Trace Id is missing
July 23, 2020

Telstra citizen developers automate processes with Power Apps in Microsoft Teams, giving millions of minutes back to the business

When bushfires erupted in Australia in November 2019, it was the beginning of a catastrophic fire season that finally ended in February 2020. Then devastating storms swept through eastern New South Wales, causing flooding and power outages. Throughout it all, Telstra field technicians mobilized rapidly in challenging conditions to restore communications for residents.

Telstra

“Since we used Teams to build Technician Plus and created more than 77 apps to automate processes, we’ve returned 10 million minutes to the business and generated substantial financial benefits.”

Nathan Backers, Senior Business Specialist, Field Digitalization Team, Telstra

“Telstra is the largest telecommunications company in Australia, and we have a legacy of being one of the first utility companies onsite in times of crisis,” says David Burns, Global Business Services, Group Executive at Telstra. “We’ve worked hard to make sure our field technicians are able to access information and record issues quicker, and we’ve been able to leverage tools such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Power Platform to help us do that.”

‘Citizen developers’ simplify operations, improve customer experience

Telstra has been using Microsoft 365 and Teams for collaboration for almost two years. As it embarked on its strategy, dubbed Telstra 22, focused on simplifying operations and providing a better experience for employees and customers. The company also created Global Business Services (GBS) to bring together the many processes being done in different business units across Telstra into one. This solution not only reduced business silos, it brought together repeatable business processes—including payroll, procurement, billing and credit, and customer faults and activations. 

Field teams quickly adopted Teams and Microsoft Power Platform—including Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate. Enthusiastic “citizen developers” in the Field Digitalization Team began using Power Apps to automate manual processes they knew from experience slowed customer service. The team created more than 77 apps, everything from automating the flow of customer service tickets from creation to resolution, to simplifying overtime reporting. All the apps are consolidated in Teams—in a “one-stop shop” called Technician Plus. “Since we used Teams to build Technician Plus and created more than 77 apps to automate processes, we’ve returned 10 million minutes to the business and generated substantial financial benefits,” says Nathan Backers, Senior Business Specialist, Field Digitalization Team at Telstra. 

Thousands of field technicians access the apps, data, communications, and training videos on their corporate-issued mobile devices. “Before, technicians searched through different systems, applications, and shared drives to find the data and tools they needed to work,” says Richard French, Field Digitization Principal at Telstra. “Now they have everything they need in one place, and that place is Teams. Along with other projects we’re implementing, this has really helped to simplify their work lives.” 

So, when bushfires spread across the countryside, technicians in the Field Digitalization Team already had the skills to spin up a custom app with Power Apps to help them plan for restoration as quickly as possible. The Fire Inspection App photographs network sites, catalogs burned equipment, and uploads the data to resource coordinators back at the office. “The resource coordinators reviewed reports created in Power BI to make decisions about delegating resources to solve issues in the field,” says Backers. “We used Teams to coordinate our recovery efforts and accelerate reconnecting services in devastated areas.” 

When the heavy rains arrived, it took a few tweaks to the Fire Inspection App to become the Flood Inspection App, and the field technicians continued to provide service recovery in yet another difficult situation. “We take advantage of reusable components in our apps when we need something quickly in a crisis,” explains Backers. “We can take our generic field data capturing app and retrofit for any specific disaster that may occur, and each app is easily accessible in Teams.”

Helping customers through the crisis

No one had any inkling that immediately following the floods, COVID-19 would be that next challenge. The company continued to use Technician Plus as the go-to place for frontline workers to access their workplace communications and apps—now full of content relating to new safety processes to keep technicians safe. There are supportive messages from senior management, and important updates to changes in business processes. For example, technicians regularly check Teams for updates to new social distancing workplace protocols. The Field Digitalization Team also modified the Technicians Take Five job safety analysis app that must be completed before anyone commences work onsite. They added COVID-19 screening questions for field technicians to ask customers before entering their premises. “We wanted to ensure our technicians take all precautions while they continue to provide services,” says Backers. “With cross-state travel being heavily monitored, we added an Authorization to Work letter to Technician Plus. Now it’s easy for a technician to show the authorities at state borders their completed paperwork.” 

Teams also provided a way for Telstra’s thousands of employees to stay connected when they moved to a full work from home model. “As we moved everyone home, it’s been exciting to see how quickly we’ve acclimated to the new world of remote work,” says Burns. “Our digital strategies work: if you provide employees with tools like Teams and give them the authority to make decisions, you can do amazing things in short periods of time. And some three and a half months later, we still are.” 

Frontline workers drive business continuity, revenue with Teams

The Field Digitalization Team has done a lot of work teaching field technicians how to use Teams, how to pin chats, audio conference, set up channels, add files, and share information. “Every Monday, more than 150 leaders join a Teams meeting for a change forum, and we communicate any changes to our business applications or processes out to the field on Technician Plus,” says French. “It’s simplified change management, especially during the crisis when we are constantly adapting to new situations.” 

Telstra also takes advantage of Teams as a platform by using Power Apps and Teams to help field technicians share the benefits of the company’s loyalty program to customers. The Field Digitalization Team created another app that acts like a portal for the loyalty program, including training on how to talk about the program, communications, and a dashboard where technicians can tally how many customers they and their colleagues have signed up. “Our customer loyalty app has been a great success, with more than 1,000 new customers signing on every week,” notes French. 

Technicians are now able to have a direct impact on driving revenue, thanks to the Fee for Services app in Technician Plus. During a customer call, they open a digital catalog on their mobile device so it’s easy to review a list of additional Telstra tools and services.

Reimagining innovation, one app at a time

To expand on the success of the Field Digitization Team and Technician Plus, the GBS replicated the concept of volunteer citizen developers who solve business problems by creating the Power Factory in Teams. Participants come from all corners of GBS and use Microsoft Power Platform to automate processes and deliver operational excellence for different areas of the business. “The Power Factory is a passionate powerhouse of people who are excited about what they’re doing for the company,” says Teiqua Ireland, Reporting Delivery Lead, Global Business Services at Telstra. She joined the Power Factory to offer a bird’s-eye view of opportunities across GBS and to connect citizen developers with business units where there is an opportunity for innovation. 

“Teams is a huge part of the Power Factory community, with a Citizen Developer channel where people can ask questions and where we store videos of our weekly learning sessions,” says Ireland. “Every week, we have learning sessions in Teams, where employees, who we call ‘Power Curious People’, learn how to use Microsoft Power Platform to automate processes and give time back to people. In three months, we have launched 11 solutions across the business, including streamlining our purchase order approval process. We have 9 Power Apps in build and a lot more in the pipeline.” 

The Power Factory contributes more than workplace automation solutions. It’s expanding the community of problem solvers that began with the Field Digitization Team and propagating a new concept of innovation—on a small scale. “When we formed GBS and said one of our pillars was innovation, a lot of people found that intimidating,” says Ireland. “The Power Factory helped dispel that myth. We sit down with business units, think critically together about whether a Microsoft Power Platform solution is the right fix. Then we work quickly in two-week sprints on building the solution. It’s fast and easy and it’s empowering for everyone.” 

Telstra has progressed with its digitization efforts under remarkable circumstances. The company shows no signs of slowing down its efforts to reduce complexity and drive innovation. “We used to have a culture that required people to ask permission to do things,” concludes Burns. “No longer. We’ve seen the benefits of giving people the authority to innovate on their own, and Teams and Microsoft Power Platform has made that easier. The many apps they’ve developed prove that small process changes and incremental improvements can deliver benefits to customers, make things simpler for employees, and lead to financial benefits. What we do in the in the next 12 months will be even more exciting.” 

Find out more about Telstra on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

“We sit down with business units, think critically together about whether a Microsoft Power Platform solution is the right fix. Then we work quickly in two-week sprints on building the solution. It’s fast and easy and it’s empowering for everyone.”

Teiqua Ireland, Reporting Delivery Lead, Global Business Services, Telstra

Take the next step

Fuel innovation with Microsoft

Talk to an expert about custom solutions

Let us help you create customized solutions and achieve your unique business goals.

Drive results with proven solutions

Achieve more with the products and solutions that helped our customers reach their goals.

Follow Microsoft