Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales actions in action flows

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.

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Summary: ◀▼

You can connect action flows to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales to automate tasks like searching, creating, and updating leads, cases, contacts, and accounts. Use a dedicated service account for secure OAuth 2.0 authentication. This integration helps manage CRM data within workflows, improving data accuracy and collaboration across platforms without manual entry.

By connecting the action builder to external systems, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.

Note: The steps associated with external systems in action flows are referred to collectively as external actions.

This article contains the following topics:

• Connecting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales to action builder
• Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales actions in action flows

Connecting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales to action builder

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.

When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:

• All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external system.
• All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.
• When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.

To connect action builder to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

1. In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Actions > Action flows.
2. Create or edit an action flow.
3. Open the step sidebar.
4. Under External actions, click Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales.
5. Click Connect.
6. Follow Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales's prompts to authenticate and complete the connection.

   The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales connection uses OAuth 2.0 authentication to securely access your Dynamics 365 CRM instance. You'll be redirected to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales to authorize access to your account.

   You must provide your Dynamics 365 Sales domain during setup. If your Dynamics 365 Sales URL is https://abc.crm.dynamics.com, enter abc.crm.dynamics.com as the domain.

   Note: All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system. Therefore, it is a best practice to use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external system.

After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales.

Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales actions in action flows

The following Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales actions are available:

• Search leads
• Create lead
• Update lead
• Search cases
• Create case
• Update case
• Search contacts
• Create contact
• Update contact
• Search accounts
• Create account
• Update account
• Lookup user

Searching for leads

Use the Search leads action to find existing leads for deduplication or enrichment.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Optional: Email, Subject, Company name, Phone Email and Phone perform exact matches. Subject and Company name perform partial matches (contains). Use this action before creating a lead to check for duplicates.
Output	Array of leads with lead ID, subject, name details, contact information, company details, lead quality and source codes, state and status codes, owner ID, and timestamps.

Creating a lead

Use the Create lead action to create a new sales lead in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Subject Subject is the lead title or topic with a maximum of 200 characters. Optional: First name, Last name, Email, Business phone, Company name, Description, Lead quality Lead quality options include values defined in your Dynamics 365 configuration.
Output	Lead details including lead ID, subject, full name, email, company name, state and status codes, creation time, and owner ID.

Updating a lead

Use the Update lead action to modify an existing lead in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Lead ID Lead ID must be the GUID of the lead to update. Optional: Subject, Description, State, Status reason, Lead quality State options include values defined in your Dynamics 365 configuration. Only provided fields will be updated.
Output	Lead details including lead ID, subject, state code, status code, and modification timestamp.

Searching for cases

Use the Search cases action to find existing cases for deduplication or tracking.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Optional: Title, Case number, Customer ID, State Case number and Customer ID perform exact matches. Title performs a partial match (contains). Use State dropdown to filter by case status.
Output	Array of cases with incident ID, case number, title, description, customer ID, origin and type codes, state and status codes, priority, owner ID, and timestamps.

Creating a case

Use the Create case action to create a new support case in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Title Title has a maximum of 200 characters. Optional: Description, Contact, Account, Priority, Case origin, Case type Provide either Contact or Account to associate the case with a customer. Contact and Account are populated from dynamic dropdowns of your CRM data.
Output	Case details including incident ID, title, case number, state and status codes, and creation time.

Updating a case

Use the Update case action to modify an existing case in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Case number Case number format is typically CAS-01003-XXXXXX. Optional: Title, Description, Contact, Account, State, Status code, Priority Status code depends on the selected state. Only provided fields will be updated.
Output	Case details including incident ID, title, case number, state and status codes, and modification timestamp.

Searching for contacts

Use the Search contacts action to find and enrich contact data. Use this action to check for existing contacts before creating new ones.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Optional: Email, First name, Last name, Phone Email and Phone perform exact matches. First name and Last name perform partial matches (contains).
Output	Array of contacts with contact ID, name details, contact information, job title, department, address, birth date, description, parent customer ID, owner ID, and timestamps.

Creating a contact

Use the Create contact action to create a new contact record in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Last name Optional: First name, Email, Business Phone, Mobile phone, Job title, Parent account ID, Notes Parent account ID links the contact to an existing account. Provide the GUID of the account to establish this relationship.
Output	Contact details including contact ID, full name, first and last names, email, and creation time.

Updating a contact

Use the Update contact action to modify an existing contact in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Contact ID Contact ID must be the GUID of the contact to update. Optional: First name, Last name, Email, Phone, Mobile phone, Job title, Description Only the fields you provide will be updated. Existing values for fields you don't specify will remain unchanged.
Output	Contact details including contact ID, full name, first and last names, email, and modification timestamp.

Searching for accounts

Use the Search accounts action to find and enrich account data. Use this action to check for existing accounts before creating new ones.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Optional: Account name, Email, Phone, Website Email and Phone perform exact matches. Account name and Website perform partial matches (contains).
Output	Array of accounts with account ID, name, contact information, website, full address details, description, employee count, revenue, industry code, owner ID, and timestamps.

Creating an account

Use the Create account action to create a new organization account in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Account name Account name has a maximum of 160 characters. Optional: Email, Main phone, Website, Street address, City, State/Province, Postal code, Country, Description Website has a maximum of 200 characters. Use the address fields to store the organization's primary location.
Output	Account details including account ID, name, email, and creation time.

Updating an account

Use the Update account action to modify an existing organization account in Dynamics 365 CRM.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: Account ID Account ID must be the GUID of the account to update. Optional: Account name, Email, Phone, Website, Street address, City, State/Province, Postal code, Country, Description Only the fields you provide will be updated. Existing values for fields you don't specify will remain unchanged.
Output	Account details including account ID, name, email, and modification timestamp.

Looking up a user

Use the Lookup user action to find a user by ID or email address.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Optional: User ID, Email Provide either User ID or Email to look up a user. If both are provided, User ID takes precedence.
Output	User details including ID, email, firstName, and lastName.