An electronic correspondence desk that replaces the paper book

A public-sector organisation with several hundred employees and a registry desk that receives thousands of documents a year by post, email and counter. Every document must be logged, routed, answered on time and filed under a classification plan.

The registry book is a paper ledger, backed by spreadsheets in each department. Numbers are assigned by hand, so duplicates and gaps happen, and nobody can see at a glance which document is waiting for whom.

Replies are linked to the original request only by memory. Access to documents is granted informally, deadlines are missed unnoticed, and finding an old document means asking the person who filed it.

The solution is a model-driven app on Dynamics 365 and Dataverse. One document table covers incoming, outgoing and internal documents, and the form adapts to the direction. Class and subclass use filtered lookups, senders and recipients live in a contacts subgrid, and documents can be linked to each other. A business process flow guides each document from logged to filed.

A C# plugin assigns references with prefix rules and yearly counters, so numbering is gapless and unique. When an email or scan arrives, AI reads it and suggests the class, subclass, department and response deadline with a confidence score, and the clerk accepts the suggestion in one click. Power Automate flows grant and revoke access as a document moves, and custom APIs store files and emails as .eml in SharePoint with metadata.

Outgoing documents are signed with a qualified e-signature and sealed with the organisation e-seal, and the outbox shows the signature status of every reply. A self-service status page lets a citizen or partner follow a submission by reference number, from received to sealed reply.

• AI intake that suggests class, department and deadline with a confidence score

• Qualified e-signature and e-seal on outgoing documents, with a signature status per reply

• Self-service status page where a submitter tracks a request by reference number

• References with prefix rules and yearly counters, assigned by a plugin

• One document form that changes by direction: incoming, outgoing or internal

• Emails and attachments archived to SharePoint as .eml files with metadata

• Dynamics 365
• Dataverse
• Model-driven apps
• C# plugins
• Power Automate
• Custom APIs
• SharePoint Online