Microsoft’s Queues App for Teams is now generally available, following its announcement back in March.
The solution allows businesses to manage and respond to inbound and outbound customer calls within Teams.
Moreover, employees can simultaneously handle customers, while communicating and collaborating with their teammates to help resolve customer issues.
In August, CX Today explored the significance of the Queues App, which had been somewhat living in the shadow of Microsoft’s “Copilot-first” CCaaS platform, the Dynamics 365 Contact Center.
Casandra Marrero, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft, re-introduced the app in a recent blog post: “In today’s fast-paced world, customer centricity is more important than ever. As organizations strive to meet the evolving needs of their customers, the demand for faster response and resolution times continues to grow.
“Whether you are an employee calling into your helpdesk or a customer reaching out to support, one thing is clear: delivering consistent and enriching experiences is at the core of an organization’s success.
That’s why we are excited to announce the general availability of the Queues app for Microsoft Teams.
Queues App for Agents
As well as enabling agents to manage calls, offer assistance, and resolve customer issues, agents and leads can also opt in or out depending on their availability and view the CRM record for incoming PSTN calls to ultimately improve customer experiences.
Call controls result in better call handling, including the ability to take, hold, and transfer calls.
Agents can place outbound calls on the queue’s behalf in order to maintain their privacy, get support from their leads, and switch between call queues based on needs as a result of real-time analytics like the number of waiting calls, average wait time, and abandoned calls.
When used in conjunction with Teams Phone, Marrero points out, agents can automatically capture notes, highlights, next steps, and locate issues before transferring the call to a co-worker, thereby enhancing productivity and customer satisfaction.
Queues App for Leads
Leads can opt agents in and out of queues depending on their skillset and availability.
They can also offer instant guidance to their agents during calls using “whisper controls” or step in to assist directly and take over the controls. Monitoring controls also allow them to develop agents’ skills and bolster performance where required.
Leads can get useful insights through real-time analytics and historical reporting features, including performance monitoring, call volume tracking, and areas for improvement.
Queues App for Admins
Admins can reportedly enjoy complete flexibility in how they choose to configure call queues and auto attendants and set up call queues based on the scope, responsibilities, and permissions required.
After assigning authorized users, most of the configuration can be managed by leads from within Teams, removing the need to log tickets with helpdesks, which reduces the administrative processes and the burden on IT admins.
The Queues app for Microsoft Teams is now part of the Teams Premium licensing package, which further enhances customer engagement with its suite of intelligent features, as Marrero explains: “The intelligent call recap provides a detailed summary of calls, capturing key points and action items, ensuring that nothing is missed.
“Live translations and captions break down language barriers, enabling seamless communication with customers from diverse linguistic backgrounds.
“These features not only improve the efficiency and effectiveness of customer interactions but also contribute to a more inclusive and accessible service experience.”
Microsoft has also created some guidance documentation for end users and admins via the Microsoft Support and Microsoft Learn pages.