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Applying AI to Microsoft Cloud Telephony Solutions

October 7, 2024

In the world of enterprise communications, cloud telephony has revolutionized the way organizations manage their calls.

Microsoft, with its cloud-based ecosystem, has developed two powerful approaches to meet these needs: Teams Phone and Azure Communication Services (ACS). Both solutions are deeply integrated with various Dynamics 365 applications, enabling businesses to take their communications to the next level, especially through the application of artificial intelligence (AI).

In this post, I’ll walk you through how AI can be applied to voice channels in Microsoft environments to deliver a customer experience like never before. Let’s dive in!

Introduction to Microsoft Cloud Telephony Solutions

Microsoft offers two main branches for cloud telephony:

Teams Phone: This is a robust corporate telephony solution, designed to integrate seamlessly with Model-Driven Apps in Dynamics 365, such as Field Service, Sales, or Customer Insights, among others. Teams Phone allows businesses to efficiently manage calls, and with the right integrations, it offers additional capabilities through Dynamics 365.

It’s important to note that Teams Phone, on its own, is already a powerful cloud telephony solution that works over Microsoft Teams without needing any integration with Dynamics.

Azure Communication Services (ACS): ACS, on the other hand, enables voice and omnichannel capabilities to be embedded within enterprise applications. A clear example is Dynamics 365 Contact Center, where ACS is used to power a fully omnichannel Contact Center natively for Dynamics Customer Service (previously enabled through the Omnichannel Add-on). This platform not only handles interactions across various channels like voice, chat, or SMS but also leverages AI to enhance the customer experience.

Applying AI in Teams Phone

Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in the evolution of cloud telephony. In the case of Teams Phone, the possibilities vary depending on whether or not it is integrated with other applications.

Teams Phone as a Standalone Solution

When using Teams Phone independently, without additional integrations, Microsoft 365 already includes a powerful AI tool through Copilot. This virtual assistant offers AI-driven features that optimize the daily use of cloud telephony. Among its main benefits are:

  • Automatic meeting or call summaries: Copilot generates clear summaries of conversations, helping users save time when reviewing key information.

  • Next-step suggestions: As conversations progress, Copilot can suggest the next steps to take, based on the context of the call.

  • Key topic identification: During meetings or calls, Copilot highlights the most relevant topics, making decision-making easier.

We can say that Copilot for M365 provides the same layer of AI to Teams Phone as it does to regular Microsoft Teams meetings.

Teams Phone Integrated with Dynamics 365

When Teams Phone is integrated with solutions like Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Insights, or Field Service, AI takes a much more proactive role. In these scenarios, Dynamics 365’s Conversational AI comes into play, offering features designed to enhance call experiences and boost operational efficiency:

  • Real-time transcription: Conversations are instantly transcribed, making it easier to review and document calls.

  • Sentiment analysis: The AI analyzes the tone and attitude of participants, providing insights into customer satisfaction.

  • Automatic note-taking: Instead of agents taking manual notes, the AI captures key points from the conversation and generates notes automatically.

  • Identification of frequently asked questions: The AI analyzes conversations to detect recurring questions, allowing businesses to improve proactive services.

  • Speech analysis: To enhance interactions, the AI provides detailed analysis of how agents communicate, offering suggestions for improvement.

You can check out all the advantages in this post about Conversational Intelligence in Dynamics Sales.

Applying AI in Dynamics Contact Center

In the realm of Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Dynamics Contact Center enables the management of a fully omnichannel Contact Center. This solution includes all the Conversational AI benefits mentioned for Teams Phone, but with a deeper focus on customer service:

  • Real-time transcription and translation: Conversations are not only transcribed but also translated in real-time, facilitating communication with customers in different languages.

  • Real-time sentiment analysis: The AI not only detects the overall sentiment of the call but does so continuously, providing immediate alerts to agents about changes in the customer’s attitude.

  • Case resolution suggestions: Based on the customer’s history and the ongoing conversation, the AI suggests solutions to help agents resolve cases more quickly and efficiently. This not only improves customer satisfaction (CSAT) but also increases the first-call resolution rate.

Copilot Studio: Taking Self-Service to the Next Level in Contact Centers

For businesses looking to push their AI capabilities even further, Microsoft’s Copilot Studio offers a platform for creating custom virtual assistants. These voicebots can interact via the voice channel in Contact Centers, answering frequently asked questions autonomously and providing a faster, more efficient experience.

Voicebots created in Copilot Studio not only resolve queries quickly but can also integrate with Dynamics 365’s Conversational AI to provide more comprehensive and accurate responses. Additionally, with real-time sentiment analysis and transcription capabilities, voicebots can escalate complex interactions to human agents, ensuring customers always receive the best possible assistance.

Conclusion

Applying artificial intelligence to Microsoft’s cloud telephony solutions is a key advancement in improving productivity, efficiency, and the customer experience.

Teams Phone and Azure Communication Services, when integrated with the powerful tools in Dynamics 365, provide businesses with advanced AI capabilities, from transcription and sentiment analysis to custom voicebots.

But they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a diagram that neatly summarizes what I’ve covered in this post.

IA aplicada a la telefonia en Microsoft

Escrito por

Javier García

Javier García

CTO

LinkedIn Javier García

Etiquetas

Contact Center
Microsoft Teams Phone
Voice Integration
Dynamics 365 Sales
Dynamics 365 Customer Service
CX

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