Microsoft's Verification and Support System
Microsoft's verification and support system is absolutely appalling. Despite providing every piece of required information for my company, their system continues to reject my verification attempts. I've gone above and beyond by paying extra to create additional email accounts in the format email address removed for privacy reasons. I've submitted QR-coded invoices officially verified by government authorities. Our WHOIS data is current and accurate. My name matches perfectly across all documentation and our DUNS number is correct. Yet, I keep receiving the same frustrating response: "This is because the primary contact details did not match." When I reach out through their official support channels, it takes them five days just to respond. It's been two months now, and I'm still waiting for approval just to register. It's absurd that such a large company maintains such a disastrous system. All they need to do is verify real users directly without relying on AI algorithms. They're so focused on automating everything with artificial intelligence that they've created a dysfunctional process. Despite all their technology, humans still remain superior at handling these verification tasks, yet Microsoft seems determined to automate a process they haven't properly designed.Partner Case Study | Epiq
Epiq wanted to streamline both external and internal operations using Power Platform. This includes management of class action lawsuits for its clients as well as employee onboarding processes. Power Apps and Power Automate were used to create a system that automates much of Epiq’s onboarding process. AI-driven agents built using Copilot Studio help manage a variety of tasks, including questions from class action claimants. AI-driven agents have helped manage thousands of claimants, including almost 50,000 messages for one of Epiq’s largest class action lawsuits. Meanwhile, Epiq’s onboarding system is saving approximately 2,000 hours of onboarding work each month and over USD$500,000 annually. Read full story here Explore all case studies or submit your own Subscribe to case studies tag to follow all new case study posts.
Invest in developing your architectural skills for Copilot Studio
Learn how to successfully go-live with Copilot Studio agentic solutions for your customers at the first ever in-person Copilot Studio Partner Architecture Bootcamp in Redmond, Washington! The Power CAT team is pleased to host solution architects from our key partner organizations in Redmond for a 3-day intensive training to cover: Copilot Studio implementation best practices and patterns Derisk or prevent derailed complex projects Learn and apply new technologies effectively Spots are extremely limited – apply today - https://aka.ms/JoinAprilCSBootcampHow Nonprofits Can Claim Power Apps Licenses in the Admin Center
Power Apps is a powerful tool that allows nonprofits to create custom apps to streamline their operations and improve efficiency. In this blog, we'll guide you through the process of claiming Power Apps licenses in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Step-by-Step Guide Step 1: Access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center Navigate to the admin center: Start by logging into your Microsoft 365 admin account. Ensure you have the necessary admin permissions to manage licenses. To log in the admin center, visit the following link: https://admin.microsoft.com/. Step 2: Purchase Power Apps Licenses Go to Billing: In the left-hand navigation pane, select "Billing" and then "Purchase services." Find Power Apps: Use the search bar to find "Power Apps per app plan. Select Power apps per app Plan (1 app or website). Select Details (Please note at the time of writing nonprofits can claim up to 10 free power apps licenses.) Select and Purchase: Select the quantity and click on Buy. Follow all the necessary prompt to complete the purchase. Step 3: Allocate Power Apps per App Plans (Old Admin Center Experience) To allocate the Power apps per app Plan licenses, we have to visit the Power Platform admin center. If you are using the old experience for the admin center, follow the steps bellow: Open Power Platform Admin Center: Go to the Power Platform admin center by visiting this website: https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/ Navigate to Capacity: Select Resources > Capacity in the left-side navigation pane. Allocate Plans: If your organization has purchased add-ons, an Add-ons tile will appear. Select "Manage" to allocate the per app plans to the appropriate environments (e.g., test, production). If not, select assign to an environment. Under App passes, you can assign up to the number of power app per plan 1 licenses you claimed. Then click save. Step 3: Allocate Power Apps per App Plans (New Admin center Experience) To allocate the Power apps per app Plan licenses, we have to visit the Power Platform admin center. If you are using the new experience for the admin center, follow the steps bellow: Open Power Platform Admin Center: Go to the Power Platform admin center by visiting this website: https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/ Navigate to Capacity: Select Licensing> Capacity add-ons in the left-side navigation pane> Add-ons. Allocate Plans: If your organization has purchased add-ons, an Add-ons tile will appear. Select "Manage" to allocate the per app plans to the appropriate environments (e.g., test, production). If not, select assign to an environment. Under App passes, you can assign up to the number of power app per plan 1 licenses you claimed. Then click save. Conclusion By following these steps, your nonprofit can efficiently claim and assign Power Apps licenses. Stay tuned for our future blog, where we'll dive into creating a model driven application for your nonprofit. Additional Resources Capacity add-ons for Power Apps and Power Automate - Power Platform | Microsoft Learn About Power Apps per app plans - Power Platform | Microsoft LearnSimulation game designed to train students to handle a bankruptcy case using Power Platform
Technology is transforming the education sector, increasingly helping teachers around the world to provide better, more interactive learning experiences. Dutch institution Avans Applied Science University is a prime example. Here, a law teacher (with no technical background) has recently created a simulation game designed to train students to handle a bankruptcy case as it would happen in real life. Built using Microsoft Power Platform, the game takes students through various steps of the case. All with the help of a chatbot created using Power Virtual Agents, which interacts with students and asks them legal questions.5 ways to evolve your Firstline Workforce for the new normal
As organizations continue to refocus their operations to support and empower employees while maintaining business continuity, we have been working to create and improve capabilities in Microsoft Teams to support their efforts. These capabilities help you to better connect the Firstline Workforce with your corporate offices, digitize manual processes, equip them with the right devices and, accelerate their onboarding, all on a foundation of security that you expect from Microsoft 365.
Microsoft Planner & Automate: The Perfect Duo
Power Automate & Planner In a world of ever-increasing deadlines, content management, or a campaign for outreach. Sending emails tracking Todo's and keeping track of deliverables can be a daunting task. In a previous blog we talked about Microsoft Loop, a great tool for real-time collaboration and project management. Planner’s ease of use and intuitive design gives you many ways to view your project called a plan. You can build it from scratch or use many of the templates for the most relevant scenario. Power Automate is a cloud-based platform that allows you to run, schedule and create your own automated workflows. This can be very helpful if you need to see reminders, emails, notifications, and much more. Power Automate works seamlessly with Microsoft and third-party applications. Some flows are very easy to use. We will follow a scenario to learn how we can use a scheduled flow. Scenario An editor at Contoso. is responsible for managing the publication of blog posts. To streamline the process, they use Microsoft Planner to track the progress of each blog post and Power Automate to send scheduled summary emails. Creating The Planner Board Navigate to Microsoft 365 login at https://m365.cloud.microsoft.com. Sign in with your user credentials and authenticate with the Microsoft Authentication App. While you are signed in, navigate to the top-left corner of the App launcher (Grid icon), then select the planner app or use the search bar by typing “Planner.” Navigate to the bottom-left corner of the screen and click “New plan” then select “Basic.” The editor creates a new plan in Microsoft Planner called "Marketing Blog" or whatever you would like. Select the desired group from the dropdown menu, then click "Save" button. In the top left-hand menu, select "board" for the kanban view. Create buckets for different stages of the publication process by typing in the "Add a new bucket" area. Create the following buckets. "Backlog," "Final Draft," "Review," and "Published." Each blog post is added as a task in the relevant bucket. For example, a new blog post idea is added to the "Final Draft" bucket. Tasks to Accomplish Now that we have created the planner, let's assume the role of the editor. The editor must closely monitor the blog editorial calendar, which is represented by our Planner board. To streamline the process of tracking outstanding items and blockers, the editor should receive a scheduled summary of each bucket we have created. The editor will need to perform the following tasks The editor assigns tasks to team members responsible for drafting, editing, and reviewing the blog posts. The editor regularly updates the status of each task, moving them to the appropriate bucket as they progress through the stages. Lastly, the editor will receive a summary every Monday at 9:00 AM before the teams Morning standup meeting. You can tailor the time to your needs. Using Power Automate for Scheduled Summary Emails You can access Power Automate from the Microsoft 365 App Launcher, or directly by going to https://make.powerautomate.com/enviroments. Once you’re logged in: Click “Templates” on the left-hand panel. In the search bar above, type “Create a daily summary of Planner tasks by bucket.” Click on the corresponding card. The editor sets up a Power Automate flow to send a weekly summary email to the team. They create a scheduled cloud flow in Power Automate, specifying the start date, time, and frequency (e.g., every Monday at 9:00 AM). Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign into your “Planner” and “Office 365 Outlook” account then press the “continue” button. In the top tab click on the “Reoccurrence” card. Add the following information “Interval,” “Frequency,” “Time zone,” and “Start time.” For the time portion please use military time and the (Year-Month- 24T- 00:00) change the relevant time. Next add the “List buckets” by clicking on the corresponding card and entering the plan you created under “Parameters,” PlanId “Marketing Blog.” Next add the “List Tasks” add the PlanId again under the parameters. Then add your username or email address to the last card “Send an email.” Lastly save your flow. Testing the Flow It is recommended that you first test your flow. This is beneficial to flag any issues and the process and see how best to troubleshoot the flow. Note: Trigger: The event that starts automation. Actions: What happens after the trigger (e.g., creating or updating a Planner task). Next, click on the top-right ribbon and select the test button. You will see two options. However, the automatically test will be greyed out because there is no initial test. Click “Manually.” The flow is now listening for a trigger to perform an action. Just like the one we set up. Go to your Outlook email and see if you received the email. It may take some time to run. However, if an issue has occurred see if there is an issue with the flow. If the flow was successful, you should see an email like the one below. The Reviewing and Collaborating The editor reviews the summary email to ensure all tasks are on track and deadlines are met. They use the summary to identify any bottlenecks or tasks that require additional resources. The editor collaborates with the team to address any issues and ensure a smooth publication process. In Conclusion Automating tasks in Microsoft Planner with Power Automate can significantly reduce manual overhead and enhance team productivity. By leveraging triggers, conditions, and planned actions, you ensure tasks are created, tracked, and completed more efficiently. Whether it’s converting emails into tasks, updating task statuses, or sending reminders for approaching deadlines, harnessing the power of automation in Planner can transform the way you manage work. Hyperlinks Microsoft Planner for admins - Microsoft Planner | Microsoft Learn Templates | Microsoft Power Platform Power Automate Documentation Planner Templates on Power AutomateCreating Tables in Dataverse with Copilot: A Guide for Nonprofits
In the quest to maximize impact and streamline operations, nonprofits are increasingly turning to technology solutions that offer robust data management capabilities. Microsoft Dataverse is one such solution, providing a secure and scalable environment for storing and managing data. In this blog, we'll explore what Dataverse is and how nonprofits can create tables in Dataverse to enhance their data management practices. What is Microsoft Dataverse? Microsoft Dataverse is a cloud-based data storage solution that allows organizations to securely store and manage data used by business applications. It provides a unified data platform that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Power Platform, Dynamics 365, and other Microsoft services. Dataverse supports both standard and custom tables, enabling organizations to model and manage their business data effectively. Benefits of Using Dataverse for Nonprofits Centralized Data Management: Dataverse offers a centralized platform for storing all your nonprofit's data, from donor information to volunteer records. This ensures data consistency and accessibility across the organization. Enhanced Security: With built-in security features, Dataverse ensures that your data is protected and access is controlled. This is crucial for maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive information. Seamless Integration: Dataverse integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products, allowing nonprofits to leverage tools like Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dynamics 365 to build custom applications and automate workflows. Scalability: As your nonprofit grows, Dataverse can scale to accommodate increasing data volumes and complexity, ensuring that your data management practices remain efficient and effective. How to Create Tables in Dataverse with Copilot Creating tables in Dataverse is a straightforward process that allows nonprofits to organize and manage their data effectively. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started: Sign In to Power Apps: Begin by signing in to Power Apps. If you don't have an account, you can create one at Power Apps. Navigate to Dataverse: In the left navigation pane, select Tables. Create a New Table: Select New table -> Create New Tables. There are different options to create the tables. Choose start with Copilot. Use prompt to describe the tables you want to be created then Select Generate. Add Columns: Once Copilot has created the initial table and columns, you can utilize Copilot to add/remove additional columns, tables as needed. These columns can store various types of data, including text, numbers, dates, choices, or lookup fields. Customize each column to ensure it accurately captures the specific data required for your nonprofit's operations Refer to the image below for a detailed example on how to remove a column from the 'Borrower' table. Set Up Relationships: Dataverse allows you to define relationships between tables, such as one-to-many or many-to-many relationships. This helps in linking related data and ensuring data integrity. Copilot can be used to remove or add relationships. Save and exit: Select save and exit to create the tables. Customize and Manage: After your table is established, you can further customize it by incorporating forms, views, and business rules. These enhancements facilitate more efficient data management and interaction. In a future blog, we will delve into creating a model-driven application using these tables. Navigate to the left-hand menu, select 'Tables,' and then choose the table you have created. After your table is established, you can further customize it by incorporating forms, views, and business rules. These enhancements facilitate more efficient data management and interaction. In a future blog, we will delve into creating a model-driven application using these tables. Real-World Example: Volunteer Management Imagine a nonprofit that needs to manage its volunteer activities more efficiently. Here’s how they could use Dataverse to create a custom table for volunteer management: Create a Volunteer Table: The nonprofit creates a table named "Volunteers" with columns for volunteer name, contact information, availability, and skills. Define Relationships: They set up relationships between the "Volunteers" table and other tables, such as "Events" and "Tasks," to link volunteers to specific activities. Customize Forms and Views: Custom forms and views are created to make it easy for staff to enter and view volunteer information. By leveraging Dataverse, the nonprofit can streamline its volunteer management processes, ensuring that all data is accurate, accessible, and secure. Conclusion Microsoft Dataverse offers nonprofits a powerful platform for managing their data effectively. By creating custom tables, organizations can tailor their data management practices to meet their specific needs, enhancing efficiency and impact. Whether it's managing donor information, tracking volunteer activities, or organizing fundraising events, Dataverse provides the tools needed to drive mission success. Additional Resources Create tables in Microsoft Dataverse - Training Add a Microsoft Dataverse database - Power Platform | Microsoft Learn
