We are thrilled to announce the general availability of spatial annotations in Dynamics 365 Field Service and Microsoft Teams! This milestone marks a significant step forward in enhancing mixed reality collaboration for frontline workers. 

Customers using Dynamics 365 Field Service, Guides, and Remote Assist licenses get the new spatial annotation capabilities automatically enabled in Teams mobile and desktop at no extra cost. 

Before, spatial annotations required a standalone mobile app or a HoloLens 2. Now, frontline workers can benefit from 3D inking and arrow placement directly in the Teams mobile and desktop apps during any 1:1 call, group call, or Teams meeting. 

Mobile mixed reality collaboration platform 

Previously, frontline workers used Teams within the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Guides applications to collaborate with spatial annotations. The Remote Assist mobile app was a popular choice for workers on the go. It allowed fast and easy connections with collaborators on a call, showed the task over video, and allowed annotation together.  
 
Now, this core functionality is available directly in the Teams mobile app. For workers who are on the move, having all their core collaboration capabilities in a single app simplifies their job. It eliminates the need to switch apps, ensuring that all collaboration capabilities from Teams are readily available.  

No more context switching

Using spatial annotations is as straightforward as joining a Teams meeting or making a call. With the front-facing camera, users share their view with remote participants for real-time collaboration while in the flow of work.  Technicians in the field can place 3D arrow and ink annotations by tapping on their video to discuss with remote peers.  

Desktop users can see this video feed and add their own annotations to overlay important information on physical objects. This enhances comprehension and enables workers to fix issues faster. Users can move and change angles without losing track of annotations anchored to their environment. This advanced level of interaction empowers Teams users, sharing insights and reducing miscommunications which could lead to mistakes or rework. 

Streamlined and secure enablement

Accessing spatial annotations directly in Teams mobile means fewer apps for administrators to provision, update, and audit.  Users benefit from end-to-end encryption, data loss prevention, and compliance certifications in Teams mobile. These additional security measures protect against unauthorized access to confidential company information.  
 
Infusing spatial capabilities into apps technicians are already using, on devices already in their pockets, is just one way we’re evolving mixed reality workflows at Microsoft. We’re excited about this step towards democratizing mixed reality and bringing advanced and intuitive solutions to more people across industries. 
 
This integration ensures that frontline workers have all their collaboration tools in one place, simplifying workflows and enhancing productivity. Learn more here.

Please Note: Spatial annotations is now generally available directly in the Teams mobile app. The standalone Remote Assist app on mobile devices is being deprecated. Affected users will be notified about this change. 

The post Spatial annotations for frontline technicians with Dynamics 365 Field Service & Microsoft Teams appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Microsoft is doing some housekeeping in Dynamics 365 Business Central–and significant changes are coming with the 2025 release Wave 1 clean-up. We want you to know about these changes and how to prepare your applications.

The Dynamics 365 Business Central Release Wave 1 clean-up means that all tables, table extensions, and table fields remaining in the Obsolete::Removed state for more than one major release will be permanently deleted. This sweeping clean-up affects the Base Application as well as all other first-party apps. Already, the removal of over 150 tables has optimized and cleaned up the application code.

With the Release Wave 1 clean-up, Microsoft will adopt a clean-up cycle every fifth release, ensuring a smooth transition.

Why this matters: Benefits of the clean-up

The April 2025 Release Wave 1 clean-up effort isn’t just about reducing database size, it’s part of a broader vision:

• Improved database performance: Removing unused schema elements will optimize performance and reduce technical debt.

• Unified Base Applications: Multiple countries (such as, Sweden, Denmark, Czechia, India, and Iceland) and partner-localized regions will move towards a unified Base Application. The goal is to have all countries based on the same codebase.
• Improved maintainability: By removing more than 10% of tables and table fields, we’ve simplified development and made it easier for developers and product owners to manage changes.
• Streamlined codebase: Cleaner code results in fewer errors and easier maintenance for developers.

Key updates and concepts

Platform support for the clean-up

2025 release wave 1 (v26) introduces platform-level support for dropping tables, table extensions and table fields that have been in the Obsolete::Removed state for more than one major release. This ensures an automated clean-up process, consistent and in alignment with Microsoft’s ongoing breaking changes process and optimization strategy.

Introducing the Step Release

A new concept, Step Release, plays an important role in cloud migration and the upgrade process:

• Mandatory for cloud migration: Customers migrating from earlier versions must upgrade to a Step Release before proceeding to newer versions.
• Purpose: The Step Release ensures all schema elements in the Obsolete::Removed state for more than the defined period are cleared out before transitioning to the latest version.
• Impact on upgrade code: The updated upgrade process excludes objects marked for removal in this release.

Important: The data from deleted tables, table extensions and table fields will also be permanently removed. Tables, table extensions and table fields in the state Obsolete::Pending are not impacted.

How to identify impacted tables, table extensions and table fields

With the Release Wave 1 clean-up, Microsoft has introduced a new preprocessor symbol, CLEANSCHEMA, to help developers identify and handle obsolete schema elements. Here’s how it works:

• The CLEANSCHEMA symbol operates similarly to the existing CLEAN symbol, with a version number showing when a table, table extension or table field was marked as Obsolete::Removed.
• For example:
  • CLEANSCHEMA24: The table, table extension, or table field marked as removed in version 24 and deleted in version 26 (2025 release wave 1).
  • CLEANSCHEMA25 or later: The object remains for at least one more cycle of 5 releases. Deletion happens in future releases- version 31 (2027 release wave 2).

What should developers do?

If your app references objects in the Obsolete::Removed state then you need to:

1. Refactor your code: Replace or remove references to these objects before April 2025.
2. Check upgrade code: Ensure that upgrade code doesn’t rely on removed tables, table extensions or table fields.
3. Monitor preprocessor symbols: Use the CLEANSCHEMA symbol to anticipate removal timelines.

Implications for cloud migration

The cloud migration path will change as part of the clean-up:

1. Customers will first migrate to version 25 (2024 release wave 1).
2. Upgrade code then handles the transition to the latest version after clearing obsolete objects.

This new process emphasizes the importance of preparing early, especially for legacy applications with dependencies on obsolete schema elements.

What if you need data from removed tables?

Microsoft recommends that you use the Point-In-Time Restore (PIT) procedure for data recovery, which is consistent with current best practices. If you anticipate needing data from obsolete tables, table extensions or table fields, ensure you plan for PIT backups before the clean-up.

Preparing for the future after the Release Wave 1 clean-up

With these changes, Microsoft continues its dedication to enhancing the maintainability of Business Central.

Next steps for partners:

1. Inspect your code: Identify any dependencies on Obsolete::Removed schema elements using the CLEANSCHEMA symbol and refactor the code accordingly.
2. Prepare migration plans: Incorporate the Step Release process into your upgrade and cloud migration strategies.

By being proactive, you’ll ensure a smooth transition and take full advantage of the benefits of a cleaner, faster, and more unified Business Central.

Additional resources:

Deleted objects in 2025 release wave

•  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/upgrade/deleted-objects-25w1

Maintaining Apps

• Update Lifecycle for Tenant Customizations – Business Central | Microsoft Learn
• Maintain AppSource apps and per-tenant extensions – Business Central | Microsoft Learn

Microsoft will host two Office Hour calls for partners to join for questions about this process and next steps:

Option 1: February 13, 4:00 – 5:00PM CET. Please register here

Option 2: February 18, 8:00 – 9:00AM CET. Please register here

The post Essential Clean-Up Guide for Partners: 2025 Release Wave 1 appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Data is the lifeblood of decision making in the digital age. Almost every interaction a company has with a customer adds to an ever-growing data pool. For sales leaders, the challenge is transforming this raw data into actionable insights that drive delightful customer engagements and ultimately boost revenue. 

While organizations collect many types of information, optimizing data in a clear sales strategy can often create blind spots for them. Success is not simply a matter of collecting more data. It’s about having better data—and, more importantly, understanding what to do with it.  

Today, AI systems are revolutionizing industries by helping organizations derive insights from data efficiently so they may understand customers in ways never before possible. But to do that, organizations need a platform-centric approach to unify, analyze, and manage data. This is precisely where AI-powered customer profiling supports a shift from reactive decision making by sales teams to proactive customer engagement.

From data overload to strategic advantage 

Organizations are sitting on mountains of data. Every interaction, click, or transaction provides potential clues into a customer’s needs and behavior. However, extracting actionable insights from this data can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. For sales leaders, the problem is twofold:  

1. Siloed data. Customer data is often scattered across different departments—marketing, sales, service—making it difficult to gain a holistic view of the customer.  
2. Data overload. With so much data available, it’s tough to focus on the insights that matter most, leading to inefficient processes.  

This fragmentation leads to missed opportunities to engage customers more deeply. Sales teams frequently report struggling to turn vast datasets into actionable strategies, leading to inefficient engagement. But using AI to convert complex datasets into real-time insights supports personalized, customer-first strategies. That’s how AI-powered profiling creates an advantage. 

Learning about your customers vs. anticipating their needs: A change in focus

Forming a deep understanding of customers is a core aim of sales teams. Still, most sellers operate with an incomplete view. Limited visibility into previous purchasing decisions, open issues with the service team, or ongoing engagement with marketing campaigns are all factors that cloud a clear picture of not only how a customer behaves, but why. It’s the difference between collecting information about a customer and understanding how that data can help anticipate and meet the customer’s needs.

It’s imperative for modern sales teams to not only see what a customer did, but gain insight into why they did it—because then you can anticipate their next steps. That’s the promise of AI-powered customer profiling. It provides real-time behavioral insights, supporting sales teams to engage prospects with personalized offers at exactly the right time.

Sales teams can now maintain a much more seamless connection with each customer with continuous messaging, promotions, and events that are tailored to individual behaviors and interests. This shift supports a simplified and more cohesive selling experience—resulting in, according to one recent study, as much as a 15% increase in revenue per customer journey.¹ 

AI-powered customer profiling in action 

Here’s how AI-powered customer profiling is reshaping the future of sales: 

• Faster sales preparation. Time is money, especially in sales. Traditional sales prep involves hours of research, reviewing transaction histories, and piecing together fragmented data. This manual process is not only time-consuming, but prone to error. Instead of sifting through data, sellers can rely on AI agents to aggregate comprehensive customer profiles instantly, allowing for faster, more effective engagement. 

• Crafting personalized offers. Personalization is key, but delivering tailored offers at scale is a challenge. AI can solve this by analyzing customer behavior in real time, identifying patterns and preferences. For example, AI can identify when a customer browsing premium products is ready to purchase and suggest a personalized offer, such as a time-limited discount. This increases conversions and fosters long-term loyalty by showing customers they are understood and appreciated. 

• Actionable intelligence for better decisions. AI not only processes data but provides clear recommendations for next steps, whether it’s following up on a lead or prioritizing opportunities. AI’s guidance ensures no opportunity is missed, improving win rates and creating a seamless customer experience. 

The Microsoft solution: Copilot and agents to turn data into action   

While the promise of AI is compelling, businesses need the right tools to make it a reality. Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights seamlessly integrate AI into sales strategies, turning data into action. Here are some use cases: 

• Unified customer profiles: Dynamics 365 Customer Insights unifies customer data from sales, marketing, and service into a 360-degree view. This real-time profile allows sales teams to see the full customer journey, delivering insights that lead to timely and relevant engagement and more efficient collaboration between marketing and sales 
• AI-powered recommendations: With the Sales Qualification Agent in Dynamics 365 Sales, sales teams receive real-time insights on lead prioritization and strategic next steps. This proactive AI assistance allows sales reps to focus on high-impact opportunities, accelerating decision-making and enhancing sales effectiveness.  
• Predictive analytics: Dynamics 365 Sales and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights don’t just report on past actions—they predict future ones. By utilizing predictive analytics, sales teams can anticipate customer needs and engage prospects at the right moment with personalized offers that resonate. 
• Time-saving automation: Sales automates repetitive tasks, freeing up sales teams to focus on relationship-building. Whether it’s generating follow-up emails or creating personalized reports, AI does the heavy lifting, letting sales reps focus on what matters most: closing deals. 

AI-powered customer profiling boosts sales  

The future of sales will be powered by Copilots and agents. The ability to transform vast amounts of customer data into clear, actionable insights is no longer optional—it’s essential for staying competitive. AI-powered customer profiling, supported by Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, Dynamics 365 Sales, and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, empowers sales teams to turn raw data into strategic insights that drive personalized engagement, increase sales efficiency, and deliver tangible results. 

In an age of exponentially rising customer expectations, businesses that fail to harness AI will fall behind. But those that do will turn unknown customers into loyal advocates by using AI to unlock the full potential of customer data, transforming it from a challenge into a strategic advantage. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

AI-powered customer profiling can transform your sales. 

Learn more

Source:

¹ “The Total Economic Impact™ of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights” 2024 Forrester Consulting study, Page 2. Microsoft, Inc., and Forrester, Inc., 2024 

The post Accelerating sales with unified data in the AI era appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Introducing Enhanced Mobile Offline Data Monitoring with Azure Monitor Application Insights 

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, it’s essential for organizations to have comprehensive visibility into their data. It’s particularly important for mobile offline data, often constrained by limited resources of the mobile device and cellular network bandwidth. By understanding and optimizing this data, organizations can enhance data synchronization processes, improving efficiency and providing a superior experience for end users.

We are excited to announce a new capability that empowers admins to create queries and dashboards to monitor their mobile offline telemetry for Power Apps including Field Service Mobile.   This feature, enabled via Application Insights, provides comprehensive insights and provide the telemetry needed to make informed decisions as you manage your offline-enabled mobile workforce.

Key Capabilities 

Admins can now proactively identify challenges, monitor Mobile Offline telemetry, and optimize offline sync performance. Here are some of the key benefits: 

1. Gain early visibility into potential issues. Test offline mode to understand real-world synchronization times and error visibility during user acceptance testing. Doing this early in the process sets expectations with mobile users and avoids more widespread errors after a general release.

2. Enhance the performance of offline sync processes. Two of the most common things that impact Offline sync performance are query complexity and data volume. Offline telemetry, shows which tables are regularly synced and how many records are being synced in aggregate and per user. You can further fine-tune the queries to reduce volume, while leveraging existing ODATA end points to investigate slow-running queries that be overly complex. This helps you create an offline profile optimized for a performant sync experience.

3. Keep track of data changes. Monitor record volumes and sync duration to see how enhancements impact your offline mobile experience and new business scenarios. This helps maintain good performance and decision-making on Offline as your business and use cases evolve with new capabilities.

How It Works 

This feature uses Application Insights to provide detailed analytics and reporting capabilities. Within Application Insights, you can create queries to drill down to data most relevant for your organization.  Based on those queries, create dashboards with visualizations tailored to your specific needs.  

To help support onboarding, we created a dashboard template with some common queries available for importing into your Dynamics 365 environment.  

• Learn more about how to enable and available data: Telemetry events for mobile app synchronization and actions 

• Learn more about query samples and dashboard template: Sample telemetry dashboard for mobile offline 

Having access to this data helps you manage and monitor your mobile offline workforce, leading to increased operational efficiency and better decision-making.

Next Steps 

We hope you find this data is a valuable resource which can help identify and resolve mobile offline synchronization challenges. If issues are observed, you’ll be empowered with the insight to troubleshoot and resolve them quickly. For more information about mobile offline, along with best practices and troubleshooting tips please reference the following blog series: 

• Best Practices for Offline Mode in the Field Service mobile app – Part 1  – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog 
• Best Practices for Offline Mode in the Field Service mobile app – Part 2 – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog 
• Best Practices for Offline Mode in the Field Service mobile app – Part 3 – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog 

Get started by setting up your first dashboard today!

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