By Corey Reyneker, VP Alliances, ProServeIT Corporation
Here’s an Office 365 Enterprise E3 scenario that ProServeIT is quite familiar with:
Your organization has chosen to upgrade to Office 365 Enterprise E3. From your research, you’ve learned that the Office 365 Enterprise E3 license will give you access to the email, file storage, and sharing tools that you’re looking for, plus you’ll be able to take advantage of Microsoft’s security and compliance tools. Furthermore, with a $25.30/user/month price tag, it’s a cost-effective Cloud solution. So, you start using Outlook and Skype for Business, implement SharePoint as your new Content Management System, tell your employees to use OneDrive, and embrace the convenience and security of Windows 10.
But that’s all you do. And, by limiting yourself to using only the most well-known Office 365 apps and services, you aren’t making the most of your Office 365 E3 investment. There’s so much more that Office 365 Enterprise E3 can do.
In this blog, we’ll use some examples from one of our recent customers, a financial services company, to show you how to get the maximum ROI from your Office 365 E3 license. We’ll discuss five lesser-known, but incredibly beneficial apps and services that come with the E3 licence, and we’ll talk about how they can be easily integrated in your organization.
Office 365 Enterprise E3 App #1: PowerApps
The Scenario: A secure, mobile CRM solution was needed
One of ProServeIT’s customers, a financial services company, had several financial advisors working for them. They needed a CRM system that would help them track the onboarding process for new clients of their financial advisors. This system would need to be mobile, as many of these financial advisors worked from home or on the road, and would need to be as secure as possible because client data would be inputted into the system.
The Solution: Built a Client Onboarding App, using PowerApps
Knowing that the financial services company had an Office 365 Enterprise E3 license, ProServeIT used PowerApps to build out a Client Onboarding App, which was downloaded to each of their financial advisors’ smartphones and laptop computers. The app allowed for a consistent customer experience and a prescriptive approach to dealing with customers.
- What Is PowerApps?
PowerApps helps you simply and securely build the web and mobile app(s) you need to solve your organization’s business problems. Whether you’re using a pre-built template, or you’re starting from scratch, PowerApps does not need code-writing knowledge or expertise to use, making it an ideal solution for a non-technical audience.
Office 365 Enterprise E3 App #2: Microsoft Bookings
The Scenario: Online, mobile booking platform was needed
The financial services company had a need for an online, yet mobile booking platform that would not only allow their financial advisors to book meetings with their clients through a centralized app, but would also allow their clients to book meetings with the financial advisors when needed.
The Solution: Set up Microsoft Bookings
ProServeIT assisted the customer in setting up Microsoft Bookings to be used by their financial advisors, their clients, and corporate headquarter.
- What Is Microsoft Bookings?
Microsoft Bookings, available both online and through a mobile app, allows small to medium businesses (like hair salons, dental offices, or financial services providers) to provide services to their customers on an appointment basis. It has three primary components: (1) clients can schedule appointments with the service provider; (2) businesses can manage staff lists and schedules, set business hours, and set services and pricing; and (3) a mobile app that allows the consultant/sales associate to look at their individual bookings, access customer contact information, and book meetings manually when required.
Office 365 Enterprise E3 App #3: StaffHub
The Scenario: A centralized online location for vacation and policy information was needed
In addition to the CRM and the booking needs, the financial services company also needed a way to schedule their financial advisors’ time off, as well as provide a secure place for them to get updates on policy changes and review important corporate documents. Once again, because of the nature of their work, many of the financial services advisors would need to be able to access all of this from their smartphones.
The Solution: Implemented Staffhub
ProServeIT helped the company implement StaffHub, which enabled the client to schedule time off and share the important corporate information that the financial advisors needed.
- What Is StaffHub?
StaffHub helps employees and employers create and view work schedules, request and share important corporate information, schedule or swap shifts if needed, manage time off requests, and more. Because StaffHub can easily be accessed from a mobile device, it’s ideal for organizations who employ frontline workers (like flight attendants, nurses and first responders, store employees, construction workers, personal trainers, etc.).
Office 365 Enterprise E3 App #4: Sway
The Scenario: Easy-to-use presentation tool was needed
The financial services company was looking for a way to make their financial advisors’ presentations to their clients stand out. They wanted easy-to-create designs that would not require the services of a graphic designer, and would be simple for the financial advisors to adjust and reuse.
The Solution: Suggested Sway
ProServeIT suggested Sway and showed how its built-in designs can easily be customized to match the company’s branding.
- What Is Sway?
A digital storytelling platform, Sway gives you the chance to create and share presentations, interactive reports, eye-catching blogs, company stories, or branded newsletters and email updates. Sway allows you to use the built-in design engines, or easily customize the look and feel of your content according to your own branding requirements.
Office 365 Enterprise E3 App #5: Flow
The Scenario: Looked for ways to automate some of the workflows
The financial service company was looking for a way to automate some of the workflows that happened between the corporate staff and the financial advisors that were working remotely. The corporate staff was constantly having to manually check when financial advisors had submitted a new customer’s information for approval, and the financial advisors would have to wait for manual approval from corporate before they could continue the customer’s journey.
The Solution: Built out a “new customer” workflow using Microsoft Flow.
Using Microsoft Flow, ProServeIT helped the company build out a “new customer” workflow that would automatically send an email to corporate staff whenever new customer information was received, when that customer has been approved, and send the financial advisor an email with the approval information they needed. ProServeIT provided training so that the company could use Microsoft Flow’s several templates to build out other workflows and automate more of their processes.
- What Is Flow?
Microsoft Flow is a Cloud-based service that helps you create automated workflows between the apps you use the most. You can either use the templates that are provided by Microsoft or design your own workflows. Get notifications when something’s happened, collect important data, or synchronize your files – whatever time-consuming business tasks and processes you have can be automated with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Make the Most of Your Office 365 Enterprise E3 License Today!
Do you currently have an Office 365 Enterprise E3 license? Are you familiar with all of the apps and services that come with it? Want to explore how you, like our financial services customer, can eliminate more of your IT debt and get the maximum ROI for your money? Then talk to us today! ProServeIT has been helping people migrate to the Cloud for over 15 years, with expertise in making sure that you’re getting the most out of your investment. Let us help you.
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