Rolling into 2021: What’s new in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Microsoft is once again rolling out a massive list of updates to the Dynamics 365 platform in their first release of 2021. While these updates span all Dynamics products, in this blog I will zero in on some updates to the Customer Service module.

Configure knowledge search control in the new form designer

The first Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service update I will dive into is around the Knowledge Search control on a form. In the new form designer, admins can now configure how the knowledge search is displayed and what actions are available! In the new form designer, Microsoft has added the ability to select what type of actions are available when an article is selected. For example, if we’re looking at a case and need to search for an article, as an admin, you can choose whether users can link an article to the case or send the article content in an email. If they’re sending the content in an email, you can even set the default recipient. You also have the ability to turn on automatic search and then select which field the search should act on. Having all these configuration options are the knowledge search can increase the efficiency of users and enhance their experience while working through cases.

Dynamics 365 Customer Service knowledge search analytics

This is one of my favorite Dynamics 365 Customer Service feature updates because it’s all about data and data usage to make positive changes for end users. With knowledge search analytics, knowledge managers, customer service agents, and other team members will now have insight into how the knowledge search is being used and how effective it is.

Using the Knowledge search analytics dashboard, you can look at the volume of searches, the terms being searched, searches that return no results, and so many more. Having this information can give organizations insight into how helpful their knowledge articles are to the end users. The ability to see the specific terms being searched allows you to understand how end users are engaging with your system so you can tailor the articles around those terms to provide better results.

You can also see the apps where users are searching so you can determine where additional help is needed. Additionally, you can see is where the search is automatically happening on a case or if a user is manually searching for something.

This update was originally released for public preview in October but Microsoft continues to make enhancements. An important note about this Dynamics 365 Customer Service feature is that it currently only applies to internal knowledge searches, not customer searches.

Visual improvements for multisession apps

The last Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service feature update I will discuss is around the multisession apps.

The Customer Service workspace was created as a separate space in which agents can handle for more than one case or task at a time using a tabbed structure.  Users can now see icons on the tabs that correspond to the item opened in the tab. For example, if a case is open, the wrench icon is displayed. This is just a simple visual que to let agents quickly know what they’re looking at. They’ve also reduced the height of the tabs so more information can be displayed on the page without having to scroll. The final visual enhancement is the addition of the app name in the browser tab. This allows agents to have multiple apps open and easily navigate between them. Small changes like this can have a big impact user experience.

These enhancements and many more are currently available in public preview so you can explore them, however, they are subject to change and may not be fully released as scheduled while Microsoft continues to make additional adjustments.

While these enhancements are exciting, there are even more announced for release in the coming months 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!