Easily generate In-App Notification messages using Zap Notifications Generator

In-App Notifications feature allows you to provide real-time updates to Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service & Power Apps Users. Some common scenarios where In-App Notifications could help are:

• new lead sign up
• case assignment
• opportunity nearing close date reminder
• timesheet submission reminder

Zap Notifications Generator App allows bulk generation of In-App Notifications (Bell Notifications) + Email Notifications + Push Notifications: onDemand, based on Triggers Or based on Recurring pattern + Form Notifications !

In this blog we will see how we can insert record field values within the generated notification message with built-in TOKEN GENERATOR + Auto-Generate JSON text using Zap Notifications App . Lets consider use-case: Notifying User on Case Assignment.

In the In-App message, we can have details for: Case Title, Case Number, Case Customer, Created On + Link to  Case Record + Link to Case Customer …as shown in screenshot below:

Now for generating this kind of notification which needs to trigger on Case assignment…we will use Power Automate & Trigger Notification configuration functionality of Zap Notifications Generator App.

In this blog, we will just focus on creation of the Notification Message which is part of “Trigger Notification” configuration record…(For details on how to actually generate this notification using Power Automate… refer Blog link…)

Below shows screenshot of “Trigger Notification” configuration record…  Msg Section:

Let’s understand the different areas of this tab:

Token Generate Helper: You can insert record field values within the Notification Title, Body & Action fields.
Token Generate Helper allows you to easily build the token for field values.
For example:
Token for Case Title: {{!incident:title}}
Token for Case Customer: {{!incident:customerid}}
Token for Case Contact – First Name: {{!incident:contactid|firstname}}
Token for Case URL: {{!#incident:title}} //You can use any Case field and we will insert the URL of Case record.
Token for Case Customer URL: {{!#incident:customerid}}

Title & Body: You can insert dynamic case fields using Tokens. Further you can also format the text as per Markdown Syntax.

Action 1 and Action 2: Here in the URL… add the tokens for Case and Case.Customer.

Now using the above information, we automatically create the JSON text… which is internally used for generating the notification.

Thus we can see how Zap Notifications App not only simplifies the configuration of In-App Notification creation but also triples the functionality which comes out-of-box!

This blog is part of our series “Introducing Zap Notifications Generator App for Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service & Power Apps”.

Below are links for all blogs in this series:

Blog 1: Enable/Disable In-App Notifications feature (link)
Blog 2: Generate In-App Notifications in Bulk for multiple users / teams (link)
Blog 3: Some common user-scenarios for using In-App Notifications (link)
Blog 4: Generate In-App Notifications automatically as per Recurring Schedule (link)
Blog 5: How to insert record field values within the In-App Notification message (link)
Blog 6: How to generate In-App Notification from Power Automate / Flow (link)
Blog 7: Display an Inline Notification (e.g. Account is on Credit Hold) in Case Form if a flag has been checked in related Customer record (link)
Blog 8: How to alert Users with important information about Customer – on form-opening (link)

Zap Recent Updates (Sep 2024)

1. New Version Released: Zap Report Scheduler App (vX.X.X.X): Now send password encrypted PDF reports to Customers. (e.g. sending password encrypted PDF Invoices to customers). (link)

2. Completely Revamped: Zap Attachment Viewer (with drag-and-drop) (v30.0.1.9): Now pin attachments to the top of list – when viewing attachments for Case / account etc. This way your users will not miss any important attachments. (link)

3. New Version Released: Zap PSA Time Entry App (Track Time against Cases): Track and log time spent by support agents on cases directly from Case form (either using built in Timer functionality or manually add Start & End Times or duration)!

4. New Version Released: Zap Helpdesk App (v68.0.1.9) :”Quick Response” feature added to Dynamics New Email Form – allowing agents to compose email faster by auto-populating recipients, subject & body. (link)

5. New Version Released: Zap Copy Record App (v 25.0.1.9):
– Now CLONE Field Service Work Orders in 1-Click (link)
– Now schedule a record to be CLONED at a later date e.g. creating recurring opportunities (link) ; creating recurring maintenance cases (link)

6. New Version Released: Zap Notifications App (v 55.0.1.9):
– Now generate even Push Notifications! (link)
– Send In-App Notification when User/s are mentioned in Timeline of any record (link)

7. New Version Released: Zap Report Scheduler App (v 36.0.1.9): 2 new monthly scheduling options added. e.g. schedule report for FIRST Monday of every month / Last Friday of every month / First of every month / Last date of every month etc (link)

8. New Version Released: Zap Email Parser App (v 33.3.1.9): Support for creating multiple parsing rules for same field. Example: Email address from within email body could be extracted by searching for labels: “Email:”, “Email Address:”, “E-Mail:” etc. Now you can create multiple parsing rules for same destination field.

9. New Version Released: Zap Calendar Pro (Team Calendar + Map Any Entity Data to Calendar):
– Display activities in Team Calendar – color-coded by Owner. (earlier you could display activities color-coded only by activity type).
– Ability to set any event (custom entity) as recurring.