Building Omnichannel Customer Service with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Omnichannel is evolving. It’s no longer an experience that only big companies like Amazon or Apple are offering. It’s something that even small startups are looking to emulate in order to meet shifting customer demands.

The days when all a company had to offer was a website and decent customer service are long gone. Instead, today’s customers expect to have 24/7 access to customer service from any device and personalized communication. Companies that are reluctant to adopt an omnichannel experience, especially in their customer service, are highly likely to get left behind—especially considering that another company is only a click away.

While the benefits of an omnichannel customer service experience for both companies and customers are abundant, how do you get started? What factors are needed to create this experience?

What do I need to create this experience for my customers?

It all starts with having the right platform: Microsoft Dynamics 365. Below, we’ll review the features and capabilities of the solution that enable you to provide an omnichannel experience that satisfies customers and boosts your competitive advantage.

What is an Omnichannel Experience?

Essentially, omnichannel refers to providing customers with support across all your channels. It eliminates the boundaries between each of your platforms to provide customers with a unified and integrated experience. This type of approach is focused on the customer rather than the product and ensuring they have fast, easy access to support—whether they’re shopping in your store or online from their personal devices.

The benefits of using this approach are endless—especially considering today’s customers. Consumers don’t want to be limited to a single platform when they’re in need of support. An omnichannel experience ensures they have no issues contacting you on a channel that’s most convenient for them.

Additional benefits of omnichannel in terms of customer service include:

• Higher customer satisfaction
• Seamless customer experience
• Increases the quality of customer data gathered by your company
• Focuses target marketing
• Increases customer trust and retention

Microsoft’s Omnichannel Offering

Creating an omnichannel experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) is simple. The flexible, customizable features are easily modified to configure social media channels, Microsoft Teams, live chat, WhatsApp, SMS messages, and other commonly used platforms together to allow data to flow between each one.

Using this configuration, customer service teams have access to a customer’s entire support history. They’re easily able to see where a support request was made, the context, and the outcome of that call. This enables agents to provide faster, personalized service which in turn increases overall customer satisfaction.

Deep integration with frequently used applications and platforms is just one of the many features included with D365. Users will also enjoy:

• Predefined messages that can be used to respond to frequently asked questions.
• The ability to make notes in a separate pane. Each note is attached to a customer’s information, ensuring no context is lost.
• The ability to share knowledge base articles and other helpful information with fellow representatives.
• Customizable chat widgets that are displayed across channels.
• Security settings that prevent documents or files from being shared with unauthorized users.
• Proactive chats that customers and representatives can either accept or reject.
• Pre-chat surveys to help representatives gain context. Survey responses are saved and are searchable should additional details or context be needed.
• Workstreams that define where conversations should be routed.
• The option to work with virtual agents.
• Skills-based routing that routes customer issues to a customer representative who has the skills necessary to resolve them.

With each of these features, you’re able to unite fragmented platforms and ensure customers enjoy seamless and personalized customer support.

How do I get started with Omnichannel?

Licensing Information

Currently, the omnichannel license is only available as an add-on for Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise. The cost to purchase this license is $95 per month.

Additionally, an active subscription to D365’s digital messaging service is needed. The cost of this license is $75 per month. However, you do have the option of purchasing only the Chat Add-In for $60 per month should you only want to gather information from live web chats.

Ready to Get Started?

By implementing an omnichannel customer service experience with D365, you’re better equipped to handle the rapidly shifting expectations of today’s customers. However, getting started on this digital journey can be overwhelming. Luckily, JourneyTEAM is here to help.

Whether you’re a D365 beginner or an expert, we provide customized support based on your specific needs. We can help you create an omnichannel experience from the ground up or help you upgrade your existing strategy. Regardless of what you need, we’re here to help. Contact us today to get started.