According to Forrester Consulting, today’s enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) have entered a new era. In this view, ERPs have become increasingly experience-driven to reflect their critical role in digital business and are characterized by agility and AI-driven processes. Forrester calls this new breed of ERP digital operations platforms (DOP). Within the context of DOPs, we are pleased to share the results of a recently commissioned Total Economic Impact (TEI) study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft. The study examines the potential return on investment (ROI) that enterprises may realize by deploying Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance.

Methodology and purpose

Forrester’s TEI study is a methodology developed specifically to assist companies with the complexities of procuring technology solutions. The TEI study also aids technology vendors in objectively evaluating and communicating their solutions’ value proposition. To these ends, the TEI study discussed here provides a framework for business decision-makers to assess the potential financial impact of implementing Dynamics 365 Finance.

Ultimately, the financial impact of the 2022 study is a projection for a composite organization developed by Forrester through real-world interviews of four businesses that currently use Dynamics 365 Finance. These businesses’ experiences and the interviews’ results are aggregated to create a composite organization. For this study, the composite organization is a retail and wholesale business with 50 retail locations, 100 wholesale customers, 2,000 employees, 120 finance team members, and annual revenue of $750 million.

Keep reading to learn the key challenges facing the composite organization and critical findings of the study.

Key challenges

The organizations interviewed for the TEI study shared several common challenges, including: 

• Legacy solutions with high maintenance costs.
• Significant customization of solutions.
• Lack of standardized financial processes.
• Reliance on manual processes and tribal knowledge.
• Lack of real-time visibility.

Ultimately, these challenges led the composite organization to search for and invest in a solution that could:

• Deliver out-of-the-box core financial and accounting processes.
• Empower financial teams with real-time visibility.
• Enable the organization to scale in step with current business demands.

Key findings

Dynamics 365 Finance enables organizations to overcome the limitations of heavily customized legacy ERP solutions. In so doing, it frees finance professionals from the burden of manual and cumbersome processes. At the same time, it provides access to real-time insights and a level of platform flexibility that previous solutions lacked, allowing organizations to keep pace with the speed of digital business.

Forrester’s study revealed three quantifiable impact areas: productivity improvements of finance team members, IT staff productivity improvements, and legacy cost savings. Let’s examine each of these areas in more detail to see how Dynamics 365 Finance delivers value to enterprise finance.

Finance staff productivity improvements

Before implementing Dynamics 365 Finance, interviewees pointed out how legacy ERP actively constrained the organization by requiring manual report creation and distribution. This meant that not only did financial processes require more headcount to support, but also that once reports were distributed, the information was often stale. Plus, process standardization was practically impossible because these organizations also had significantly different processes and systems in use depending on the region, location, and type of location (retail, office, and more).

Deploying Dynamics 365 Finance allowed the organizations to standardize and streamline financial processes across locations. At the same time, by leveraging real-time information and automation, finance teams were able to repurpose some team members to support higher-value-added work and avoid adding additional headcount through external hires.   

The three-year present value of productivity improvements in finance staff was $2.30 million.

IT staff productivity improvements

Similarly, there were also IT staff productivity improvements as the organizations migrated from legacy, on-premises ERP solutions to the cloud-based ERP architecture of Dynamics 365 Finance. In most cases, the legacy solutions were in place for over a decade, leading to several challenges. Most notably, the ERP solutions had become highly customized over the years and required significant resources to administer and maintain functionality. This problem was particularly challenging because team members with expertise and knowledge of the various customizations had moved on to other roles or organizations. The lack of continuity made further customizations even more difficult and time-consuming.

By standardizing with Dynamics 365 Finance, the composite organization considerably reduced IT administrator and developer hours by deploying a solution that provided greater functionality with fewer customizations and was easier to support overall.

The IT staff productivity improvements present value over three years was $402,870.

Legacy cost savings

Dynamics 365 Finance also allowed the organizations to realize savings by avoiding costs that would have been incurred with their legacy solutions. By preventing these legacy costs, the move to Dynamics 365 Finance reduced infrastructure expenditures, decommissioned redundant solutions across regions and lines of business, reduced financial auditing expenses, and lowered the cost to scale with demand. The avoidance of these legacy costs resulted in a projected present value savings of $3.52 million over three years.

Other benefits

Beyond the quantifiable benefits above, the organizations interviewed for the TEI study also unlocked other benefits, such as:

• Real-time visibility and data which improved decision-making and agility.
• Improved regulatory compliance.
• Greater system availability.
• Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Better quality of life for finance employees.

Next steps

As we have seen here, Forrester’s TEI study uncovered three primary quantifiable impact areas and several soft benefits. Taken together, the study found that Dynamics 365 Finance delivered a total economic impact of $3.41 million in financial savings over three years. The total investment required was $2.8 million and provided an ROI of 122 percent.

To dig deeper into the results and to better understand what Dynamics 365 Finance can do for your business, check out our webinar covering a recent discussion of the TEI study with our guests, Forrester Senior Consultant Richard Cavallaro and Principal Analyst Leslie Joseph. You can also download and read the full study: The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance.

Sources:

Forrester. The Total Economic Impact Of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. July 2022.

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To remain competitive and thrive, organizations must differentiate their brand through outstanding customer service experiences. As customer expectations and business needs continuously shift, enterprises need the agility to rapidly create, maintain, and optimize those experiences with the latest technologies, including sophisticated AI, without relying on external vendors.

What enterprises need are options that keep them in controla choice of no-code, low-code, and pro-code AI development tools that offer the freedom to quickly build the conversational AI applications they need. After the recent launch of the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform, organizations now have those options.

The right tools for the job 

Some organizations want the flexibility and agility to build their own conversational solution in-house on an end-to-end software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that is quick to deploy, monitor and tune; one that can easily be self-managed by their subject experts. For such organizations, Microsoft Power Virtual Agents and the underlying low-code Power Platform is the right choice. Power Virtual Agents solutions are used widely in many industriesfrom airlines to technology firmsand for a variety of use cases, from internal-facing help desk solutions to external-facing chatbots across multiple channels and languages.

Some examples of Power Virtual Agents users include:

• A municipal government with 1.4 million citizens using Power Virtual Agents and Microsoft Teams to empower subject matter experts to easily address employee queries.
• A sports and events organization using Dynamics 365 and Power Virtual Agents to scale their contact center with a 97 percent resolution rate.
• A financial institution using Power Virtual Agents and Dynamics 365 to enable text and voice enabled bots to serve customers banking needs. 

For large enterprises that need a custom-built natural language model or those with sophisticated interactive voice response (IVR) omnichannel needs, Nuance Mix is the right choice. Such organizations can also call on Nuance Professional Services teams at any stage of their project, drawing on deep expertise in developing, deploying, tuning, and optimizing custom-built conversational AI applications. Omnichannel IVRs and chatbots built using Mix by Nuance Professional Services are widely used by large enterprises, including Fortune 100 companies, from large telcos to major retailers across the world in multiple languages.

Some examples of Nuance Mix users include:

• A large airline putting Nuance Mix at the center of its virtual assistant (VA) and IVR omnichannel strategy to add transactional self-service functionalities
• A 5G mobile network operator using Nuance Mix to create a customer care VA that enables its customers to resolve issues by simply speaking or typing.
• A recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions using Nuance Mix to enable care teams to communicate and collaborate in real-time.

Shaping the future of the contact center together

Regardless of which solution organizations begin with, the Digital Contact Center Platform will provide interoperability between them. As we continue to bring Nuance Mix and Power Virtual Agents closer together on the Digital Contact Center Platform, their strengths will make powerful conversational AI solutions even easier and faster to build. And as ever, our commitment to protecting your current investments is thanks to backward compatibility and a clear, disruption-free migration path to any future solutions.

Next steps

In the final article in this series, we will turn our attention to biometrics and fraud prevention in the digital contact center. In the meantime, learn more about how to create engaging, personalized digital experiences, and achieve superior self-service voice support with the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform.

The post The AI-powered contact center, part 3: Build powerful conversational AI solutions appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Many people still prefer to pick up the phone when they want to access customer service. Many others find that the phone is a vital last resort when they fail to get answers in digital channels. Regardless of why people call a contact center, it is essential that the experience is fast, simple, and satisfying.

In the first article in the series, we talked about how the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform is an open, extensible, and collaborative platform for delivering seamless, omnichannel customer engagement at scale. In this article, we’ll look at how the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform brings together Nuance and Microsoft innovations to help organizations engage customers efficiently and effectively in the voice channelfrom the moment they reach the interactive voice response (IVR) system.

Reimagining the voice channel

Most IVRs make customers navigate a maze of menu options and listen to irrelevant messages because they lack the intelligence to resolve inquiries themselves. They frustrate customers, who have learned to keep pressing ‘0’ or shout “agent!” to reach a human agent who has no knowledge of what happened during the IVR session. That forces the customer to restart their search for a satisfactory resolution. These can be frustratingeven infuriatingcustomer experiences, which can damage brand loyalty.

With a conversational IVR, however, callers can explain their needs in their own words and get answers to questions in a few seconds.

Conversational IVRs use natural language understanding (NLU) to interpret what callers want to accomplish and resolve their issues in a fast, satisfying self-service experience. Of course, some interactions will require a live agent (like complex queries, sensitive issues, or high-value transactions), so AI-powered IVRs route those calls to an available agent with the right skill set.

The best conversational IVRs can recognize thousands of complex instances of customer intent from customers’ natural spoken words, tone, and patterns; dramatically improving the customer experience. For example, when the health insurance company Humana replaced its legacy system with a conversational IVR, its Net Promoter Score (NPS) rose by 80 percent.

Making customer experiences better

Modern IVR solutions give callers intelligent, seamless, conversational self-service experiences that lead to faster resolutions, increased customer satisfaction, and lower service costs.

The most advanced IVR systems can improve customer experiences in many ways. They can offer callers the option to shift to digital experiences such as a virtual assistant or live chat to get faster servicewhile maintaining context throughout the engagement. They can also integrate with call-back management systems, so when wait times are long, the IVR gives customers the option to be called back rather than waiting in line.

On the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform, conversational IVRs can create even more value for customersand for organizationsby uniting Microsoft and Nuance innovations. When the IVR escalates an engagement to a live agent, it can hand over the full context of the conversation. The agent desktop can also pull in a unified view of the customer, including previous interactions, purchase history, and more. Agents feel empowered to quickly address queries and issues, increasing their productivity, while the customer feels understood and valued.

Intelligent routing means happier, more loyal agents

Conversational IVRs can handle most routine inquiries and even more complex interactions, increasing call containment and minimizing transfers to agents. When transfers are needed, agents have a clear view of the context of incoming calls and can serve customers more effectively. And because agents are no longer handling routine interactions, they can apply their skills to higher-value, more rewarding engagements, which in turn increases agent experience and loyalty.

For example, at a major global telco, a conversational IVR successfully handles more than 70 percent of the 4 million calls it receives each month, reducing the strain on the organization’s live agents.

On the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform, IVRs use intelligent routing to further increase the ability of agents to resolve most incoming calls successfully and swiftly. The real-time data and context from the IVR enhance call handling by intelligently routing callers to the live agent best suited to help, while providing them with the information needed to provide rapid, reliable resolution. That leads to higher customer and agent satisfaction as well as a significant reduction in contact center costs.

Faster, more secure interactions

One of the most valuable developments in modern IVR technology is the addition of biometric authentication. Voice biometrics technology in Nuance Gatekeeper can accurately identify customers (and fraudsters) based on more than 1,000 characteristics of their “voiceprint” using only half a second of their natural speech.

Authenticating callers using voice biometrics increases security (because PINs and passwords can be easily bought or stolen) and eliminates the need for agents to spend time on lengthy, often tedious knowledge-based authentication processes. It also enables deeper level of personalization. By seamlessly authenticating a caller in the IVR with voice biometrics, a conversational IVR can use existing data sources to understand the caller’s relationship with the brand, past history, and other data points to personalize the experience. One of the world’s largest asset managers uses passive voice biometrics to authenticate 79 percent of customers as they speak with its conversational IVR. By automating the caller authentication process, the contact center reduced the average handle time for each call by 82 seconds because agents no longer have to begin every interaction by verifying the caller’s identity.

Intelligent IVR applications for every need

The Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform makes it easy to build an enterprise-grade, secure, conversational voicebot or FAQ application for the IVR that can handle everything from straightforward queries to complex interactions. What’s more, these applications will be purpose-built to meet specific requirements and business goals.

Organizations can build DIY voicebots in Nuance Mix (more on that in our next article) or call on the expertise of Nuance’s professional services teams, speech scientists, data scientists, and conversational design specialists. And as the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform continues to evolve, organizations will be able to build voicebots with Microsoft Power Virtual Agents, then enhance and evolve those bots with Nuance Mix.

Defining the future of voice support together

By bringing together Nuance Conversational IVR and Mix, Microsoft Power Virtual Agents, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, along with Microsoft Azure Communications Services and Azure Cognitive Services, organizations now have a single platform to create innovative customer and agent experiences.

For example, organizations can build bespoke, enterprise-grade applications using highly intelligent call routing capabilities in Dynamics 365; or create smart, personalized, empathetic, and natural IVR and bot applications with Azure Cognitive Services. It is now possible to turn those innovative “what if?” customer service ideas into reality. And, of course, it is all possible while protecting your current investments thanks to backwards compatibility and a clear, disruption-free migration path to any future solutions.

Next steps

Next time, we will dive deeper into how Nuance MixNuance’s conversational AI tooling platformcomplements Microsoft Power Virtual Agents. Until then, learn more about the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform and how to create engaging, personalized digital experiences.

The post The AI-powered contact center, part 2: Achieve superior self-service voice support appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Effective October 1, 2022, you will no longer be able to use Basic authentication to connect to Microsoft Exchange Online. If your organization uses server-side synchronization or the deprecated Dynamics 365 Email Router, you should find out now whether you need to prepare for the change.

How will removing Exchange Online Basic authentication affect Dynamics 365 and Power Apps?

After October 1, 2022, any connection to Exchange Online that uses server-side sync or the Dynamics 365 Email Router with Basic authentication (username and password) will quit working. Dynamics 365 mailboxes that use these connections will no longer be able to:

• Send email from Dynamics 365 through Exchange Online
• Retrieve email from Exchange Online
• Synchronize appointments, contacts, or tasks between Dynamics 365 and Exchange Online

This change doesn’t affect connections that use Modern authentication (OAuth 2.0 token-based authorization).

How can I find out if I need to prepare?

If your company is using server-side sync or the Email Router to connect to Exchange Online using a username and password, you need to act. There are a couple of ways to find out whether your organization is affected and what you need to do if it is.

Review your Message Center Posts (recommended)

The fastest and most reliable way to know if you need to prepare and what to do is to look in the Microsoft 365 Message Center. (You must have admin rights to sign in to the Message Center.) The Exchange Online team has been sending monthly Message Center posts to all affected customers with the following title format: “Basic Authentication – Monthly Usage Report – <Month> 2022.”

If your organization is using server-side sync with Basic authentication, you may also have received Message Center posts from the Dynamics 365 or Power Apps services. Look for posts with the following title: “Impact due to Exchange Online disabling Basic Authentication.”

The posts provide detailed information about the change and actions you need to take before October 1.

Check your Dynamics 365 email settings

If you don’t find any posts in the Message Center, read our guide on how to check whether your organization is affected and if it is, what you need to do before October 1.

Learn more

You can find more information, including FAQs, in the documentation:

Use of Basic authentication with Exchange Online | Microsoft Docs

The post Exchange Online Basic authentication is going away: What you need to know appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

We are honored to announce that Microsoft Dynamics 365 was identified as a Leader in The Forrester Wave^TM: CRM Suites, Q3 2022.

A few weeks ago, during his Microsoft Inspire keynote, Satya Nadella reminded us of the distinct value that Microsoft provides to organizations by leading the way in digital transformation and supercharging their systems of record. “Dynamics 365 is purpose-built for this new world of business process. Our intelligent business applications connect data, process, and teams, ushering in a new era of hyper connected business and offering unparalleled value.” And over this past year we have been proud to see our customers take Dynamics 365 and show that there are really no limits to what can be done when you unite data silos with industry-leading AI and integrate collaboration tools throughout.

From the Campari Group’s ability to deploy bespoke personalization to their event attendees with real-time customer journey orchestration, to Dextra Group’s saving a whopping 60 percent on their customer relationship management (CRM) cost while also increasing seller productivity and lead quality, and to the city of Richmond, Virginia transformation of their non-emergency case management capabilities to deliver omnichannel engagement for improved efficiency and also becoming benchmark for how governments nationwide can utilize digital tools to better serve their communities.

What makes our CRM and connected products stand out for our customers? Here are seven key insights we have heard over the past year.

1. Dynamics 365 provides an end-to-end, full-funnel solution. Dynamics 365 is the only portfolio of intelligent business applications that accelerates revenue outcomes by transforming selling experiences with a single intelligent, digital, customizable solution.
2. Robust AI insights at your fingertips. Dynamics 365 enables everyone, across every team, to make better and more impactful decisions by converting data into insights with the intelligence of Microsoft AI allowing teams to be more efficient and productive.
3. Breakdown the barriers between people. We offer the leading workplace collaboration, video conferencing, and meeting software in the world with Microsoft Teams, which can connect seamlessly with our out-of-the-box CRM or be personalized to fit an organization’s needs with custom features.
4. Personalize every experience. Dynamics 365 Marketing assists companies in more deeply understanding their customers and drives intent with AI-powered insights to deliver connected experiencesall the way from acquisition to retention.
5. Streamlined, proactive, scalable sales. Dynamics 365 helps sales teams uplevel forecasting and revenue operations with built-in AI and machine learning and enhance seller performance with recommended next best actions, productivity tools, and real-time coaching.
6. Breakthrough service capabilities. Dynamics 365 Customer Service helps organizations meet the evolving needs of every customer across every channel and increases customer satisfaction, while boosting frontline employee productivity regardless of location.
7. Low-code transformation. With Microsoft Power Platform, organizations can provide anyone with the ability for low-code transformation with low-code, intuitive, extensible tools that seamlessly connect to Dynamics 365. 

It’s an honor for us that so many organizations look to us for help modernizing sales, marketing, and service operations. As Forrester states in its report, “Microsoft’s strong vision, the breadth of its suite, and its partner ecosystem and industry solutions drive its 40% year-over-year growth, especially in industries such as financial services, healthcare, and retail.” We genuinely believe that with connected data, underpinned by industry leading AI and insights, there are no limits to what organizations can do. From upleveling employee experiences, to improving team productivity, and building deeper relationships with customers. It is all available with Dynamics 365.

Learn more

To learn more about how Microsoft compared with the other eight selected providers, please navigate to The Forrester Wave^TM: CRM Suites, Q3 2022 website and get your copy.

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