In April, Microsoft released their first wave of updates to the Dynamics platform. In a previous post, I discussed some of the robust updates to the Sales module and simplified experience now available. In this post, we will look at some of the long critical updates applied to the Customer Service module of Dynamics 365.
As is tradition, Microsoft has divided the Service updates into several sections:
Customer Service: Customer Service itself then has two unique sections: Customer Service and Omnichannel for Customer Service
Customer Service Insights
Field Service
Remote assist
Updates to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service
*NOTE: These changes are only available in the Customer Service Hub in the Unified interface.
Agent productivity enhancements to knowledge capabilities
Knowledge Articles in Dynamics 365 have evolved many times over the years in the Customer Service module. The latest update really exemplifies the simplified experience Microsoft has created across other areas of Dynamics.
The update to knowledge capabilities is actually two updates:
Knowledge search is now available in the Customer Service Hub app navigation, and A modern toolbar with updates to font options, inline table capabilities, and the ability to copy and paste formatted content from Word and Excel documents.
Let’s break down those changes. First: knowledge search is now available in the Customer Service Hub app navigation. Prior to the release, agents had the ability to search for knowledge articles from within the context of case and then link and share the article. While very helpful when working a case, it was somewhat limiting.
With the latest Dynamics 365 Customer Service update, a new area has been added in the navigation to search for a knowledge article at any time! Simply click the Knowledge Search area in the navigation and start searching! You can filter your search and preview the articles. Once the desired article has been found, you have the option to pop out the article for easier viewing and send a link to the article!
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM knowledge search
The second change is the update to the toolbar when creating or editing knowledge articles. This update is less visual but still important. Many companies have existing documentation that need to be added to Dynamics 365 for use by their agents and customers. Previously, copying and pasting into a knowledge article would limit the formatting that would copy over. Now, it is possible to keep the formatting when copying from a Word or Excel document. This is a huge time saver and allows the documentation to retain the familiar look that agents and customers know. Additionally, the toolbar has been updated with more font choices for greater control when creating and editing articles.
Dynamics 365 CRM knowledge article
Rich text notes and keyword search in the timeline
Another exciting Dynamics 365 Customer Service update is a series of changes to the timeline. As with knowledge capabilities, this is a multi-faceted change. First, agents now can create rich text notes in the timeline! This means font selection and size options, formatting, color, and alignment options. The agent is able to emphasize details with bold and italic fonts; they can list notes by bullet point; they can add color to highlight something important!
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM customer service hub
The second part of this update is the enhanced ability to search and filter timeline records. Agents can keyword search, filter timeline records by activity type, status, due date, by whom it was posted, and even a few other options. As with many Microsoft updates, this is about increased efficiency. As is often the situation, a case record may contain many different records as the case is worked. This can create a long list of records that can be time consuming to sort through. It is now simple search and/or filter!
Dynamics 365 CRM search timeline records
Configurable case resolution page
The final Dynamics 365 Customer Service update we will highlight is perhaps one of the most desired changes in the entire release: a configurable case resolution page.
When closing a case, there was a standard set of fields available to complete that allow an organization to track some basic information but that information was limited and not variable. It would be expected that each organization might follow a different process when troubleshooting and resolving a case, so what is tracked upon resolution might be different as well.
The time has come, Microsoft has finally given administrators the ability to configure the case resolution page. Not only can they remove fields from the page, they can also add existing out-of-the-box fields and even CUSTOM fields! This means tracking organization specific data that can be reported on or tracked via KPIs. This update provides extended functionality when combined with other existing features.
Dynamics 365 CRM case resolution
These are just a fraction of the updates in Microsoft’s 2020 Release Wave 1 for Dynamics 365 CRM. If you are interested in discovering more about these features or any other features of Dynamics 365, please connect with a Velosio Dynamics 365 consultant today!