Microsoft, the tech giant, has announced a new suite of tools and integrations that aim to empower frontline workers with next-generation AI solutions. The company said that these innovations will help frontline workers improve efficiency, enhance customer experiences, and enable faster decision making.
Copilot: A new AI assistant for service professionals
One of the key features of the new suite is Copilot, a new AI assistant that integrates with Dynamics 365 Field Service, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams. Copilot uses generative AI to streamline work order creation, optimize technician scheduling, and generate draft responses to customer messages without switching apps.
Copilot leverages natural language processing and deep learning to understand the context and intent of customer requests and provide relevant suggestions. For example, Copilot can extract key information from an email or a chat message, such as the customer name, location, issue, and urgency, and use it to create a work order with pre-populated details.
Copilot can also recommend the best technician for the job based on factors such as availability, skillset, travel time, and customer feedback. Additionally, Copilot can help service managers communicate with customers by generating draft responses that summarize the next steps and confirm the appointment details.
Microsoft said that Copilot can help frontline service professionals save time, reduce errors, and improve customer satisfaction. The company also claimed that Copilot is the first AI assistant of its kind in the market that can handle complex scenarios and workflows across multiple applications.
Other AI tools and integrations for frontline workers
Besides Copilot, Microsoft also introduced other AI tools and integrations that aim to boost frontline productivity and collaboration. Some of these are:
- Walkie Talkie in Teams: A push-to-talk experience that enables frontline workers to communicate instantly and securely with their colleagues using their smartphones or tablets. Walkie Talkie in Teams also supports voice transcription and translation, allowing workers to communicate across languages and regions.
- Shifts in Teams: A schedule management tool that enables frontline managers to create and share schedules, assign tasks, request time off, and swap shifts with their teams. Shifts in Teams also integrates with third-party workforce management systems, such as Kronos and JDA.
- Power Apps in Teams: A low-code app development platform that enables frontline workers to build custom apps that suit their specific needs and workflows. Power Apps in Teams also supports AI Builder, a feature that allows users to add AI capabilities to their apps, such as object detection, form processing, and sentiment analysis.
- Power Automate Desktop: A robotic process automation (RPA) tool that enables frontline workers to automate repetitive and manual tasks across desktop applications. Power Automate Desktop also supports AI models from Azure Cognitive Services, such as computer vision, speech recognition, and natural language understanding.
Microsoft said that these tools and integrations are designed to help frontline workers perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively by leveraging the power of next-generation AI.
