Microsoft is releasing a new set of improvements to Dynamics 365 Customer Service that will advance digital transformation. Early access to this release wave October update began in early August.

You will want to enable these features first in your sandbox environment first by opting into the updates in the Power Platform Admin center. This will allow you to test these features before onboarding them into your production deployment.

By activating the 2019 release wave 2 updates opt-in, you will be able to access features and updates that are end-user impacting only.  Most of these updates will be generally available in October 2019, with a few of them being released in January 2020.   Prepare now to onboard the new capabilities in your production deployment with confidence and ease.

IMPROVEMENTS TO DYNAMICS 365 CUSTOMER SERVICE

Many of the updates that Microsoft is releasing are based on user feedback. The focus of the updates is on improving agent productivity, omnichannel for customer service, and service insights. Microsoft’s goal is for “Dynamics 365 for Customer Service aims to enable businesses to differentiate themselves from their competition by providing world-class customer experiences.”

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENTS

• Knowledge authoring templates
  • Easy quick article creation for agents to create new articles
  • Consistent look and feel of information to make it easier
• Knowledge article Editing
  • Inline image editing -enabled copy/paste/drag/drop/resizing of images and uploading from file explorer.
• Knowledge search
  • Consistent design pattern with timeline changes
  • Improved density and usability
  • Additional filters added for visibility and date
  • Collapsed filters and exposes more articles displayed at a glance in the search results

TIMELINE USABILITY ENHANCEMENTS

• Ability to find data more quickly

• Improved information density allowing for greater visibility of customer interactions
• Improved filtering by activity type, ability to set multiple filters simultaneously, and visual indications that the list is filtered.
• Condensed inline menu access

Omnichannel for Customer Service

• Integration with Dynamics 365 Virtual Agent for Customer Service
• Bot-assisted agent guidance
• Facebook messaging
• Guide customer interactions with agent scripts
• Proactive chat
• Sentiment analysis enhancement

For customers that have enabled Customer Service Insights, many features in this area were updated.

• Additional AI capabilities such as anomaly detection, prediction, and sentiment analysis.
• Improved integrations across business application products.
• Continuous topic improvement such as additional topic controls, opportunities for user feedback

MORE RESOURCES

Microsoft Dynamics 365: 2019 release wave 2 plan

Microsoft Power Platform: 2019release wave 2 plan

Dynamics 365 for Customer Service release overview guide

Dynamics 365 release schedule and early access

Dynamics 365 Virtual Agent for Customer Service

Note – Many of the updates being released are only available in Unified Interface.  As we discussed previously the Legacy web client is likely to be deprecated by October 2019 with a view to be discontinued during 2020. The Unified Interface will soon be the only user interface for all Common Data Service apps. Begin your transformation to the UI today. If you have questions about the Unified Interface or would like more information, visit the Dynamics 365 Community Sales forum.

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