Microsoft announces new AI-centric Business App, Dynamics 365 Contact Center

Microsoft has announced plans for a new solution, Dynamics 365 Contact Center, that will reach GA on July 1. 

The solution is a Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) offering that can connect to existing CRM systems (starting with D365 and Salesforce), according to the company.

Microsoft is describing the offering as “Copilot first” and states that it “delivers generative AI to every customer engagement channel,” including voice, web, mobile, email, SMS and social media apps.

This is not Microsoft’s first effort in the contact center space. Most recently, in July 2022, Microsoft announced a new Digital Contact Center Platform that brought together many existing elements like Nuance contact center technology, Dynamics 365, Teams, and Power Platform. One of the selling points of DCCP was its flexibility, allowing customers to bring together elements to fit their needs. 

A Microsoft spokesperson told MSDW that D365 Contact Center it is “a natural evolution from the original aim of the DCCP to provide open, flexible solutions for the contact center.”

An area rich in AI opportunities

Contact centers offer a wealth of scenarios that could benefit from generative AI, Microsoft believes, and they point to their own customer services and support team as a case study. That group has used Copilot to increase the number of cases and chats an agent can handle, reduce the average handle time for chat cases, and decrease how often agents require peer assistance to resolve a case.