Third-Party Contact Center vs. Microsoft Queues App

Table of Contents

• The New Queues App in Microsoft Teams
• Third-Party Contact Center Solutions for Microsoft Teams
• Which Is Best for Customer Engagement? MS Queues App vs. Third-Party Contact Center Solution for MS Teams
• Feature Comparison: MS Queues App vs. Luware Nimbus
• Conclusion
  
  

Every day, more than 300 million people use Microsoft Teams to collaborate in the workplace. The platform integrates chat, calling, and video for a unified communications experience. However, the native cloud voice capabilities, including auto attendants and call queues, do not meet the needs of many organizations. Certified third-party contact center solutions can fill the gap. Now, Microsoft has announced the Queues app. In this blog post, we'll compare Microsoft's application with third-party alternatives. We'll see which is best for customer engagement.

The New Queues App in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft announced the new Queues App at Enterprise Connect 2024 in March. The app allows team members to manage customer calls. In the future, supervisors can use the app to monitor call queues, access reports, and analyze data.

Microsoft will release the new application in the summer of 2024. An exact release date is unknown. What we do know is that you will need a Microsoft Teams Premium license to use the app, which is licensed per user per month. The add-on also adds features such as intelligent AI capabilities and security features to Teams. For customer engagement, the Queues app adds features such as:

• 360-degree view of your call queue: Members can opt in or out of call queues and see real-time queue performance and statistics.
• Call handling: Members can transfer calls with one click or make outbound calls on behalf of a queue.
• Supervision: Managers can monitor and support their teams with Monitor, Barge, Whisper, and Takeover features (not yet available at launch).
• Real-time and historical reporting: Managers have access to a dashboard of relevant statistics and performance indicators.
  
  

Third-Party Contact Center Solutions for Microsoft Teams

Many third-party contact center integrations for Microsoft Teams already exist. They offer customer engagement features as well as advanced contact center capabilities. Different providers offer different levels of integration with Teams. However, contact center integrations built on the Extend model also offer a native Teams experience. With these contact center solutions, you can also manage your customer calls without leaving the platform.

Luware Nimbus provides detailed and consolidated insights into every corner of your contact center

An Extended contact center integrations for Microsoft Teams, such as Luware Nimbus, adds features such as:

• Workflow Editor: Integrate your business tools and automate workflows between them. With an intuitive drag-and-drop workflow editor, you can deploy workflows instantly.
• Intelligent Routing: Distribute calls, Emails, and tasks to members based on their skills or customer preferences. Users can use contact center features such as After-Call Work and RONA to effectively handle these.
• Simplified Administration: Supervisors can manage their entire contact center in the Luware Nimbus Admin Portal. More granular administration options exist with team roles and organizational units. This makes it easy to effectively manage complex organizational structures.
• In-depth real-time and historical reporting: Managers and members can create dashboards to keep track of their KPIs and monitor queues in real time. Consolidated reports are stored for all services and can be exported to a data warehouse.
  
  

Microsoft Queues App vs. Third-Party Contact Center Solution for Teams: Which Is Best for Customer Engagement?

To ensure a seamless customer journey, it's important to empower agents with tools for quick visibility and efficient handling of requests. Consolidating these tools into one platform eliminates the need to switch between applications and provides supervisors with unified reporting. For simpler needs, small organizations may find the call management features of the Queues app appealing. However, larger, more complex organizations may find it lacks essential features such as complex IVR, skill-based routing, and deep-reporting. In such cases, third-party solutions such as Luware Nimbus offer more comprehensive functionality. Luware Nimbus allows all customer service scenarios to be handled in a single system, providing a unified experience and reporting. Since Luware Nimbus is built on the Extend model, you still get a native Teams experience and never have to leave the platform. Using a single application streamlines administration. While the Queues app requires configuring settings in the Teams Admin Center and managing queues separately, Luware Nimbus provides centralized control through its Admin Portal. For organizations with straightforward needs, the Queues app offers a budget-friendly option with additional Teams Premium features. However, for advanced support and compliance assurance, a third-party provider such as Luware Nimbus is a better option.

Microsoft Queues App vs. Luware Nimbus: Feature Comparison

Conclusion