By Mike Mithcell, Senior Consultant and Rachel Lowenstein, Technical Consultant

Microsoft’s 2024 release Wave 1 (which is planned from April to September) emphasizes significant advancements in AI-driven features with Copilot. Microsoft released Copilot for Dynamics 365 as a general availability product back in February 2024 and since then has been highly focused on bringing new AI innovations and features that provide users with the ability to significantly reduce time within day-to-day business processes.

The expanded Copilot for Service capabilities enhance CRM functionalities with tools like email assistance, case summarization, and real-time streaming. Simultaneously, the 2024 release Wave for Dynamics 365 Sales Hub introduces several innovative features such as real-time customer objection handling, improved natural language search, AI-generated meeting preparation notes, and more. These enhancements aim to streamline user workflows, improve productivity, and provide deeper insights into customer interactions.

With that news and continued investment made by Microsoft, here are some of the top features that have been both introduced and are set to be introduced soon with the 2024 release Wave 1 plan.

New Copilot User Experience

The biggest change from the first February 2024 release to the present day is the new user experience in Copilot with an offering called Microsoft Copilot for Sales. This new feature provides a user experience where record highlights and CRM tabs are rolled into one unified view which allows for easier viewing of all important data in one area. As Microsoft continues to improve AI and Copilot capabilities, the ease-of-use functionality continues to also be an important part.

Quick CRM Actions within Outlook Emails

Released in April 2024, Copilot for Sales quick actions in Outlook provides message banners on customer emails to help users with key next steps. Quick actions examples consist of adding new contacts or leads from emails directly into CRM, accessing key customer details, or saving the email into CRM as an activity. With similar capabilities as the readily used D365 add-in for Outlook, quick actions help users use the power of AI to do more in less time.

Improved Natural Language Search in Copilot

Released in May 2024, D365 users can ask for information within Copilot using natural language and receive back the correct data. This allows users to interact with AI in a more natural way when typing questions or requesting information. Improved natural language search encourages better adoption knowing that users can interact with Copilot the same way they might interact with a co-worker through a Teams chat or a web browser search. Making interactions smoother with AI helps increase the accuracy of these requests, while also reducing the amount of time needed to perform a search.

AI-Generated Meeting Preparation Notes

Released in May 2024, Meeting Insights has greatly reduced the amount of time needed to prepare for sales meetings. These insights automatically pull together essential information like important account information, past communications, and any key documents sent through Outlook in recent discussions without the need for manual searching. This allows business users to prepare for meetings quicker and go into meetings 1-step ahead knowing users have the insights to turn opportunities into new business.

Copilot Integration with SharePoint

Released in May 2024, Copilot integration with SharePoint gives business users streamlined access to critical information in SharePoint documents by using AI enhancements. This feature is conducted by simply chatting with Copilot inside D365 which then automatically searches all documents and gives results without ever needing to leave CRM. This feature looks up across all SharePoint files the signed-in user has access to and does not require any folder configuration.

AI-Generated Account Summaries

This feature has been in preview since May 2024 and should be available soon as part of Microsoft’s Copilot enhancements. The new release will feature a widget that provides a robust account summary feature giving users an overview by accessing key information of not only the account, but related records such as opportunities, leads, and cases. Along with key information of related records, this widget also gives any news related to the account through Bing search results that help understand real-world trends within the account.

Assistance in Drafting Emails

This feature was released on July 1 to address the issue of drafting consistent emails that is found in most organizations. With Copilot’s help, agents will be assisted in drafting and responding to customer queries using past engagements with the customer, such as cases and emails. Copilot engages the organization’s voice, allowing agents to review, modify, and adjust the tone before sending. This reduces the time agents spend authoring emails, enabling them to focus more on resolving complex customer issues.

Case Summarization

This feature was released on July 1 and with case summarization, Copilot assists agents by quickly grasping which case they are managing and summarizing the case details. By leveraging Copilot’s use of CRM data, the time it takes for an agent to review all the crucial information of a case is cut in half. This allows the agent to reach a quick, confident, and informed resolution for the customer.

Real Time Streaming

Released on July 1, Copilot’s real-time streaming feature enhances CRM capabilities by providing instant, dynamic responses as information is processed through customer interactions. This functionality allows agents to receive and act on data updates immediately, improving the efficiency of their customer service. For instance, during a live customer interaction, Copilot can continuously stream relevant information and suggestions, helping agents make informed decisions quickly. This reduces lag in information retrieval and ensures that agents have the most current data at their fingertips to resolve customer issues effectively.

AI-Generated Opportunity Summaries

This feature is currently still in development and will be released in July 2024. The new release will feature a widget which will be automatically introduced onto the Opportunity form. This allows users to interact with Copilot directly within the Opportunity record without having to navigate away. Giving users the ability to see the AI-generated Opportunity summary such as recent changes, key info, and product insights helps better assist in decision making and key next steps within the sales cycle.

Real-Time Customer Objection Handling

This feature, being released in September 2024, allows business users to manage real-time customer objections with Copilot through meeting sentiment and vocal analysis of clients during live Teams meetings. Based on vocal queues of a customer sounding nervous, upset, or happy; Copilot can provide coaching by giving real-time suggestions, counter arguments, and next steps.

Copilot Pre-Meeting Tips

Scheduled to be released in September 2024, Copilot pre-meeting tips will allow users to quickly get up to speed on client information prior to a Teams meeting without the need to jump around from record to record to find information. This is done by providing information such as roles and relationships of participants on the call, talking points, naming decision makers, and the history of participant engagement from earlier meetings.

More Robust Pipeline Engagement Analysis

Scheduled to be released in September 2024, the pipeline engagement analysis through Copilot for Sales will monitor all conversation history with opportunities in your company’s sales pipeline. From there, Copilot will provide pipeline predictions and scoring to give users improved sales accuracy, better resource allocation, and enhanced revenue forecasting. These features give the user the ability to make better decisions and address any future challenges.

With the ever-changing landscape of AI and Copilot, Microsoft continues to make a significant stride to help agents and companies achieve their sales and service goals quicker and easier. As businesses continue to navigate a complex business landscape, these Copilot upgrades are important in helping companies keep a competitive edge and achieve long-term success. Keep on the lookout for continued updates to Copilot after the 2024 release Wave 1 plan.

Working with New Dynamic

New Dynamic is a Microsoft Solutions Partner focused on Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Power Platforms. Our team of dedicated professionals strives to provide first-class experiences incorporating integrity, teamwork, and a relentless commitment to our client’s success.

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New AI Capabilities Dominate Dynamics 365 2024 Release Wave 1