Goal: Enable support teams to deliver fast, conversational customer service via two-way SMS directly inside Microsoft Dynamics (Sinch Engage SMS for Dynamics app) and Power Automate (Sinch Power Automate).
Reduce response times during peak periods and handle high inquiry volumes more efficiently
Improve customer engagement and satisfaction
Provide personalized, real-time support
Centralize communication in one workspace
Maintain full visibility of conversation history
Increase team efficiency using templates, automations, AI suggested replies and bulk messaging
Customer scenario
Customer industry: Education
A university uses Sinch SMS for Dynamics to facilitate two-way communication between students and support staff through the Conversations Inbox.
Traditional channels like email and phone often lead to long wait times, missed messages, and fragmented communication - especially during peak periods such as enrolments, course registration, exams and fee payments. Support teams struggle to manage high inquiry volumes efficiently while still providing timely, personalised assistance.
By enabling two-way SMS inside Microsoft Dynamics, organizations can centralize customer conversations, allowing support teams to:
Respond instantly to customer queries
Manage multiple conversations in one workspace
The university can use Bulk SMS to reach larger student groups with tailored outreach messages for enrolment deadlines, exam reminders, campus announcements and emergency notifications.
The university can use Sinch Power Automate to automate the handling of replies for common queries and reduce manual time spent.
Results achieved:
Faster resolution times, reduced agent workload, higher customer satisfaction
Manage multiple student conversations in the Conversations Inbox
- View full message history on student records via the Contact timeline
Send bulk announcements and reminders to student groups
Reduce manual effort and no shows for appointments by automating replies
Implementation requirements
Product setup:
- Sinch SMS for Dynamics integration installed and authenticated
- SMS-enabled numbers provisioned
- Conversations Inbox works out of the box
- Bulk SMS works out of the box
- Messaging templates created for common support scenarios
- Sinch Power Automate connector authenticated
Data requirements:
Customer records with valid mobile numbers
SMS opt-in and compliance fields captured and stored
- Marketing lists for bulk messaging
Workflow summary
- Trigger: Outbound message from support agent/staff
- Audience: Customers (e.g. students) with valid mobile numbers and SMS consent
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Message examples:
Hi John, we received your request and are looking into it now. We’ll update you shortly.
Your appointment is confirmed for tomorrow at 10am. Reply YES to confirm or RESCHEDULE to change.
- Channels: Two-way SMS (via Conversations Inbox) and automation using Power Automate
- Result: Customers receive fast, conversational support, while support agents/staff manage all communication directly within Microsoft Dynamics.
Key use cases and setup guide:
Two-way student/customer support conversations
- Navigate to a student/customer contact record in Microsoft Dynamics.
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Click on + Sinch Messaging to auto-populate the To field.
- Select SMS as the channel.
- Choose a Sender ID.
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Enter your message or select a message template to use.
- Send the message.
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When a student/customer replies via SMS, the message will appear in the Conversations Inbox. The message is also automatically logged in the student/customer contact record in the Timeline view.
- The support agent/staff can view and respond in real-time via the Conversations Inbox.
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You can also use the Suggested Replies tool to generate three AI responses for you to choose from (based on the last 30 messages in the conversation).
This results in faster response times, improved customer/student experience and creates a centralized support workflow.
Bulk SMS for announcements and reminders
To send targeted announcements or reminders to large segmented groups e.g. enrolment deadlines, exam reminders, timetable updates, fee notifications, campus alerts:
- Build a marketing list in Microsoft Dynamics e.g. student list.
- Select the marketing list.
- Create a new Bulk SMS campaign.
- Select your message template.
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Choose to Send the message immediately or Schedule the message for a specific date and time.
This allows the organization to create scalable communication, reduce inbound enquiry volume for common queries and achieve higher open and engagement rates.
Automations using Sinch Power Automate
To automate messaging such as handling replies and reminders.
- Create a new Cloud Flow.
- Add the Sinch Power Automate Inbound trigger to the flow.
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Add a condition to filter replies based on a Source Number (Dedicated number provisioned in your account).
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Add another condition to look for specific reply keywords such as YES, NO, RESCHEDULE etc.
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Add steps to process the reply in the workflow, such as adding the reply details to a relevant database table to schedule or cancel an appointment.
This allows the organization to create handle replies for common queries and reduce manual effort as a result.
FAQs
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Can agents manage multiple customer conversations at once?
Yes - agents can handle multiple real-time conversations through the Conversations Inbox.
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Are all messages logged against contact records?
Yes - all inbound and outbound messages automatically appear in the contact timeline.
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Can we send group announcements?
Yes - Bulk SMS enables large-scale customer communications.
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Does this support AI-powered replies?
Yes - agents can use AI-based suggested responses for faster replies.