Dynamics 365 Dialogs are deprecated. What do you replace them with?
In short. Microsoft says dialogs are deprecated and should be replaced by business process flows or canvas apps. It also says there is no automated way to convert them, so either route means rebuilding every dialog by hand. Enquiry 360 is a third option. It gives you the same step-by-step guided screens as configuration rather than as an app you build and maintain, it runs in your own Microsoft Dataverse alongside Dynamics 365, and it needs no Dynamics 365 licence of its own. It installs from Microsoft AppSource.
If you are reading this, you probably have working dialogs and a deprecation notice, and you want to know what the actual work is.
What Microsoft says
Two things, both from Microsoft's own guidance.
First, the direction: dialogs are deprecated and should be replaced by business process flows or canvas apps.
Second, the bit that decides how big the job is: there is no automated way to convert dialogs to business process flows or canvas apps. Nothing exports them. You rebuild each one.
What the two options actually cover
Microsoft publishes a capability comparison. It is worth reading before you pick, because the gaps are real.
Business process flows do not support prompt-only pages, variables, query variables, reuse as a child process, or starting from a URL. They do support running workflows on start, on input and on page transition, and they keep session logging.
Canvas apps cover most of the dialog feature set including variables, reuse and launching from a URL. They do not support session logging, and any workflow you called has to be rebuilt as a cloud flow.
Neither is wrong. They are both a build, and you are the one doing it.
Where Enquiry 360 fits
It is the same shape as a dialog. A person is walked through a set of questions, the answers decide what comes next, and a record is written at the end.
The difference is what you do to get one. You configure it rather than build it. Questions, branching, validation and the actions at the end are settings, not an app you then own and maintain. Change a question and the change is live. There is no second version to keep in step.
It installs into your own Microsoft Dataverse environment from Microsoft AppSource, and it works on Power Apps and Microsoft 365 plans without a full Dynamics 365 licence.
Where the work still is
Converting existing dialogs is manual work, here as everywhere. Nothing converts them automatically, including Microsoft's own two options. You describe the process, we configure it with you, and standard setup is included in the price.
It is not a replacement for Dynamics 365 itself. It is the guided process layer, not the CRM underneath.
If your dialogs are doing something genuinely unusual, a canvas app may be the better answer.
The part dialogs never did
Once a process is configured, the same one can be answered on the phone. An AI voice agent can run the identical set of questions for a caller, in 66 languages, and write the same record your staff would have written on screen. Same process, two ways of answering it.
That was never a dialog feature. It is the reason some people move rather than rebuild.
Frequently asked
Are Dynamics 365 Dialogs really deprecated?
Yes. Microsoft states that dialogs are deprecated and should be replaced by business process flows or canvas apps. The guidance is on Microsoft Learn under Replace dialogs with business process flows or canvas apps.
What does Microsoft recommend instead of Dialogs?
Business process flows or canvas apps. Business process flows suit processes that run across teams. Canvas apps suit prescriptive tasks such as a call script. Microsoft also states there is no automated way to convert dialogs to either one, so both routes mean rebuilding each dialog by hand.
What can business process flows not do that Dialogs could?
By Microsoft’s own comparison, business process flows do not support prompt-only pages, variables, query variables, reuse as a child process, or starting from a URL. Canvas apps cover most of those but do not support session logging, and workflows have to be rebuilt as cloud flows.
Is Enquiry 360 a drop-in replacement for Dialogs?
It replaces what dialogs did. The same step-by-step guided screens, the same branching on the answers, the same record written at the end, held as configuration rather than as an app you build and maintain. What nothing can do, here or anywhere, is convert your existing dialogs automatically, and that includes Microsoft's own two options. You define the questions, the branching and what happens at the end, and it writes the record.
Do we need a Dynamics 365 licence to use it?
Enquiry 360 installs into the same Microsoft Dataverse that Dynamics 365 runs on, so it sits alongside Dynamics 365 where you already have it, and stands on its own where you do not. It runs on Power Apps and Microsoft 365 plans, without a full Dynamics 365 licence, and it installs from Microsoft AppSource.
What does it cost?
The voice agent starts at £99 + VAT a month, with pre-paid call packages at volume, and standard setup is included. If you prefer, you can take the app on its own from Microsoft AppSource and add the voice later.
Have a look before you decide. The app is on Microsoft AppSource. To hear the voice side, ring 01924 926000.
From £99 + VAT a month, standard setup included. Or read where your data lives.