Unlocking the potential of your online presence while streamlining operations is a common goal for businesses today. Microsoft Power Pages emerges as a compelling solution to help you achieve this, seamlessly intertwining with Dynamics 365 and harnessing the Dataverse’s capabilities to craft connected experiences via external-facing websites.
Whether you’re a seasoned developer or a just getting started, Power Pages welcomes you with open arms. Its inclusive design, coupled with a selection of pre-built templates and widgets, empowers customers, partners, and employees to engage effortlessly through intuitive, connected experiences.
But its prowess extends beyond simplicity; Power Pages ensures your interface not only functions seamlessly but also remains user-friendly. In this blog post, we delve into the transformative potential of integrating Power Pages and Dynamics 365. Together, they elevate connectivity and foster engagement, leveraging intuitive website designs that directly interact with your business data.
What is Microsoft Power Pages?
Microsoft Power Pages is a secure, enterprise-grade, low-code software as a service (SaaS) platform for creating, hosting, and administering modern external-facing business websites. Whether you’re a low-code maker or a professional developer, Power Pages empowers you to rapidly design, configure, and publish websites that work across web browsers and devices.
Power Pages provides rich, customisable templates, a fluid visual experience through the design studio, and an integrated learning hub to quickly build sites for your unique business needs.
With Power Pages, you can build sites by using the same shared business data stored in Microsoft Dataverse that you use for building apps, workflows, intelligent virtual agents, reports, and analytics with other Microsoft Power Platform components in your organisation.
The Microsoft Power Platform
The Microsoft Power Platform consists of four powerful applications that have been developed to help connect data, people, and processes. These applications extend the capabilities of Microsoft applications and services and integrate them to hundreds of other services.
Key features of Power Pages
Design studio
The design studio allows users to easily customise pre-built templates or create websites from scratch. It features a drag-and-drop editor for no-code website building. Users can add various content types like text, images, videos, Power BI reports, lists, and forms using no/low-code widgets.
Customisable templates
With a variety of pre-built templates available, Power Pages can be easily customised to suit your specific business needs. This flexibility allows you to create websites that align with your brand and functional requirements.
Responsive design
Power Pages are designed to be mobile-friendly, ensuring that your content is accessible and visually appealing on any device. This enhances user experience and engagement, as users can access the portal anytime, anywhere.
Security and access control
Security is paramount, and Power Pages offer robust security features, including role-based access control. Administrators can define roles and permissions to ensure that users only access the data and functionality relevant to them.
Content management
Power Pages include a built-in CMS, allowing administrators to create, edit, and publish content without extensive technical knowledge. The CMS supports various content types, including text, images, and videos, making it easy to keep the portal engaging and informative.
Self service capabilities
Empowering users through self-service is one of the primary benefits of Power Pages. Customers can find answers to common questions, submit service requests, and track their inquiries’ status without contacting customer support directly.
Drive Engagement with Power Pages
Create personalized, interactive experiences that captivate your audience. Discover how Power Pages can elevate your website.
Dynamics 365 Templates for Power Pages
Microsoft have released a selection of templates specifically designed to work in environments containing Dynamics 365 applications, including:
- Dynamics 365 Sales
- Dynamics 365 Customer Service
- Dynamics 365 Field Service
- Dynamics 365 Marketing
- Dynamics 365 Project Operations
- Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
- Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management
Customer Self-Service
The customer self service site enables customers to access self-service knowledge and support resources. Customers can also view the progress of their cases and provide feedback.
Partner
The partner site template allows organisations with resellers, distributors, suppliers, or partners to have real-time access to every stage of shared activities.
Employee self-service
Employee self-service sites help create an efficient and well-informed workforce by streamlining common tasks and empowering employees with a single source of knowledge.
Community
This site template utilises peer-to-peer interactions between customers and experts to organically grow the catalogue of available information through knowledge base articles, forums, blogs, and feedback provided through comments and ratings.
Supply chain management customer site
This template allows you build external facing B2B websites for Sales Order Processing. Customers can create and view orders to the associated Dynamics 365 for Supply Chain Management environment. This template can be customised to represent your companies brand, add additional functionality, and optimise the user experience.
Modern community
The modern community site template invites customers to provide suggestions, create crowd sourced portfolios of outside-in ideas. Customers can collaborate on a social scale, rallying behind suggestions from others to shape the future of the products they use.
Field service customer
For Dynamics 365 Field Service users, this template allows your customers to book new appointments, manage existing appointments, track technicians, and provide feedback. Functionality is included to provide your customers with automated service reminders and notifications that include estimated technician arrival times to help with better planning.
Order returns
This template integrates with Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management and can be integrated into an existing customer website or used to create a new site. Customers can return orders, view the status of their return, view return history, and monitor their refund status.
This template is currently a preview offering.
Unlock the Potential of Power Pages
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Benefits of Power Pages
- Enhanced Customer Engagement: By providing a self-service portal, you can enhance customer engagement and satisfaction. Customers appreciate the convenience of finding information and resolving issues on their own, which can lead to increased loyalty and retention.
- Improved Operational Efficiency: Power Pages streamline business processes by automating routine tasks and reducing the need for manual intervention. This leads to improved operational efficiency and allows your staff to focus on more strategic activities.
- Cost Savings: Implementing a self-service portal can result in significant cost savings. By reducing the volume of support calls and emails, you can lower your operational costs while still providing high-quality customer service.
- Scalability: As your business grows, your portal can scale with you. Power Pages are designed to handle increasing traffic and data volume, ensuring that your portal remains responsive and reliable even as your user base expands.
- Competitive Advantage: Offering a modern, user-friendly portal can give you a competitive edge in your industry. By meeting customer expectations for digital self-service, you can differentiate your business and attract new customers.
Get started with Power Pages
Whilst Power Pages is a low-code environment that enables anyone to easily design, configure, and manage websites, it is often easier to get set up with the help of a partner. This is where Mercurius IT comes in. As a trusted Microsoft Solutions Partner, Mercurius IT has extensive experience in implementing and customising Dynamics 365 & Power Platform solutions, including Power Pages.
Here’s how we can help you get started and set up your Power Pages portal:
- Expert Consultation: Mercurius IT begins by understanding your business requirements and objectives. Our team will work closely with you to define the scope of your portal, identify key functionalities, and select the appropriate templates.
- Customisation and Integration: Our skilled developers will customise your Power Pages portal to match your branding and business requirements. With our expertise, your site will be seamlessly integrated with Dynamics 365, ensuring real-time data synchronisation and a consistent user experience.
- Security Implementation: Security is critical for any web portal. Mercurius IT will implement robust security measures to protect your data and ensure compliance with industry standards.
- User Training and Support: We provide comprehensive training for your team to ensure they can effectively manage and maintain your Power Pages website. Additionally, our support services are available to address any issues or questions that may arise, ensuring smooth operation and minimal downtime.
- Continuous Improvement: After the initial setup, Mercurius IT remains a valuable partner in your digital journey. We offer ongoing support and optimisation services, leveraging analytics and user feedback to continuously improve your portal. Our goal is to help you maximise the benefits of Power Pages and achieve sustained success.
Power Pages for Dynamics 365 offer a powerful and flexible solution for creating web portals that enhance customer engagement, improve operational efficiency, and provide valuable self-service capabilities. By leveraging the features and best practices outlined in this guide, and with the expert assistance of Mercurius IT, you can build a successful portal that meets your business objectives and delivers a superior user experience.
Whether you’re looking to improve customer support, foster partner collaboration, or streamline internal processes, Power Pages provide the tools and capabilities you need to succeed. Contact Mercurius IT today by using the contact form below to start exploring the potential of Power Pages and take your Dynamics 365 experience to the next level.
