administrator has not consented.

   

8. The Dynamics 365 Chat Bot has now been installed.

How to leverage the Dynamics 365 Integration

Once the integration is complete, here are a couple of ways to leverage the capabilities:

• Chat Bot: The chat bot is a way to perform searches in your Dynamics environment.
• My Dashboard: This tab in the Dynamics 365 chat gives a glimpse into several performance dashboards.
• Tab Integration: Additional Tabs can be added in other Teams channels and chats.

Using the Dynamics Chat Bot

1. In the Chat section of Teams, you will now see Dynamics 365.
2. In the Chat window you can issue specific commands to look up information in Dynamics and surface the information directly in the Chat window. Here for example I am asking, “What are my opportunities?”. The bot returns a list of my open opportunities.

   

1. In the Type your questions here box at the bottom of the Chat there is also a link right above it to show you some of the common commands you can use.

   

2. Click on What can I do?.
3. The section will expand to reveal some of the commands like Search and Show.
4. Another command you can use is Lookup, which allows you to lookup a contact or Opportunity. For example: Here I have looked up “Dave Rowe”. The bot displays the contact card for Dave Rowe from Dynamics. It also offers to Show Account associated with the contact, or open the Contact in Dynamics 365.

   

Using the My Dashboard Tab

1. At the top above the Chat Bot, you will see “My Dashboard”. By default, the Sales Activity Social Dashboard is displayed. This dashboard shows your My Open Opportunities sales funnel, My Open Leads, My Open Opportunities, etc.
2. The Dashboard can also be customized to your needs.
3. At the bottom of the screen you can click on the Menu waffle and open other areas of Dynamics.

Tab Integration

Tabs can also be integrated into other Channels in Teams. For example, if you have a Channel focused on a customer, their Contact info, or Opportunities, or Contacts can be displayed.

1. Within a Team channel, click the + sign to add a Tab.
2. On the Add a tab screen search for Dynamics 365.
3. Search for something like a customer or an Opportunity.
4. The Tab will be added to give you direct, easy access to the information from Dynamics.

What’s the Benefit?

This is a great benefit to increase productivity. If you’re working in the Teams desktop app, it’s nice having quick access to information in Dynamics. What if you are remote and not at your computer? This Chat bot and Tabs are also available on the Teams Mobile app. This is incredibly useful when you’re out-and-about. Give it a try.

1. Type Lookup . Contact card appears with clickable email and address.
2. Click on Show Account and the Account information appears.
3. You can also click the Open in Dynamics button if you need to look up the amount of your quote or some other information in Dynamics.

Perhaps in a future blog I will cover the other Collaboration features that are enabled through Common Data Services for Teams. In the meantime, here are some links from Microsoft.

How to enable Common Data Services for Teams: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/teams-integration/teams-basic-vs-enhanced-collaboration