To provide contact center agents with access to a customer's payment history from an external billing system, configuring Salesforce Connect to integrate External Objects is advised. This solution enables real-time access to billing data directly within Salesforce, eliminating the need for direct access to the external system and streamlining the process for agents handling billing-related inquiries.

Salesforce Connect allows seamless integration with external systems, enabling real-time access to data stored outside of Salesforce without the need for data duplication. By utilizing External Objects, datafrom an enterprise data warehouse (EDW) can be represented within Salesforce, allowing users to access and generate reports on work order data directly.
This approach offers several advantages:
* Real-Time Data Access:Users can view the most current data without waiting for scheduled imports.
* Reduced Storage Costs:Since data isn't stored within Salesforce, it minimizes storage usage and associated costs.
* Simplified Maintenance:Eliminates the need for complex data synchronization processes.
Compared to importing data via Data Loader or implementing batch integration processes, Salesforce Connect provides a more streamlined and efficient solution for accessing external data sources.
References:
https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.salesforce_connect.htm&language=en_US&type=5
https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference
/sforce_api_objects_external_objects.htm