Artificial intelligence is one of the most important resources in today's contact centers. As AI algorithms and technologies become more and more advanced, businesses across all sectors are starting to experiment with smart ways to enhance their CX.
AI solutions can now automatically respond to customer queries, proactively reach out to customers at the early stages of the sales cycle, and even derive useful insights from raw data.Microsoft has emerged as a leading innovator in the AI space in recent years, working with OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT) to build its own Gen AI assistant, Copilot.
If you use Microsoft Teams for collaboration, you're likely already leveraging the platform's AI-driven tools. The question is, how do you incorporate AI into your Microsoft Teams contact center?
How to use AI in Microsoft Teams contact centres
A big advantage of choosing Microsoft Teams contact center for your CX strategy is that you not only get access to all of the latest contact center features the vendor offers, but you also get to leverage the intuitive capabilities of the Teams platform, including AI capabilities.
With Microsoft Teams, you have access to a variety of intuitive tools, including Copilot for meeting and call summarization, content creation, and agent assistance. You also have access to a host of AI-powered integrations within the Teams app market, with options for everything from business analytics to enhancing your CRM to building chat bots.
Paul Martin, Account Executive, Landis Technologies “Contact centres can significantly improve operational efficiency and customer service by leveraging artificial intelligence. AI enables the creation of 24/7 self-service bots, provides valuable insights and increases employee productivity.”
If you choose an innovative vendor for a certified Microsoft Teams contact center, you’ll also have access to additional tools such as sentiment analysis and intelligent routing.
Here are some of the best ways to use AI in MSFT contact centers.
Call routing improvements and optimizations
A powerful contact center built for Microsoft Teams should already have access to a variety of routing configuration tools and options. These routing tools allow you to quickly connect consumers to the agent best suited to address their concern, improving satisfaction and reducing call transfers and handle times. However, you can also use AI to further enhance the routing process.
With AI algorithms built into contact centers, companies have the option to leverage “skills-based routing,” meaning instead of just adding callers to a queue based on agent availability, the system looks at each agent's skills and capabilities to match them to the customer's needs. Intelligent call routing tools analyze past call history, behavioral data, and even customer personality to determine the best strategy for handling the call.
These intuitive systems can automatically decide when to direct routine requests to a chatbot or when to send them to specific members of your team, resulting in a more streamlined customer experience.
Unleash advanced analytics
Data is critical to the success of any contact center. It drives businesses to make smart decisions about everything from which service channels to use to what products to offer. The good news is that every customer interaction your contact center handles contains a wealth of data.
AI can help harness this information and transform raw data into actionable insights to guide and support your teams. Using AI and automation, businesses can quickly create reports and wallboards to display insights on everything from call handle times to agent performance.
Additionally, innovative contact center vendors for Microsoft Teams are leveraging speech analytics and natural language processing tools to capture additional information. These capabilities enable businesses to assess the sentiment of each customer as they move through the buying process, looking for potential churn risk or evidence of improved satisfaction.
Empower your agents with bots
As customers handle more of their own issues using self-service solutions, the inquiries agents receive are becoming more complex. Microsoft Teams contact center helps empower and support agents by giving them access to helpful resources at their fingertips and enabling them to collaborate with their colleagues. But AI can support agents in other ways.
With real-time agent-assisted bots, businesses can provide agents with guidance and instructions on the next best action wherever they are. The innovative tools can provide instant feedback on customer sentiment, conversation flow, and more. This means every agent has access to real-time coaching without having to interact directly with a manager or supervisor.
These bots can also be used to ensure that agents are adhering to industry and internal compliance standards – for example, a bot can remind an agent to ask permission before recording a call or notify a manager if an employee is about to reveal sensitive information.
Save agents time on repetitive tasks
The intuitive MSFT Teams contact center offers businesses many ways to improve agent efficiency and productivity. With the right tools, businesses can leverage automation solutions like Microsoft Power Automate to streamline workflows. Microsoft Teams Auto Attendants allows agents to handle and transfer calls with a single click.
Additionally, businesses can take advantage of advanced features available in Microsoft Teams to save employees time spent on call wrap-up and follow-up processes. AI tools built into Microsoft Teams can also automatically transcribe and translate contact center recordings, quickly summarizing conversations and highlighting the most important topics and action items.
Tools like Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics and Microsoft Teams also help agents quickly answer customer queries and write follow-up emails.
Facilitate self-service
The most obvious way to use AI in a Microsoft Teams contact center is to provide users with self-service options. AI agents and chatbots can't replace human agents for every customer interaction, but they're great for handling routine inquiries quickly.
Tools like Microsoft Power Apps allow businesses to create their own chatbots and automated self-service experiences for customers across channels, and a wide range of chatbots and building tools are available in the Microsoft app marketplace.
Self-service solutions allow you to help customers complete routine tasks like placing an order, troubleshooting a problem, or checking a balance, freeing up your employees to spend more time focusing on inquiries and conversations that require their unique skills.
MSFT Teams Using AI in Contact Centers
The demand for artificial intelligence in contact centers will continue to grow as AI innovations enable businesses to achieve new levels of efficiency and productivity, delivering powerful experiences to customers across a multitude of channels.
“There are a lot of AI concepts on the market today. At Landis, we are focused on providing companies with AI tools that can be deployed today and provide immediate value to their customers,” said Landis. Paul Martin, Account Executive, Landis Technologies;
With the right Microsoft Teams contact center solution, it's easier than you think to bring the power of AI to your customer service operations: build chatbots, automate workflows, get deep insights, and more.
For more information, check out this handy video.
