Workers around the world share a common goal: the ability to work, collaborate and progress with ease. Recent global changes are only further driving this, such as changes to hybrid working policies, emergent technology and inflation rates.
“This year has brought another wave of challenges and opportunities for the future of work,” states Emily Rose McRae, senior director analyst at Gartner, in its Future of Work Trends for 2024 report. “Organisations face unprecedented uncertainty with global talent shortages and the mandate to control rising costs and measure risky technology’s productivity returns.”
One platform that aims to tackle these challenges and reshape the future of business with technology is Microsoft Dynamics 365. The suite of customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has long been a staple for facilitating organisational growth thanks to its versatility and options for cloud deployment, but now with an increasing number of artificial intelligence-powered tools and features, it has ushered in a whole new era of business and productivity.
In fact, use of generative AI has nearly doubled in the last six months, according to Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report, with 75 per cent of global knowledge workers now using it.
Microsoft’s Customer Service and Support (CSS) team experienced the benefits of its generative AI firsthand. Before migrating to using Microsoft’s own tools back in March 2023, the CSS team was using 16 different systems and over 500 individual tools, which slowed down service and hindered collaboration. Now, after a year of using Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, the team has improved first response rate by 9 per cent and has reduced days to close by 7.5 per cent. Not only can agents help customers better with this freed-up time but they can also do so more efficiently.
Clear communications
Microsoft’s latest milestone for the platform is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, a Copilot-first solution that allows organisations to deliver generative AI to every customer engagement channel, including voice, chat, email and social media.
Contact centres can use the platform to build an AI-powered self-service feature using interactive voice response technology from Nuance and Microsoft Copilot Studio, meaning customers can get fast, personalised answers to their questions any time they need.
The solution also enhances human-assisted service by providing a holistic view of the customer with tools such as real-time sentiment analysis, translation and conversation summaries.
“Generative AI is transforming customer service and revolutionising the way contact centres operate, from delivering rich experiences across digital and voice channels that enable customers to resolve their own needs, to equipping agents with relevant context within the flow of work, and ultimately unifying operations to drive efficiency and reduce costs,” says Jeff Comstock, corporate vice president of Dynamics 365 Customer Service at Microsoft.
Customer satisfaction plays a large role in easing the workload for employees and streamlining operations, and Dynamics 365 Contact Center is just one in a range of Dynamics 365 applications that are designed to make these communications easier.
For example, in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, users can gain a more holistic view of their customers by unifying transactional, demographic and behavioural data with AI-powered identity management, and then deliver tailored content such as emails based on this, leading to more relevant experiences for customers, and time savings for employees.
In 2023, financial services company Virgin Money worked with Microsoft to create the Redi personal assistant, using Copilot Studio and data from Dynamics 365. Following the success of the solution, it was recently expanded to more customers.
Redi allows customers to ask questions at any time of day, and get personalised responses based on the organisation’s bank of data that is stored in Dynamics 365. According to Adam Paice, head of digital proposition at Virgin Money, “it made sense to use Microsoft Copilot Studio to surface that information to customers”.
Since its launch, Redi has handled over one million interactions, with over 90 per cent of customers getting what they need from the chatbot. The remaining 10 per cent are not stranded, however, and if they require further help, Redi can then pass them on to a live agent, who will be able to see all previous communications up to that point.
This benefits employees by giving them more time to focus on other tasks whilst also making sure they can jump in to help when needed without breaking the flow of the conversation. As a result, customers end up happier and more satisfied that their problem was solved efficiently.
Next, Virgin Money aims to introduce generative AI to Redi. “By introducing this, we can enable customers to ask additional questions, even midway through an action, to keep them more informed and help them further. We’re already working with Microsoft to introduce this as part of Redi’s next evolution,” says Paice.
Virgin Money’s Redi personal assistant has handled over one million interactions since its launch, saving time for both customers and contact centre employees
Operational elegance
Streamlining communications is only one piece of the puzzle, however, and organisations also need to have the agility to tackle operational fluctuations and make decisions fast.
“The way we do business keeps fundamentally changing,” says Francois van Splunder, director of product marketing for supply chain at Microsoft. “New business models disrupt the way companies sell products and services, blurring industry lines and transforming customer experiences.
“The arrival of generative AI brings hope of renewed promise. AI is elevating performance and creating advantages for those who understand how to apply it to data-centric systems like ERP platforms.”
There are a range of AI and generative AI-powered tools available to support organisations in every stage of their operations.
For example, production teams can use Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management together with information on external issues such as weather updates from the news module within the solution, and then use Copilot to generate email outreach that notifies suppliers and other relevant teams with information on updated arrival times, re-route options for orders or alternate distribution centres available for high-priority customers.
Meanwhile, technicians on the frontlines can use Copilot in Dynamics 365 Field Service to set up automated service reminders, quickly search lengthy product manuals to find relevant answers and solve issues quicker and create a seamless data flow with Dynamics 365 Business Central for wider visibility.
One firm that recently reaped the benefits of these solutions is City Facilities Management, which provides maintenance services for retail and grocery stores worldwide. After its US team found that its systems were lacking a common data source that resulted in limited visibility and collaboration, it decided to adopt Dynamics 365.
The rollout, which started in May 2024, is still underway, but team members in every department have already noticed improvements to daily business processes. For instance, same-day completion of work orders has increased from 66 to 83 per cent thanks to the Resource Scheduling Optimisation add-in for Field Service.
“Now we have more control and agency over things that really impact our business,” says Adam Tessier, finance supervisor at City Facilities Management US. “Dynamics 365 allows us to customise views around daily workloads, create new goals with data we never had before and keep all our work in one place as opposed to scattered across different databases.”
The power of partnership
When investing time, energy and money into these transformations, it is important that organisations get the most out of it. The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP, a study conducted by Forrester Consulting in April 2024, found that the platform has the potential to provide users with a 106 per cent return on investment. For an organisation that has 5,000 employees and generates one billion dollars in annual revenue, this would mean that it would pay back its investment in Dynamics 365 ERP software in just 17 months.
To further aid organisations with the adoption and transformation of their systems, Microsoft encourages its customers to make the most of its extensive partner ecosystem, made up of organisations that work to provide customers with tools and services to enhance their Microsoft ecosystem and maximise their investment.
One such partner is JourneyTeam, who works with clients to help them develop their Dynamics 365 environments based on the needs of their organisation and make the most of their investment.
Earlier this year, JourneyTeam worked with health and wellness firm Xyngular to help it upgrade to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Xyngular had originally been using the on-premises solution Microsoft Dynamics GP, but as sales surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, it became clear that the firm needed a more modern, cloud-based platform.
Following the deployment of Dynamics 365 Business Central, Xyngular now has automated its order management, saving employees up to 40 hours every month in manual effort. Furthermore, the supply chain teams can now manage partial orders and optimise shipping routes, improving overall performance.
“Dynamics 365 Business Central has allowed us to be as routine as possible in terms of operations, and those frictionless processes definitely help satisfy our customers,” says Scott Russell, senior director of finance at Xyngular.
Partner perspectives
We asked selected Microsoft partners how their solutions or services are enhancing the Dynamics 365 experience for customers.
“Our cloud-based platform integrates directly with Dynamics 365, offering real-time tax rate updates and ensuring businesses can handle tax complexities efficiently. With Avalara, businesses can focus more on growth and less on tax compliance challenges,” said Alex Baulf, vice president of e-invoicing and live reporting at Avalara.
“Caf2Code implements enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management solutions in the Dynamics 365 suite of Business Applications, specifically Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, and Customer Engagement. By leveraging our extensive knowledge and experience, we work hard to create innovative solutions that also take advantage of the flexibility provided by AI, Power Platform and Power BI,” said Kelly Gustafson, vice president of Microsoft Practice at Caf2Code.
“One of the most overlooked parts of a customer experience programme is deciding when and how you deliver order-critical documentation to your customer. Formpipe’s Lasernet solution allows users to build a tailored customer experience, from first quote to package delivery, all within Dynamics 365,” said Mike Rogers, executive vice president at Formpipe.
“LBMC Technology Solutions specialises in implementing, training and supporting Dynamics ERP and CRM products, including Dynamics 365 Business Central. Our cloud-based solution seamlessly connects financial management, sales, service and operations, empowering organisations to grow beyond limits,” said Bryan Wilton, president of LBMC Technology Solutions.
Read more from these partners and others including Concentrix, Metafile Information Systems and TTEC Digital in the Autumn 2024 issue of Technology Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription.