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How to Set SMS Alerts for Dynamics 365 Deployments

Rob Dowsett

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Jun 27 2018

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2 min read

I get a lot of email. I don’t read it all, especially if its automated. Sometimes LCS deployment notifications fall in that category, especially since deployments usually happen while I’m sleeping.

An easy fix for this is to receive a text message notification should a deployment fail. Using Flow + Twilio, we can achieve this.

Twilio is a cloud communications platform, offering APIs for SMS, voice services, etc. The SMS service is integrated with Flow. Sign up here for a free trial. Trial accounts get a few dollars’ credit, and after the trial it should only be a few dollars per month ($1 per month for a phone number and $0.0075 per outbound text message).

Once you have an account, obtain a phone number.

How to Set Deployment SMS Alerts

Then, note your account SID and auth token from the console.

How to Set Deployment SMS Alerts

Next we create our Flow. We’ll use three actions. The first is the Office 365 “When a new email arrives,” from the LCS notification account.

How to Set Deployment SMS Alerts

The second action is conditional. We’re checking the email body for the word “failed” (I’m only interested in additional notifications when things go wrong, which fortunately, is not often).

How to Set Deployment SMS Alerts

And the third action is to set Twilio to send the SMS if the email body contains the word “failed.” The “From number” is the number we obtained from our Twilio account earlier, the “To number” is mine, and the subject is taken from the email message so we know what environment the alert applies to.

How to Set Deployment SMS Alerts

And lastly, as we will always send notifications from the same number, I add that to my breakthrough list on my phone, as I turn all notifications off overnight.

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About the Author

Rob Dowsett

Rob has worked in the Microsoft Dynamics channel for over 15 years, with expertise in Dynamics 365 Enterprise. Throughout his career, Rob helped build a thriving Dynamics AX practice with a team of over 20 and gained multiple Microsoft President Club awards.