Enhancing Productivity with Dynamics 365: The Power of Session Restore

Microsoft Dynamics 365 has continually evolved to support organizations in managing customer relationships and streamlining business operations. A recent enhancement, session restore, was introduced to Dynamics 365’s Customer Service workspace in October 2024. This feature allows users to automatically restore sessions after browser refreshes or reconnections, reducing interruptions and ensuring service agents can continue their work without losing context. Let’s dive deeper into how session restore works, its key advantages, and the impact it can have on productivity.

Understanding the Dynamics 365 Session Restore Feature

Session restore is designed specifically for Dynamics 365’s Customer Service workspace, where service agents often manage multiple tabs, records, and conversations simultaneously. Previously, any browser refresh, crash, or network issue required users to reopen all their tabs and retrieve records manually, which could disrupt workflows and take up valuable time. With the new session restore capability, all these open sessions, tabs, and ongoing conversations are restored automatically.

The feature supports several essential elements in the workspace:

• Customer cases and accounts – Active cases and related customer records automatically reopen.
• Application tabs – Tabs used to access specific tools or functionalities are restored.
• Ongoing conversations – Any open chat or call session resumes after presence is re-established.

This automation applies to both intentional actions, like a page refresh, and unintentional ones, such as browser crashes or accidental closures.

Key Advantages of Session Restore

1. Uninterrupted Workflow: With automatic restoration, agents don’t have to waste time retracing steps or reloading information. They can immediately pick up from where they left off, minimizing service delays and enhancing the overall customer experience.
2. Increased Agent Productivity: Since session restore automates the reopening of all tabs and conversations, agents can remain focused on handling customer inquiries without distraction. It also reduces repetitive tasks, which can be especially helpful in high-volume service environments.
3. Reduced Frustration in Multitasking Environments: Customer Service agents often work across several records, handling multiple queries at once. Without session restore, any interruption could result in lost context, increased frustration, and reduced effectiveness. Automatic restoration maintains their workspace’s structure, enabling a smooth transition even after interruptions.
4. Support for Consistency Across Tasks: Session restore keeps the workspace layout intact, ensuring that agents find the tabs and tools they need in the same locations they last used. This reduces the cognitive load and keeps agents more organized and less prone to errors.

How to Enable Session Restore in Dynamics 365

Administrators can enable the session restore feature in the Customer Service admin center. Here’s a quick overview of the steps:

1. Navigate to Miscellaneous in the admin center’s site map.
2. Select New and upcoming features and click on Manage.



3. Check the box for Session restore and click Save.

Once enabled, this setting will automatically restore an agent’s last session each time the browser reconnects, refreshing cases, calls, and associated application tabs.

Considerations and Limitations

While the session restore feature is powerful, there are a few considerations to keep in mind:

• Single Browser Session: The feature works best for single-browser sessions. If multiple sessions are open, only the most recent session is restored.
• Cross-Browser Limitations: Currently, restoration is not supported across different browsers, such as switching from Chrome to Edge.
• Productivity Pane and Tool State: While most tabs and sessions are restored, certain states, such as the productivity pane, do not return to their exact previous condition.
• Channel Integration Framework Limitations: Sessions initiated by third-party providers through the Dynamics 365 Channel Integration Framework do not automatically restore.

Impact of Session Restore on Customer Service Operations

For customer service agents, every minute saved in navigating the workspace directly translates into faster response times for customers. Organizations that adopt the session restore feature can see improvements in customer satisfaction, as agents handle queries more efficiently. By minimizing the need to re-establish the workspace manually, agents can offer more consistent, high-quality service, even in challenging, high-demand situations.

In the larger scope of customer service operations, features like session restore contribute to a more seamless, resilient service environment. This innovation aligns with Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to digital transformation and operational efficiency, allowing organizations to better manage customer relationships and grow their service capabilities.

Final Thoughts

Dynamics 365’s session restore feature is a practical yet powerful addition to the Customer Service workspace, simplifying the user experience and enabling agents to operate at peak productivity. For organizations looking to streamline their customer service operations, enabling session restore could be a key step in fostering a more robust, responsive service environment.

Whether your service team handles a handful or hundreds of inquiries daily, Dynamics 365’s session restore can help you maintain a stable and consistent workspace, allowing agents to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional customer service.