Microsoft Targets Salesforce Clients With New Tools to Aid Sales Reps

Microsoft Corp. introduced Viva Sales, a new program meant to connect its Office and video conferencing programs with customer-relationship management software — its own and that of rivals, a step that could help it garner revenue from Salesforce Inc. clients.

The program, available to preview next month, lets users of customer management programs synchronize information between those products and Microsoft’s Outlook address books and calendars or Teams conferencing and chat. Viva Sales also uses artificial intelligence tools to scan calls and interactions with clients, analyzing customer sentiment to see what actions and marketing material are working well, and provide feedback to the sales representative.