MB-910 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM)

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Describe Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (15–20%)

Explore Customer Insights - Journeys

Describe use cases for Customer Insights - Journeys

Unify customer data from various sources to create rich, comprehensive profiles. This enables marketing and sales teams to understand customer preferences, purchase history, and behaviors across all channels.
Segment customers using real-time and outbound data to target specific groups with personalized messaging. Dynamic segments can be based on factors such as loyalty status, engagement frequency, or subscription details.
Orchestrate automated, personalized customer journeys that deliver relevant content and touchpoints, such as tailored emails, SMS, push notifications, and in-app experiences, enhancing engagement and loyalty.
Use AI-driven insights from unified profiles to recommend timely actions—like sending post-purchase follow-ups or next-best product suggestions—to improve customer satisfaction and retention.
Integrate Customer Insights - Journeys with other business applications (e.g., Dynamics 365 Sales or Commerce) for seamless customer experiences, ensuring consistent and relevant interactions at every stage of the journey.

Example: A retail company uses Customer Insights - Journeys to track a buyer’s online browsing and in-store purchases. When a customer purchases an item in-store, they immediately receive a digital receipt via email, a push notification suggesting related products, and later an invitation to join the loyalty program—every interaction is automated and tailored thanks to unified customer profiles.

Use Case: For an IT team new to Azure Data, Customer Insights - Journeys can be used to consolidate data from web, app, and point-of-sale systems into a single customer view. With actionable segments, the team can automate targeted campaigns—such as sending personalized onboarding emails to new users or notifying loyal customers about upcoming product launches—without manual intervention.

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Describe lead generation and qualification

Lead generation is the process of identifying potential customers—or ‘leads’—who might be interested in your IT solution or Azure Data offerings. Leads can come from marketing campaigns, website inquiries, events, referrals, or even support interactions.
Lead qualification means evaluating these potential customers to determine if they are likely to buy or benefit from your solution. This is usually done by assessing their interest, fit (such as industry or company size), and timing for their purchase.
Modern lead management systems like Dynamics 365 use AI tools and data enrichment to automatically score, nurture, and qualify leads, ensuring sales teams focus on the most promising opportunities. Leads can be automatically updated, assigned to sales staff, and converted into opportunities for further engagement.

Example: An IT company launches a webinar about Azure Data solutions. After the webinar, Customer Insights - Journeys captures attendee details and interest levels. Leads are automatically created and scored in Dynamics 365 based on engagement (attendance, questions asked), and top-scoring leads (those showing strong interest or matching the target industry) are flagged for immediate follow-up by the sales team.

Use Case: A new Azure Data sales rep uses Customer Insights - Journeys to market to leads generated from a website signup form. The system auto-creates leads for each sign-up, scores their interest using AI (based on job titles and company types), and automatically routes highly qualified leads to the sales rep for personalized outreach, increasing conversion rates and saving time on manual lead sorting.

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Describe use cases for marketing forms

Lead Capture: Marketing forms are used to collect contact information (like name, email, company) from visitors on your website or landing pages. This turns anonymous web visitors into known contacts, allowing you to nurture them further.
Segmentation and Personalization: Information gathered through marketing forms can be used to segment audiences and personalize marketing campaigns. For example, job titles or interests submitted can determine which content or offers customers receive.
Event and Webinar Registrations: Forms are used to register participants for events, webinars, or product demos. This allows teams to track attendees and follow up with relevant information or offers.
Integration with Journeys and Lead Scoring: Data from marketing forms can automatically create or update leads and contacts in Customer Insights - Journeys, enabling automated workflows—like triggering a nurture campaign or applying lead scoring models.
Feedback and Surveys: Marketing forms can gather customer feedback or satisfaction data after an interaction or campaign, providing valuable insights for continuous improvement.

Example: An IT company wants to launch a new Azure Data analytics service. They create a simple web form using the drag-and-drop editor in Dynamics 365 Marketing. The form asks visitors to sign up for a free webinar by entering their name, email, and company. This information is automatically captured as leads in the system—no coding required.

Use Case: A beginner-level Azure Data marketer at an IT consulting firm uses marketing forms to capture leads from visitors downloading a whitepaper about Azure Data best practices. The form instantly collects user details and updates both the contact and lead entities in Customer Insights - Journeys. This allows automated follow-ups and helps the marketer track which content is driving the most engagement.

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Describe how to target customers by using segments

Customer segmentation involves dividing your customer base into groups (segments) based on shared attributes, like demographics, behaviors, or purchase history. This helps you understand different customer needs and tailor interactions.
By using tools like Azure Data and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys, you can create dynamic or static segments. Dynamic segments automatically update based on customer data and interactions, while static segments include manually selected customers.
Targeting customers with segments means sending specific messages, offers, or content only to the relevant segment, improving engagement and personalization. For example, you might target frequent buyers with loyalty rewards, or new users with onboarding messages.
Segment criteria can be based on device type, location, language, activity on your app or website, and more. Combining multiple criteria enables you to reach highly specific groups, which increases the chances of successful campaigns.
Practical segmentation lets IT organizations customize journeys, such as tailoring notifications or product updates to customers who use Windows 10 on specific devices or in certain regions, making communication more relevant.

Example: An IT company using Azure Data divides its app users into segments: those who have purchased upgrades in the past year, those who use the app daily, and those in a specific country. They send targeted promotional emails and push notifications to each segment based on their usage and location.

Use Case: A beginner Azure Data practitioner creates a segment for enterprise customers who accessed their cloud platform more than 20 times in the last month and are located in Europe. The practitioner then sends a targeted offer for advanced security features to just this segment, increasing the relevance and effectiveness of the campaign.

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Describe email marketing

Email marketing is a digital strategy that involves sending targeted emails to customers or prospects to drive engagement, promote products, or share information. It is a crucial channel for customer communication and is widely used across industries.
Modern email marketing platforms, such as Azure Communication Services and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys, allow organizations to design personalized emails, automate delivery processes, and track engagement analytics. This helps businesses understand how customers interact with their messages.
Email marketing can be used for bulk communications, meaning the same email template can be sent to many recipients at once. Using features like segmentation and dynamic content, businesses can tailor their marketing emails for different customer groups while maintaining scalability.
With tools like Azure Communication Services, IT teams can easily add email functionality to applications, send high-volume marketing or transactional emails, and use custom domains to maintain brand consistency. Security, compliance, and opt-out features are built-in to protect data and respect user preferences.
Analytics from email marketing platforms show delivery status, open rates, and user engagement. This data helps organizations improve future campaigns and customer journeys by understanding what content resonates with their audience.

Example: An IT company uses Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys to send a product update email to all customers who signed up for notifications. The platform creates a personalized email with each recipient’s name using dynamic content and tracks which customers read the message or click on the update link. This helps the company plan follow-up emails for interested customers.

Use Case: A team new to Azure Data wants to keep users informed about new features in their cloud platform. They set up an automated email journey in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys, targeting users who recently completed a tutorial. The journey sends a welcome email, follows up with tips, and automatically segments engaged users for advanced training offers, all with tracking and analytics.

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Describe customer journeys

A customer journey maps the steps that a customer takes when interacting with your IT product or service, from initial discovery to purchase or ongoing engagement. Understanding these steps helps you identify opportunities for better communication and support.
Journeys can be simple or complex. A simple journey might be triggered by a single event—like sending an email after someone signs up. Complex journeys may include multiple touchpoints, such as emails, website visits, events, and feedback requests, each personalized to the customer’s actions or attributes.
There are two main types of customer journeys: trigger-based journeys that respond instantly to customer actions (for example, filling out a form), and segment-based journeys that target groups with shared characteristics (for example, all IT professionals in a certain region). Both help automate relevant outreach.
With tools like Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys and Azure Data, you can set clear business goals for each journey (like increasing sales or event attendance), measure success, and use built-in analytics to improve your strategy based on real customer data.
Journey templates make it easier for IT teams new to Azure Data to quickly start and standardize common engagement patterns. Templates save time and ensure consistent customer experiences across the organization.

Example: Imagine a software company that sends a welcome email to every new customer who creates an account. If the customer clicks the link in the email and starts using the product, they receive a follow-up message offering tips and inviting them to a webinar. If they attend the webinar, they get a survey for feedback. Each step is automated and triggered based on the customer’s actions.

Use Case: An IT service provider wants to increase signups for a cloud backup solution using Azure Data. They create a segment-based journey targeting small business owners. The journey starts with an email campaign, then automatically sends a product demo invite to those who open the email. Customers who attend the demo receive exclusive pricing offers. Progress and engagement are tracked in Customer Insights - Journeys, and the provider can adjust the content or timing based on analytics.

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Describe event management features and capabilities

Centralized Event Planning: Event management features in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys allow you to handle every aspect of an event from a single interface. You can create events, organize sessions and tracks, manage speakers, and plan logistics such as venue and room layouts, all within one system.
Seamless Registration and Attendance: The platform offers built-in tools for attendee registration, confirmation, check-in, and pass management. Customizable registration forms can be embedded on your website or hosted separately, making it easy for participants to sign up and receive relevant information.
End-to-End Communication and Analytics: Event management includes automated invitations, reminders, follow-ups, and post-event surveys, ensuring attendees stay informed throughout the event lifecycle. Analytics tools help measure event success by tracking registrations, attendance, engagement, and ROI.

Example: A technology company wants to host a virtual Azure Data Fundamentals training webinar for beginners. Using Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys, the team creates the event, sets up session details, invites speakers, publishes a registration form on their website, and automates attendee communication. After the webinar, they review attendance data and feedback to improve future sessions.

Use Case: An IT consulting firm new to Azure Data organizes a hybrid event for clients interested in cloud migration. The firm’s marketing team uses the event management features to plan sessions on Azure basics and migration strategies, manage on-site and virtual attendee registrations, track session attendance, coordinate speaker schedules, and analyze leads generated from event participation—all from a single system.

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Describe how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot with Customer Insights - Journeys

1. Use natural language prompts to create customer journeys: With Microsoft 365 Copilot integrated in Customer Insights - Journeys, you can simply describe your marketing goals in everyday language, such as ‘create a journey welcoming new loyalty members,’ and Copilot will generate a ready-to-edit journey framework for you.
1. AI-assisted email creation and content refinement: Copilot helps you draft emails and messages by generating content based on brief instructions or lists of key points. You can also ask Copilot to revise tone, improve grammar, or suggest stylistic enhancements to match your audience and campaign needs.
1. Automated customer segmentation and personalization: By describing the criteria (e.g., ‘customers who bought cloud services in the last month’), Copilot creates dynamic segments for targeting, ensuring each journey is personalized for relevant customer groups.
1. Get image and design recommendations: Copilot suggests relevant images and assists in styling emails. For example, you can ask for ‘images related to cloud computing,’ and Copilot will offer a selection that fits your message and enhances your email design.
1. Preview and adjust before launch: Copilot provides a visual preview and summary of the journey it generates. You can review the steps, segments, and touchpoints, editing any part to ensure the final experience matches your objectives.

Example: An IT company wants to onboard new customers to their Azure Data services. The marketing specialist types ‘create a journey that sends a welcome email to new Azure Data users and invites them to a free webinar.’ Copilot generates the journey, drafts the email content, recommends suitable images, and creates a segment of users based on the described criteria. The specialist reviews the journey, tweaks the email’s tone to be more professional, and launches the campaign in minutes.

Use Case: A new-to-Azure marketing analyst uses Copilot in Customer Insights - Journeys to automate onboarding for trial users of Azure Data. Instead of manually creating segments and email sequences, they describe their desired flow in natural language. Copilot builds a personalized journey, suggests content, and helps refine the messaging—saving time and enabling the team to quickly engage new users with tailored communications.

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Describe Customer Insights - Data

Describe use cases of and capabilities for Customer Insights – Data

Unify customer data from multiple sources: Customer Insights – Data can connect and combine information from various systems, such as sales, marketing, customer service, and even external data partners, to create a complete view of each customer.
Cleanse and enrich data for accuracy: The system automatically cleans, deduplicates, and enriches customer data using AI, making sure profiles are up to date and error-free. This improves overall data quality and reliability.
Create actionable customer segments: Businesses can define and generate dynamic segments (groups) of customers based on specific behaviors, preferences, or characteristics. These segments can be directly used to launch targeted marketing campaigns, personalized journeys, or customer service actions.
Enable real-time, personalized customer experiences: By leveraging real-time web tracking and behavioral signals, organizations can deliver customized content or offers to customers instantly, increasing engagement and satisfaction.
Share insights with other Azure or Dynamics 365 applications: Insights generated can be activated across multiple apps, such as Customer Insights – Journeys for targeted marketing campaigns, ensuring the whole business benefits from unified customer data.

Example: A retail company gathers data from its in-store purchases, online shop, and customer service department. By using Customer Insights – Data, all this information is combined into a single customer profile. When a customer browses online and abandons a shopping cart, a personalized discount offer is automatically triggered and sent by email, driven by the unified data and intelligent segments.

Use Case: An IT team at a medium-sized business new to Azure Data uses Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Data to consolidate customer records from their CRM, website, and support tickets. They create a segment of high-value customers who frequently seek support, enabling the company to proactively send them product guides and exclusive offers, improving satisfaction and loyalty.

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Describe unified customer profiles

Unified customer profiles combine data from multiple sources (like sales, marketing, support, and online interactions) to create a single, comprehensive view of each customer. This eliminates duplication and makes it easier to understand customer needs and behaviors.
The process involves matching and merging details using unique identifiers such as email, phone number, or loyalty ID. Data cleansing and enrichment tools help ensure the profiles are accurate and complete.
Unified profiles allow organizations to personalize communications and create targeted segments. For example, they can deliver customized email campaigns, track customer activities, and predict future behavior using built-in AI models.
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights enables you to unify customer data not only from Microsoft products (like Sales and Teams) but also from on-premises or cloud sources, including Azure Data Lake Storage.
Unified profiles are actionable, meaning you can filter, search, and segment them easily, then use the data to drive marketing journeys, sales follow-ups, and measure KPIs—all from a user-friendly dashboard.

Example: A retail company imports customer data from its online store, loyalty program, and customer support center into Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. The system matches records for “Jane Doe” found in each source and merges them into one unified profile. This profile now shows Jane’s purchase history, loyalty status, and past support tickets, giving the company a full picture of her interactions.

Use Case: An IT administrator new to Azure Data uses Customer Insights to unify customer information from a SQL Server, a cloud CRM, and Azure Data Lake Storage. With unified profiles, the company can send tailored marketing emails based on customers’ recent purchases and loyalty points, improving engagement and driving more sales.

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Describe measures, segments, and predictions

Measures are numerical calculations used to track important metrics about your customers, such as total purchase amount or average login frequency. They help organizations quantify business objectives and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs).
Segments are groups of customers identified based on shared characteristics, behaviors, or measures. Segmentation helps businesses target specific audiences, understand customer needs, and personalize marketing efforts.
Predictions use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models to forecast future customer behaviors or outcomes, such as likelihood to churn or expected purchase amount. Predictions enable proactive business actions and strategy optimization.
Customer Insights - Data allows you to define custom measures or use built-in ones, create segments using intuitive tools (like quick segments or segment builder), and leverage AI-driven suggestions to discover impactful segments or make predictions.
By combining measures, segments, and predictions, organizations can run targeted campaigns aimed at high-value customers, better understand customer patterns, and make data-driven decisions in real time.

Example: An IT company using Azure Customer Insights wants to increase revenue. They create a measure called ‘TotalPurchaseValue’. Using the suggested segments feature, the AI identifies a group: ‘Gold-tier customers in the finance sector who have been with the company for over 3 years often make the largest purchases.’ The company can now target this segment with special offers or loyalty rewards to boost sales further.

Use Case: A software provider integrates Customer Insights - Data to monitor customer usage metrics (measures), identify segments of customers at risk of not renewing subscriptions (segments), and predict which users are likely to churn in the next quarter (predictions). With these insights, the team runs a targeted retention campaign for the at-risk segment, resulting in improved renewal rates.

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Describe Dynamics 365 Sales (20–25%)

Explore Sales

Describe use cases for Sales

Track sales performance: Use tools like the Power BI Sales app to monitor sales results by salesperson, product, and customer. This helps identify top performers, best-selling products, and key customers, allowing teams to focus efforts where they’re most effective.
Forecast and set targets: Sales analytics enable management to forecast future sales, set realistic targets, and create budgets based on historical data and market trends. This helps the sales team plan activities and measure progress against goals.
Optimize sales processes: Integrating Azure Data with solutions like Dynamics 365 streamlines tasks such as sales order creation, quoting, and invoice management. Automation reduces manual work and errors, improving productivity and accuracy.
Identify growth opportunities: By analyzing sales reports, teams can spot declining products, emerging market trends, and high-potential customer segments. This information guides decision-making for marketing campaigns and sales strategies.
Improve customer and partner engagement: Centralized data systems allow easy access to real-time information, enhancing communication with customers and partners, and providing self-service portals for quick updates on orders and engagements.

Example: A sales manager at an IT firm uses the Power BI Sales app to review the Sales by Salesperson report. She notices that Jim Olive is responsible for 83% of sales over the past year. This insight prompts her to assign revised targets and create a sales budget for each team member, helping Lina and Helena meet their full potential. She then monitors progress using the Actual vs. Budget report over the next two quarters.

Use Case: A manufacturing company integrates Azure Data with Dynamics 365 and Power BI to automate sales processes and centralize information from various sources like mainframes and SAP. The sales team uses real-time analytics to manage territories, set accurate forecasts, and provide external partners with a branded portal for order updates. This boosts efficiency, reduces delays, and improves customer satisfaction.

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Describe leads and the process for qualifying leads

A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in your IT solution or services (such as Azure Data). Leads may come from marketing campaigns, webinars, web forms, or referrals.
Qualifying leads involves evaluating whether the lead has the right level of interest, need, authority, and budget to progress in the sales process. In Dynamics 365, this is usually done by assigning scores based on engagement and demographic factors.
You define qualification criteria (such as a minimum lead score, company size, or role) and set actions for what happens when those criteria are met (like updating lead status to ‘Sales-Ready’). Qualified leads are then assigned to the sales team for follow-up.
Qualification actions may include automatically sending the lead to a sales pipeline, triggering personalized outreach, or creating opportunity records in the CRM system. The process can be adjusted or automated, depending on your business goals.
Only leads in an open status can be qualified. If a lead is already marked as qualified, its status will not change even if it continues to meet or no longer meets the criteria, ensuring consistent management of potential opportunities.

Example: For example, an IT company running a webinar on ‘Getting Started with Azure Data’ captures dozens of signups. Each attendee is scored based on their role (e.g., IT manager), their company size, whether they asked questions during the event, and if they downloaded follow-up materials. Those with high scores are automatically assigned as qualified leads to the sales team for personalized demos.

Use Case: A cloud solution provider uses Dynamics 365 to manage incoming trial users for an Azure-based analytics platform. Marketing sets up qualification criteria (like minimum company size, job title relevance, and trial activity score). When a user exceeds the threshold, Dynamics 365 flags them as a ‘Sales-Ready’ lead and notifies the sales team, who then reach out to discuss upgrading the user to a paid enterprise plan.

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Describe the opportunity management process

1. Capturing and Qualifying Opportunities: The opportunity management process begins when a potential sales deal is identified from a qualified lead. Details such as the customer’s contact information, estimated budget, purchase timeframe, and decision makers are gathered to assess the likelihood of successfully closing the deal.
1. Developing and Nurturing Opportunities: Once qualified, opportunities are moved through various stages (such as Develop, Propose, and Close) where sales reps engage with stakeholders, provide product information, and address customer needs. This progress is tracked in tools like Dynamics 365 to ensure consistent follow-ups and actions.
1. Prioritizing and Forecasting: Opportunities are evaluated using scoring models and data-driven insights, which help sales teams focus on high-potential deals. This improves forecast accuracy and enables better planning around resource allocation and sales targets.
1. Closing and Analyzing Outcomes: When a deal progresses to completion, the opportunity is either closed as ‘won’ or ‘lost.’ Reasons for lost deals are analyzed to identify areas for improvement in the sales process, leading to continuous learning.
1. Leveraging Technology: Platforms like Dynamics 365 Sales streamline the entire opportunity management process by providing a unified view of each opportunity, integrating with supply chain and inventory data, and offering AI-driven recommendations and predictive scoring.

Example: A software company receives a lead from a business interested in migrating their data to Azure. The sales rep qualifies the lead by confirming the company’s budget, decision makers, and desired timeline. Using Dynamics 365 Sales, the rep tracks all interactions and progress through each opportunity stage, collaborates with the technical team to provide demos, and uses AI scoring to prioritize the opportunity. Once the client decides to move forward, the deal is closed as ‘won’ and an order for Azure services is created.

Use Case: An IT consultant at a Microsoft partner firm uses Dynamics 365 Sales to manage opportunities for clients looking to adopt Azure Data services. By capturing each potential client’s information, tracking communications and proposal status, and using predictive scoring to prioritize efforts, the consultant increases the chances of closing more deals efficiently and meeting revenue goals.

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Describe the quote lifecycle

1. Creating a Sales Quotation: The lifecycle starts when a sales representative creates a sales quotation in Dynamics 365 Sales. This initial draft includes key information such as products, services, pricing, and customer details. The status is set to ‘Draft’ or ‘In progress’.
1. Activating and Sending the Quotation: Once the quotation is ready and reviewed, it is activated and becomes read-only in the sales system. The status updates to ‘Active’. The quotation can then be sent to the potential customer for their consideration.
1. Revising or Closing the Quotation: Based on customer feedback, the quote may be revised and updated, or it may be closed if the customer decides not to proceed. Common closing reasons include the quote being lost, canceled, or revised.
1. Converting to Sales Order: If the customer accepts the quotation, it can be converted into a sales order. The status will update to ‘Won’ and the quote information is linked to a new sales order for fulfillment and further processing.
1. Integration and Sync with Supply Chain: When using integrated tools like Dynamics 365 Sales and Supply Chain Management, all changes to the quotation lifecycle—status updates, revisions, and conversions—are automatically synchronized, allowing both sales and operations teams to stay aligned.

Example: A sales rep at an IT company receives a request from a client for cloud infrastructure services on Azure. The rep uses Dynamics 365 Sales to create a new sales quotation detailing the needed services and estimated costs. After reviewing and activating the quote, the rep sends it to the client. The client requests some changes, so the rep revises the quotation and sends it again. Once the client accepts, the quote is converted into a sales order and the team starts provisioning the cloud resources.

Use Case: For an IT company selling Azure Data solutions, the quote lifecycle allows the sales team to track each customer opportunity from initial inquiry through to order fulfillment. For example, if a healthcare provider requests a custom data migration project, the sales team creates and manages competitive, accurate quotations in Dynamics 365, collaborating across departments. When the provider accepts the quote, Dynamics automatically links the information to a new project order, ensuring a smooth transition from quote to delivery.

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Describe the order management and invoice management processes

Order management begins when a customer places an order. In IT and cloud service environments like Azure, this typically involves entering the details into a system such as Dynamics 365 Sales or Supply Chain Management, which tracks what has been ordered, by whom, and when.
The system automatically records, updates, and monitors each order through its lifecycle. It ensures the order is valid, the requested products or services are available, and tracks the fulfillment status up to delivery or activation.
Invoice management starts after the order is confirmed and goods/services are delivered. The system generates invoices—either per order, in bulk, or based on milestones—and captures details such as taxes, discounts, payment terms, and customer information.
Invoices are sent to customers for payment collection. The system also supports tracking payments, issuing reminders for outstanding invoices, and reconciling received payments, improving cash flow and financial accuracy.
Solutions like Dynamics 365 offer analytical tools using the Order to Cash data model, allowing teams to create custom sales and financial reports, identify payment delays, optimize processes, and ensure compliance with financial regulations.

Example: A company using Azure Data services processes an order for cloud storage upgrades via Dynamics 365 Sales. The sales team enters the order, which is tracked until the upgrade is provisioned for the customer. Once fulfilled, an invoice is automatically generated and emailed to the customer, detailing the storage usage and charges. The finance team tracks payment status in real time and follows up if payment is overdue.

Use Case: An Azure-focused IT reseller receives multiple customer orders for cloud resources each month. Using Dynamics 365, sales and finance teams can manage all orders and corresponding invoices in one system, automate billing, track payment collections, and quickly pull reports on unpaid invoices, helping them maintain strong cash flow and streamline closing procedures.

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Describe use cases for guided selling including business process flows

Guided selling uses business process flows to help sales teams follow a consistent, step-by-step process, ensuring no important steps are missed during the sales lifecycle.
Business process flows in tools like Dynamics 365 visually represent different stages (such as Qualify, Estimate, Contract) and guide users through each action required at every stage.
Process flows can be customized with conditions and branching, allowing different paths based on customer responses, deal size, or specific product requirements—for instance, requiring additional review for custom pricing.
Guided selling improves team productivity and customer experience by reducing confusion, automating record creation, and ensuring all necessary information is collected before progressing.
IT organizations adopting Azure Data solutions benefit from guided sales processes by standardizing how solutions are scoped, estimated, quoted, and delivered across teams, which minimizes risk and speeds up onboarding for new sellers.

Example: An IT company selling Azure Data solutions uses a business process flow to guide sales reps from initial lead qualification, through needs assessment, solution design, quoting, review, contract creation, and delivery. If a customer requires custom data integration, the process flow automatically inserts an ‘Internal Review’ stage for solution architects to approve the technical details.

Use Case: A new sales representative at an IT services firm is assigned a lead interested in migrating their on-premises databases to Azure. The business process flow guides the rep step-by-step, prompting for relevant information (e.g., current environment details, business requirements), automatically generating the opportunity record, and routing it to solutions experts for estimation. If the customer requests a custom integration, the process flow adds a branch requiring an internal technical review before the sales quote is finalized.

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Describe the product catalog, prices list, and unit groups

Product catalog is a structured collection of all items and services your organization offers. In Dynamics 365 Sales, you organize the catalog using products, product families, and product bundles to track and classify offerings efficiently.
A price list defines how much each product or service costs, and can include different pricing options based on quantity, customer type, or discount lists. This makes it easier to offer volume-based pricing and manage promotions.
Unit groups help you define how products are measured and sold (e.g., pieces, boxes, hours). Each product is linked to a unit group, allowing flexibility in sales processes and accurate inventory tracking.
Setting up these three elements—product catalog, price lists, and unit groups—ensures consistency, allows for automated sales calculations, and reduces errors when quoting or invoicing customers.
Updating product details, prices, and units in Dynamics 365 is straightforward, enabling sales teams to focus on sales activities rather than administrative tasks.

Example: A software company using Azure Data solutions sells cloud storage services. Their product catalog includes items like ‘Basic Storage’, ‘Premium Storage’, and software integration tools. Price lists help them offer discounts for bulk data storage, such as a lower per-gigabyte cost for customers who purchase over 5TB. Unit groups define measurements (e.g., gigabytes, terabytes) for each service, ensuring sales quotes and invoices are accurate.

Use Case: An IT sales team managing Azure Data subscriptions can quickly generate quotes for new clients. By selecting the relevant subscription product from the catalog, choosing the correct unit group (monthly or annual billing), and applying the appropriate price list (including volume discounts for enterprise purchases), they ensure accurate and competitive pricing while saving time.

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Describe Microsoft 365 Copilot in Sales

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales is an AI-powered assistant that helps sales teams work more efficiently by integrating sales insights directly into popular applications like Outlook and Teams.
Copilot for Sales connects with leading CRM platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Salesforce Sales Cloud, making it easier to access and update customer data without switching between systems.
It automates routine tasks, like drafting emails, summarizing meetings, and generating personalized sales content, allowing sales professionals to focus more on building customer relationships and closing deals.
Copilot for Sales keeps sales data fresh and accurate by suggesting updates and syncing changes between your CRM and Microsoft 365 apps, minimizing manual data entry.
The tool provides actionable recommendations and AI-generated insights based on CRM and productivity data, helping sales teams prioritize leads and identify next steps to accelerate deal closure.

Example: A new sales representative at an IT services company uses Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales within Outlook. When preparing to reply to a client email, Copilot automatically retrieves the client’s recent purchase history and summarizes previous communications from the CRM—helping the rep quickly draft a personalized, informed response without leaving Outlook.

Use Case: An IT firm integrating Copilot for Sales with Azure Data and Salesforce enables new sales reps to streamline daily workflows. For example, a rep can schedule meetings, update contact details, and access opportunity summaries—all from Outlook or Teams—boosting accuracy and productivity for both the individual and the team, especially as they ramp up with Azure-integrated data.

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Describe the Sales accelerator

The Sales accelerator in Dynamics 365 is a sales engagement platform that helps sellers prioritize their tasks and customer contacts, making the sales process more efficient.
It provides a centralized workspace where sellers can view a prioritized list of activities, see relevant customer information, and receive AI-driven recommendations on next steps.
The Sales accelerator streamlines workflow by automating routine processes, gathering information from multiple sources, and allowing sellers to engage with customers through multiple communication channels (like email, phone, or SMS).
Sales managers can design automated sequences of activities for their teams, ensuring that sellers follow best practices and stay productive throughout a sales cycle.
By focusing on high-potential leads and opportunities, the Sales accelerator helps sellers build a strong pipeline, increase conversion rates, and maintain healthy customer relationships.

Example: A new sales representative at an IT company using Azure Data solutions logs into Dynamics 365 and immediately sees a prioritized list of leads and contacts to reach out to, based on recent interactions and AI recommendations. Instead of manually sorting through spreadsheets, the rep spends more time interacting with potential customers and less time searching for information.

Use Case: An IT solutions provider using Azure Data wants to boost sales of cloud migration services. With Sales accelerator, their new seller receives automated notifications for the best next customers to contact, and guided sequences for following up (such as sending personalized emails, scheduling calls, and recording meeting notes). The seller can easily manage all activities from one place, ensuring no opportunity is missed.

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Describe sales pipeline and forecasting concepts

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of the stages that potential customers move through, from initial contact to final sale. It helps track opportunities and manage the sales process efficiently.
Sales forecasting involves predicting future sales based on data from leads, opportunities, and historical trends. Accurate forecasting allows organizations to plan resources, set realistic targets, and make informed business decisions.
Modern tools like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales use intelligent analytics and predictive scoring to help sales teams identify high-priority deals, update forecasts in real time, and share performance metrics with key stakeholders.
Analyzing the sales pipeline and forecasts helps sales managers quickly spot risks, such as stagnating deals or missed targets, so they can act proactively to boost performance and improve the chances of achieving revenue goals.

Example: An IT solutions company uses Dynamics 365 Sales to visualize all open sales opportunities for their Azure data migration services. As deals progress, sellers move opportunities through stages such as lead, qualified, proposal, and closed. The system automatically updates the forecast based on the current stage and historical data, allowing the sales manager to predict monthly revenue and allocate technical resources more effectively.

Use Case: A new Azure Data Consultant in an IT firm uses pipeline views in Dynamics 365 Sales to see their active deals and uses the built-in forecasting tools to estimate which projects are most likely to close this quarter. This helps them focus on the most promising leads, improves their ability to meet targets, and ensures they coordinate with technical teams in advance for potential project delivery.

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Describe use cases for and capabilities of Sales Insights features

Sales Insights in Dynamics 365 Sales uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide sales teams with actionable recommendations, such as suggesting the best next step or highlighting deals that need attention. This helps salespeople stay organized and prioritize tasks that have the greatest impact.
Features like Relationship Assistant, Auto Capture, and Email Engagement help salespeople manage communications and build stronger customer relationships. For example, Relationship Assistant provides timely reminders and alerts for follow-ups and important milestones, while Auto Capture identifies sales-relevant emails automatically.
Sales Insights leverages Azure Data services to analyze data from accounts, leads, opportunities, and customer interactions, allowing users to predict sales outcomes and identify trends. This enables more accurate forecasting and better resource allocation to close deals faster.

Example: Imagine a salesperson at an IT consulting company using Dynamics 365 Sales Insights. The Relationship Assistant notifies them that a key customer hasn’t responded in a week and suggests sending a follow-up email. At the same time, Auto Capture finds an email from a prospective client and adds it to the system as a potential lead. These automated insights help the salesperson manage their workload efficiently.

Use Case: An IT company implementing Azure Data services wants to use Dynamics 365 Sales Insights to boost sales performance. By enabling features like Relationship Health and Email Tracking, sales reps can see which clients require attention and which deals are progressing well. This data-driven approach helps new users focus on actions that will most likely convert leads to successful sales.

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Describe use cases for and capabilities of LinkedIn Sales Insights

LinkedIn Sales Insights provides sales teams with actionable, data-driven intelligence about potential customers and market segments, helping prioritize prospects and plan outreach strategically.
It offers comprehensive analytics on account activity, territory coverage, and market trends by leveraging LinkedIn’s vast business data—enabling organizations to size their total addressable market and refine sales strategies.
Sales teams can use these insights to track engagement levels, spot new opportunities, and measure the effectiveness of their outreach activities, connecting Sales Navigator usage and outcomes directly to sales performance with easy-to-understand dashboards.
Sales Insights integrates seamlessly with existing CRM systems, such as Dynamics 365 Sales, allowing users to enrich account and contact profiles with LinkedIn data for more personalized engagement.
By using APIs, analytics teams can automate reporting and build custom data visualizations, reducing manual processes and giving decision-makers more real-time visibility into sales activities.

Example: An IT consulting company is expanding into new markets and wants to identify high-potential business accounts. By using LinkedIn Sales Insights, analysts can see which companies in their target industry have recently grown or hired new IT leadership. This helps the sales team focus on engaging the most promising leads rather than manually searching for prospects.

Use Case: A beginner Azure Data analyst working in an IT firm uses LinkedIn Sales Insights to automate data collection about target accounts across multiple sales territories. By receiving real-time analytics via API, the analyst builds a dashboard that visualizes account engagement levels, helping sales reps adjust their outreach and quickly spot which companies in their region are most active or ready to buy.

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Describe use cases for the Dynamics 365 Sales mobile app

Quickly access customer and sales data while on the move: The Dynamics 365 Sales mobile app lets sellers see up-to-date customer information, meeting schedules, and sales insights from their mobile device, helping them stay prepared and productive no matter where they are.
Log meeting notes and update records on-the-go: After customer meetings, sellers can instantly add notes using text or voice, update opportunities, and create new contacts directly from their smartphone—reducing manual data entry and ensuring information remains current.
Plan daily activities and receive real-time updates: Users can view daily priorities, get reminders about meetings, and receive push notifications about tasks or sales opportunities, allowing them to better organize their day and respond quickly to customer needs.
Find and interact with recent contacts and records: The app offers robust search features, making it easy to locate key customer details, past interactions, or opportunities without needing to access a desktop.
Integrate with Microsoft Teams and Exchange Online: On-the-go sellers can join virtual meetings, track appointments, and synchronize calendars seamlessly with Teams and Exchange, streamlining communication and coordination.

Example: A field sales representative traveling between clients uses the Dynamics 365 Sales mobile app to review the day’s agenda, access detailed information on each customer’s needs, and record notes immediately after each meeting. This ensures they are always prepared and customer data is updated in real time.

Use Case: An IT sales consultant new to Azure Data Solutions meets a prospective client at a conference. Using the Dynamics 365 Sales mobile app, they quickly pull up the client’s recent inquiry from the CRM, add new information and notes from their conversation, and schedule a follow-up call—all from their mobile phone. This helps them keep track of the opportunity and stay organized while still learning about the Azure Data platform.

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Describe Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales is an AI-powered assistant that integrates sales insights from CRM platforms like Dynamics 365 Sales and Salesforce Sales Cloud directly into familiar Microsoft 365 tools such as Outlook and Teams. This makes sales data and recommendations easily accessible as part of your everyday workflow.
Copilot for Sales can help sellers draft, summarize, and respond to emails, create personalized sales content, and provide AI-driven insights and recommendations for next steps. It also analyzes sales meetings in Teams, extracting important action items and customer sentiment to keep sales professionals informed and organized.
The tool streamlines common sales tasks, such as updating CRM records, adding contacts, and reviewing opportunity summaries, without needing to switch applications. This helps sales teams work faster, keep data accurate, and spend more time building customer relationships and closing deals.

Example: A sales representative is preparing to follow up with a potential customer after a recent meeting held in Microsoft Teams. With Copilot for Sales, the rep receives a summarized recap of the meeting directly in Outlook, complete with suggested next steps, overdue tasks, and a ready-to-send follow-up email draft. This saves time and ensures a professional, timely response.

Use Case: In an IT services company migrating solutions to Azure, a new salesperson uses Copilot for Sales to connect their Outlook inbox to the company’s Dynamics 365 Sales system. When a customer asks about progress, Copilot offers a summary of previous communications, highlights open opportunities in the CRM, and suggests tailored responses; this helps the salesperson deliver more accurate information and improve client trust, without needing deep Azure or CRM expertise.

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Describe Dynamics 365 Customer Service (20–25%)

Explore Customer Service

Describe use cases for Customer Service

Customer Service systems help IT companies track and resolve customer issues using case management, ensuring every problem is followed through to resolution.
These systems allow support teams to manage conversations across multiple channels like email, chat, and phone, making it easier for customers to reach help in their preferred way.
Knowledge bases within Customer Service improve efficiency by providing agents with quick access to helpful articles and troubleshooting guides, which can also be shared with customers.
Automated workflows, such as case routing and service-level agreements (SLAs), ensure that support requests are assigned to the right person and handled within agreed timeframes.
Copilot and AI-powered tools can assist agents by summarizing cases and suggesting solutions, helping resolve common IT issues faster and improving customer satisfaction.

Example: An IT company uses Dynamics 365 Customer Service to handle help desk tickets. When an employee reports a software issue via email, the system automatically creates a case, routes it to the appropriate technician, and tracks progress until the problem is resolved. The technician uses knowledge base articles and AI suggestions to provide a quick fix.

Use Case: A new Azure Data user contacts IT support through a chat channel because they are unable to connect to their data source. Dynamics 365 Customer Service logs the incident as a case, routes it to an available data specialist, and the agent uses AI-powered Copilot to review the case summary, quickly diagnosing the issue and providing a solution. The progress is tracked in the system and the customer receives timely updates until the case is closed.

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Describe the functionality for workload management, including cases, basic routing rulesets (basic queues), Unified Routing, and the inbox for agents

Cases are customer issues or requests that agents need to resolve. In Azure Data customer service environments, a case could be anything from a data access issue to a query about using a specific Azure data tool. All cases are managed within the system and tracked until resolved.
Basic routing rulesets—also known as queues—help organize incoming customer requests. Administrators set up separate queues (like ‘Billing’, ‘Technical Support’, or ‘Product Queries’), allowing the system to route each case to the correct team automatically. Agents can then pick cases from their designated queue.
Unified Routing uses artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced rules to automatically assign cases and work items (such as emails, chats, or voice calls) to the best-suited agent based on skills, availability, and workload. This ensures higher priority or complex issues go to the right experts, improving customer satisfaction and agent efficiency.
The agent inbox is a centralized dashboard where agents see all assigned work—from cases to emails and chats. It includes records and conversations enabled for unified routing, so agents manage all their tasks in one place, reducing missed work and improving response times.
Administrators can configure the inbox view for different record types, ensuring agents only see relevant cases, tasks, or appointments. This helps agents focus on what they do best, enhancing their productivity.

Example: An Azure Data customer submits a support ticket about an unexpected error while using Azure Synapse Analytics. The system uses a routing rule to detect this as a technical issue and places it in the ‘Technical Support’ queue. Unified Routing then assigns the case to an agent with expertise in Azure Synapse and a manageable workload, who sees the new case appear in their inbox alongside other work items like emails and live chats.

Use Case: A new agent at an IT company using Azure Data joins the ‘Technical Support’ team. When customers raise issues about data integration or system errors, cases are routed to the appropriate team queue. Unified Routing makes sure the new agent only receives cases matching their current training level and available capacity, displayed in their inbox alongside emails and chat requests, allowing them to manage their workload efficiently.

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Describe knowledge management in Customer Service

Knowledge management in customer service refers to creating, organizing, and sharing resources like articles and guides so support agents and customers can easily find answers to common questions or problems.
A strong knowledge management system helps agents quickly resolve cases by providing instant access to up-to-date troubleshooting guides, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions, which boosts both agent efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Modern customer service platforms, such as Dynamics 365 Customer Service, allow teams to author knowledge articles from templates, integrate knowledge across multiple sources (like SharePoint or Microsoft Search), and leverage AI suggestions to accelerate support.
Making this knowledge easily accessible not only helps agents, but also powers self-service portals, enabling customers to solve simple issues on their own and reducing the burden on support teams.
Analytics and reporting on knowledge base usage help managers spot gaps, improve content, and ensure the most relevant information is always available.

Example: An IT company uses Dynamics 365 Customer Service to build a knowledge base of common Azure Data onboarding issues. When a customer submits a ticket about connection errors, the support agent sees relevant troubleshooting articles suggested right inside their support dashboard. The agent sends the solution to the customer in minutes, saving time for both parties.

Use Case: A support team for an IT firm new to Azure Data creates and organizes a set of knowledge articles about common initial setup mistakes. When a customer reports a similar issue, the system automatically suggests the most relevant article, enabling the support agent (even a new hire) to resolve the issue confidently and efficiently.

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Describe the case lifecycle including service-level agreements (SLAs) and entitlements

A case lifecycle in customer service starts when a customer submits a support request (case) and ends when the issue is resolved. Each phase of the lifecycle is tracked in systems like Dynamics 365 Customer Service, helping IT organizations manage and monitor each step.
Service-level agreements (SLAs) define measurable support commitments, such as response times and resolution deadlines. SLAs are linked to cases to ensure support teams meet set performance indicators, like First Response Time or Case Resolution Time.
Entitlements specify what level of support a customer is eligible for, based on their contract or purchase. When a new case is opened, the system checks the customer’s entitlements to determine which SLAs apply and what actions the support team should take.
SLAs can automatically trigger alerts or escalate cases if deadlines are missed, and can also pause when waiting for customer responses, ensuring fair measurement of support times. Enhanced SLAs in Dynamics 365 allow flexible setup, including pause/resume and multiple KPIs.
By using templates for entitlements and SLAs, IT organizations can quickly standardize customer support policies for different customer types, improving consistency and ensuring accurate tracking of support commitments.

Example: An IT company sells Azure Data solutions and offers different support packages. A client who purchased a premium support package is entitled to a 2-hour response time for urgent cases. When this customer submits a case in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, their entitlement links to the appropriate SLA, which automatically tracks the time and sends reminders to agents to respond within 2 hours.

Use Case: A new support engineer at an IT firm uses Dynamics 365 Customer Service to manage cases for Azure Data customers. For each incoming case, the system automatically applies the correct SLA and checks entitlements. If the customer’s SLA promises a first response within 4 hours, the engineer sees deadline alerts and escalation warnings, ensuring they meet contracted support times and maintain customer satisfaction.

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Describe use cases for Copilot in Customer Service

Copilot can assist customer service agents by quickly providing answers to common questions using information from internal knowledge bases and previous customer interactions, helping resolve issues faster.
Copilot streamlines routine tasks such as generating customer call summaries, preparing for meetings, and drafting emails or chat responses, enabling agents to focus on more complex situations and improve productivity.
Copilot supports collaborative problem-solving by helping teams design better support workflows, identify bottlenecks, and create living documents like troubleshooting guides that adapt and grow with your organization’s needs.
By gathering relevant context from chats, emails, and support tickets, Copilot can offer personalized recommendations for resolving cases and even suggest next steps for customer conversations.
Copilot automates repetitive documentation work, such as creating reusable templates for support calls or compiling meeting notes, saving valuable time and ensuring consistency across the team.

Example: Imagine an IT helpdesk where agents receive many password reset requests. Using Copilot in Microsoft Teams, an agent can instantly draft a step-by-step response for a password reset by pulling information from published guides and previous replies, reducing response time and ensuring accuracy.

Use Case: A new Azure Data support analyst wants to improve how their team handles troubleshooting database connectivity issues. They use Copilot in Loop to collaborate with colleagues, building an editable troubleshooting guide that pulls best practices from internal resources and updates in real-time based on ongoing customer cases. This guide helps everyone respond quickly and consistently to customers.

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Describe Omnichannel for Customer Service

Omnichannel for Customer Service allows organizations to connect and help customers across multiple digital channels—including live chat, SMS, voice calls, and social media—from a single unified platform. This enables customers to reach support in the way that is most convenient for them.
Agents are provided with a modern, customizable interface that brings together all customer conversations, regardless of channel, allowing for contextual identification and streamlined case tracking. This ensures a consistent experience for both the customer and the support agent.
Supervisors can monitor real-time and historical agent performance across all channels, gaining insights to improve customer service efficiency. Advanced routing features ensure customer requests are directed to the best available agent based on their expertise and availability.

Example: Imagine a software company using Dynamics 365 Omnichannel for Customer Service. When a customer encounters a technical issue, they can reach out via live chat on the website, send a message on social media, or call the support line. Whichever channel they use, the support team sees the customer’s request in the same interface, along with details of any past interactions, ensuring a smooth and informed support experience.

Use Case: An IT company onboarding a new Azure Data customer integrates the Omnichannel solution so technical support agents can track and respond to questions from email, chat, or phone. As a result, if a customer begins an inquiry via chat about Azure Data setup and later follows up by phone, the agent has immediate visibility into the previous conversation, eliminating the need for the customer to repeat details and improving overall satisfaction.

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Describe reporting and data visualization options in Customer Service

Dynamics 365 Customer Service provides built-in charts and dashboards that help visualize key metrics such as case volumes, average response times, and agent performance. These visualizations are easy to create and customize directly in the application without requiring advanced technical skills.
Interactive dashboards, including tier 1 and tier 2 dashboards, allow users to monitor real-time performance, sort and filter data, and drill down into individual cases or agent activities. This feature helps teams quickly identify issues and take action using up-to-date information.
For more advanced analytics and reporting, Customer Service data can be integrated with Microsoft Power BI. This empowers users to build interactive reports, combine Customer Service data with other sources, and share insights across the organization. Power BI also supports custom visuals and scheduled report updates.

Example: A support manager at a mid-size IT company uses the built-in dashboard in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to see which helpdesk agents have the highest case resolution rates. By identifying top performers, the manager can recommend best practices to the team and recognize high achievers.

Use Case: An IT support team new to Azure Data wants to improve customer response times. They set up an interactive dashboard that tracks open case volumes per agent and highlights cases overdue for a response. Managers use these insights during daily standups to reassign cases and ensure service level agreements are met.

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Describe use cases for agent productivity tools

Agent productivity tools help customer service representatives quickly find relevant knowledge articles and similar case information, reducing the time it takes to resolve customer queries.
Automation features like macros enable agents to complete repetitive tasks (such as sending emails, filling forms, or setting appointments) with just one click, freeing up time for more complex customer issues.
Collaboration tools, such as embedded Microsoft Teams in Dynamics 365, allow agents to communicate with colleagues or subject matter experts within their workspace, speeding up problem-solving and improving customer satisfaction.
Agent scripts guide representatives through responses and required actions, ensuring all communications remain accurate, unified, and compliant with company policies.
Proactive alerts from IoT devices can automatically create cases and appointments, allowing agents to resolve customer issues before they escalate, demonstrating the value of connected and automated workflows.

Example: An IT help desk agent using Dynamics 365 Customer Service can rely on AI-powered suggestions to instantly find a solution to a user’s technical problem, use a macro to send a follow-up email as soon as the case is resolved, and collaborate with a team expert via embedded Microsoft Teams for help with an advanced technical issue.

Use Case: A new Azure Data support agent receives a request about a database connectivity issue. They use the productivity pane to search for related knowledge articles and review similar past cases. If the issue requires escalation, they quickly launch a prebuilt macro to email the escalation team and use an agent script to ensure they communicate all required information clearly. Throughout the process, the agent maintains high productivity and consistency thanks to these tools.

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Describe Dynamics 365 Field Service (15–20%)

Explore Field Service

Describe use cases for Field Service

Work Order Management: Field Service streamlines the process of creating, tracking, and managing work orders for services that require technicians to visit customer sites. This ensures assignments are clear, progress is tracked, and outcomes are documented.
Resource Scheduling and Optimization: The platform uses intelligent scheduling tools that consider technician skillsets, availability, and location to assign the right person to each job. This reduces travel time and increases productivity.
Customer Communication and Experience: Field Service enables organizations to keep customers updated about technician arrival times, service status, and resolution updates, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.
Preventative Maintenance: Organizations can use Field Service to schedule regular maintenance activities proactively, minimizing equipment downtime and preventing major issues before they occur.
Integration with Other Systems: Field Service can be connected with other business systems, like project management or IoT devices, to automatically generate work orders, collect data, and provide a full view of operations.

Example: An IT company that maintains network equipment for different customers uses Field Service to assign technicians for onsite repairs, track their progress, and keep customers informed of arrival times and job completion.

Use Case: A managed service provider (MSP) uses Field Service integrated with Azure Data services to monitor server health at client locations. When an issue is detected by remote monitoring, a work order is automatically generated and the closest available technician is scheduled for an onsite fix. The technician receives all necessary details via the Field Service mobile app, completes the work, updates the status, and customers are notified in real-time.

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Describe the work order lifecycle

A work order lifecycle defines the sequence of stages a maintenance or service request follows from creation to completion. In Asset Management for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, lifecycle states help organize and track progress for IT maintenance jobs.
Typical lifecycle states include Created, Scheduled, Ready, Started, Ended, and Completed. Each state marks a key step in the process, such as when work is ready to begin or has finished. These stages help teams understand what needs attention and ensure tasks move efficiently.
Lifecycle models and work order types link together to match different workflows—like preventive vs. corrective maintenance. By setting specific lifecycle states and work order types, organizations can automate updates, track costs, assign workers, and maintain service levels all within Azure Data projects.
Automation options in lifecycle states allow actions such as updating job schedules, posting maintenance checklists, or syncing asset records. This reduces manual steps and improves accuracy for IT field teams.
Using the lifecycle correctly enables actionable reporting, better resource allocation, and quicker response times to IT issues—essential for field service teams managing multiple assets and locations.

Example: Suppose an IT company is maintaining servers for a client. When a server request is logged, a work order is ‘Created.’ The job is then ‘Scheduled’ and marked as ‘Ready’ for a technician. After the technician starts work, it’s set to ‘Started.’ When repairs finish, the order moves to ‘Ended’ and finally ‘Completed,’ updating asset records and closing the request.

Use Case: An Azure Data consultant uses Asset Management in Dynamics 365 to manage field service jobs for client cloud infrastructure. By defining work order lifecycles, the consultant automates job tracking, assigns technicians, and ensures all server repair activities are accurately logged and completed, improving service levels and client satisfaction.

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Describe inspections in Field Service

Inspections in Field Service are digital forms that technicians use to document key information during a work order or asset servicing, such as safety checks, asset performance tests, or customer feedback. These forms replace traditional paper-based audits and are much easier to fill out.
The inspection templates are easy to create and update using a drag-and-drop interface. They support multiple question formats—like multiple-choice, images, attachments, and required fields—helping teams capture accurate, comprehensive data.
Inspection data is stored securely in Microsoft Dataverse, so organizations can report on results, monitor compliance, and trigger automated workflows across their business processes. Technicians can complete inspections offline, with responses syncing once they’re back online.
Inspections can be linked directly to customer assets, creating a history of checks and service activities for each piece of equipment. Administrators can manage inspection versions to ensure forms stay up to date with evolving standards and requirements.
Field Service inspections are designed for easy integration into Dynamics 365 business processes and work orders, helping teams to maintain high standards, ensure regulatory compliance, and deliver better customer service.

Example: A technician visits a customer site to service a network router. Before and after the repair, they complete a digital inspection using their tablet—checking the router’s serial number, confirming safety protocols, and capturing a photo of the repaired device. Their answers are saved to Dataverse and linked to the router’s asset record for future reference.

Use Case: An IT company uses Field Service inspections to track maintenance checks for data center hardware. Each inspection records pass/fail tests, captures asset details, and logs any issues found. Managers later analyze this data to optimize maintenance schedules and proactively replace failing assets.

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Describe the Field Service mobile app

The Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app helps technicians manage work orders, customer information, and assets from their mobile devices, supporting iOS, Android, and Windows platforms.
Technicians can use features like offline access (work without internet), barcode scanning, camera capture, driving directions, and calendar view to streamline their daily tasks onsite.
The app is built on Microsoft Power Platform as a model-driven application, making it customizable for different business needs and allowing integration with other Microsoft solutions, such as Intune for device management.
Technicians can receive instant notifications about new jobs, share location with the office for scheduling, and mark service tasks off checklists—all aimed at improving efficiency and first-time-fix rates.
Setting up the app requires admin configuration of user profiles and security roles. Once set, frontline workers can sign in and start managing work using the mobile app.

Example: Imagine a technician servicing a network router at a remote office. They receive a work order on the mobile app, navigate using built-in directions, scan the router’s barcode for asset details, capture photos of their work, and complete an inspection checklist—all without using paper forms.

Use Case: A new-to-Azure IT support technician uses the Field Service mobile app to handle onsite troubleshooting. They download the app to their phone, receive a work order to repair a malfunctioning server, view asset details and instructions offline, scan hardware barcodes, and submit a signed service report to the customer and office from the job location.

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Describe use cases of Copilot in Field Service

Copilot helps field service technicians and managers by instantly summarizing work orders and account details, making it easier to understand the job before heading to the site.
Using its chat interface, Copilot can quickly answer questions about service schedules, team assignments, and inventory usage. This reduces time spent searching for information.
Copilot streamlines updates by letting users request or log changes in natural language, such as adding notes or updating the status of a work order, directly within the Dynamics 365 Field Service web app.
Dispatchers and field workers can use predefined prompts to view information fast, like checking who is booked for a job or listing all work orders for a specific customer.
By integrating with Microsoft 365, Copilot supports users wherever they work—on mobile, desktop, or web—ensuring information is always accessible and up to date.

Example: A field service technician preparing for a visit asks Copilot, ‘Summarize the latest changes for work order 12345.’ Copilot instantly provides an overview of recent updates, equipment used, and who is currently assigned, without needing to search through various screens or paperwork.

Use Case: An IT company using Azure Data has several technicians supporting client sites. With Copilot enabled in Dynamics 365 Field Service, a dispatcher gets a request: ‘Who is available to handle the urgent work order for Contoso Ltd. today?’ The dispatcher asks Copilot, which quickly checks schedules, current bookings, and technician proximity, then suggests the best available team member, greatly simplifying scheduling and resource allocation.

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Describe resource management and scheduling processes

Resource management in Field Service refers to identifying, allocating, and overseeing resources such as technicians, equipment, and tools needed to complete service tasks efficiently. Managers use software tools to match the required skills, availability, and location of resources to job requirements.
Scheduling processes involve planning and assigning work tasks to resources at specific times, considering each resource’s capacity and current bookings. This ensures that no resource is overbooked and that service delivery is optimized for both speed and quality.
Modern systems, such as Dynamics 365 Field Service, provide real-time visibility into resource availability through schedule boards and automated notifications. This helps managers quickly adjust schedules, reallocate resources when needed, and respond to urgent service requests.
Optimized scheduling leverages algorithms to propose the best-fit technician based on proximity, skillset, and availability, which reduces travel time and increases first-time fix rates.
Resource management and scheduling tools support actionable insights, like identifying underutilized resources or anticipating staffing shortages, so managers can proactively balance workloads and improve overall field service performance.

Example: A company receives a client request for onsite troubleshooting of a server. The field service manager uses the scheduling tool to find a technician with the right certification, checks their availability, and assigns the job for the next open slot. The technician receives notification on their mobile app with the job details and address.

Use Case: An IT services provider needs to deploy field engineers for network installations across multiple client offices. Using resource management and scheduling in Azure Data and Field Service, the manager allocates tasks by matching engineers’ skills and availability, ensuring efficient resource use and minimal delays in project delivery.

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Describe asset management and customer assets

Asset management in the context of Field Service refers to the process of identifying, tracking, and maintaining both company-owned (in-house) and customer assets, such as IT hardware, software licenses, or cloud resources. This ensures assets are accounted for, in good working order, and can be serviced efficiently.
Customer assets are products or resources owned by customers that require service or support—such as servers, networking devices, or business-critical applications. By recording details like asset type, location, and history in solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, organizations can provide timely and targeted maintenance.
Integration between asset management systems and field service tools (such as Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and Field Service) allows organizations to service both in-house assets (e.g., data center servers) and customer assets within the same platform, streamlining service delivery.
Classifying and tracking assets using tags, categories, or hierarchical locations improves visibility and control. This also supports monitoring asset lifecycle states (e.g., active, maintenance, decommissioned), ensuring assets are secure and compliant throughout their lifecycles.
Regularly maintaining an up-to-date inventory using automated tools or APIs (such as Azure Resource Graph or Microsoft Fabric Scanner API) reduces risk, guarantees service levels, and enables rapid response to issues, including security incidents.

Example: A managed IT service provider uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service to track both the laptops used by its own employees and the servers installed at client sites. Each asset is logged with details such as serial number, location, owner, and maintenance history. When a server at a customer site needs an update or repair, the field technician can quickly access its service record, warranty, and parts required—all before visiting the client.

Use Case: A new Azure Data administrator at an IT consulting firm sets up asset management by importing all Azure virtual machines (customer assets) and internal network devices (in-house assets) into Dynamics 365. By tagging each asset by client, purpose, and location, they can easily generate reports, schedule preventive maintenance, and ensure compliance with company policies for both internal and client-facing systems.

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Describe Connected Field Service for Dynamics 365

Connected Field Service for Dynamics 365 uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor equipment and devices in real-time. This allows businesses to spot issues early, often before customers are even aware of them.
The system automates alerts and creates service work orders when it detects a problem. Technicians can be dispatched proactively, which means less downtime for the customer and fewer emergency repairs for the service provider.
Data from IoT sensors helps organizations make smarter decisions about resource allocation. By knowing which technician is closest and best qualified and what equipment is actually failing, businesses reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction, and optimize their operations.

Example: A company manages air conditioning units in commercial buildings. By connecting each AC unit to IoT sensors and using Connected Field Service in Dynamics 365, the company can monitor temperature and filter status. If a unit shows signs of overheating or a clogged filter, an automatic alert is created, and a technician is dispatched before the problem leads to a breakdown.

Use Case: An IT provider servicing enterprise printers in client offices uses Connected Field Service to attach IoT sensors to each printer. When a printer’s sensor detects a high number of paper jams or low toner levels, Dynamics 365 automatically creates a work order. The IT provider then dispatches a technician with the right expertise and replacement parts, reducing printer downtime and improving customer experience.

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Explore the core capabilities of customer engagement apps in Dynamics 365 (15–20%)

Describe the foundations of customer engagement apps

Describe customer engagement apps

Customer engagement apps are specialized software tools that help organizations manage relationships and interactions with their customers across sales, service, and marketing. They centralize customer information, making it easier to track communications, preferences, and history.
These apps typically offer features like automated workflows, communication channels (such as chat, email, and phone), and analytics to understand customer needs and behavior. In Microsoft Dynamics 365, examples include Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, and Marketing.
Customer engagement apps can connect with other systems, including using REST APIs like the Dynamics 365 Web API, allowing integration with Azure Data services or custom IT solutions. This makes it possible to automate data exchange and build custom customer-facing apps.
Best practices for managing customer engagement apps in IT include structuring solutions based on business function (such as separate apps for sales and service), assigning meaningful solution publishers, and implementing application lifecycle management (ALM) using tools like Azure DevOps for deployment and updates.

Example: A retail company uses Dynamics 365 Sales to track leads and opportunities, manages all customer interactions in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, and creates personalized marketing campaigns with Dynamics 365 Marketing. All this data can be analyzed using Azure Data tools to predict future customer needs.

Use Case: An IT administrator new to Azure Data sets up Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement apps for a technology startup. They configure solutions for sales and support departments, enable REST API access to integrate the apps with Azure Data Lake, and use built-in analytical tools to monitor customer satisfaction and optimize service delivery.

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Describe Microsoft Power Platform as it relates to customer engagement apps

Microsoft Power Platform is a suite of low-code/no-code tools—including Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Microsoft Copilot Studio—that work together to help businesses analyze data, automate processes, and build custom solutions.
Customer engagement apps, such as those in Dynamics 365, can be extended and enhanced using Power Platform. For example, you can create custom interfaces in Power Apps or automate follow-up tasks with Power Automate, all leveraging the data stored in Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Dataverse.
The integration between Power Platform and customer engagement apps enables new users or non-developers to build dashboards, apps, or workflows without needing deep technical skills. This empowers users to act on data insights, create highly tailored solutions, and quickly respond to changing business needs.

Example: A company uses Power BI to create a dashboard that visualizes sales leads and trends from Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, helping the sales team track progress and spot opportunities in real time.

Use Case: An IT team new to Azure Data uses Power Apps to build a simple app for customer support agents, allowing them to update customer case statuses directly from their mobile devices, and triggers Power Automate to send notifications when a case is resolved.

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Describe Microsoft Dataverse as the foundation for customer engagement apps

Microsoft Dataverse is the central data platform for customer engagement applications in the Power Platform, storing information securely and reliably for apps like Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Sales.
Dataverse supports low-code/no-code customization, allowing users and developers to quickly build, integrate, and extend apps—making it accessible for those new to cloud data platforms and reducing the need for complex coding.
It offers seamless integration with other Microsoft services (such as Excel, Outlook, and Power BI) and connects to various external data sources, enabling unified views and insightful analytics for customer data.
Dataverse enforces business rules, workflows, and security models at the data layer, ensuring consistent data quality, compliance, and user privacy across customer engagement scenarios.
With built-in APIs and connectors, organizations can automate, optimize, and innovate business processes while ensuring scalability, security, and global availability through Microsoft Azure.

Example: A small IT services company wants to track customer support requests and automate follow-ups. By using Power Apps integrated with Dataverse, the company creates a simple portal where customers submit requests. Support staff interact with this data directly inside Microsoft Teams, benefiting from automated notifications and analytics using Power BI, all powered by Dataverse as the database.

Use Case: An IT solutions provider uses Dataverse as the backbone for a customer engagement app that stores client details, service requests, and follow-up tasks. The system applies business rules to flag urgent issues and guides staff through standardized resolution processes, while managers use dashboards to view overall customer satisfaction and team performance. This is achievable without advanced coding skills, making it ideal for teams new to Azure Data solutions.

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Navigate to and within customer engagement apps

Understand the SiteMap: The SiteMap in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement controls how you navigate through the app, organizing features into areas (such as Sales, Service, Marketing), groups, and subareas. The SiteMap is visible as the navigation bar or menu and determines what you see based on your security permissions.
Identify Navigation Elements: The main navigation bar includes areas (such as Sales or Service), and within each area, you can find groups and subareas like Accounts, Contacts, Dashboards, and more. Selecting an area shows you the relevant groups and subareas for that role or function.
Customize Navigation: Administrators can edit the SiteMap to add, remove, or rearrange menu items, change labels, add icons, or provide shortcuts to external or custom pages, making it easier for users to find what they need. As a user, you might notice navigation changes as your organization customizes the app to fit specific processes.
Access Features Based on Security Roles: What you see in the navigation menu depends on your assigned security role. If you don’t have permission to view a certain entity (such as Invoices or Competitors), those options won’t appear in your navigation menu.
Navigate Effectively: Use the navigation bar to quickly move between different work areas, such as Dashboards for real-time updates, Accounts to see company info, or Activities to track tasks and emails. This helps streamline your daily workflow and ensure you always know where to look for the information you need.

Example: As an Azure Data analyst new to Dynamics 365, you open the Sales app and use the left-hand navigation bar to access Dashboards for an overview, then select the Accounts subarea to analyze customer companies, and finally move to Activities to review recent interactions—all organized as menu items thanks to the SiteMap.

Use Case: A new IT team member at a cloud services firm quickly locates customer records by navigating through the ‘Customers’ area in Dynamics 365. Because the SiteMap has been customized to prioritize frequently accessed entities and remove unnecessary ones for their role, they can efficiently serve clients without getting lost in menus.

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Describe capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot in the Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps

AI-Driven Summaries and Recommendations: Microsoft 365 Copilot in Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps helps users by automatically summarizing customer cases, sales opportunities, conversations, and meetings, saving time on manual review and data gathering.
Automated Responses and Content Creation: Copilot can draft contextual responses to customer queries in email or chat, and help generate content for communications, making it easier for teams to reply promptly and consistently.
Integration with Microsoft Tools: Copilot works seamlessly with Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 apps, allowing users to access customer insights, updates, and historical information directly during their regular workflow.
Instant Access to Knowledge Bases: Copilot enables agents to ask natural language questions about company knowledge bases or trusted domains and receive relevant answers instantly, improving customer support and issue resolution.
Accelerating Meeting Preparation and Follow-Up: Copilot provides AI-powered meeting recaps in Teams, listing key discussion points, sentiment, and next steps, so users can quickly catch up and stay organized.

Example: A customer service agent receives a new support case in Dynamics 365. Instead of reading through a lengthy history, the agent uses Copilot to generate a quick summary of previous interactions and issues. Copilot suggests draft responses pulled from the knowledge base, enabling the agent to respond efficiently and accurately.

Use Case: An IT team supporting enterprise software receives frequent customer requests for troubleshooting help. Using Copilot in Dynamics 365, team members quickly find relevant knowledge articles, summarize recent support tickets, and draft replies—reducing time spent searching for information, speeding up response times, and increasing overall customer satisfaction.

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Describe shared activities and integration options in customer engagement apps

Describe customers and activities

Customers in customer engagement apps like Dynamics 365 or Customer Insights - Journeys are individual people or organizations that your business interacts with. Each customer profile collects key details such as name, contact information, interaction history, and preferences.
Activities are tasks, interactions, or events associated with a customer. Examples include phone calls, emails, appointments, follow-up tasks, and notes. Each activity keeps a record of the communication or action taken with the customer, providing valuable context for future engagement.
All activities are timestamped and can be assigned to users or teams. This creates a complete timeline of each customer’s interactions, making it easier for teams to track progress, prioritize tasks, and provide personalized service.
Activities can be managed and viewed in different formats such as list, calendar, or Kanban views, allowing users to quickly see upcoming or completed actions and organize their workflow efficiently.
Integrating activities with customer records ensures all team members have access to the latest information, supporting better collaboration and a unified understanding of the customer journey.

Example: A sales representative receives an inquiry from a potential client. They log this as a ‘phone call’ activity in Dynamics 365. Later, they set up a follow-up meeting (appointment activity) and send a proposal via email (email activity). Each interaction is tracked with timestamps and included in the client’s activity history, making it easy for anyone on the sales team to see the full context of the relationship at a glance.

Use Case: An IT consulting firm using Azure Data and Dynamics 365 can improve customer support by tracking every client interaction as an activity. When a client submits a technical issue, a support case is created and all associated calls, emails, and progress updates are recorded as activities linked to the customer’s profile. This ensures no important steps are missed, streamlines handoffs between support agents, and allows for complete visibility into the solution process.

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Describe search options and filter criteria

Search options allow users to quickly locate information in customer engagement apps by typing keywords or phrases. This is ideal for simple searches across visible fields, such as finding a contact by name or a ticket by subject.
Filter criteria provide more precise control over results by letting users specify conditions on one or more fields. Filters can target specific properties, including those not visible by default, and can perform exact matches, case-sensitive searches, and more complex queries (e.g., filter all cases with status ‘Open’ assigned to a particular agent).
Combining multiple filter criteria lets users refine searches further, using logic like AND or OR to create advanced queries. For example, you can filter for support tickets that are both high priority AND unresolved.
Saved searches and reusable filters help users access frequently used results quickly, improving efficiency by eliminating the need to recreate the same search or filter each time.
In systems like Azure Data, filters are commonly defined using OData expressions and can integrate with advanced search options, enabling precise retrieval across large datasets (e.g., filter all customer interactions in the last 30 days with a satisfaction rating below 3).

Example: Imagine you’re using a customer service dashboard to find all support tickets created in the past week by customers from the UK that are still marked as ‘Unresolved.’ You use search to find tickets by keyword (e.g., customer name or issue summary) and apply filters to narrow results by country, status, and date range.

Use Case: A new Azure Data analyst wants to analyze customer feedback. They use the search bar to find feedback containing a specific keyword such as ‘performance’ and then apply filters to show only feedback submitted in the last month, with a satisfaction rating below 4, from customers in the finance industry. This focused view helps target improvement initiatives.

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Describe reporting capabilities including dashboards, charts, and views

Dashboards provide a central place for users to view and monitor key business metrics in real time, using configurable charts, lists, and widgets. In customer engagement apps like Dynamics 365, dashboards allow teams to keep track of sales pipelines, customer cases, or project statuses at a glance.
Charts are visual representations of data (such as pie, bar, or line charts) that help users quickly understand trends, patterns, and distributions. They can be created from queries on structured business data and displayed within dashboards or on their own. Charts make it easier to communicate insights compared to raw tables.
Views are customizable filters that define how records are displayed in lists or grids. For example, a view can show only open opportunities, cases assigned to a particular user, or high-priority tickets. Views help users focus on relevant data and can be used as the basis for building charts and dashboards.
Integration options like Power BI allow users to create custom and interactive reports that combine data from multiple sources, including Azure Data and Dynamics 365. These reports can be shared across the organization and accessed through dashboards for broader, actionable insights.
Permissions and access levels control who can create, view, or edit dashboards, charts, and views. This ensures that sensitive business data is only visible to authorized users and that teams can collaborate securely.

Example: A sales manager in an IT company uses a dashboard in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement to track current sales leads, visualize win/loss ratios using charts, and filter opportunities by region using custom views. This allows them to make quick decisions and allocate resources more effectively.

Use Case: An Azure Data beginner at a managed IT services firm sets up a dashboard that combines a chart showing open service tickets by severity, a view showing tickets assigned to their team, and links to Power BI reports for uptime metrics. This enables the team to prioritize customer issues and proactively communicate with clients—all within their customer engagement app.

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Describe Microsoft Teams integration

Microsoft Teams integration with customer engagement apps like Dynamics 365 allows users to collaborate on records (such as sales opportunities or service cases) directly from within Teams or Dynamics 365, reducing the need to switch applications.
You can link Dynamics 365 records to Teams channels, making it easy for team members to access up-to-date information, chat, or share files about a specific customer, project, or opportunity without leaving the chat or meeting environment.
Teams integration features embedded chat, calling, and meeting options, so you can communicate in real time, schedule or join meetings, and even save call notes directly to the relevant Dynamics 365 record, keeping all information in one location.
You can add Dynamics 365 records or custom views as tabs in a Teams channel so everyone working on a project can see key data at a glance and take action quickly.
The setup is straightforward: administrators enable collaboration features from Dynamics 365 settings, and then users can link records or start Teams chats as part of their usual workflow.

Example: A sales analyst at an IT company working with Azure Data needs to collaborate with colleagues on a new client’s sales proposal. By integrating Dynamics 365 with Microsoft Teams, the analyst pins the client’s account and proposal details directly to the team’s channel. This allows everyone to discuss, add updates, and schedule meetings without switching between apps.

Use Case: An IT support team uses Teams integration to track and resolve a customer’s technical issue. By linking the customer’s service case from Dynamics 365 to a Teams channel, all support staff can view troubleshooting steps, share updates, chat in real-time, and automatically record any calls or meeting notes to the case record—ensuring seamless communication and a complete audit trail.

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Describe Microsoft Outlook integration

Microsoft Outlook integration allows customer engagement apps to connect with Outlook’s email, calendar, and contact features, enabling users to access and manage this information all in one place.
With integration, users can track emails, link appointments or messages to specific customer records, and sync calendar events, helping to keep all customer interactions organized and visible within both Outlook and the connected app.
Integration is typically achieved using Microsoft Graph APIs or Outlook add-ins, which let organizations customize workflows—such as automatically categorizing emails, flagging important communication, or viewing contextual data from linked apps directly within Outlook.
Outlook integration enhances productivity by reducing manual data entry, preventing double bookings, and improving communication tracking, all while providing a seamless experience across devices (web, desktop, and mobile).

Example: An IT consulting company uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 integrated with Outlook. When a consultant receives an email from a client, the app automatically links that email to the client’s record in Dynamics 365. The consultant can view recent activities, add meeting notes, or schedule follow-up appointments—all without leaving Outlook.

Use Case: A cloud data migration specialist new to Azure Data can connect Outlook with their customer engagement app. When scheduling meetings or receiving queries from clients migrating to Azure, every interaction (emails, calendar events, contact details) is automatically tracked and visible in both Outlook and the CRM. This visibility ensures the specialist can quickly reference project details, manage schedules efficiently, and maintain a full history of customer communication.

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Describe Microsoft Excel and Word integration

Microsoft Excel and Word integration allows users to embed Excel tables or charts directly into Word documents, ensuring data is always up to date and visually consistent.
You can use features like ‘Paste Special’ or add-ins to create live links between Excel data and Word. When the Excel data is updated, the Word document reflects these changes automatically.
Office integration in Dynamics 365 and other business solutions lets users export data from customer engagement apps to Excel for advanced analysis, then present summarized results or reports in a Word document.
Templates in Word can pull in data from Excel spreadsheets, streamlining processes such as generating invoices, reports, or mail merges with real-time information.
These integrations help reduce manual data entry, minimize errors, and save time by automating the sharing of information between different Office applications.

Example: A sales analyst exports the latest sales pipeline from Dynamics 365 into Excel for review. They create charts and summaries in Excel, then embed these charts into a monthly Word report sent to management. When the analyst updates the Excel data, the charts in the Word report also update automatically.

Use Case: A new Azure Data professional in an IT consultancy uses integration to easily generate consistent, up-to-date client progress reports: They extract data from a customer engagement app into Excel to analyze customer feedback trends, then embed the findings and charts into a Word template for a polished, client-facing summary. This workflow ensures data accuracy and speeds up regular reporting.

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Describe Microsoft SharePoint integration

Microsoft SharePoint integration with customer engagement apps like Dynamics 365 allows users to store, manage, and share documents linked to records (such as accounts, contacts, or opportunities) directly from within the app.
The integration can be enabled through client-to-server or server-to-server (server-based) methods, with server-to-server offering a more seamless and maintenance-free experience for organizations.
After integration is enabled, administrators select which entities (like accounts or leads) will have document management features. This creates SharePoint folders automatically so teams can easily organize and retrieve documents.
Users can access SharePoint documents using a ‘Documents’ link directly in Dynamics 365 records, making it simple to collaborate on files without switching between different applications.
SharePoint integration helps organizations handle large volumes of documents efficiently, maintains security through permissions, and supports compliance by managing the lifecycle of content.

Example: An IT services company uses Dynamics 365 to manage its customers and projects. By integrating SharePoint, each customer record automatically gets its own SharePoint folder. When the team uploads proposals, contracts, or project documentation to a customer record in Dynamics 365, these files are stored in SharePoint, simplifying collaboration and ensuring files are easy to find.

Use Case: A new Azure Data engineer joins the IT team and needs to access all documentation related to an ongoing customer data migration project. Thanks to SharePoint integration, they simply open the relevant customer record in Dynamics 365 and click the ‘Documents’ link to see all associated files (data mapping sheets, meeting notes, migration plans) stored and categorized automatically in SharePoint.

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MB-910 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM)

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Describe Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (15–20%)

Explore Customer Insights - Journeys

Describe use cases for Customer Insights - Journeys

Describe lead generation and qualification

Describe use cases for marketing forms

Describe how to target customers by using segments

Describe email marketing

Describe customer journeys

Describe event management features and capabilities

Describe how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot with Customer Insights - Journeys

Describe Customer Insights - Data

Describe use cases of and capabilities for Customer Insights – Data

Describe unified customer profiles

Describe measures, segments, and predictions

Describe Dynamics 365 Sales (20–25%)

Explore Sales

Describe use cases for Sales

Describe leads and the process for qualifying leads

Describe the opportunity management process

Describe the quote lifecycle

Describe the order management and invoice management processes

Describe use cases for guided selling including business process flows

Describe the product catalog, prices list, and unit groups

Describe Microsoft 365 Copilot in Sales

Describe the Sales accelerator

Describe Sales capabilities and related apps

Describe sales pipeline and forecasting concepts

Describe use cases for and capabilities of Sales Insights features

Describe use cases for and capabilities of LinkedIn Sales Insights

Describe use cases for the Dynamics 365 Sales mobile app

Describe Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales

Describe Dynamics 365 Customer Service (20–25%)

Explore Customer Service

Describe use cases for Customer Service

Describe the functionality for workload management, including cases, basic routing rulesets (basic queues), Unified Routing, and the inbox for agents

Describe knowledge management in Customer Service

Describe the case lifecycle including service-level agreements (SLAs) and entitlements

Describe use cases for Copilot in Customer Service

Describe Customer Service capabilities and related apps

Describe Omnichannel for Customer Service

Describe reporting and data visualization options in Customer Service

Describe use cases for agent productivity tools

Describe Dynamics 365 Field Service (15–20%)

Explore Field Service

Describe use cases for Field Service

Describe the work order lifecycle

Describe inspections in Field Service

Describe the Field Service mobile app

Describe use cases of Copilot in Field Service

Describe capabilities related to Field Service

Describe resource management and scheduling processes

Describe asset management and customer assets

Describe Connected Field Service for Dynamics 365

Explore the core capabilities of customer engagement apps in Dynamics 365 (15–20%)

Describe the foundations of customer engagement apps

Describe customer engagement apps

Describe Microsoft Power Platform as it relates to customer engagement apps

Describe Microsoft Dataverse as the foundation for customer engagement apps

Navigate to and within customer engagement apps

Describe capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot in the Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps

Describe shared activities and integration options in customer engagement apps

Describe customers and activities

Describe search options and filter criteria

Describe reporting capabilities including dashboards, charts, and views

Describe Microsoft Teams integration

Describe Microsoft Outlook integration

Describe Microsoft Excel and Word integration

Describe Microsoft SharePoint integration