Salesforce has integrated Apple Messages for Business and Apple’s ARKit to increase and improve its Service Cloud offering.
Apple Messages for Business, which will be available through Service Cloud, lets customers access AI assistance, schedule appointments, complete purchases with Apple Pay, track shipments, and more.
Meanwhile, the ARKit is being introduced to the Salesforce Field Service app and will provide field technicians with augmented reality capabilities to upgrade their service issue resolutions.
Salesforce has also added a Field Service iOS widget to offer technicians a quick view of essential account information on their iPhone home screens, including appointments, work order details, and worksite directions.
Ryan Nichols, Chief Product Officer of Service Cloud at Salesforce, said: “We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with Apple, further integrating the world’s #1 AI CRM with Apple’s incredible business devices and apps.
These features are helping companies implement cutting-edge technology and augmented reality in a practical way, improving every interaction a company has with its customers.
Earlier in the year, Apple publicized it has two billion devices being used by customers, and over half of the US population is choosing iPhones over Android devices. Therefore, partnering with Apple may benefit a large proportion of its customers.
From a messaging perspective, research by Deloitte found that chat, email, and text are the favored customer channels for 18- to 34-year-olds. It also revealed that more than half of app users will be more likely to contact a business if they are able to message it.
More on Apple Messages for Business and Its ARKit
Apple Messages for Business allows agents to access customer data and efficiently manage conversations in Service Cloud.
A retail customer, for example, could chat with a business to gain AI-driven product recommendations and find out about sizing, inventory status, returns, and other relevant information.
One advantage it has over live chat experiences is that chat sessions will continue even if a customer exits the conversation and returns later.
Apple’s ARKit brings a number of AR features to field technicians, including the ability to create 3D renderings of large areas, measure spaces, and map objects with a simple image capture. Salesforce believes this will streamline processes and represent a major change of direction within the field service industry.
A technician may, therefore, plan for an installation space to make sure a fridge will fit through the customer’s door and be installed without any problems.
Mary Wardley, VP of Customer Service and Contact Center Applications at IDC, endorses Salesforce’s expanded partnership with Apple.
“Customers want seamless and painless interactions with service agents and field technicians.
“Technology is key to delivering on both ends, from reaching customers where they are and on their preferred communications platforms, to leveraging capabilities like augmented reality to complete onsite work faster and safer.
Wardley continues:
By further integrating Apple’s business software into Service Cloud and Field Service, Salesforce is providing businesses with the technology and capabilities needed to deliver high-quality customer service and satisfaction.
Salesforce and Apple first announced a strategic partnership at Dreamforce in 2018, which resulted in a redesigned Salesforce app for a native mobile platform on iOS.
Since then, the two companies have worked together to provide tools and resources that allow Salesforce developers to build apps with a new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS, as well as create an iOS app development course on Salesforce’s learning platform, Trailhead.
Last week, Salesforce enhanced its AI offering in the form of its new ‘Unlimited Edition+’ (UE+) bundles that mix and match Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud, Einstein AI, Slack, Tableau, and Industries.
These bundles make it simpler to buy and deploy Salesforce technology, with the CRM leader also noting how the bundles will help organizations scale faster.
