You may know that Microsoft recently introduced First-Party Voice Channel for Dynamics 365 Customer Service. It’s an all-in-one digital contact center solution that brings together omnichannel contact center and customer care capabilities, unified communications, and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable delivery of consistent, intelligent, and personalized service experiences. It’s literally a game-changer in the Customer Service space.  

Here’s the part you don’t know about… yet.

The new release capitalizes on Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Nuance – a global technology company focused on developing innovative solutions for speech recognition and AI software – whose proven approach to customer engagement combines advanced conversational AI with the full slate of available supporting technology. It delivers best-in-class (and heretofore unavailable) communication capabilities. The most exciting aspect of this solution is that Nuance already had unique capabilities in terms of enabling organizations to automate, personalize, and secure customer interactions – but now the offering is fully backed by the power and potential of Microsoft.

Let’s start with the foundational capabilities of Microsoft’s First-Party Voice Channel. With it, the out-of-the-box version of Dynamics 365 Customer Service enables:

• 360-degree view of the customer
• Intelligent virtual agent
• AI-based call routing
• Improved collaboration across call center agents
• Real-time transcription
• Live sentiment analysis
• Proactive AI-driven recommendations
• Rich insights into relevant KPIs

Pretty strong offering all on its own, right? But check out what Nuance technology adds to the solution:

• Nuance Digital Engagement Platform (NDEP): The powerful functionality of NDEP is born from deep expertise in conversational AI and extensive experience delivering AI-powered innovations in key vertical markets. Through a unified desktop, it integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365 to surface next-best actions, knowledgebase information, tech support, and order management coordination. 
• Nuance Conversational Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Users can rightly expect the Nuance Conversational IVR to enable self-service with high containment rates while further increasing the speed, efficiency, and ability of agents to resolve most incoming calls successfully using real-time data and context.
• Nuance security and biometrics: Through biometric authentication, Microsoft has strengthened its fraud prevention capabilities. Cloud-native Nuance Gatekeeper is a differentiator in the market with huge potential in the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem. 
• Nuance Mix: With the acquisition, Microsoft is making it easier to create sophisticated, human-like engagements that enable customers to self-serve with a chatbot, speak to the IVR in a conversational way as if they were speaking to human agents, and help maximize self-service adoption and containment across any channel.  

Built on the Microsoft Cloud, the SaaS-based First-Party Voice Channel – now fully supported by Nuance technology – is permanently changing the customer service landscape for the better, and HCL’s Microsoft Business Applications Practice (MBAP) is leading the way in delivering a next-gen experience that today’s consumers not only expect but demand.

OK, you get that this is cool news, right? But why the fuss today, in particular? Allow us to explain…

At today’s Microsoft Inspire event (where all Partner of the Year awards were presented, including several awards that came HCL’s way), Microsoft announced its coordinated collaboration with HCL’s MBAP to launch the new First-Party Voice Channel (also known as the Digital Contact Center Platform) that will deliver broad digital transformation for customer service operations across industries. In fact, to facilitate the initial product launches for new and existing customers, Microsoft appointed a select group of Global System Integrators (GSIs) from its vast partner network – including HCL’s MPAB – and publicly announced the collaboration during today’s event.

Honestly, this is a really big deal for both Microsoft and HCL’s MBAP. With the addition of Nuance technology, Microsoft’s contact center solution is the best on the market. And with HCL as a launch partner, the potential is unlimited. We are genuinely excited to be at the forefront of this technology in modernizing customer service worldwide.