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Microsoft Teams
What the Business Central app for Teams does
Record links become cards
Paste a link to a customer, item, sales order or other record. Teams then shows a compact card with key fields instead of a bare URL.
Details without switching
Colleagues open the card to see more of the record in a window inside Teams. Then they jump to Business Central when they need to act.
Share from Business Central
A share action on Business Central pages sends the current record to a chat or channel with the card already attached.
Contact search in chat
Search Business Central contacts from the compose box and drop the details into a chat. Sales and service teams find this useful.
Licensing for people who only read shared records
Business Central security still applies in Teams. When someone opens a card, the app checks their own Business Central access. So a colleague without rights sees nothing sensitive, even if someone posts a link in a busy channel. That makes a Business Central Microsoft Teams integration safe for ERP chats. However, it raises an obvious question about people with no Business Central license at all.
Microsoft lets an administrator open viewing to colleagues with a qualifying Microsoft 365 license. They can view records shared with them in Teams, without a Business Central license of their own. It is read access for shared records, not a way to work in the ERP. Entering or changing data still needs a proper Business Central license. The administrator switches the capability on for the environment and decides which permissions that group receives.
The qualifying Microsoft 365 plans, and what those viewers may open, can change. So check Microsoft's current licensing guide or ask your licensing partner before you plan around it. We set it up and test it with a real unlicensed user before announcing it to staff.
Business Central events and where they appear in Teams
Rolling the app out across your tenant
- 1
Install centrally
Your Teams administrator deploys the app through the Teams admin center, so users do not install it one by one.
- 2
Review what cards reveal
Check which fields appear on cards for sensitive pages such as vendors, employees and bank accounts. Tighten permissions where needed.
- 3
Decide viewer access
Choose whether colleagues without a Business Central license may read shared records, and test with one before enabling it widely.
- 4
Build the first flows
Add one or two Power Automate flows, such as purchase approvals, rather than a dozen alerts nobody reads.
- 5
Show people the habit
A short session on sharing records instead of screenshots does more than any setting, because a screenshot bypasses permissions.
When Teams is the wrong place for it
- ✓Decisions that auditors will ask about, which belong in Business Central approval entries rather than a chat thread
- ✓Alerts for every posted document, which people mute within a week
- ✓Screenshots of ledgers pasted into channels, which ignore Business Central permissions entirely
Teams and Business Central questions
Is the Business Central app for Teams free?
Microsoft publishes the app itself, and it has no separate charge. Users need Teams through their Microsoft 365 plan. To work with Business Central data, they also need a suitable license or the viewer access described above. Power Automate flows may need their own licensing depending on the connectors used. Your licensing partner can confirm for your plans.
Can people edit Business Central records from Teams?
Mostly no; Teams is for viewing and discussing, and editing happens in Business Central. The card and details view give quick context, and a link opens the record in Business Central for changes. Approvals through Power Automate are the main exception, because the response in Teams updates the approval in Business Central. That split keeps data entry controlled.
Does it work on the Teams mobile app?
Yes, the app works in Teams on desktop, web and mobile. Cards display in mobile chats, which helps sales staff and managers on the road. Complex pages are still easier on a larger screen. We check how your key cards look on a phone during rollout.
More Business Central Microsoft Teams integration questions
Do we need custom development for Teams?
Rarely. The Microsoft app plus Power Automate covers most needs. Custom work is worth it for things like a bot that answers stock questions or a tailored adaptive card for a specific approval. We suggest starting with the standard tools and adding code only when a clear gap remains.
Which Business Central environment do the cards come from?
The app connects to the environment and company in the link, so it follows whatever you share. Links copied from a sandbox open sandbox data, which can confuse people during testing. We advise naming sandbox companies clearly and training testers to share production links only when they mean to. Permissions apply in every environment.
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