Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center fall 2026 updates

Microsoft continues to expand the AI and automation capabilities of Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Dynamics 365 Contact Center. The Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center 2026 release wave 2 updates focus on improving service quality, simplifying performance evaluations, supporting multilingual conversations, and making customer service operations more efficient.

Microsoft is also changing how it announces new Dynamics 365 features. Starting in September 2026, Microsoft moved its Dynamics 365 roadmap to AI at Work and ended the traditional release wave publishing model. Instead of publishing large release plans twice a year, Microsoft will announce new capabilities throughout the year. Regular product updates will continue, but organizations will need to monitor the roadmap more frequently. In this article, we explore the most important fall 2026 updates for Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center, their business benefits, and what organizations should consider before adopting them.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service helps organizations manage customer cases, knowledge, and service operations in one system. The fall Customer Service 2026 release wave 2 updates focus on making quality evaluations more flexible and extending service capabilities into connected AI workflows.

Improve service quality with more accurate AI-powered evaluations

Evaluating service quality can be time-consuming when supervisors manually review cases to determine whether representatives followed established procedures. The Quality Evaluation Agent in Dynamics 365 Customer Service helps automate this process by assessing cases against configured criteria and generating quality scores and insights. Microsoft is expanding these capabilities with enhancements that give quality managers greater control over evaluations.

Key enhancements include:

• Evaluate custom case-like records: Extend on-demand evaluations beyond standard cases to supported custom Dataverse records that follow similar service workflows. This capability is identified as a public preview in Microsoft’s roadmap.
• Use knowledge sources in evaluation criteria: Reference approved knowledge articles, policies, and guidance to assess whether representatives followed established service standards. This preview capability applies to case and on-demand evaluations.
• View detailed scoring breakdowns: See how question-level and section-level results contribute to the overall evaluation score.
• Exclude irrelevant questions: Mark evaluation questions as Not Applicable so criteria that do not apply are excluded from scoring.
• Inactivate evaluation records: Remove incorrect, duplicate, or outdated evaluations from active scoring and analytics while preserving the underlying records for traceability.

These enhancements can make quality evaluations more accurate and relevant to an organization’s service processes. For example, a customer service team managing warranty claims may need to verify that representatives followed specific eligibility requirements. By incorporating approved knowledge sources into evaluation criteria, managers can assess whether cases align with documented policies.

Detailed scoring also helps supervisors identify coaching opportunities. Rather than relying on a single overall score, managers can review specific questions and sections to understand where improvements are needed. Together, these capabilities give service teams more control over how quality is measured, helping them maintain consistent standards while reducing manual review efforts. To explore existing capabilities, read what AI agents are available in Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

Bring Customer Service data and actions into AI-powered workflows

Customer service teams frequently switch between applications to retrieve information, update cases, and complete routine tasks. Microsoft is expanding how Dynamics 365 Customer Service information and actions can be accessed through supported AI experiences using the Dynamics 365 Model Context Protocol (MCP).

The fall 2026 roadmap highlights Service tools, skills, and plugins for supported experiences, including Chat, Cowork, Code, and Scout. These capabilities build on the existing Dynamics 365 MCP foundation rather than introducing MCP itself for the first time.

Key capabilities include:

• Access customer service information: Retrieve supported Dynamics 365 Customer Service data within connected AI experiences.
• Perform service actions: Complete supported tasks without navigating directly to Dynamics 365 for every interaction.
• Maintain security controls: Use first-party tools that respect existing Dynamics 365 permissions and business logic.
• Connect service workflows: Bring customer service context and guided actions into supported AI-powered environments.

For example, a representative working in a connected AI experience could retrieve relevant case information without manually searching multiple Dynamics 365 pages. These integrations use the Service package delivered through Dynamics 365 MCP. Supported tools respect the user’s existing permissions and Dynamics 365 business logic on each call, helping organizations maintain governance over service information and actions.

By bringing service capabilities into connected workflows, organizations can reduce application switching and help employees complete supported tasks more efficiently. Availability is tracked separately for individual experiences, so organizations should verify supported functionality, configuration requirements, and release status before deployment.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center helps organizations manage customer interactions across voice and digital channels while providing representatives and supervisors with tools to improve service delivery. The fall Dynamics 365 Contact Center 2026 release wave 2 updates introduce enhancements to multilingual communication and quality monitoring, particularly for organizations handling large conversation volumes or combining human representatives with automated support.

Support multilingual customers with built-in real-time translation

Organizations serving customers across different regions often rely on multilingual representatives or additional translation services to support digital conversations. Microsoft is introducing an enhanced out-of-the-box real-time translation experience for supported digital channels in Dynamics 365 Contact Center.

This capability is designed to reduce the need for organizations to provide their own web-based translation resources. It also introduces updated settings that allow representatives to tailor conversations around their language preferences and existing skills.

Key benefits include:

• Simpler translation setup: Reduce the need to configure and maintain separate web-based translation resources.
• Improved multilingual communication: Help representatives support customers who communicate in different languages.
• More personalized conversations: Allow representatives to use supported language preferences and configuration settings.
• Less manual translation work: Make translated digital conversations easier to follow and manage.

For example, a customer service team supporting English- and Spanish-speaking customers could use the translation capability to assist with digital conversations that might otherwise require additional language resources.

This can be particularly valuable for organizations expanding into new markets without immediately increasing the number of multilingual representatives. Before adopting the feature, organizations should verify preview or general availability status, supported languages, eligible digital channels, and configuration requirements.

Monitor contact center quality with recurring conversation evaluations

Contact center managers need consistent insight into how representatives handle customer interactions. However, relying on manually selected conversations or evaluations triggered only when conversations close can make ongoing monitoring difficult. Microsoft is expanding the Quality Evaluation Agent in Dynamics 365 Contact Center to support recurring conversation evaluations.

Previously, evaluation plans supported event-based triggers when conversations closed. The new capability allows quality teams to run evaluations at recurring intervals based on configured conditions.

With recurring evaluations, quality managers can:

• Run bulk evaluations on previously closed conversations.
• Evaluate future closed conversations that meet specified conditions.
• Select samples of conversations for targeted quality reviews.
• Schedule ongoing evaluations without relying solely on conversation-close events.

For example, a contact center manager could establish recurring evaluations of a sample of customer complaint conversations to identify common issues and assess how representatives respond. The ability to review historical conversations also supports retrospective analysis, helping organizations identify patterns that may require additional training or process changes. Recurring evaluations can establish a more consistent quality monitoring process while reducing the administrative work involved in organizing manual reviews.

Evaluate representatives and automated interactions separately

Many contact centers use a combination of human representatives, interactive voice response (IVR) systems, and AI-powered bots to handle customer requests. When an interaction involves multiple participants, evaluating the entire conversation may not reveal which portion of the experience needs improvement. Microsoft is introducing a Participant evaluated setting that allows quality managers to select which portion of a conversation transcript should be assessed.

The setting supports three evaluation options:

The default option is Entire record. The setting is available for supported on-demand evaluations initiated from the conversation list or evaluation plan.

For example, when a customer begins a conversation with a virtual agent before being transferred to a representative, a manager can evaluate the automated portion separately to assess how effectively the bot handled the initial request.

Alternatively, the manager can focus on the representative’s portion to identify coaching opportunities. By evaluating specific parts of an interaction, contact centers can identify whether service improvements are needed in automated workflows, representative performance, or the overall customer experience.

How to prepare for the fall 2026 Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center updates

New features can help improve service operations, but organizations should evaluate how they fit into existing workflows before adoption. To prepare for the Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center 2026 release wave 2 updates, service and IT teams should review their existing processes, assess feature requirements, and establish a regular process for monitoring upcoming capabilities.

Here are five steps to consider:

1. Review current service processes. Identify where manual quality reviews, inconsistent evaluations, or language barriers create additional work.
2. Evaluate quality criteria. Review existing scoring standards and determine whether knowledge sources, detailed scoring, or recurring evaluations could improve quality monitoring.
3. Assess AI and security requirements. Confirm that user permissions, data access controls, licensing, and governance policies support planned features and integrations.
4. Test capabilities before wider adoption. Validate evaluation criteria, scoring behavior, translation settings, and supported AI actions in an appropriate test environment.
5. Prepare representatives and supervisors. Provide training on new capabilities and explain how they will affect daily workflows, performance reviews, and reporting.

Organizations should also monitor Microsoft’s AI at Work roadmap for updated release dates, preview restrictions, and configuration requirements.

Get more value from your Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center investment with Rand Group

With over 20 years of Microsoft business application experience and more than 3,000 client engagements, Rand Group helps organizations implement, optimize, and support Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Dynamics 365 Contact Center. Our experienced consultants combine technical expertise with practical business knowledge to improve service operations, automate workflows, and strengthen customer experiences.

Our 90% client retention rate reflects our commitment to long-term partnerships. From configuring AI-powered service capabilities to providing ongoing Dynamics 365 consulting and support, Rand Group helps organizations adopt new features, improve performance, and get more value from their Microsoft investments.

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Prepare your customer service operations for what’s next

The fall 2026 updates offer new ways to improve quality management, multilingual support, and AI-assisted customer service. Organizations that review these capabilities against their existing processes can identify where the changes may deliver the most value. Rand Group helps organizations implement, optimize, and support Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center. Whether you’re planning to adopt new AI features, strengthen service workflows, or improve contact center performance, contact Rand Group to discuss your next steps.