Establish a Great Customer Experience with Dynamics 365 Omnichannel for Customer Service
Using Dynamics 365 Omnichannel for Customer Service empowers your service team to manage all of their cases in a singular location.
In this blog, we will focus on this technology and how its capabilities can shape your customer engagement processes so you can create a great experience for every customer.
What is Dynamics 365 Omnichannel for Customer Service?
Dynamics 365 Omnichannel is a highly customizable application that enhances the capabilities of Dynamics 365 Customer Service. It allows you to instantly connect and engage with customers through various channels, including Live Chat, voice, and SMS (text). Beyond simple communication, it offers advanced features such as contextual customer identification, real-time notifications, and integrated communication. Additionally, it houses productivity tools like knowledge base integration, search, and case creation for effective agent support.
Supervisors can gain real-time and historical visibility into how well agents are performing and how well the team is using the tool. It's important to note that Omnichannel is an "add-in" tool for Dynamics 365 Customer Service and requires an additional license.
Here's a breakdown of the connected channels:
- Chat - An engagement channel that facilitates real-time connections between your agents and customers.
- SMS - Text, as an engagement channel, supports asynchronous communication, allowing your organization to connect with customers through text messages.
- Voice - The voice channel empowers agents to receive and make Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) calls seamlessly within Dynamics 365. This native calling experience includes real-time AI-powered features like live call transcription, sentiment analysis, and AI-based suggestions, enhancing agent productivity.
- Microsoft Teams - Utilizing Microsoft Teams as an engagement channel for internal support functions, such as technical support, human resources, and finance, enables organizations to connect employees with internal support personnel. This is achieved through the Omnichannel Add-in for Dynamics 365 Customer Service.
- Social Channels - Social media platforms, including Facebook, LINE, and WeChat, offer an excellent opportunity to leverage the social media trend. Engage with your customers seamlessly and personally on these platforms. Beyond popular social channels, Omnichannel for Customer Service allows you to create custom messaging channels tailored to your organization's needs.
Here's a glimpse into the customer experience using Omnichannel for Customer Service with a focus on the dashboard view, highlighting features designed for the customer, the agent, and supervisors.
Customer Features in Omnichannel
- Multichannel Interaction:
- Customers can seamlessly transition between various channels like chat, voice, SMS, and self-service web portals.
- Integration with popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, LINE, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams for personalized engagement.
- Knowledge Base Access:
- Customers have access to a comprehensive knowledge base with articles and product information, promoting self-help.
- Real-time Virtual Agent Support:
- Virtual agents, powered by Chat GPT, assist customers in real time, answering queries and providing relevant information.
- Efficient Case Creation:
- Customers can easily create support cases if their issues require further assistance, ensuring a streamlined process.
- Immediate Follow-up:
- Automated order validation and confirmation via text messages, keeping customers informed about the status of their orders.
Agent Features in Omnichannel
- Unified Agent Desktop:
- Agents benefit from a consolidated, browser-based app providing a holistic view of customer information and ongoing conversations.
- Flexible workspace allowing agents to handle multiple cases and conversations simultaneously.
- Smart Assist Features:
- The smart assist pane suggests knowledge articles, similar cases, and agent scripts to expedite issue resolution.
- Integration with AI tools for sentiment analysis, transcription of calls, and real-time data insights.
- Channel Flexibility:
- Agents can seamlessly switch between chat, voice, and other channels, providing a consistent and unified customer experience.
- Integration with Microsoft Teams for collaborative support and swarming to address complex issues.
- Configurable Quick Messages:
- Agents can use templated quick messages for efficient communication, enhancing the overall interaction speed.
Dynamics 365 Omnichannel: User-Friendly Dashboards For Your Agents
All of the perks mentioned above for your customer service agents are housed in an easy-to-use dashboard. In the agent inbox view, for example, your agents can see all active cases, conversations, and activities. This is where your agent will work if they are not supporting customers in live conversations. The blue box in the upper right-hand corner of the photo below indicates that a chat is coming in that the agent needs to accept.
The session panel is displayed below and shows active conversation sessions. Each session is an ongoing chat or telephone call. With this view, agents can manage multiple sessions simultaneously, with each session appearing as a separate tab at the top of the agent desktop. In each tab, you can see the time they have been waiting and their current sentiment, which is determined by Azure AI.
In the conversation panel, shortcuts such as /Q can bring up configurable communication options for the agent. You can also consult other agents here or transfer the call. This panel will also capture a transcript of the call and you can seamlessly switch communications channels or set an action to follow up via email.
A customer summary section in the center of the agent desktop provides any additional information on the customer and provides the greater context of their journey with your business.
The smart assist pane on the right side of the agent's dashboard provides recommended knowledge articles and information on similar cases that may be relevant to a specific issue.
Supervisors Can Monitor Dynamics 365 Omnichannel Performance From the Back-End
Omnichannel also comes equipped with some very useful features for Supervisors, including:
- Ongoing Conversations Dashboard:
- Supervisors can monitor active conversations, ensuring real-time visibility into agent-customer interactions.
- Ability to intervene in conversations for assistance or coaching purposes.
- Performance Analytics:
- Historical analytics dashboard provides key performance indicators (KPIs) such as contact center volume, average resolution time, and customer satisfaction scores.
- Insights into agent operations, including talking speed, pausing, and monologuing.
- Knowledge Analytics:
- Supervisors gain insights into customer preferences and behavior through knowledge analytics.
- Trend analysis allows proactive response to evolving customer needs.
- Recording and Coaching:
- Supervisors can review recorded calls, focusing on sentiment during the conversation and using them for coaching sessions.
- Embedded dashboards offer detailed metrics for in-depth analysis.
Supervisors can monitor or assist with all active calls:
It is also possible for call center managers to use transcripts for training and view a wide variety of analytics.
Dynamics 365 Omnichannel for Customer Service is a comprehensive solution that enhances every aspect of the customer journey, from self-help to real-time agent support. It manages this while providing supervisors with tools to effectively manage their environment and identify areas of improvement.
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