The use of Artificial Intelligence has become an integral part of the workplace. In many companies, AI is already supporting day-to-day business processes. With Copilot, the first AI functionalities are already being used in Dynamics 365 Business Central, boosting the creativity and productivity of users. As part of the release of the new spring version, Business Central is now being equipped with another AI-supported feature – the Sales Agent to automate the process of capturing sales orders from email messages.
Agents can work autonomously, perform assigned tasks, respond to various events and inputs, check the status of data and resolve errors based on user input and the context of the Business Central user environment.
The new Sales Agent in Business Central is configured to manage the entire process:
• Accept item requests from customer emails in a shared company mailbox
• Identify the customer based on the customers registered in Business Central
• Designing the quote with the requested items
• Checking the availability of items
• Forwarding the quote to the customer for approval
• The user then receives a confirmation, converts the quote into a sales order and communicates the order to the customer by email.
The Copilot Sales Agent works based on the instructions given and the user configuration. It uses AI to carry out the necessary steps to complete tasks in Business Central. Finally, if necessary, the user is prompted to intervene manually, for example to obtain approval for important processes.
The Sales Order Agent only has access to the areas it needs to perform its tasks. It has predefined authorizations and a role (profile) that is automatically assigned to it when it is activated.
The Sales Agent offers a simple configuration environment in which the name of the agent and the channel for receiving requests for quotations and orders (shared company email) can be defined and the steps to be taken in the customer order acceptance process can be selected.
Once activated, the agent is ready to perform the customer order capture process autonomously. The agent is launched from an internal email processor in Business Central that is configured to monitor the company mailbox specified in the agents configuration.
Transparency and review options
All actions performed by the Sales Agent for sales orders – such as navigating Business Central pages, creating and modifying quotes and call actions – are fully transparent and can be reviewed in the Copilot area. The actions show the agents user ID and are displayed in the same places and in the same way as other users in list views, history, published documents, notifications etc.
Changes made by the agent for sales orders also always remain transparent. The agents suggestions can then be accepted, if they have recognized the instruction correctly. If the sales agent has not understood the request correctly, the process can be stopped at any time and processed manually. Such systems are used to support the sales department and are constantly being developed further. Even if they do not yet provide optimal support in all cases, they will become increasingly precise and helpful over time.