What is coming to Dynamics 365 Contact Center in 2026 Release Wave 1

Microsoft has officially dropped the 2026 Release Wave 1 plans for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform and I had to jump right in! I’ve spent the last few weeks going through everything to really understand what’s coming in this release. As always, I’ll be creating a series of blogs and videos breaking it all down, highlighting the features you actually need to care about. In in my previous article I discussed all new things in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, and in this one, I’m focusing on what’s coming to Dynamics 365 Contact Center. Quick heads up before we dive in: the old “opt-in” approach is gone. Instead, access now comes through the monthly release channel, as the Early Access model has officially been retired and replaced.

Evaluate multiple conversations using Quality Evaluation Agent

The first feature (as the name already explains) is related to the Quality Evaluation Agent. If you’re not familiar with this AI agent, let me explain what it is designed to do. The Quality Evaluation Agent reviews how your customer service team is doing by evaluating cases and/or conversations based on configured criteria. It checks things like how the customer service rep spoke to the customer, whether they followed the right steps, and if the issue was handled well. Instead of a manager having to review everything manually, the agent does it autonomously (or semi-autonomously) and gives helpful feedback. This makes it easier to spot what’s going well, where agents might need coaching, and helps teams deliver better, more consistent customer service. Today we can select multiple cases and run evaluations for them all at once, but that wasn’t possible for conversations. This feature will make that possible.

Equip voice agents with custom voice

A company’s brand goes far beyond visuals like logos, colors, and fonts, it also includes how the brand sounds. This feature lets organizations create a unique, natural-sounding voice for their voice agents (IVR). Businesses can build a voice that feels consistent with their brand and that is easy for customers to recognize. That voice can then be used to create more personal, consistent, and engaging customer experiences. Instead of generic, robotic interactions, customers experience conversations that feel more human and aligned with the company they’re engaging with. This not only improves the overall customer experience but also builds stronger brand recognition and trust over time. Ultimately, it allows organizations to deliver more personal, engaging, and cohesive voice-based interactions across their AI-powered agents and contact center experiences.

Use representatives for commercial proactive engagement

Organizations that proactively reach out to customers, whether for upselling, cross-selling, or general outreach also need to be mindful of regulations designed to protect consumers. One of the most important of these is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which has rules and guidelines around how and when businesses can contact individuals, helping prevent unwanted calls. This feature will help organizations to stay compliant to those rules. Once this feature is enabled, proactive engagements that comply with the TCPA rules can be created from the Admin Center. Admins can configure the type of engagement, either led by CSR’s or led by AI. They also have the option to configure a message to be played if an answering machine or voicemail answers the call.

Use SMS channel to engage with customers proactively

This is another feature related to using the Contact Center (and Customer Insights – Journeys or another application) for proactive engagement. In this release Microsoft is adding the SMS channel, giving organizations a new way to connect with customers. This means you can now include outbound text messaging as part of your engagement strategy, but please note that you will need an SMS provider to use this feature. Adding an SMS channel for outreach helps meet customers where they already are, making communication feel more immediate and convenient. It also opens the door for more responsive customer interactions compared to channels like email or phone calls.

Use data masking to protect customer data

This feature builds on the existing automatic data masking capabilities that we are already familiar with. This takes data protection one step further by giving Customer Service Representatives more control. While automatic masking helps detect and mask sensitive information in real time, this enhancement allows agents to manually redact specific customer messages when needed. This is especially useful in scenarios where sensitive details, like personal identifiers like social security numbers, payment information like credit card numbers, or other confidential data may not have been picked up by automated masking rules. With this new feature, Customer Service Reps can make sure that any sensitive information shared is not stored in the system, helping organizations maintain stronger data privacy standards.

Delight your customers with the enhanced chat widget

This feature will not just delight your customers, it will also delight you! Yes we are getting an updated chat widget! This new chat widget will have faster load times, a more modern look and enhanced media support! System admins will be able to access the script for the new widget through a new script tag in the workstream configuration window, I assume this will be in the same place we can access the script now, but we’ll have to wait and see!

Cancel voice consult with external number

At first I didn’t understand what this meant when I read the release notes, but this is actually a great new feature! This will give customer service representatives more control during call transfers. In the past, if a Customer Service Rep started a transfer and the call started ringing or attempting to connect, they would have to wait for the process to complete or time out. With this enhancement, CSR’s can now cancel a transfer immediately while it’s still in progress. This can come in handy if, for example, the transfer was made in error, the wrong department was selected, etc. Now they can stop the transfer right away and take back control of the call immediately. This improves efficiency but it also helps create a smoother experience for both the CSR and the customer by reducing those hated wait times and misrouted calls. I love the fact that this feature will be enabled automatically, no configuration or setup is required so organizations can start benefiting from it right away!

Split recordings speaker-wise in closed conversation view

This feature gives organizations more flexibility and visibility into call recordings by separating audio into individual tracks for each person on the call. Instead of one recording, everyone on the call (I.E. the customer and the customer service representative) has their own dedicated audio track. This makes it much easier to review conversations without having to listen to the entire call from start to finish. For example, supervisors can quickly jump to a specific section of a participant’s call track to better understand what was said, evaluate their performance (in the case of a CSR), or investigate any issues. It also makes tasks like coaching a lot simpler! Overall, I think this enhancement saves time and improves efficiency by making call recordings easier to navigate!

Get queue availability data from representative availability APIs

This feature gives organizations a clear, real-time view of which Customer Service Reps are available and how long customers might have to wait. Using APIs, it looks at what’s happening across queues and helps route customers to the right person faster. In simple terms, it helps AI Agents make smarter decisions, either by connecting customers more quickly or by letting them know exactly how long they’ll have to wait. This means fewer surprises, shorter wait times, and better use of your team’s time.

Analyze adherence history to optimize workforce planning

This is a feature related to the Workforce Engagement Management solution in D365 Contact Center.  The Adherence History Report helps managers understand how closely Customer Service Representatives follow their assigned schedules, like being available when they’re supposed to, taking breaks at the right time, and/or handling tasks as planned. The report is made up of charts that highlight trends over time, adherence percentage and time off-schedule, and detailed activity breakdowns for each Customer Service Representative. This helps Supervisors spot patterns, identify where schedules aren’t being followed, and if needed, make improvements. Overall, it gives Customer Service teams better visibility into how time is being used so they can run more efficiently. I hope you enjoyed this article! Be sure to check in again soon or subscribe here to never miss another post!