The Cisco® Unified CRM Connector for Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise and Hosted and Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management provides contact centers with unified call flows, business processes, and desktops for both call handling and business-transaction navigation. With Cisco Unified CRM Connector, agents can place, receive, and transfer customer interactions with full, real-time access to customer data - saving money, increasing efficiency, growing revenue, improving monitoring, and facilitating enhanced customer service.
Product Overview
Modern call centers need unified call flows, business processes, and desktops for both call management and business-transaction navigation. Cisco Unified CRM Connector provides these capabilities in a ready-to-use solution with integrated support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM adds screen pop, click-to-dial, and automatic logging capabilities to contact centers that use Microsoft Dynamics CRM software - so agents can place, receive, and transfer customer calls with comprehensive, real-time access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer data.
Your business can save costs, improve efficiency, and enhance customer service by using Cisco Unified CRM Connector to integrate your Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer database applications with Cisco Unified Contact Center solutions.
Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the central server component that manages the real-time flow of interactions between the Microsoft Dynamics CRM desktop user interface and the contact center. Cisco Unified CRM Connector gives Microsoft Dynamics CRM clients access to enhanced contact center functions and allows contact centers to more efficiently manage all types of customer interactions and deliver exceptional levels of customer service.
How Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Works
Through tight integration, Cisco contact centers can enable telephony (computer telephony integration [CTI]) functions in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM desktop, including phone controls, caller identification, and screen population. Agents can place, receive, and transfer customer interactions with full, real-time access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer data. The Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM features an open architecture that easily and transparently integrates through standard .NET services to deliver interactions to an enhanced desktop.
Applications
Following is an example of how you can use Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM in conjunction with Cisco Unified Contact Center in a contact center environment:
• When an agent starts Microsoft Dynamics CRM on the desktop, the application logs the agent into Cisco Unified Contact Center or the automatic call distributor (ACD) if Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management is being used.
• The agent uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM desktop to prepare for a call. The ready request is passed through Cisco Unified CRM Connector to Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management.
• A call comes into Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management and Cisco Unified CRM Connector captures call information, events, and agent state.
• Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management directs the call to the Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal to collect data such as account number or specific business objects such as catalog item to be purchased, service requests, orders, quotes, etc. This information is added to the call as call-attached data and is captured by Cisco Unified CRM Connector for use in the screen pop.
• One of the following takes place:
– Cisco Unified Contact Center routes and queues the call for the target agent group.
– The ACD routes and queues the call for the target agent groups with assistance from Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management.
• Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management selects an agent, routes the call to the agent, and uses Cisco Unified CRM Connector to send call data to Microsoft Dynamics CRM using standard .NET services. When the call is delivered, the agent's Microsoft Dynamics CRM application uses the event data to look up the customer information.
• The Microsoft Dynamics CRM desktop alerts the agent of the incoming call and activates its "Answer" button. At the same time, the agent's Microsoft Dynamics CRM executes a screen pop with the attached data.
• The agent clicks on the "Answer" button. This action answers the call, passing the command back through Cisco Unified CRM Connector to Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management, which answers the call.
• The agent can now navigate the contact in Microsoft Dynamics CRM from the screen pop record and control the phone easily from within the Microsoft Dynamics CRM desktop.
• The agent modifies call data, including wrap-up in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM screen.
• The agent or caller terminates the call; call data is sent back to Microsoft Dynamics CRM and to Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management.
Features and Benefits
Cisco Unified Contact Center solutions can help your business move into the next phase of customer contact - beyond today's contact center to a Customer Interaction Network. The Customer Interaction Network is a distributed, IP-based customer service infrastructure that comprises a continuously evolving suite of innovative, multichannel Cisco services and customer-relationship-management (CRM) applications. These services and applications can help your organization deliver exceptional customer service. A Customer Interaction Network extends customer service capabilities across the entire organization, giving your business a more integrated and collaborative approach to customer satisfaction and leading to a better, more unique, customer-centric experience.
Combined with Cisco Unified Contact Center or Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management, Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM delivers the following advantages:
• Improved efficiency and cost savings: Cisco Unified CRM Connector can reduce call time, accelerate resolutions, and allow for faster call processing. You can shorten the total time agents spend on inbound calls by as much as 20 seconds each call by providing customer information to an agent's desktop at the same time the customer call arrives. This cost savings alone can provide a rapid return on investment (ROI). In addition, quick resolution of customer concerns is possible because agents can now use the historical information in Microsoft Dynamics CRM to shorten call hold times and quickly address the problem when they do pick up the call. Finally, simple on-screen click-to-talk capabilities are integrated into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM screen, allowing agents to manage inbound calls faster and initiate outbound calls quickly.
• Unique customer experiences: Cisco Unified CRM Connector gives agents a complete view of the customer's information from multiple contacts. This information access allows for a more personal interaction and faster resolution of customer concerns without the need for repeated calls. Companies using Cisco Unified CRM Connector can differentiate themselves from the competition by improved customer satisfaction.
• Increased revenue: Integrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM information into call centers allows every employee to become a sales representative for the company. For example, customer service representatives can suggest helpful products for their callers, and the inbound sales representatives can improve up-sell rates with the wealth of information that is quickly presented on their screens, including sales data and detailed business information. In addition, outbound campaigns can use the CRM integration to improve revenue by giving agents customer information upon call connection, helping the agent identify the customer and customize the interaction.
• Proven integration solution: Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a proven, certified product for integrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Cisco Unified Contact Center solutions - helping assure companies of an efficient implementation and a lower TCO.
Table 1 lists additional features and benefits of Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Table 1. Features and Benefits of Cisco Unified CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Feature
Benefit
Automatic logging
Administrators get accurate reports of all agent activity from within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
One-click dialing
Agents need only to click on the phone number to place calls, removing the possibility of manually dialing the wrong number, a situation that can happen as frequently as 10 percent of the time in some cases.
Prepackaged integration
Prepackaged integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the Cisco Unified Contact Center solutions allows for fast, easy installation, committed future growth, and corresponding upgrades to Cisco Unified Contact Center and Microsoft Dynamics CRM products.
Full telephony functions
Full telephony functions in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM agent desktop include desktop phone control, caller identification, and screen pops.
Proven architecture
This robust, proven architecture has been successfully deployed at numerous large enterprises worldwide.
Expanded functions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Contact centers can expand the functions of their Microsoft Dynamics CRM agent desktop to support full contact center capabilities.
Real-time control
Agents can effectively place, receive, and transfer calls with full, real-time access to customer data in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
