Dynamics 365 2021 Release Wave 1 Highlights

Microsoft has recently released the preview of the updates coming with the Dynamics 365 2021 Release Wave 1 this spring. There are a variety of features coming to the Dynamics 365 ecosystem with general availability for many beginning in April and continuing to roll out through September. Early access for new features becomes available on February 1st. We have picked out some of the highlights for Dynamics 365 applications that are included in the release.

Dynamics 365 Marketing

The changes coming to Dynamics 365 Marketing are aimed to help personalize content, make it easier to reach audiences, and better analyze the results. Microsoft is also adding the ability to use segments generated by AI from Dynamics 365 Customer Insights based on attributes like frequency, recency, and monetization potential. This will help target high-value customers more efficiently.

The email editor will receive an update as well. Included is a faster, more fluid feel with AI-guided content recommendations. New layout options, image tools, and fonts have been added to add further depth to the customizability of emails. The preview feature has been made more reliable and test sends are easier as well.

There will also be a new centralized asset library. This single library will be used across the Dynamics 365 platform and make it easier for users to find and store images, videos, and other assets. It allows for bulk imports and tagging of content to better organize and find assets later.

SMS messaging is coming to Dynamics 365 Marketing as part of this release. This will give Marketing users a new channel with which they can reach their customers. It includes an option to purchase or use existing phone numbers in North America and Europe.

Marketing analytics are being improved by new built-in dashboards for journeys and insights spanning across journeys. Customer journey and channel KPIs can be monitored real-time with customizable business goals to evaluate progress. Customer journeys are also receiving a new A/B test form that allow the same message to be tested across different channels.

Dynamics 365 Sales

Coming to Sales are new features to assist with digital selling by creating stronger pipelines and better recommendations through the sales process. An updated Sales mobile app is coming and will give the mobility and flexibility needed by many salespeople who are constantly on the go. There is also a new workspace for pipeline management to keep the sales pipeline securely flowing.

Mobility can be a huge challenge for a salesperson. The Dynamics 365 Sales mobile app gives sellers the flexibility that is needed when traveling. Information can be scanned and logged quickly and easily into the app. It is easy to view customer details to be fully prepared for meetings. The Sales mobile app will also include an automatic transcription of calls and meetings and can complete action items based on the transcription.

Many of the features for Sales focus on helping users save time and focus on tasks. The work queue will have personalization options to contain task updates and make emails and calls easier to start. Sequence automation will all some activities to be completed automatically like sending emails. Triggers can be set to change the sequence path based on what has occurred., and the sequence listener can examine calls and emails to pick out triggers.

The new pipeline management workspace provides a view optimized to manage opportunities by seeing all related information with helpful filter options. Action can be directly taken without needing to switch away from the workspace.

Dynamics 365 Business Central

Because Business Central is such a large application that includes a host of new features and updates, check out our blog that breaks them down in detail. At a high level, there are a few updates to administration systems such as licensing and permissions. Also included in this release are improvements to banking, payments, and some of the other main functions of Business Central. The integrations with Teams and add-ins for Excel and Outlook have been made more efficient as well.

Dynamics 365 Customer Voice

For those unaware, Dynamics 365 Customer Voice recently replaced Forms Pro, which had replaced Voice of the Customer, as Microsoft’s go-o survey management application. Our blog here has more details about Customer Voice’s functionality how it came to replace Forms Pro. Customer Voice is receiving a few updates to make the process of creating, distributing, and analyzing surveys a bit easier. Cascading question will allow related questions to be created on the survey based on a respondent’s answers. Status and reminder emails for unopened or partially completed surveys can be viewed and sent. Surveys will have the option to allow partial submissions that can be amended later. Similarly, surveys can have a pause and resume function enabled. Customer Voice will also include a text analytics feature to categorize text responses.

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Dynamics 365 Release Wave 1 is shaping up to include quite a few feature and quality of life enhancements. If you’re interested in seeing how the current and future capabilities of Dynamics 365 solutions can help your business, click the button below to get in contact with us!