We need to talk about... Dynamics 365... Dynamics 365 Contact Centre Configuration

Today, I continue my series of posts on everything Dynamics 365 Contact Centre, where I will cover some of the initial configuration elements. In this third post, I will walk through the initial configuration and setup of Dynamics 365 Contact Centre to get your environment ready for production use.

Pre-Requisites and Licensing

Before beginning your setup, ensure your organisation has the necessary licenses. I have already covered the licensing aspects of Dynamics 365 Contact Centre in the following article

We need to talk about... Dynamics 365... Dynamics 365 Contact Centre Licensing

Create a Dynamics 365 Environment

Start by provisioning a new environment in your tenant through the Power Platform Admin Centre. Alternatively, if you have existing environments, you can simply add the Contact Centre solution to it.

You can choose between a Production or Sandbox environment, although it doesn't affect the features you can deploy, a sandbox environment may run slightly slower. But for initial testing and deployment, I recommend beginning with a sandbox environment, as this allows you to test configurations, workflows, and integrations before deploying to a production environment at a later date.

Once created, install the Customer Service app within the environment. From the Dynamics 365 Admin Centre, you can then install the Contact Centre CRM Connector to enable the Contact Centre capabilities.

Set up Overview

When all the solutions are deployed and configured, you can then open the Contact Centre Admin Centre app and review the Setup Overview screen.

The overview lists the main setup activities that we must complete to configure the Contact Centre.

The first step is to ensure we have correctly configured our users.

Set Up Users

In order to configure user access, we need to assign each team member the appropriate security roles, such as Omnichannel Agent for support staff, Supervisor for team leads, and Administrator for IT personnel.

We can then define agent profiles to specify which channels these uses can handle and what their workload capacity is. Finally, add agents to the relevant queues to ensure they receive the correct types of customer interactions, i.e voice, chat, web etc etc

Set Up Routing and Work Distribution

In order to intelligently distribute conversations and interactions to users we have just setup, we then need to configure unified routing. This starts by defining workstreams for each channel you’ve set up.

You can then establish routing rules based on agent skills, customer priority, or even round-robin assignment logic. Assignment policies help ensure that the right agent is automatically chosen for each incoming request, optimising efficiency and improving customer satisfaction.

Set up Channels

Dynamics 365 Contact Centre allows you to manage multiple communication channels in one unified interface.

To set up live chat, you’ll use the Omnichannel Admin Centre to configure a chat widget. This includes defining a workstream and queue, and then embedding a generated JavaScript snippet into your website to launch the widget.

For voice capabilities we have configured the voice element/channel using Azure Communication Services. You can either integrate your existing telephony system or use Microsoft’s native voice option. This setup includes defining call queues, designing IVR flows, and setting up call recording and monitoring policies.

Social media and messaging channels like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or SMS can also be connected using the Digital Messaging component. We can also incorporate Copilot Studio Agent and custom bots to automate initial customer interactions, enabling faster resolutions and reducing agent workload.

Enable Insights and Reporting

Lastly in order to be able to report and review all these users, across all these channels we need to enable some of the reporting tools within our setup.

Here I am using the OOB Customer Service Insights and Omnichannel Analytics to access real-time dashboards and drive my reports.

These tools provide visibility into performance metrics like average handling time, customer sentiment, and agent productivity. For more complex or customised reporting needs, Power BI integration offers advanced analytics capabilities tailored to your KPI's.

Conclusion

Setting up Dynamics 365 Contact Centre correctly and understanding what each element of the solution provides is crucial for creating a consistent and well-performing customer service experience. A well-configured platform allows organisations to take full advantage of AI-powered insights, streamlined communication, and unified customer records

I hope you enjoy this post on Dynamics 365 Contact Centre initial configuration and I will continue the series in my next post, talking specifically about the detailed configuration of some elements and tasks needed to deploy the solution. Take Care, Speak Soon!