Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
MS booking- Time slot conflict, booked slot is still showing available
Hi, i’ve a query-
My customer booked a meeting with us on our shared bookings page but the time slot they booked is still showing when someone tries to book a new meeting. And i’ve kept only one staff (just if someone suggests this error might be because of multiple staff added)
As can be seen in the below image- customer booked a 15 min meeting for 10:30 (image 1- outlook calendar event), now the 10:30 slot should not be available for a new customer to book, but it is available here. How to fix this?
Hi, i’ve a query-My customer booked a meeting with us on our shared bookings page but the time slot they booked is still showing when someone tries to book a new meeting. And i’ve kept only one staff (just if someone suggests this error might be because of multiple staff added)As can be seen in the below image- customer booked a 15 min meeting for 10:30 (image 1- outlook calendar event), now the 10:30 slot should not be available for a new customer to book, but it is available here. How to fix this? Read More
Sharepoint Lists looks diffrent in Microsoft Teams
Hey!
I’ve been struggling with the new Microsoft List GUI for a long time.
The lists are now displayed correctly again.
Unfortunately not in Microsoft Teams, as the lists look completely different than directly in Sharepoint.
a couple weeks ago the list looks excactly like in Sharepoint, with all the colors and buttons.
Take a look: maybe someone got a solution.
this is the list in sharepoint:
this is the excact list in MS Teams:
and the MS Teams view formular:
the list runs in standard experience for this site
thx!
Hey! I’ve been struggling with the new Microsoft List GUI for a long time.The lists are now displayed correctly again.Unfortunately not in Microsoft Teams, as the lists look completely different than directly in Sharepoint.a couple weeks ago the list looks excactly like in Sharepoint, with all the colors and buttons.Take a look: maybe someone got a solution.this is the list in sharepoint:this is the excact list in MS Teams:and the MS Teams view formular:the list runs in standard experience for this sitethx! Read More
Firewall blocks odbc32
Good morning,
having to install a windows software to read a sql server database, I worked on a win10 machine with sqlserver 2022 express already installed.
I restored my database on the existing instance. Whoever had installed sql had correctly opened the 1433, and activated tcp/ip and namedpipes. The problem is that the windows application does not access the db from any client (apart from the win10 server). Investigating I discovered that from the clients a dns created with odbc64 works correctly, while a dns created with odbc32 does not access. The windows application that I have to install is 32. In addition, if I deactivate the firewall of the win10 server (the domain part is enough for me) the odbc32 also works (and therefore also the windows application). I can’t understand. Can you help me?
Andrea
Good morning,having to install a windows software to read a sql server database, I worked on a win10 machine with sqlserver 2022 express already installed.I restored my database on the existing instance. Whoever had installed sql had correctly opened the 1433, and activated tcp/ip and namedpipes. The problem is that the windows application does not access the db from any client (apart from the win10 server). Investigating I discovered that from the clients a dns created with odbc64 works correctly, while a dns created with odbc32 does not access. The windows application that I have to install is 32. In addition, if I deactivate the firewall of the win10 server (the domain part is enough for me) the odbc32 also works (and therefore also the windows application). I can’t understand. Can you help me?Andrea Read More
Copilot O365 translation
Hi,
I tried to find a way to translate an office document with Copilot O365, but I didn”t find it.
I know that, in Powerpoint, we can use translation but it’s applied on paragraph by paragraph if we want too keep the format of the document.
So is it possible to do it with Copilot?
David
Hi, I tried to find a way to translate an office document with Copilot O365, but I didn”t find it.I know that, in Powerpoint, we can use translation but it’s applied on paragraph by paragraph if we want too keep the format of the document.So is it possible to do it with Copilot? David Read More
How do I convert YouTube to MP4 on my Windows 10 computer?
Hey fellow tech enthusiasts!
I’m trying to download YouTube videos to MP4 format on my Windows system for better compatibility. Unfortunately, the online YouTube downloaders I’ve attempted only offer downloads up to 720p or 1080p, and they’re flooded with annoying ads. Can anyone recommend a safe and ad-free method to batch convert YouTube to MP4 in high quality, ideally in 4K or 8K resolution?
Your assistance would be immensely appreciated!
Hey fellow tech enthusiasts!I’m trying to download YouTube videos to MP4 format on my Windows system for better compatibility. Unfortunately, the online YouTube downloaders I’ve attempted only offer downloads up to 720p or 1080p, and they’re flooded with annoying ads. Can anyone recommend a safe and ad-free method to batch convert YouTube to MP4 in high quality, ideally in 4K or 8K resolution?Your assistance would be immensely appreciated! Read More
Exploring the Capabilities of Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB using Open MongoDB shell.
Previously we introduced Getting started with Azure Cosmos Database (A Deep Dive) blog which is an end-to-end introduction of Azure Cosmos DB. In this blog we are going to talk about one of the Azure Cosmos Database API known as Azure Cosmos Database for MongoDB.
You have been developing applications while leveraging the knowledge on MongoDB, as a developer, you are looking for a service that scales your database, offers automatic sharding without requiring any configuration, high availability and cost effective.
Azure Cosmos Db for MongoDB has you covered. In this blog, I will help you transition to start using the service. If you are a beginner and anxious about Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB, be assured that you will learn from step-by-step guidance I will be sharing.
Topics Covered
What is Mongo DB & Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
Provisioning Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore
Performing CRUD Operation in Open MongoDB(vCore) shell.
What is Mongo DB?
Mongo DB is a popular NoSQL database, which is a document database known for its scalability, flexibility, and developer friendliness. Developers can interact with MongoDB using various drivers and APIs (Application Programming Interface).
What is Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB?
It is a fully managed NoSQL, relational and vector database designed for modern app development. It is known for high response time.
Benefits of Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB?
Fast response time – ensure fats data access
Instantaneous scalability – Easy to scale up and down with zero warmup period.
Automatic sharding – Helps you focus with the application development as sharding is done automatically.
High availability – Ensures that that data is always available for you.
Cost effective – The database scales depending on your need. Beneficial as you pay for the resources you use.
Real-time analytics – runs analytics workloads against your data without affecting your database.
Create Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore Cluster on Azure.
Prerequisites
Azure account with active subscription. Create an account
Step 1: Create a Cluster
Signing to Azure portal
Click Create a resource and search for Azure cosmos db.
Click on Azure cosmos DB for mongo DB
Step 2 Select vCore Cluster
Azure Cosmos DB offers two types of resource architectures for MongoDB: Request Unit (RU)-based and vCore-based.
Request Unit (RU)-based – Request Units (RUs) serve as a performance currency in Azure Cosmos DB. Whether you perform writes, point reads, or queries, the costs are always measured in RUs.
vCore-based – This architecture allows you to use Azure Cosmos DB as if it were a MongoDB. It leverages vCores (virtual cores) to allocate resources based on your workload requirements.
Learn more about which model to choose between RU-based and vCore based
Step 3: Fill the details to provision the resource.
Click on configure to choose the resources you need for your resource.
I will go for the free tier because the resource is for demo purposes and not for production. Choose the resources that fit your workload.
If you never selected the free tier, remember to check the checkbox to agree to terms.
Click save after you are done with the configuration.
You need to fill in the details which you need for your cluster, let me break it down for you.
Subscription – select a subscription you want to use to create a cluster
Resource Group – select a resource group or you can create one.
Cluster name – The name should be globally unique.
Location – Select location near you.
MongoDB version – You can leave it to the default.
Admin username – provide administrator’s name
Password – Provide a password which shall be used to access the database.
Step 3: Click on Networking
Select Allow Public access from Azure Services. You can also add a client device to access the cluster.
Click Review and create
The deployment may take up to 5 mins.
After deployment is done, click on Go to Resource, you will be directed to the overview of your cluster you created.
Step 4: Connect to Open MongoDB Shell.
We will use Open MongoDB shell provided with in Azure portal.
We are going to perform CRUD operation with the shell to simulate common operations.
As shown in the image below, click on Quick start, then Open MongoDB(vCore) shell.
You will be required to enter the password you provided earlier. Whenever you see [mongos] test>, it shows that you have connected successfully.
Performing CRUD Operation in Open MongoDB(vCore) shell.
Let us create a school management database on the MongoDB shell. We shall perform the Create, Read, Update and Delete operations.
Step1: Create the Database and Collections
Connect to MongoDB shell
use KirinyagaSchool
Create students’ collection
db.createCollection(“students”)
Create staff collection
db.createCollection(“staff”)
Step 2: Define and insert Sample data.
Insert sample students
db.students.insertMany([
{
student_id: 1,
first_name: “Mike”,
last_name: “Kamau”,
gender: “Male”,
age: 14,
address: “1234 Nairobi Lane, Nairobi”,
class: “8A”
},
{
student_id: 2,
first_name: “Brian”,
last_name: “Kemboi”,
gender: “Male”,
age: 13,
address: “5678 Eldoret Road, Eldoret”,
class: “7B”
},
{
student_id: 3,
first_name: “Jane”,
last_name: “Wanjiku”,
gender: “Female”,
age: 15,
address: “91011 Kisumu Street, Kisumu”,
class: “8A”
}
])
Insert sample staff
db.staff.insertMany([
{
staff_id: 1,
first_name: “Alice”,
last_name: “Muthoni”,
gender: “Female”,
position: “Teacher”,
salary: 50000,
address: “1213 Nyeri Avenue, Nyeri”
},
{
staff_id: 2,
first_name: “John”,
last_name: “Otieno”,
gender: “Male”,
position: “Principal”,
salary: 80000,
address: “1415 Mombasa Road, Mombasa”
},
{
staff_id: 3,
first_name: “Esther”,
last_name: “Njeri”,
gender: “Female”,
position: “Secretary”,
salary: 40000,
address: “1617 Thika Highway, Thika”
}
])
Step 3: Perform CRUD Operations
Create
To insert a new student:
db.students.insertOne({
student_id: 4,
first_name: “Peter”,
last_name: “Kariuki”,
gender: “Male”,
age: 12,
address: “1819 Nakuru Lane, Nakuru”,
class: “6C”
})
To insert a new staff member:
db.staff.insertOne({
staff_id: 4,
first_name: “Daniel”,
last_name: “Mwangi”,
gender: “Male”,
position: “Caretaker”,
salary: 30000,
address: “2021 Meru Street, Meru”
})
Read
To find a student by last name:
db.students.find({ last_name: “Kemboi” })
To get all staff members:
db.staff.find()
Update
To update a student’s class:
db.students.updateOne(
{ student_id: 1 },
{ $set: { class: “9A” } }
)
To increase the salary of a staff member:
db.staff.updateOne(
{ staff_id: 2 },
{ $inc: { salary: 5000 } }
)
Delete
To delete a student:
db.students.deleteOne({ student_id: 4 })
To delete a staff member:
db.staff.deleteOne({ staff_id: 4 })
The expected output
We achieved this blog’s objectives, working with Azure cosmos DB for MongoDB is like MongoDB on Atlas. We have also known the advantages of Azure cosmos DB for MongoDB. Try practicing more by creating applications while using the content learnt.
Read More.
Comparing MongoDB Atlas and Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB on Microsoft Learn
Use Azure Data Studio to connect and query Azure Cosmos DB API for MongoDB
Migrate to vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
SDKs
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB for .NET with the MongoDB driver
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB driver for Node.js
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB for Python with MongoDB driver
Create a console app with Java and Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
Connect a Go application to Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
European Cloud Summit and Collaboration Summit
Wiesbaden, Germany added 3,000+ tech enthusiast and hosted the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Cloud AI Pitch Competition between May 14-16, 2024.
We were pleased to attend the European Cloud and Collaboration Summits – to participate and to gain so much back from everyone.
It was a packed week filled with insights, feedback, and fun. Below is a recap of various aspects of the event – across keynotes, general sessions, breakout sessions, and the Expo Hall.
You can review some great pics the ECS event team took and posted; we sprinkled our own throughout this article.
The event in a nutshell:
3,000+ attendees
212 speakers overall – 121 MVPs, 11 RDs, 42 from Microsoft
241 sessions | 12 tutorials (workshops)
70 sponsors | One giant Expo Hall
Keynotes & general sessions
The event kicked off with a combined general keynote, “Thriving in the age of Copilots” with Host: Laurie Pottmeyer and panelists: Dan Holme, Vesa Juvonen, Dona Sarkar, and Jason Himmelstein.
Across the main two days of the event, we delivered four broader, general sessions: 1) “Modern work in the era of AI” with host: Mark Kashman and panelists: Cathy Dew, Liz Sundet, and Fabian Williams, 2) “Adopt, build, and automate AI-powered solution development” with host: Heather Cook and panelists: Claire Edgson, Laura Graham-Brown, Albert-Jan Schot, Martina Grom, and Kevin McDonnell, 3) “AI landscape” with Carlotta Castelluccio, and “This is why we can’t have the nice things” with Dona Sarkar.
The ECS team recorded the general keynote live – now on-demand on their YouTube channel, “European Collaboration and Cloud Summit 2024 Opening – Live Stream”
Sessions
It is crucial to ensure your organization is technically ready for the full potential of AI. The sessions below focus on technical readiness and ensuring you have the latest guidance. Our experts will share best practices and provide guidance on how to leverage AI and to maximize the benefits of Copilot within your organization.
When discovering opportunities across Azure, Copilot, and OpenAI, professionals, entrepreneurs, and businesses are invited to enhance their knowledge and establish meaningful connections. Attendees can expect interactive demos, enlightening discussions, and a deep dive into Microsoft’s strategic direction with advances in cloud. The goal is to discover both ‘how-to’ and increase awareness of the ‘what-if’ – focusing on the impact of cloud adoption and gravitating towards Responsible AI.
Expo Hall + Cloud AI Statup Stage + tutorials
The Expo Hal* was hopping with demos, discussions, interviews, podcasts, lightning talks, foosball, cotton candy, SWAG, prizes, and community.
There was a busy Cloud AI StartupStage, a Business Stage, and shorter talks delivered in front of a shiny airstream trailer.
Cloud AI Startup Stage
This was a highly informative and engaging event focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential for startups. The Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Program is a platform to provide startups with the resources, tools, and support they need to succeed.
This portion of the event offered value to budding entrepreneurs and established startups looking to scale. For example, on day 2, we focused on accelerating innovation with Microsoft Founders Hub and Azure AI. Startups could kickstart their journey with up to $150k of Azure credits and gain access to 30+ tools and services, benefiting from additional credits and offerings as they evolve. It’s a great way for Startups to navigate technical and business challenges with the help of free, 1:1 sessions.
The Winners
Women in Tech & Allies Panel – in front of the Airstream trailer on the show floor moderator Heather Cook and panelists, Jonah Andersson, Carlotta Castelluccio, Antje Lamartine, Sandy Ussia and Gabrielle Williams held an engaging discussion on the current opportunities and challenges presented by the era of AI. The panel took many questions from the standing room only crowd.
Tutorial (Workshop) Day went full steam — depth training on AI Studio, Copilot Studio, Azure Open AI Services, Viva/SharePoint-powered intranets, Power BI, M365 extensibility & admin. This day saw 700 attendees across 12 tutorials.
In the end…
We are grateful for this year’s active and engaging #CollabSummit & #CloudSummit — so much goodness, caring, learning, and fun!
Great questions, stories, understanding of your concerns, and the sharing in fun.
Thank you and see you next year!
We look forward to seeing in Düsseldorf – May 26-28, 2025 – combining Collaboration Summit (@CollabSummit), Cloud Summit (@EUCloudSummit), and the new BizApps Summit (@BizAppsSummit) into one giant Summit.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Why can’t I see the messages sent to the teams channel via webhook on my cell phone?
curl -H ‘Content-Type: application/json’ -d ‘{“text”: “Hello World”}’ url
But you can’t see it on your cell phone.
curl -H ‘Content-Type: application/json’ -d ‘{“text”: “Hello World”}’ url
But you can’t see it on your cell phone.
curl -H ‘Content-Type: application/json’ -d ‘{“text”: “Hello World”}’ urlThe pc side can see this message.But you can’t see it on your cell phone. curl -H ‘Content-Type: application/json’ -d ‘{“text”: “Hello World”}’ urlThe pc side can see this message.But you can’t see it on your cell phone. Read More
Analysis Services low thread count and CPU usage on one server, high on another
We have an Analysis Services instance that runs fast on one server (environment A) and slow on another (environment B). B is more than twice as slow as A: at least 7 hours slower.
Performance monitor shows that environment A is using 95%+ CPU and creates 60+ Processing Pool threads. Environment B has 2 threads for the Processing pool and sits at 20% CPU.
The msmdsrv.ini files are identical, except for the disk locations. MaxThreads is set to 0 (automatic).
On identical hardware with identical msmdsrv config files, is there anything else that changes how many threads SSAS processing will use?
For additional context:
Both have identical CPU hardware: 2 sockets, 8 vCPUs. The databases they read from are identical. We’ve connected cubes from one server to the warehouses on the other, and processing is only slow on environment B regardless of where the SQL database is.
RAM allocation is the same, there’s plenty of space left.
Disk usage is normal, the drives are spread out over different drives in the same configuration.
We have an Analysis Services instance that runs fast on one server (environment A) and slow on another (environment B). B is more than twice as slow as A: at least 7 hours slower. Performance monitor shows that environment A is using 95%+ CPU and creates 60+ Processing Pool threads. Environment B has 2 threads for the Processing pool and sits at 20% CPU. The msmdsrv.ini files are identical, except for the disk locations. MaxThreads is set to 0 (automatic). On identical hardware with identical msmdsrv config files, is there anything else that changes how many threads SSAS processing will use? For additional context:Both have identical CPU hardware: 2 sockets, 8 vCPUs. The databases they read from are identical. We’ve connected cubes from one server to the warehouses on the other, and processing is only slow on environment B regardless of where the SQL database is.RAM allocation is the same, there’s plenty of space left.Disk usage is normal, the drives are spread out over different drives in the same configuration. Read More
Issues integration viva connections in Ms Teams
Hello all,
We’re currently experiencing an issue in SharePoint online used through Viva connections in Teams. The issue is visible in both the desktop as web application.
When we open sites via Viva connections we’re able to see content and documents on pages but when we use the horizontal navigation bar to navigate to certain folders we’re seeing a blank screen in Teams in the desktop and browser. In SharePoint online we don’t see this issue.
(Navigating to a folder)
(Blank screen)
The same issue can be found here that was posted by someone else experiencing this issue: Links to SharePoint document folders do not work within the Viva – Microsoft Community
Kind regards,
Siebe ST
Hello all, We’re currently experiencing an issue in SharePoint online used through Viva connections in Teams. The issue is visible in both the desktop as web application. When we open sites via Viva connections we’re able to see content and documents on pages but when we use the horizontal navigation bar to navigate to certain folders we’re seeing a blank screen in Teams in the desktop and browser. In SharePoint online we don’t see this issue. (Navigating to a folder) (Blank screen) The same issue can be found here that was posted by someone else experiencing this issue: Links to SharePoint document folders do not work within the Viva – Microsoft Community Kind regards,Siebe ST Read More
Windows update download error – 0x80240067
I cannot download or install my windows updates.
I cannot download or install my windows updates. Read More
Enhancing Creative Projects with Picsart and Microsoft Tools
As mobile photography and digital content creation continue to evolve, Picsart stands out with its advanced editing tools powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. These technologies enable precise background removal, sophisticated filter application, and high-accuracy adjustments, catering to both novice and seasoned designers. For users seeking an expanded toolkit, the Picsart mod apk provides access to premium features that are otherwise locked in the standard version. This modified application enhances the usability and functionality, allowing for an unrestricted creative process. However, it is critical to approach such modifications with due diligence, considering the potential implications on software security and compliance. Utilizing robust and feature-rich editing tools like Picsart within proper guidelines can significantly amplify productivity and innovation in digital content creation.
As mobile photography and digital content creation continue to evolve, Picsart stands out with its advanced editing tools powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. These technologies enable precise background removal, sophisticated filter application, and high-accuracy adjustments, catering to both novice and seasoned designers. For users seeking an expanded toolkit, the Picsart mod apk provides access to premium features that are otherwise locked in the standard version. This modified application enhances the usability and functionality, allowing for an unrestricted creative process. However, it is critical to approach such modifications with due diligence, considering the potential implications on software security and compliance. Utilizing robust and feature-rich editing tools like Picsart within proper guidelines can significantly amplify productivity and innovation in digital content creation. Read More
Palo Alto Global Protect Logs Missing Most information
Hi all,
I’ve integrated Palo Firewall with MS Sentinel.
For most log type (Traffic, Threat, System), everything is working fine.
But for GlobalProtect log type, it’s missing almost all valuable values (no username, authentication status (failed or success), Portal Name, Gateway Name, etc…
I used to following URL to defines CEF format.
https://github.com/pemontto/Palo-Alto-CEF/blob/master/10.0/globalprotect.txt
PS: PANOS version 11.x
Any idea ??
Regards,
HA
Hi all, I’ve integrated Palo Firewall with MS Sentinel.For most log type (Traffic, Threat, System), everything is working fine.But for GlobalProtect log type, it’s missing almost all valuable values (no username, authentication status (failed or success), Portal Name, Gateway Name, etc…I used to following URL to defines CEF format.https://github.com/pemontto/Palo-Alto-CEF/blob/master/10.0/globalprotect.txt PS: PANOS version 11.x Any idea ?? Regards, HA Read More
Teams Access Permission
Hello
Please i need your help on this issue.
We created a Notetaker account and bought a Microsoft Teams Essential license for Microsoft Teams – however, now when we try to login it says “You don’t have the required permissions to access this org”.
When we try to assign the Teams Essential license last month and we get still the above error message. But now the Teams Essential license has expired and i dont want to purchase another Teams Essential license then it does not work
As of now we only have Microsoft 365 Business Basic license for one seat count which has been assigned to a user and Microsoft 365 Business Standard for four seat count which has been assigned to four users.
Since we do not have any other license available and our Teams essential license has expired. We dont want to purchase another Teams Essential license then it does not work
Is there another way out or is it possible to get another Teams exploratory license or Teams free license.
Previously we had a Teams Exploratory license but is it possible to get another Teams Free license.
Do you know why this might be? Thank you!
Hello Please i need your help on this issue. We created a Notetaker account and bought a Microsoft Teams Essential license for Microsoft Teams – however, now when we try to login it says “You don’t have the required permissions to access this org”.When we try to assign the Teams Essential license last month and we get still the above error message. But now the Teams Essential license has expired and i dont want to purchase another Teams Essential license then it does not work As of now we only have Microsoft 365 Business Basic license for one seat count which has been assigned to a user and Microsoft 365 Business Standard for four seat count which has been assigned to four users. Since we do not have any other license available and our Teams essential license has expired. We dont want to purchase another Teams Essential license then it does not work Is there another way out or is it possible to get another Teams exploratory license or Teams free license. Previously we had a Teams Exploratory license but is it possible to get another Teams Free license. Do you know why this might be? Thank you! Read More
How to Resolve Accounting Software Desktop Error 40001
I’ve been encountering an accounting software desktop error 40001 while using QuickBks. The error appears during updates, and I’m unable to process payrll for my employees. How can I resolve this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve been encountering an accounting software desktop error 40001 while using QuickBks. The error appears during updates, and I’m unable to process payrll for my employees. How can I resolve this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Read More
Need Help with Date Formatting for SharePoint Event List
Hello everyone,
I have a requirement where I need to save data to a SharePoint event list using a modal form and display the data as cards on a webpage. However, I’m encountering an issue with date formatting. The dates are not displaying correctly.
I have tried several approaches, including:
Saving the date in UTC format and converting it to local time when displaying.Using ISO format for date storage and display.
Despite these efforts, the dates are still not showing correctly. Has anyone faced a similar issue or have suggestions on how to resolve this?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Hello everyone, I have a requirement where I need to save data to a SharePoint event list using a modal form and display the data as cards on a webpage. However, I’m encountering an issue with date formatting. The dates are not displaying correctly. I have tried several approaches, including: Saving the date in UTC format and converting it to local time when displaying.Using ISO format for date storage and display.Despite these efforts, the dates are still not showing correctly. Has anyone faced a similar issue or have suggestions on how to resolve this? Thank you in advance for your help! $().SPServices( { operation: “UpdateListItems”, async: false, webURL: webURL, batchCmd: “New”, listName: “Events”, valuepairs: [ [“Title”, Title], [“EventDate”, EventDate], [“EndDate”, EndDate], [“Location”, Location], [“Category”, Category], [“Description”, Description] ], completefunc: function(xData, Status) { EventId = $(xData.responseXML).SPFilterNode(“z:row”).attr(“ows_ID”); if(EventId > 0){ GetEventData(); } } }); Read More
How to download Excel Formula worksheet
I have needed Microsoft Excel Formula for personal guidance
I have needed Microsoft Excel Formula for personal guidance Read More
How to delay sending of ALL emails ?
Ok, this shouldn’t have to be asked, but I can find no way in MS Office Pro Outlook 2021 to set a delay time in minutes to hold sent messages in the outbox before sending. How to do this?
Thanks.
Ok, this shouldn’t have to be asked, but I can find no way in MS Office Pro Outlook 2021 to set a delay time in minutes to hold sent messages in the outbox before sending. How to do this? Thanks. Read More
When is Network Profile Issue for Domain Controllers going to be at least acknowledged?
Since the insider builds from 25398 to the latest 26227 all have the same bug where the domain controller on the builds will show the network category as Public instead of DomainAuthenticated and the only way to fix it is to disable and re-enable the NIC after each reboot.
There has been a few bug reports submitted in the feedback hub and in this community many months ago. It would be at least be nice to be acknowledged.
Since the insider builds from 25398 to the latest 26227 all have the same bug where the domain controller on the builds will show the network category as Public instead of DomainAuthenticated and the only way to fix it is to disable and re-enable the NIC after each reboot. There has been a few bug reports submitted in the feedback hub and in this community many months ago. It would be at least be nice to be acknowledged. Read More
Extend Copilot for Sales with custom data and insights from your own apps
Optimize the sales process by integrating internal and external data with Copilot for Sales. Create enriched email summaries, customized meeting prep documents, and actionable meeting recaps to improve customer interactions. Copilot uses AI to generate insights and suggest actions based on comprehensive data, ensuring sales teams have all the necessary information at their fingertips. Create custom AI experiences using Copilot Studio with zero code. By adding Copilot extensions, users can connect to external data sources and build tailored AI skills.
Eric Boocock, Copilot for Sales Principal Program Manager, shares how Copilot for Sales works and how to build Copilot extensions to connect with other systems for personalized experiences.
Strengthen and inform the sales process.
Bring in data from connected services that provide critical customer intelligence. Check out Copilot for Sales.
Generate personalized meeting prep docs and meeting recaps.
Save time using Copilot for Sales.
Connect data from external systems.
See how to create Copilot extensions with zero code from Copilot Studio using Copilot Actions.
Watch the video here:
QUICK LINKS:
00:00 — Copilot for Sales
00:36 — Baseline experiences
02:13 — Bring in external data
03:26 — Use Copilot to respond to emails
03:54 — Meeting prep and meeting recap
04:52 — Security and Responsible AI
06:27 — Copilot extensions
09:09 — Publish Copilot extensions
09:40 — Wrap up
Link References
Check out https://aka.ms/CopilotforSalesExtensibility
Stay updated on monthly releases at https://aka.ms/CopilotforSalesUpdates
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Video Transcript:
-What if you could go beyond the insights available in your CRM and collaboration tools to easily bring in data from connected services that provide critical customer intelligence to strengthen and inform the sales process.
-Today, we’ll look at how this is possible using generative AI with Copilot for Sales, grounded with information from both your internal and external systems. And the zero-code way to light the experience up with Copilot Studio to connect to your data with extensions and build custom AI skills using Copilot actions.
-Let’s start with your baseline experience using Copilot for Sales, which if you haven’t looked at it in a while, enriches your Copilot for Microsoft 365 experience. For example, email summaries are enriched with data from your CRM. There are suggested CRM updates found in the email to ensure no action is missed and CRM data is current and simple to update from the context of Outlook.
-Then, to close the loop, suggested email response prompts are geared towards closing a deal that draw on all the context of the email and data from your CRM. Meeting prep documents are more customized with content generated using information from CRM records, along with details from referenced upcoming meetings in Microsoft 365.
-The brief is formatted to include who the participants are, the opportunity summary, recent meeting insights, email thread summaries, related records from the CRM, and any open customer service cases that the team should be aware of going into our upcoming call. Additionally, Copilot for Sales shares the meeting prep in Teams as team members join meetings.
-And meeting recaps are made more relatable and actionable with the rich AI capabilities of Copilot for Microsoft 365, used to summarize the meeting and Copilot for Sales, bringing in sales-specific actions like follow-up tasks to create in CRM, as well as a record of questions asked, conversational KPIs, and keywords mentioned. In these examples, we ground your generative AI experience with information from your CRM and Microsoft 365. Next, let me show you how your experience is enriched further by bringing in data from external connected systems and tailored custom skills.
-As I open an email from a prospective customer, Alberto, in addition to what we just saw, we’ve created an extension, Contoso Customer Intelligence, which surfaces additional details about the customer, including other people at Contoso he’s worked with in the past, as well as product pages he’s favorited while signed into our company website. And in a moment, I’ll show you how we enabled this in Copilot Studio.
-Within the Copilot for Sales sidecar, the custom extension Contoso Customer Intelligence displays expanded company insights and suggested actions to update opportunity details and schedule a meeting. Given the prior work history with Alberto’s company, Fourth Coffee, I can use the Copilot chat experience within Outlook to then prompt for past opportunities and agreements with Fourth Coffee. And I can find the details about Fourth Coffee’s previous purchases with us.
-These results also include information from our Contoso Customer Intelligence connected app. With all this context, I can respond to Alberto’s email mentioning those additional details. I’ve used Copilot to start an email here, along with an invitation to a meeting to discuss the espresso machines that he’s interested in. I’ve also been able to proactively include a 5% discount opportunity if Alberto completes his purchase this month.
-So, as I’ve shown, generative AI can now gain context from available information across my CRM, Microsoft 365, and Connected Systems, to inform and improve my customer interactions. And there’s even more that Copilot for Sales can do to help me save time with additional insights. With Copilot in Word, I can generate personalized meeting prep documents connected to my CRM and external applications through Copilot for Sales. In my case, I’ll use Copilot with a forward slash, to reference an upcoming sales meeting called Follow-Up: Fourth Coffee.
-This generated document includes details about the meeting, participant information, topics for the discussion, and even account-specific information extracted from CRM and our connected external app, as well as open tasks all within seconds. Also, moving ahead to the day of the meeting, I can use the integrated meeting recap to take care of follow-up actions.
-Here, the after-call summary captures notes including integrated follow-up tasks with our Copilot extension. That’s one example of a connected and integrated Copilot for Sales experience. Now, since this is Mechanics, let me explain how the different surfaces were connected, enabling Copilot to securely access the information it needed to inform responses.
-The Copilot for Sales system is comprised of large language models, along with the Microsoft Graph, with user-level activities and data, and Microsoft 365 app experiences, and it connects to your sales data in CRM systems from either Salesforce or Dynamics 365, as well as connected external systems using Copilot extensions. With the right grounding data, including external data that’s accessible, here’s how responses are then generated. Beginning with the prompt, Copilot utilizes Retrieval Augmented Generation to orchestrate information search from the Microsoft Graph, CRM system, and connected external systems.
-Copilot for Sales also incorporates AI-generated skills to guide it through multi-step tasks like proposal creation, where it gathers data from diverse sources using its orchestrator and predefined logic. The gathered information is then presented to the language model, temporarily enriching its knowledge to generate an informed response. Note that the contextual information provided to the LLM remains separate and is never used in its training.
-And, of course, Copilot for Sales follows Microsoft’s documented practices for responsible AI. All services are designed to meet regulations required in your country, region, and industry, in the same way that other Microsoft Cloud services do. When you use Copilot for Sales, it includes integrated scenarios with Microsoft 365 and your CRM out of the box.
-That said, to connect to data from external systems, you’ll use Copilot extensions. Let me first show you how you’d create one with zero code from Copilot Studio, using Copilot actions to build a custom AI experience using your external data. Now, remember the email summary we showed you before? I’m going to show you how we extended that experience. For that, I need to head over to Copilot Studio to hook into our customer intelligence application. To get to Copilot Studio, you can navigate to copilotstudio.microsoft.com.
-Next, I’ll expand the left menu and move to Copilot for Sales. I’ll add an action. From there, I’ll select my connector, which is a Copilot extension type for my customer intelligence application. I’ll paste in the action name and description. In this case, the extension exposes related marketing data as well as public data, including news and events associated to key customers. This description is important because Copilot for Sales will use it to figure out when to invoke this action.
-Next, I’ll choose from the connector’s available actions to pull the right insights from our email summary with get engagement insights. I can add an action name, then a description for what it does. Again, this description is important because it is used by the AI as the instructions for what to do.
-Here, we are saying to look into our Contoso Customer Intelligence data set for insights related to an email in Outlook. To save some time, I’ll skip a few of the options and optional steps here. I can repeat this process if I want to add additional actions. You can then optionally add conversation starters, which are suggested prompts, but in this case, to save a little time, I’ll skip this.
-From here, I can test it out to make sure everything is working as expected. I’ll enter a test prompt, and make sure it responds as expected, and even dig into more details about the logic and information connected with our extension. Everything looks good. And optionally, I can also test this out in microsoft365.com or Outlook. Now, I can finalize and publish it. You can do that from the add connector action experience in the manage tab in Copilot Studio.
-I’ll continue in the wizard, and to save time, I’ve added the icon images and background color already, as well as who has permissions to use it. So I just need to hit skip and publish, and everything is published in Copilot for Sales. And there’s one more thing to do to get it working in Copilot for Microsoft 365. From the new actions tab, I’ll hit publish, and then I’ll choose Copilot for Microsoft 365. And from there, I can publish it so that it’s available in both Copilot experiences.
-And by the way, if you’re an ISV or partner building Copilot actions, the same process applies. Plus, you can get your solutions certified using the Microsoft Partner Center, and make them discoverable by organizations in the Microsoft 365 admin center. So that was a quick tour of how Copilot for Sales can optimize the sales process using generative AI, the mechanics of how it works, and how to build Copilot extensions to connect with other systems for even more personalized experiences.
-For more information, check out aka.ms/CopilotforSalesExtensibility. And to stay up to date on monthly releases, check out aka.ms/CopilotforSalesUpdates. Keep watching Microsoft Mechanics for all the latest AI updates, and thanks for watching.
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