The Dynamics 365 Customer Service 2023 Release Wave 2 provides customers with valuable insights into the changes to expect in Dynamics 365 Customer service from October 1st 2023 onwards.
In 2023 release wave 2, Microsoft’s focus is on delivering the following capabilities:
- Copilot and AI innovation to enhance agent productivity,
- Channel-based swarming with Microsoft Teams,
- Nuance integration,
- Voice channel enhancements.
This blog will hone in on Copilot, agent experience and omnichannel experience.
Copilot and AI innovation
Copilot (Microsoft’s Azure AI Powered assistant) is now coming to Dynamics 365 Customer Service! Copilot in Dynamics 365 is going to hugely help in several ways- from drafting replies to discovering knowledge. Copilot helps agents get work done faster, while still improving customer satisfaction.
1. Discover knowledge content with Copilot
Over the past few releases, we have seen features like suggested knowledge-based articles… Copilot is here to take this to the next level. Copilot will allow agents to find information they need using a conversational chat experience. Using Dynamics 365’s knowledge base, as well as trusted websites, Copilot can help agents solve issues in less time with better customer service.
With the upcoming release, agents can do the following:
- Link a Copilot conversation to a case automatically,
- Refer the Copilot conversations that can now be stored in Dataverse,
- Use the responses that are generated off of Dynamics 365 knowledge articles, external sources via knowledge integration, and trusted public websites.
2. Draft replies with a click using Copilot
Also coming in this release is the ability to create replies using Copilot. Powered by generative AI, agents will be able to craft personalised email replies with just a click. This can be done using predefined or custom prompts, allowing you to create an email that would take minutes to write, in seconds. Copilot uses your company’s knowledge -including the contents of previous messages and emails, case notes and knowledge articles – to provide relevant and contextual replies.
With the upcoming releases, you can expect the following:
- Unified responses generated from internal document sources and external trusted public web sources.
- The ability to view links to the sources that are referenced to produce the response.
3. Analytics for Copilot’s impact on your business
So, how can we measure the effectiveness of these new Copilot features on Customer Service? Well, Microsoft has thought of this already and included a new dashboard that allows administrators to gauge how much of an effect Copilot is having on the business in its latest release wave:
- Daily active users: Displays the number of unique users who have used any of the Copilot features in the last day.
- Percentage of Copilot responses used: Displays the number of responses that Copilot generates across all Copilot features, and the percentage of those that were actually consumed by the agents.
- Agent ratings: Users are allowed to provide a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on Copilot when they use any of its features. The trend of the aggregated data provides an understanding of user satisfaction.
The following metrics display two values that indicate when Copilot is and isn’t used:
- Average handle time for conversations: Displays the impact on the average handle time metric of conversations.
- Average days to close for cases: Also known as case resolution time.
- Average email response time: Displays the time taken to draft and send an email.
Agent experience
This release wave also makes iterative improvements to agent experience. Agent experience is arguably one of the most important parts of a case management system. Making sure agents have access to relevant information – whether this is knowledge sharing, AI suggested related cases or recommended people to help – helps to boost agent productivity, improving customer satisfaction. Below are a few items coming soon to help improve the agent experience.
1. Timeline improvements
The latest update has brought several improvements to the activity timeline to help agent find the information they need easier and quicker.
2. Missed activities
The first of these improvements is the introduction of a blue line next to activities that agents have not seen before, allowing each agent to see what they have missed.
3. Pin records in timeline
The next improvement coming to the timeline is the ability to easily pin multiple activities to the top of the timeline. This is a great new feature for those important phone calls and emails that you do not want to lose track of.
Omnichannel Experience
The omnichannel experience is also in line to receive multiple upgrades for agent experience in this release wave. When working in a call centre, it can be hard to find the information you need quickly, while also trying to communicate with a customer at the same time. These changes look to make things a bit easier.
Improved conversation panel
The conversation panel is due to have some upgrades.. The conversation panel is where we communicate directly with our customers and is where we have the option to interact with our chat. Microsoft is looking to improve this experience with the features below.
1. New call control user interface with intuitive icons for voice channel
Microsoft has redesigned the interface for the conversation control to make it event easier to use, i.e. bigger icons and icons descriptions. It has also moved the ‘Transfer’ and ‘Consult’ options next to the customer’s name for easier access.
2. Minimise the communication panel
Following on from the redesign of the new conversation panel, Microsoft has also made some changes to allow agents to minimise the communication panel. This is a really good feature for those agents who need that little more screen space!
3. Improvements to the call dialler
The call dialler is a very large part of an agent’s day – as such, Microsoft has added new improvements to the call dialler. These are not just visual improvements, but includes the addition of a recent calls list.
Enhancements encompass:
- Improved number input and editing.
- Enhanced number formatting.
- Advanced number country/region detection.
- Integration of a recent calls list.
- The option to choose supported countries/regions for calls.
- Empowering agents to select their outbound call numbers.
- Automatic default country/region selection based on the user’s locale.
Find out more about Dynamics 365 Customer Service here, or check out this Microsoft 2023 release wave 2 for Dynamics Field Service.