Understanding the Basics of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CTI Integration

CTI integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 renders the CRM with new, useful functionalities. It allows you to make and receive calls directly from the CRM interface while providing you with all essential calling features for greater control over calls.

That’s the long and short of it.

But what is CTI integration and how does it fit with Microsoft Dynamics 365 anyway?

Let’s take a closer look:

What is Computer Telephony Integration?

Computer Telephony Integration a.k.a CTI is the process of connecting your telephony system with your business application in such a way that you are able to make and receive calls directly from within the application interface.

CTI Integration takes away the need for physical phones, streamlining the calling process and enabling agents to deliver faster customer service.

But that’s not all. CTI integration can bring additional advantages to the contact center environment.

How Does CTI Work?

Computer telephony integration, as the name suggests, brings your telephony system and your business application together. This, in turn, helps create a seamless flow of data between the two systems.

With each call, the telephony system sends data to the CTI software which, in turn, triggers certain actions within the business application.

CTI integration makes use of VoIP (voice of internet protocol) to transform your computer into an extension of your telephony system.

The sync between business applications and telephony systems serves to bring additional advantages to the customer communication.

For instance, every time an agent makes or receives a call, the CTI connector helps pull up all the essential information about the customer on the agent’s screen. This feature is known as ScreenPop and is extremely helpful in keeping the agents informed and confident in delivering impeccable service.

Key Functionalities of CTI Integration

CTI integration can bring a range of helpful functionalities to the customer service process, depending on the kind of CTI connector you choose.

⦿ Click to Call

First and foremost, CTI integration enables click to call feature. This is essentially a feature that lets the agent connect with any customer with a single click. So, instead of manually dialing numbers, agents can simply click on a button and instantly connect with the customers.

Since click to call removes the need for manual dialing, it significantly reduces the chances of error in the backend operations. Not to mention, agents no longer need to jump between different applications and can connect with customers directly from within the business application interface.

⦿ ScreenPop

ScreenPop is another essential feature that comes with CTI integration. This feature simply brings up all the relevant information about a customer on the agents’ screens. So, as soon as an agent makes or receives a call, they are well aware of the customer’s purchase history, last interaction, browsing behavior, and other essential information.

This allows the agents to deliver well-rounded and helpful interactions with every customer and, in turn, improve key performance metrics for themselves and the contact center.

⦿ Embedded Call Controls

CTI integration also brings complete call control to the interface. Agents can transfer, hold, and manage calls as they deem fit, depending upon the nature of the conversation and the need of the hour.

Simply put, agents don’t have to compromise with limited call controls. CTI integration puts all the necessary features and then some directly to the agents’ screens, streamlining call management and elevating contact center’s efficiency and productivity.

⦿ Call Routing

Call routing is a system that automatically places and distributes inbound calls to specific agents based on preset criteria and triggers. CTI integration can further help with the routing. A CTI facilitates data-driven call routing. It helps run the caller’s data with the logged data in the company’s system and then helps route the call to the ideal agent.

This level of precise call routing encourages more efficient operations and elevates the overall performance of the contact center.

⦿ Call Logging

Call logging is the process of keeping detailed records of every call made and received by a business. In a contact center scenario, call logging is extremely important. Call logs contain important information such as call duration, date and time, personal information of the caller, and the outcome of the call.

This enables the businesses to track, manage, and scale their communications effectively over voice-based interactions.

⦿ Call Monitoring

Call monitoring is one of the most effective ways to understand a contact center’s training gaps and the need for reformation. CTI integration enables you to employ various powerful call monitoring processes. For instance, CTI integration with NovelVox allows supervisors to monitor, barge in, or whisper in ongoing calls. This not only helps save operational costs and improves key metrics like FCR and AHT, it also improves customer satisfaction score.

⦿ Third-party Integration

The ability to integrate with third-party applications is another important aspect of CTI integration. With third-party integration ability, a CTI connector can go on to serve as a much more efficient and powerful tool.

For instance, NovelVox Smart Connectors are capable of integrating with Knowledge Base and ticketing systems, further improving the chances of efficient communication. With such a diverse set of integrations, contact centers can significantly amp up their productivity, customer experience, and overall performance.

CTI for CRM Systems ( How does it fair with Microsoft Dynamics 365)

Now that we have understood what CTI is and how it works, let’s get into the specifics. How does CTI integration work with Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Well…CTI integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 works pretty much like it works with any other CRM or business application. A CTI adapter or CTI connector is put in place to bring your telephony system to your Dynamics interface.

You get ScreenPop as soon as you make or receive a call from a registered customer, helping you keep up with the context and deliver quick resolutions. Moreover, Click to Dial feature helps you connect with your customers instantly from any database in your Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM.

What advantages does it serve to integrate your Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM with CTI? Although CTI integration is simple and straightforward, the advantages it serves transcends different domains. At a technical level, CTI integration helps empower your agents to deliver more effective service. In terms of business operations, CTI integration can help save cost, improve performance, and even boost the bottom line for businesses.

Here are some of the main advantages of integrating MS Dynamics 365 CRM with CTI:

Improved Customer Experience

First and foremost, CTI integration helps you improve the way you serve your customers. This, in turn, brings your customer experience up a few notches. Any tool that cuts down average handling time and improves first call resolutions will serve to improve customer experience. After all, no customer wants to hold or keep repeating themselves to every customer representative.

It helps when agents already have quick and automated access to all the relevant customer information beforehand. Agents can focus on helping the customer rather than establishing context for the conversation by jumping through apps to find the right information.

And of course, customers like it when they are greeted with their names and the representative is already aware of information like their last purchase, the issue they have been facing (in case a ticket has been created), and other insights from the previous representative in the form of call notes.

All of this works to help serve customers in a more empathetic and effective manner.

Empowered Agents

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM integration with CTI brings more power to the agents. With features like Click to Dial and ScreenPop, agents are not only able to save time but also be more productive and efficient. Not to mention, it also helps agents remain confident in every interaction.

Agents in contact centers get innumerable calls a day. It’s a taxing task for them to manage every call with utmost focus and efficiency. Not to mention, switching between applications to secure the right information and prepare themselves for the call is also a time taking process.

All in all, being a contact center agent is a tough job. CRMs like Microsoft Dynamics definitely help alleviate some of that hardship. And when integrated with CTI, the process can be further improved.

Revenue Boost

Time is money. This is especially true in contact centers. Any tool that saves time and effort can be of great advantage for contact centers. Pair it with a high-productivity platform like MS Dynamics 365 CRM and you have yourself the means to continuously boost your revenue.

The combination of MS Dynamics 365 CRM and NovelVox Smart Connector, for instance, can help you reach out to more prospects in a shorter span of time, help agents make use of more sale opportunities, and can help you retain more customers.

Cost Saving

Since time is money. Saving time means saving money. We already know how MS Dynamics 365 CTI integration can help with operational efficiency and quicken the resolution process. Proper routing can help customers with specific issues connect to the right representative, reducing the chances of error and dramatically cutting down resolution timing. ScreenPop and Click to Dial can save more time that agents have to invest in looking for the right information and manually dialing numbers.

Not to mention, call logging and call monitoring tools can help identify areas of concern in contact center operations and improve upon them.

Improved Operational Efficiency

CTI integration automates a lot of mundane tasks in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. CTI integration helps automate tasks like call logging, note taking, call routing, and other important workflows. Moreover, automated information pop-ups and clicks to dial further ease up agents’ tasks, simplifying day-to-day contact center operations.

Data-Driven Refinement

CTI integration helps you get to the gist of every call, enabling you to analyze what’s working and what could be improved upon. Moreover, even during calls, CTI integration allows supervisors to barge in or act as a silent monitor and jump into the conversation when needed.

User data can help create custom reports, keeping the trends in mind and preparing agents with relevant training for performance improvement.

How to Integrate CTI with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM?

Alright, we understand how CTI integration works and how it can be beneficial for MS Dynamics 365 CRM. Now, let’s understand how CTI integration can be set up with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM.

CTI integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is basically plug and play, specially in the case you choose NovelVox Smart Connector as your ideal CTI adapter. It can be set up in an instant and is pretty simple and straightforward to maintain.

The Smart Connectors serve as a powerful on-premise Computer Telephony Integration solution for Microsoft Dynamics 365. These are unified, omnichannel enabled, and can be tailored to match your specific business needs.

Moreover, Smart Connectors from NovelVox are ready to integrate with Cisco Finesse, Cisco Webex, Avaya, Genesys, Amazon Connect, Five9, Dialpad, Nice and Zoom. You can also go for custom CTI integration to get additional integration with third-party applications.

What features do you get with the out of the box Dynamics 365 CRM CTI? Here’s a brief look:

• Quick call controls embedded inside Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Screen pop, CRM screen transfer, and more to enable contextual conversations
• Click to dial, automated call logging, integrated wrap-ups for smarter call handling
• Leverage our CTI Connector for MS Dynamics to handle interactions across email, chat, and social channels
• Ready integration available for Amazon Connect or Genesys Cloud
• Share information on help guides more efficiently with a built-in Knowledge Base
• Easy to track customer queries for proactively handling queries with Case Management
• Motivate agents to stay on top of their KPIs leveraging an interactive Agent Dashboard
• Intuitive CTI interface offering quick monitoring controls for supervisors
• Monitor live interactions using barge in and silent monitoring actions
• Features to change agent’s current state – ready, not ready, logged out
• Integrated view of queue and team statistics for optimized call operations
• Agent State Sync to manage MS Dynamics Omnichannel and voice interactions from one screen
  Choose from a library of 100+ third-party applications available out-of-the-box
• Connect your phone systems from leading technologies like Cisco, Avaya, Genesys, and Amazon Connect
• Leverage our CTI Integration to create unique screen pop flows as per your business requirements

Things to Consider When Choosing CTI for Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

To ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck, you must be able to choose and implement the right CTI connector. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose and implement the right CTI for your specific needs:

Understand Your Needs

First and foremost, you need to assess and understand your specific business needs. Moreover, focus on what KPIs you are looking to improve with CTI integration. Your pain points can range from longer handling time and inefficient agents to larger issues like a constant decline in customer satisfaction rate.

Once you have a clear idea of your pain points, choosing the right CTI solution becomes easier.

Analyze the Available Solutions

Go through the solutions that are available to you. Create a comparison table to evaluate which ones are offering solutions as per your pain points and which ones you can do without. Moreover, also go through other aspects of these tools like pricing, implementation time, support, customer reviews, and sustainability over long-term use. Of course, integration options are another thing to look at based on which telephony feature you are going to merge your Dynamics 365 CRM with.

Moreover, make sure to get a CTI adapter that allows third-party integrations in case you need more apps to be consolidated and deliver a well-rounded experience to agents and customers.

Plan and Implement

Next up, come up with a comprehensive implementation strategy. Outline the installation process, data migration strategy, and training sessions for agents to ensure the installation is seamless.

Conclusion

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM CTI integration helps address the challenges of call handling, call management, and customer interactions, smartly. You can save agents time and effort that they otherwise invest in juggling between the telephony system and Microsoft Dynamics 365 while handling live interactions.

Smart Connector from NovelVox helps you leverage key call handling controls into MS Dynamics CRM online or On-Prem environment for improved agent efficiency and caller experience.

But don’t take our word for it. You can get on a call with us anytime and explore the product for yourself before making any decision.

You can reach out to us at marketing@novelvox.com for more information.