which started negative and ended positive (or the other way around), helps to identify the best performing agents,and analyzing calls where similar topics were mentioned takes internal training to the next level. When AI-powered conversation analysis is added to the mix, organizations can uncover customer sentiment around specific key words, spot topics, and analyze important conversations in an automated way.

It is widely appreciated that contented staff members contribute to a positive customer experience. Workplace analytics compliments call analytics and recording as a further value-added service, leveraging Teams data to analyze and determine staff productivity and collaboration. It helps to identify whether staff have the right support network and access to the right colleagues for effective collaboration. For the many organizations working in a hybrid environment, this level of analytics helps maintain consistency and enables managers to understand if staff well-being deteriorates when working from home.

Adding AI to the Portfolio

The addition of AI technology enables managers to identify instances of negative sentiment, prompting managers to access call analytics for a deep dive analysis into call queues, trends, and whether areas of the business are understaffed and leaving customers without attention. It can also measure if the most positive sentiment originates from a single team, or if a team tasked to convey a specific message consistently achieves the required mention in 99 percent of their calls.

AI-powered applications are ideal for CSPs looking to stand out in this market. AI can automate analysis of conversations at scale, providing a holistic view of customer experience and eliminating the need for manual evaluation. AI adds a new dimension where qualitative insights become quantitative, enabling a business to be more effective at seeing clearly what their customer service looks like at scale and, critically, where to make improvements.

Many CSPs integrate third-party analytics apps into a Teams implementation to differentiate and add value to their overall proposition with a heightened level of insight and understanding into both workplace dynamics and customer experiences. CSPs can provide organizations with the means to fully leverage the underlying data within Teams, enhancing both strategic decision-making and operational efficiencies to achieve new levels of productivity. By enabling the comprehensive analysis of all calls, including recording and evaluation, as well as facilitating internal collaboration across various devices and platforms, organizations can attain unprecedented insights into both customer experiences and productivity levels.

It is important to position analytics, automation, and AI as enablers rather than solutions on their own. The best approach is when the technology is distilled into business use cases so that it is clear to the average business how it can help them to improve their specific processes and achieve their end goals. When delivered within the Microsoft ecosystem, these types of tools are now highly accessible and available to businesses of all sizes, democratizing access to sophisticated insights previously reserved for larger enterprises.

It is also important to ensure these tools are as easy as possible to sell, provision, support and bill via comprehensive APIs, with the ability to buy direct or via Microsoft’s marketplaces.

The latest call analytics and recording software can integrate with Microsoft Teams as well as calling platforms such as Cisco BroadWorks and Webex Calling. By selecting software with consistency in user interface across platforms, CSPs can continue to offer market-leading analytics and recording across their whole portfolio with no need to skill up or reinvest.