Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot: Bringing AI Tools to Your CRM and ERP
OpenAI—perhaps the world’s foremost artificial intelligence (AI) research company—made waves across all levels of society in November 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, a chatbot capable of writing code, answering questions, or generating text based on natural language prompts. ChatGPT’s release has fueled nonstop discussions about AI—including its ethical implications and business applications.
Given Microsoft’s heavy investment in OpenAI and the fact that ChatGPT was “trained on an Azure AI supercomputing infrastructure,” it’s not surprising that Microsoft is actively incorporating OpenAI technology into its business services and software, including:
- Azure OpenAI, which allows Azure customers to use large-scale generative AI models with their own data
- Dynamics 365 Copilot, which introduces AI tools to streamline customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) tasks
- Microsoft 365 Copilot, which incorporates AI tools in familiar productivity applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
In this blog, we’ll examine how Dynamics 365 (D365) Copilot can free your employees from time-consuming, repetitive tasks, allowing greater focus on engagement with current and potential customers and clients.
Microsoft Dynamics 365: Powering Cloud-Based, Scalable CRM and ERP Solutions
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of applications used to handle the accounting, operations, marketing, sales, and customer service needs of businesses of all sizes. Here are some of Dynamics 365’s primary advantages:
- Because it’s cloud-based, Dynamics 365 doesn’t require your information technology (IT) team to maintain on-premises server infrastructure. Users simply access the applications they need using a web browser.
- Dynamics 365 is licensed per user as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product. It’s easy to add new licenses whenever you need them, and the software is always up to date, with new releases happening twice a year so you always have access to the most current features
- Dynamics 365 business solutions give you the opportunity for data to be shared among all your business systems. By interconnecting your financials, supply chain, operations, sales, marketing, and customer service, you gain unparalleled insight to drive business decisions.
- Dynamics 365 also integrates with the low-code, no-code tools in Microsoft Power Platform and with the familiar Office applications in Microsoft 365, enabling everything from quickly building automation to accessing customer information within Outlook.
- Dynamics 365 is hosted on the Microsoft Azure Cloud, so it comes with all the stability, security, and backup options that Azure offers.
Because of these benefits and more, Dynamics 365 solutions have been a top choice for businesses across multiple industries for years. And with the introduction of Dynamics 365 Copilot, D365 is better than ever.
Licensing and using Microsoft Dynamics 365 is not as simple as purchasing and using a program like Microsoft Word. To get started in Dynamics 365, you need to work with a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner for Business Applications like Stoneridge Software.
To learn more about our Dynamics 365 CRM and ERP implementation services, contact us today.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot: Using AI to Eliminate Drudgery
Many jobs—no matter how skilled the position—require boring, repetitive work. The systems that keep all your teams in sync demand consistent data collection, which means someone (or everyone) is responsible for data entry. You don’t hire salespeople for their typing skills—you want them freed up to engage with as many potential customers as possible. The new Dynamics 365 AI does just that.
Suppose one of your salespeople spends half an hour in a Microsoft Teams meeting with a potential client. Afterward, they need to follow up with an email that includes information discussed in the meeting.
Using a few natural language prompts, the salesperson uses Copilot to draft the email in seconds. Copilot automatically extracts highlights from the Teams meeting and customer information from the CRM system. After reading through the email and tweaking a few things, the salesperson sends it off and is ready to connect with another potential client.
As another example, suppose your customer service representatives are swamped with support requests. Instead of receiving quick answers to their queries, customers languish on hold or wait more than a day for an email reply.
In Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Copilot draws information from your company’s website, knowledge base, past case histories, and even Bing, using it to:
- Automatically answer questions in chats
- Compose email replies to customers
- Supply phone reps with instant answers for callers
It’s important to mention that no matter the system, Copilot only uses the data the end-user has access to. It is important that user roles are configured to only see the data that is relevant to their role and within the governance framework of organizational operations.
However you use it, the AI Copilot in your Dynamics 365 CRM enables you to serve more customers with better information in less time—a combination sure to boost customer satisfaction.
Copilot in Dynamics 365 CRM Applications
Currently, Copilot is available in the following Dynamics 365 CRM applications:
- Dynamics 365 Sales
- Dynamics 365 Customer Service
- Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
- Dynamics 365 Field Service
In Customer Insights, you can use Dynamics 365’s AI Copilot tools to effortlessly pull up customer segments without clicking through multiple menus. Simply describe what you’re looking for in everyday language.
For example, you might type, “Show me everyone over the age of 55 who subscribed in the last two weeks in North Dakota.” If you need to, you can refine your search with additional prompts.
Copilot in Dynamics 365 ERP Applications
Copilot is currently available in the following Dynamics 365 ERP applications:
- Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management
You can use Copilot to generate product descriptions for e-commerce sites in Business Central. Specify the style, word count, and format, and Copilot uses attributes from your product database to draft descriptions. Business Central’s Copilot even integrates with the popular e-commerce platform Shopify.
In Supply Chain Management, Copilot can monitor the weather, regional incidents and events, and your ERP systems, flagging potential supply chain disruptions before they happen. Then, Copilot can predict locations or operations that will be affected and alert your staff or partners so they can take appropriate mitigating action.
How do You Access Copilot?
If you’re already using Dynamics 365solution, you don’t need to take any special action to begin using Copilot. If you need help getting started, consider signing up for a Stoneridge Dynamics 365 support plan; software training is included in all our Premier support plans.
Partnering With Stoneridge Software
Stoneridge Software is an elite Microsoft Solutions Partner. Our team’s in-depth knowledge of Microsoft business systems and our shoulder-to-shoulder approach to every client engagement has resulted in a long list of successful CRM and ERP implementations. Stoneridge Software also has a team of experts keeping your environment security top of mind, guiding your setup for identity, access, data classification, and governance capabilities.
Contact us today to learn more about Dynamics 365 Copilot or talk about a holistic view of your business application needs.
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