Omnichannel for Microsoft Dynamics 365: 6 mission-critical questions to ask. March CaféX Page 1

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1 Omnichannel for Microsoft Dynamics 365: 6 mission-critical questions to ask March CaféX Page 1

2 With Dynamics 365, Microsoft has dismantled the silos between its enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities by uniting them in one cloudbased service. Dynamics 365 provides end-to-end business application functionality, equipping both enterprise workers and contact center agents with powerful tools to do their jobs. 1 It connects and empowers people across the enterprise to carry out their role in customer engagement. For example, the reporting capabilities in Dynamics 365 can power Microsoft Power BI, providing analytics and projections of customer activity that inform employees from the front line (contact center agents) to the core of the business (marketing and product management). One additional element can really bring it all together: the communications link between the contact center and customers. For this, you need an omnichannel customer engagement solution that enables customers to connect with the contact center by the touchpoint of their choosing self-service, web, chat, voice, video, co-browsing, mobile, bots and more. It must also interface with the CRM application to support a 360-degree view of the customer journey across channels. The effectiveness of the omnichannel solution is a growing imperative in the digital economy. It is no longer a nice to have. and satisfaction of your contact center agents and, most importantly, the satisfaction of your customers depend on the decision you make. The following are vital questions to ask before you buy. Is the solution truly omnichannel? Digital has become the primary access point for most customers today and the starting point for journeys that cross digital and voice channels. How important is the omnichannel customer experience? Nine out of 10 consumers today expect consistency across all channels. 2 Nearly a third of digital customers expect immediate help with no wait; the other two-thirds expect it within five minutes. Nearly half will abandon the effort if they don t receive help in the expected time frame. 3 Customers hate having to repeat themselves when changing from one channel to another or having multiple interactions with a company. An omnichannel customer engagement solution should pass customer information smoothly between channels and interactions so customers and agents alike can focus on what s most important: solving the customer s issue. A number of omnichannel solutions work with Dynamics 365, but they are not all created equal. Your upfront and ongoing costs, the productivity 1 Transforming the Omnichannel Customer Experience, Microsoft webinar. 2 Source: Aberdeen, Empowered Customers Demand a Seamless Experience. 3 Source: Wells Fargo, Mobile Banking Summit CaféX Page 2

3 When considering an omnichannel customer engagement platform, ask whether it addresses all touchpoints, channels and functionality, including self-service, live chat, co-browsing, mobile, bots, voice and video. Some solutions provide several of these features but require you to bring in other vendors for the remaining capabilities. Are the different channels equally easy for customers, contact center agents and even enterprise workers to access and navigate? Does the solution provide access to a 360-degree view of the customer, the customer journey and interactions with the enterprise? Anything less can mean delays and blind spots that frustrate both customers and agents. Does the solution work seamlessly with Dynamics 365 CRM capabilities to track customer activities across your website and mobile apps so you can shape the customer journey with targeted information, choices, and upsell and cross-sell opportunities? The more visibility you have into customer activities, the more proactive you can be in meeting their demands. Does the solution integrate fully with Dynamics 365 out of the box? Over the past decade, ERP vendors like Microsoft have expanded the functionality of their core systems from traditional back-office activities (finance, accounting, procurement, manufacturing, distribution, supply chain and HR) to include customer-facing activities such as CRM, sales, order management and customer support. The lines between these functions have intentionally become blurred to facilitate the business processes they support and to create a single version of the truth when it comes to customer and enterprise data. Shouldn t an omnichannel customer engagement solution support that unified approach? Many don t. Out of the box, they often require significant planning, configuration and integration. Downloads and plug-ins are required to connect with the various features of Dynamics 365. Rarely is there direct access to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, Microsoft AppSource or other applications, such as bots, which can be used as assistants that help agents identify solutions quicker. Each of these additional integrations translates into higher costs, more change management and ultimately slower time to market. Will contact center agents operate in Dynamics 365 or the vendor console? Often, omnichannel solution providers, especially those whose primary products are contact center communications solutions, prefer for your agents to use their contact center agent console rather than the Dynamics 365 console. In those cases, the vendors only tap into Dynamics 365 for customer data. Any other functionality for example, creating or updating data in the Dynamics 365 database requires your agents to open a separate window outside of the vendor s contact center console CaféX Page 3

4 That approach defeats the purpose of Dynamics 365. It s much more efficient for your agents to work on a single pane of glass where all CRMrelated functions and information are accessible from a single screen. That screen should be the Dynamics 365 user interface. This approach keeps your agents in the Dynamics 365 environment, so they have ready access to the aggregate context of customer history, preferences and voice of the customer. It enables more direct and personalized engagement, leveraging insights and resources within Dynamics 365 to create individualized and consistent experiences across channels. An omnichannel customer engagement solution should be embedded in Dynamics 365, not the other way around. For example, the solution should enable an agent who is interacting with a customer in live chat to pass the chat transcript along to the CRM chain to trigger a sales work stream for an upsell opportunity all within the same Dynamics 365 window. How much contact center agent training is required? With any software deployment, user adoption rates and speed to market are critical measures. The less employees resist change and the faster they gain proficiency in using the new applications, the quicker you can drive customer satisfaction, boost sales and achieve return-on-investment targets. An omnichannel platform that resides in a contact center solution rather than in Dynamics 365 may serve as a barrier to those objectives. If the solution requires your agents to work within its console, three levels of training could be required: the contact center console, the omnichannel functionality and Dynamics 365 CRM. A more desirable and efficient approach is for your agents to operate completely within Dynamics 365, conducting all activities within that single user interface, including omnichannel customer engagement. For example, Dynamics 365 can have bot assistants track agents interactions with customers such as in live chat and automatically suggest resources to facilitate service, such as a knowledgebase article or another agent who has more expertise. The omnichannel solution should support such a capability without additional training. In this way, there is only one type of training required: Dynamics 365. This approach results in less confusion, more consistency, faster adoption and quicker speed to market. Does the solution support Microsoft s vision and road map for Dynamics 365? All of the services and applications available within the Microsoft Azure Cloud whether they are within Dynamics 365, from AppSource or from the broader cloud offering are integral parts of Microsoft s product development road map and support infrastructure (Figure 1). Using Dynamics 365 as the brain and central repository of customer data, this ecosystem gives companies almost endless opportunities to automate processes, equip employees with productivity tools, and develop data-driven insights to guide customer engagement decision making CaféX Page 4

5 Figure 1. These applications and services, brought together in the Microsoft Azure Cloud, provide a full omnichannel solution. To take advantage of these opportunities, the omnichannel customer engagement solution you choose should: Be fully deployed on the Microsoft Azure Cloud and integrate organically with other Microsoft cloud services, such as Cortana, Cognitive Services, Azure Bot Service, Power BI and Microsoft Flow, to name a few Leverage Microsoft Azure Cloud single identity enabling features such as single sign-on Have a single point of support along with Dynamics 365 If the solution you re considering doesn t do all of these things, you may not be able to capitalize fully on the powerful capabilities of Dynamics 365 and the financial investment you ve made. Bottom line: Are you ready for real omnichannel customer engagement? The way people communicate has changed dramatically in just the past 10 years. It s especially noticeable among Gen X, millennial and centennial age groups. They don t pick up phones and call for help the same way baby boomers and the silent generation do. Instead, they use the web, messaging and social media. Increasingly, smartphones rule. In this environment, it s an imperative for companies to evolve their digital messaging channels and engage customers on their preferred terms, whether it s a digital touchpoint or a traditional phone call. At the same time, there is also an urgent need to drive efficiency across the enterprise, including in the contact center. Equipping contact center agents with easy-toaccess and easy-to-use tools for omnichannel customer engagement is fundamental for success going forward CaféX Page 5

6 Microsoft has laid the foundation for that success by combining its CRM and ERP applications into a single solution: Dynamics 365. When it comes to bridging the remaining digital communications gap between your customers and Dynamics 365, it makes sense to choose an omnichannel solution that s purpose-built for Dynamics 365 and provides access to all digital channels in a single platform. It should integrate seamlessly with Dynamics 365 out of the box, enable contact center agents to perform all CRM-related activities within Dynamics 365, and easily incorporate enhancements and upgrades from Microsoft, as well as other components of the Microsoft Azure Cloud and applications from AppSource. That s digital omnichannel customer engagement at its best anything less is just not a wise choice. About CaféX CaféX is the award-winning provider of one-click collaboration solutions designed to help enterprises enhance team productivity and customer engagement within digital channels. Trusted by top global banks and other leading brands, CaféX empowers employees and guests to work together securely without friction from virtually anywhere using their preferred devices and tools. For more information about CaféX, please visit or CaféX Communications and CaféX Live Assist are trademarks of CaféX Communications, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners CaféX Page 6