Implementing the new Dynamics (formerly Office) 365 CE Unified Interface
If you’re still using the classic interface (or web interface as it’s known) on your Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement solution, beware because Microsoft is enforcing the upgrade to the new Unified Interface on the 1st December 2020. But rather than wait for it to be enforced, why not prepare and plan for it so that you can make the change in your own time, at your own pace and in a manner that is best for your organisation?
Here’s how we help our clients to prepare for and implement the new Unified Interface. It’s a straightforward process, taking typically between three to four days. If you use a significant amount of JavaScript within your system, then it can take a bit longer as some reworking may be required. We start off by upgrading your sandbox environment, making sure that this is up to date first. Within the sandbox, we create a native Unified Interface application, which is based on your current use of the system, your current menu options, etc. As part of that, we’ll also upgrade all your icons to the new icon format which is called Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG). This is because they need to be scalable so that they work on mobile devices, tablets and laptops, etc.
We can now move into step two, which is the testing phase. We move the application into a UAT environment and hand it over to your organisation for testing. Here you’ll need to run through all your key processes, which is to predominantly make sure that the things working in the background, like Java scripts and automatic updates, are happening as you expect them to. If you come across any issues during this testing phase then you create an issue log, which we’d then look at addressing. If there are any showstoppers, we’d look to address those immediately so that you can carry on testing. Once the initial testing phase has been completed, we’d review the issues, fix those in the system and pass back over to your organisation for a retest; going through that loop, once or twice to make sure that all issues have been resolved.
Once all that’s been completed, we create a solution file containing any fixes and updates, so that any form tweaks can be generated inside the solution. Then it’s just a matter of planning the deployment to the live environment; agreeing the transition date with Microsoft. Once you’ve agreed and scheduled that, which is typically on a Friday so it can happen over the weekend, your system can transition into the Unified Interface. At the same time, we’ll move across the solution file to deploy any fixes and enrichments, then you are live on the new Unified Interface.
Here are links to some helpful resources:
Check your transition date here:
- Click here – Firstly, you’ll need to check to see if you have an administrator type role that will allow you to see the suggested dates for your transition from Microsoft. Nothing will get transitioned until you’ve approved it, so the suggested date will just sit there until you either approve it or you choose to reschedule and select a date that works better for your organisation.
FAQs:
Checklist:
Check Deprecations:
- Click here for deprecations – There are also a number of things that are deprecated as part of the Unified Interface. For example, the mail merge functionality no longer exists. This has been replaced with a new feature called Word Document Templates. Mail merge has been on the deprecation list for some time, but it finally disappears on the Unified Interface. Another example is the dialogues functionality; this is not used massively by many of our clients, but this is disappearing completely as well now. The link shows a full list of things that are being removed as part of the move to the Unified Interface.
With the deadline for the Unified Interface for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement fast approaching, now is the time to think about how you want to introduce your organisation to this change. Talk to your m-hance Account Manager about the best way forward so you can benefit from the many new features the new Unified Interface provides.