By Paul Mason, Chief Commercial Officer, Solgari
While it wasn’t exactly a sleeping giant beforehand, the Covid-19 pandemic saw Microsoft Teams go stratospheric.
That perfect combination of clear market need, in an IT environment where staff were already well schooled and comfortable, was among the many reasons for this rapid adoption. Fast forward to today and Microsoft dominates the collaboration market.
It is little wonder then, that organizations have been looking at ways to extend the capabilities of Teams beyond this initial use case. The contact center is an obvious choice.
But not all Microsoft Teams contact centers are created equal. Here, we consider five things every business should consider before embarking on their own journey.
- It’s all about the data.
Yes, Teams is a powerful tool that connects seamlessly with the rest of the Office 365 suite, but that doesn’t mean your brand-new Teams contact center will give you a single view of your customers. Breaking down the data silos that exist and bringing all customer experience data, across any channel, into a single hub will fast become table stakes for organizations.
- Get ready for AI.
Few sectors are better placed to see the immediate impact of AI than customer experience. With all of your customer information in a single source, any Artificial Intelligence solution you deploy will be working off the most comprehensive data. AI Agents will shape the future of CX, with software providers across the IT estate bringing new capabilities. Without this data hub, their impact will be severely limited.
- Bring all channels into Teams.
Customers expect to be able to contact an organization through the channel of their choice, at any time. Teams is not, out-of-the-box, a multichannel platform, so ensuring you have the means to bring all channels into Teams on day one will mean that you are able to meet your customers wherever they are.
- Democratize customer intelligence.
You’ve got all of your channels integrated into Teams – and all of your data in one place – now it’s time to connect all departments! Running your contact center within Teams breaks down the traditional barriers to first contact resolution. Make sure you know which departments, from engineers to field reps, can add value to your customer service department and connect them all through Teams, giving a lifeline to your frontline agents.
- Support the wellbeing of your agents.
As customer demands have grown, so too has the pressure on agents. In response, they have been given a mismatch of technologies and tools to service customers across any channel. Learning yet another software and swapping from one application to another are draining for agents. Not only is it time consuming, but these silos prevent them from offering great customer experience. A single application to handle all customer experience will massively improve the work/life balance of agents.
Building a Microsoft Teams contact center will bring about a huge improvement in customer experience, but considering the points above will set organizations up for success.
Solgari is the leading contact center certified for Microsoft Teams, with customers in more than 40 countries across the globe.
