“The Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Suite has
been a revolution for us. Its cutting-edge tools have improved almost every aspect of our business, helping us to achieve a 40 percent rise in revenue
for the year.”
Greg Scott, General Manager, Chelgrave Contracting
Without a properly integrated intranet system, Chelgrave Contracting were using manual paper-based systems to operate their business. They needed a more effective way to connect their four offices and remote staff, and establish real-time communication and collaboration.
Chelgrave deployed Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), giving each staff member ‘anywhere, any time’ access to business applications, databases, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and collaboration tools. This has helped to boost staff productivity significantly, and in turn has helped Chelgrave generate 40% more revenue than at the same time last year.
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“Staff can follow our procedures through the flowcharts, which have built-in links directing them to the e-forms and other documents they need at every stage.” |
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Greg Scott, General Manager,
Chelgrave |
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Business Needs
Of Chelgrave’s 15 staff members, four or five Area Supervisors were regularly on the road in contact with clients and employees. Equipped with a standard mobile phone, they were very restricted in how they could get information to and from head office.
Greg Scott, General Manager at Chelgrave Contracting, comments: “If an Area Supervisor needed to get a quote, they would write out a request on paper, which would eventually arrive back at the office one or two days later. It could take up to five days to process the form, generate the quote and deliver it to the client.”
Even at the office, staff relied heavily on paper-based procedures.
“We had Microsoft Exchange hosted on our server and a Microsoft SharePoint licence, but we weren’t using it,” said Scott. “We needed to build an intranet so everyone could access our processes, data and tools.”
Chelgrave has no internal IT staff, so they needed a solution they could implement and manage with minimal assistance and cost.
Solution
Chelgrave called in a Microsoft certified partner, Paradyne, for an in-depth consultation.
“Paradyne took the time to carefully evaluate our business direction and desired outcomes,” Scott recalls.
Scott opted for hosted Microsoft® Online Services, which includes a suite of business applications available online. The company upgraded to business broadband and Paradyne helped create a wireless intranet solution based on the document collaboration service, Microsoft SharePoint® Online.
The intranet was completed within a month of the initial consultation.
“It was painless,” says Scott. “Even the change management was simple – and we’ve got staff who have been here 25 years.”
Now each mobile staff member is equipped with a netbook, smartphone or both, allowing 24/7 online access to all Chelgrave applications, procedures, forms, calendars, databases and CRM tools in the cloud.
Scott uses Microsoft® PowerPoint® to quickly develop web pages he can link together to form online flowcharts.
“Staff can follow our procedures through the flowcharts, which have built-in links directing them to the e-forms and other documents they need at every stage,” he says.
Microsoft® Office Live Meeting has also been a hit with staff initiating teleconferences when previously they scheduled face-to-face meetings.
Lastly, Scott has found the intranet particularly useful for training.
“I can show staff how to use a new technology in minutes and they can start using it right away, instead of travelling in for a meeting.”
Benefits
Faster workflows make for happy staff and happy clients
Eliminating paper-based systems and migrating to a cloud-based solution has saved Chelgrave staff so much time they are already asking for more tools. The quotes that used to take as much as five days can now be turned around in 20 minutes with a few clicks of the mouse.
“Everyone quickly became enthusiastic about working in a more informed, better connected and productive environment,” says Scott.
Chelgrave’s remote staff members are also saving time, fuel and toll costs now that there is no need to return to head office simply to deliver paperwork.
“Most importantly, our clients are impressed by our rapid turn-around on work,” Scott adds. “We have even picked up new clients as a result of our improved performance.”
Greater efficiency and productivity has helped boost
revenue 40%
Chelgrave is already 40% up on their revenue compared to the same time last year and Scott acknowledges that Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite is a major contributing factor.
In addition, Scott estimates that the time and fuel saved simply by empowering staff to work effectively while on the road will save Chelgrave at least $100,000 over the course of the year.
Hosted IT can cost less, save time and be easier to manage
Lastly, because Chelgrave outsource their IT, they don’t have to think about server management, back-up, disaster recovery, installing and upgrading software, monitoring security, troubleshooting or any other IT maintenance issues. All this is taken care of by Microsoft and their network service provider Telstra.
“I used to call in IT support when something went wrong, then put up with costly downtime while we waited for them to arrive and address the problem,” says Scott.
“Now we just pay a monthly bill and it’s all managed for us. We haven’t had any downtime yet. And I don’t even have to think about new software – the latest products and upgrades just appear automatically.”
Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite
Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Suite is a set of messaging and collaboration tools, delivered as a subscription service, that deliver rich capabilities without the need to deploy and maintain software and hardware on-premise. These online services are designed to help meet your needs for robust security, all-day every-day reliability and user productivity.
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services call the sales and information line on 13 20 58 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm AEST. To find a partner or solution, visit www.microsoft.com/australia/findapartner/
