Whether it is for service or sales visits, it is key to get information fed back real time from your employee to the office and your central system. Mobile ‘road warriors’ need to be visible within your company IT infrastructure which in turn removes the temptation to work autonomously in silos when away from the office.
Using Microsoft Power Apps in your business
Using data from your central system or by populating information in a SharePoint list, deploy a power app like this one to provide your road warriors with the means to sign off calls with customers and report back on activity from site in real time.
Using a Microsoft Power App – Benefits
- Get email reports directly and automatically to customers upon completion providing great customer service and saving time for not only your mobile operative but the office-based team.
- Ensure the office is advised promptly when a call is completed, so that consumables and labour can be invoiced immediately.
How Does this Microsoft Power App for Sales and Service Engineers work?
Pull Information from your Central System
The information you can draw from your central system will depend on the system that you have and the quality of the information in it. If your business is already using a central system with great data then automating the data exchange to a Power App is the obvious choice.
Use SharePoint lists (included in Microsoft 365 licensing)
Using SharePoint lists circumnavigates the need for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) licensing. The Power App pushes data to and from your mobile team via SharePoint to an office-based user who is already ERP licensed.
If you do not have a central system, you can build a SharePoint list for your service and sales calls and push/receive the information to/from your external team.
Here are some examples of what can be achieved with a good Power App, an F3 (frontline worker) licence and a Microsoft Surface Go for business. Look at this article; (Link) about licensing your Frontline Workers and why you should consider doing it.
- Put stock lists together for service engineer’s vans to fulfil jobs.
- Capture those stock requirements and adjustments in your central system upon completion of a call and the automatic submission of the visit report.
- Record Serial numbers of replaced parts to maintain traceability.
- Attach Sight inspection photographs to visit reports.
- Need a signature? No problem – devices like the Microsoft Surface go for business has the digital pen for the job. Deliveries, service visits etc can be signed for by your staff member and your customers. A real time proof that the job is complete, and the invoice can be raised, or the SLA has been met.
The above describes just some of the information that can be documented (fully branded documentation, of course) by using a Power App as part of your Microsoft productivity toolkit.
What’s the cost of licensing my Sales & Service Engineers to use a Power App?
(Less than £25 a month per engineer, actually)
The licensing costs for Power Apps + Frontline Worker licences are keen when you consider the cost of an external, stand-alone app system to cater for your mobile workforce who will have a Microsoft 365 licence already, or additional licensing for your ERP central system.
Using an F3 licence with a device like a Microsoft Surface Go Professional also ensures that your device can be fully policied and protected whilst ‘out on the road’. The F3 Frontline Worker licence provides your mobile team with the Microsoft 365 productivity tools they need. The Power App for Visit Reports ensures real time reporting on off-site activities.
Thought for the Day
Qi will provide advice and consultancy on licensing for your mobile staff, in addition to working with you to review your wider Microsoft portfolio. The Microsoft licensing landscape is ever changing and reviewing subscriptions regularly is important. We will work with you to create the Power App you need to keep off site activities, organised, accountable, reportable, and profitable.
Contact Qi Ltd for an initial discussion
