How to add Microsoft Teams to Infor LN
Short answer
To connect Teams to Infor LN, route LN events and workflow tasks through Infor ION to a small service that posts adaptive cards into Teams channels or chats, and sends the user's decision back through ION or an LN API. Entra ID identifies the approver, so LN authorisations still apply.
Most LN users already live in Teams for meetings and chat, while approvals and exceptions sit inside LN sessions or in ION workflow inboxes that people rarely open. The result is requisitions waiting for sign-off and planners discovering shortages late.
Teams can be the place where those items show up. A channel for each planning group, a card per exception, and a one-tap approval make the ERP feel closer to the way people already work. The ERP stays the system of record; Teams is the front door.
This page covers the realistic integration points in LN, how to build a Teams bot and cards around them, and the identity mapping that makes approvals trustworthy.
What teams use it for
Purchase requisition approvals
Post each requisition above a threshold to the approver as an adaptive card with item, amount, budget and project. Approve or Reject posts the decision to LN with the Teams user mapped to an LN employee.
MRP exception channel
Publish late or uncovered planned orders to a planner channel with item, demand date and suggested action, so a team can discuss and assign without leaving Teams.
Quality hold notifications
When inventory is placed on hold or a nonconformance is raised, alert the quality and production channels with lot, location and a link to the LN record.
Engineering change tracking
Notify the change board when an engineering change moves status, and collect sign-off from each reviewer in a single card.
Quick look-ups from chat
Let a user ask the bot for stock of an item, the status of a sales order or the next receipt of a purchase order, answered from read-only LN queries.
Infor LN integration surface
- Infor ION Workflow and Activities: LN and other apps can raise workflow tasks and alerts that ION can route outward, which makes them natural sources for Teams cards. Availability depends on your ION and LN versions.
- ION API Gateway with OAuth 2.0 service accounts, used by the bot service to read data and post decisions.
- ION Connect Document Flows for event-style integration, forwarding BODs to a queue the Teams service consumes.
- Infor Ming.le and Infor OS integration points, if your installation uses them, which can already carry some social and alert features alongside Teams.
- LN business interfaces and DAL for write-backs, and a read replica of the LN database for reporting-style lookups where permitted.
How it works
- 1
Choose a few high-value interactions
Start with one approval type and one alert type. Decide which Teams channels or users receive them and who is allowed to act.
- 2
Register an Azure bot or Teams app
Create an app registration in Entra ID, a bot resource, and a Teams app manifest. Decide between channel notifications via incoming workflows and a full bot that can receive actions.
- 3
Connect events from LN
Use an ION Document Flow or workflow notification to send the event to your service. For older setups without ION, poll a replica or a scheduled LN export.
- 4
Render adaptive cards
Map each event to a card with the fields the approver needs and action buttons that carry the document key and a signed token.
- 5
Map identities
Maintain a table linking Entra ID users to LN employees and their approval limits. Reject any action from a user not mapped or not authorised.
- 6
Post decisions back
Send accepted decisions to LN via ION or an LN business interface under an integration user, and update the card to show the outcome and timestamp.
Example flows
Requisition approval in Teams
Trigger: A purchase requisition is submitted in LN and needs approval.
- LN raises the approval event through ION.
- The service finds the approver and posts an adaptive card in a personal chat.
- The approver taps Approve; the service validates identity and limit.
- The approval is posted to LN and the card updates to Approved.
Result: Approvals complete in minutes without anyone opening an LN session, with a full audit trail in both systems.
Late planned orders digest
Trigger: A scheduled job runs each morning after the planning run.
- The service queries uncovered demand from LN for each planner group.
- One summary card per channel lists the worst exceptions.
- Planners reply in thread; the bot adds an LN note on request.
Result: Exceptions are triaged by the team at the start of the shift instead of discovered at expedite time.
Keeping data on-prem
Teams is a Microsoft cloud service, but the LN side can stay fully on-prem. Run the integration service inside your network, with outbound HTTPS to Azure Bot Service and Teams, and an inbound path for bot messages through a reverse proxy or a relay pattern that avoids opening LN itself. If sensitive data is involved, cards can carry only identifiers and a deep link that requires LN login. For air-gapped or sovereign needs, Teams may not be an option, and a self-hosted chat tool with an on-prem assistant is the fallback.
Security checklist
- Authenticate every card action against the Entra ID user and check LN approval limits server-side.
- Sign action tokens with expiry so a forwarded card cannot be replayed.
- Restrict channels that receive LN content to groups with a need to know; guests should not see ERP cards.
- Use a least-privilege LN integration user and log each action with the Teams user id.
Ways to get it done
Power Automate with HTTP triggers and Teams approvals
Effort: Days for a first flow, but governance gets harder as flows multiply.
Fine for simple notifications and approvals where a low-code flow can call an ION API endpoint.
Custom Teams bot service
Effort: Several weeks for a hardened first version.
Best when you need rich cards, identity mapping and look-up commands.
Partner build with an AI layer, such as Netray
Effort: A focused pilot around one team's workflow, then expansion.
When you also want natural-language questions in Teams answered from LN, with models running privately.
Pitfalls
- !Letting any channel member click Approve; always check the individual user's authority.
- !Posting too many alerts so people mute the channel; limit to exceptions that need action.
- !Skipping a fallback: if Teams or the bot is down, approvals must still be reachable in LN or ION.
- !Leaving stale cards around; update or remove them when the LN document changes outside Teams.
Frequently asked questions
Does Infor have a native Teams connector for LN?
We are not aware of a standard LN connector for Teams. Infor offers its own collaboration and workflow features through ION and Ming.le, and Teams is usually integrated through custom or partner work. Ask your Infor contact about newer options.
Can approvals in Teams be trusted for audit?
Yes if you map each Teams user to an LN employee, check limits server-side, and log the action. The card click is just a transport; the authorisation decision lives in your service and in LN.
Do we need ION for this?
ION makes events and APIs much easier, but it is not strictly required. Older installations can use polling of a replica or scheduled exports, though real-time behaviour and write-back safety are weaker.
Can a Teams bot answer questions about LN data?
It can, using read-only queries through APIs or a replica. Keep questions to defined tools such as stock, order status or next receipt, or add a natural-language layer that translates questions into those tools and shows its sources.
Is this possible when our data must stay on-prem?
Mostly. The service and LN data stay on your network, and only cards with minimal content travel to Teams. If even that is not allowed, use a self-hosted chat alternative.
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