Microsoft evolves its customer-centric solutions with new Parature release

REDMOND, Wash. — Jan. 7, 2015 — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) on Wednesday announced the Spring ’15 release for Parature from Microsoft, adding new capabilities that empower brands and organizations to deliver engaging customer self-service solutions across applications, channels and devices. This new release emphasizes productivity for customer service professionals by delivering insights “above the service queue” to help agents quickly understand, diagnose and resolve issues that customers may face. With this release, Parature will now be available for purchase through Microsoft Online Services — providing customers with unified purchase and support experiences along with existing Microsoft cloud services. The release of the service will be available in 50 markets worldwide and be offered in 10 languages.

“More and more, people are choosing the brands that give them unique, tailored and fulfilling customer service experiences,” said Bob Stutz, corporate vice president of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. “Parature’s customer-centric capabilities enable organizations to deliver personalized customer care and, when combined with the clear business processes and intelligence of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, give our customers the high-quality solutions their businesses demand.”

With its Spring ’15 release, Parature is introducing more than 30 high-priority features that will not only increase the productivity and proactivity of customer service teams but also give agents increasing above-the-queue insights to improve and personalize each customer experience. The service also includes multilingual and translation capabilities, Parature’s knowledge integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and the introduction of Parature’s highly anticipated omni-portal that will enhance enterprise service scenarios.

Since Microsoft acquired Parature in January 2014, Parature’s knowledge management and self-service technology has become a valuable addition to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution, with customizable integrations between Parature and Microsoft Dynamics CRM that can be tailored to unique customer needs. This progress and advancement of service capabilities through Parature has helped Microsoft earn top honors in the 2014 CRM Magazine Service Leader Awards. Gartner has also positioned Microsoft as a Leader in its 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center* based on its ability to execute and completeness of vision.

Customers such as Chobani, nTelos Wireless and Microsoft OneDrive are currently using Parature to deliver amazing experiences to their customers.

“Parature’s Spring ’15 is the largest release in the history of Parature in terms of features and functionality,” said Bill Patterson, senior director, customer self-service solutions, Microsoft. “We’re incredibly excited about the capabilities we’re delivering here across all major service channels, including self-service, mobile, social, chat, portal and ticketing. Even more exciting is how Parature’s market expansion, omni-portal, multilingual and translation capabilities now enable it to be deployed in enterprises on a global scale.”

To find out more about this release, the Release Preview Guide can be accessed at http://download.microsoft.com/downl...B/Parature-Spring15-Release-Preview-Guide.pdf. Customers can also request a demo of the service at http://www.parature.com. More information and news is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/dynamics. Those who want to follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics Twitter community can do so at @MSFTDynamics.

About Microsoft Dynamics

At the heart of every successful business are the people who make things happen. Microsoft Dynamics designs modern business solutions that empower individuals with intuitive tools that allow them to do their best work. Our proactive, easy-to-use business applications adapt to the way people and systems work, enabling businesses to rapidly deploy and be forward-looking in an ever-changing world.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Gartner Inc., Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center, Michael Maoz, 24, April, 2014. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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