In the last 100 years, the speed at which new automation inventions have hit the market has exploded.
Cars, washing machines, microwaves; all designed to allow consumers to accomplish common, laborious tasks in a fraction of the time.
Automation can save you time and effort. But automation at its most effective and powerful is not only about saving time. Instead of just looking for ways to use business automation to save us time and effort, we should be looking for ways to use business automation to IMPROVE our results.
Smart business automation can...
- Improve business processes
- Enhance customer service abilities
- Increase profits
Microsoft Flow is a service that helps you create automated workflows between your favorite apps and services to synchronise files, get notifications, collect data, and more.
It is Cloud-Based and included in most of the Microsoft Office 365 Business and Enterprise plans.
Here are some common use examples of Microsoft Flow:
1. Customised alert
Send advanced notifications on actions for certain threshold. Create a flow that sends you a text message whenever there’s an priority email send to you so you don’t miss it.
2. Getting files to work
Automate time-consuming tasks between services. Create a flow that copies files from a OneDrive for Business folder up to team's SharePoint site.
3. Approve This!
Create an approval flow for timesheet approval, leave approval or change request approvals. Simplify and automate approval processes with an in-email approval button.
Other examples of what you can do with Microsoft Flow:
- Integrate with Power Apps on mobile phones.
- Integrate with other business services such as Slack, MailChimp, Azure, Microsoft SharePoint, Facebook, Twitter – both inside and outside the Office 365 platform.
Microsoft Flow at Designertech
Introducing Athena, Designertech's AI bot.
Athena promises a means to communicate simply and automate tasks. Athena’s main focus is to address the problem of integration and automation.
- Athena’s first task is to automate Continuous Computing’s Change Control process using Microsoft Flow. Continuous Computing’s customers have already been switched to the automated Change Control process by using Microsoft Flow.
- Customers can now approve or reject Change Control by clicking a button directly within the email. Feedback can be provided when the change is completed.
- All these processes and information are captured by Athena which can then be used for further analysis for service improvement.
This automated Change Control process will soon be taken over by Athena. Please feel free to provide your feedback when you receive an email from Athena.
And, of course, there will be more automation to come soon...We're excited to see what we can do with Microsoft Flow for your business.
Be creative. What are the processes that you are still doing manually in your business?
Find out more about Office 365
