Tag: Microsoft

Myth Busting D365 Business Central

Many accountants have relied solely or partially on Microsoft Excel to assist in their role for decades, leading many firms to ask when the next legacy solution will arrive. 

Enter Microsoft Dynamics. 

Over the past couple of years, Microsoft has shifted their focus to collaboration and have invested in new ways of working through Office 365. D365 Business Central is part of a wider product line of enterprise applications that all work together including applications focusing on sales, marketing, service, operations and CRM. D365 Business Central is the successor product for Microsoft NAV.

As D365 Business Central is still a relatively new offering in terms of ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions Monpellier are here to clear up a few common misconceptions and equip you with the information you need to make an informed decision for your business. 

Microsoft Myth Busting

Myth 1: ‘ERP solutions from Microsoft are far too expensive!’ 

A D365 Business Central licence is £52.80/user/month. A company with a financial director, controller, and management accountant would pay a little over £150/month for its ERP software. 

Myth 2: ‘I will have to do a lot of work outside of D365 Business Central’

There’s a huge amount of connectivity with reporting tools like Power BI, which can be built directly into your ledgers. You can easily create bespoke reporting dashboards and have all of your valuable information at your fingertips. 

Myth 3: ‘Extensive training to learn the new software will be needed’ 

D365 Business Central is a cloud ERP solution, meaning that delivery and installation is seamless giving users the ability to get up and going quickly. Furthermore, all applications are designed to work together and integrate with Office 365 creating a familiar layout for users. 

Myth 4: ‘It won’t communicate with my emails’

If you get an email in Office 365 and use Business Central, there’s a direct interface that will recognise any email address affiliated with a customer or supplier. From there you can raise a sales quote or purchase order or invoice without having to leave your Outlook email inbox

Myth 5: ‘It’s just another accountancy package’ 

Like your Office 365 subscription, D365 Business Central runs on the Microsoft Common Data Service meaning that all your information is securely stored in the same place. This cloud-based storage option gives you the ability to supercharge your data by working seamlessly with Power Apps and Power Automate (previously known as Microsoft Flow). 

D365 Business Central and Monpellier

Monpellier are experts in providing custom, integrated solutions and delivering first-class support across a wide range of areas. Grounded in technical expertise, the team is made up of professional financial accounting advisors and technology experts, who work together to advise, install and support the best business software on the market Give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk for a free onsite consultation. 

 First published: In Cumbria Magazine’s January Issue, 2020.  

Microsoft Whiteboard App

Originally designed for the Microsoft Surface Pro the Whiteboard app became widely available earlier this year for web and within Microsoft Teams. You can now easily collaborate with people using Microsoft Whiteboard regardless of what device they’re using or if they have an app installed. 

But what is the Microsoft Whiteboard App? Whiteboard is an interactive canvas jam-packed with intuitive features to help you visually communicate with others. It’s a fantastic tool for meetings and has the added ability to include remote team members, as it now works seamlessly with Microsoft Teams.  

Our favourite features:

Save automatically – Your whiteboards are stored safely in the cloud until you’re ready to use them again. Gone are the days of taking pictures of whiteboards and flip charts following meetings, with the Whiteboard it’s all there ready without you even having to click save.

Share seamlessly – Microsoft has created several pre-designed templates for Whiteboard to help you mimic workplace scenarios such as brainstorms, project planning, sprint planning etc. More templates are being added each month so keep your eyes peeled for your new favourite. 

Limit-free creation – Restrictions can block creativity. Whiteboard can transform your work into editable images, charts, flows, sticky notes and shapes on an interface designed for mouse, pen, touch or keyboard. 

For more information on the Whiteboard and other applications within Office 365 give our team a call and make the most of your Office 365 subscription. 

Our top 5 features

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an application suite of ERP and CRM modules. This October saw the greatly anticipated Dynamics 365 Wave 2 release. The update gave users 400 new features and capabilities across Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. This is one of Microsoft’s largest release waves to date and we wanted to highlight our favourite aspects that produce proactive insight and drive intelligent action. 

Top 5 Updates

1. Security – Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection is now available and provides a powerful solution that reduces fraud costs. To learn more about how Microsoft has used this technology to reduce fraud-related costs by millions of pounds in just two years visit – LINK
2. User Interface – Business Central has seen the biggest change when it comes to user interface. New features including additional bookmarking capabilities, autofit columns, department overview functionality and the ability to work on multiple Business Central tabs at once are now fully available.    
3. AI Applications – Wave 2 sees the addition of two more AI applications, Product Insights and Connected Store. Product Insights transforms product development, marketing, sales and support by acting on real-time insight relating to customer usage while Connected Store uses data from cloud-connected sensors. 
4. Scan a Note – The new update allows you to take your meeting notes (as usual) with a pen and paper, you can then scan these notes straight into Dynamics 365. The sophisticated application then reads your handwriting turning it into an editable note that is stored against the potential customer. This allows you to keep all valuable information in one place insuring your sales team never misses an opportunity. 
5. Virtual Agent – Good customer service can take a lot of physical time but with the wave 2 release, your customer service team has a helping hand. Intelligent AI-powered robots have been designed with the ability to chat with customers, thereby improving speed and overall service. 

Microsoft recorded their entire virtual launch event which you can watch by clicking the LINK. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 & Monpellier 

If you’re interested in what Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 can do for your business, Monpellier can help. We are offering free, personalised onsite consultations designed to showcase the areas that would work for your individual business. Call our experts today on 0191 500 8150 or drop us an email info@monpellier.co.uk 

Tips to boost your OneDrive experience

What is Microsoft OneDrive?

OneDrive is Microsoft’s storage service facility for hosting files in the cloud. Although you can sign up for OneDrive for free, you gain more as an Office 365 customer. OneDrive has been designed to provide a simple solution to store and share various types of documents and files.

How to make the most of OneDrive 

Expiry Links 

If you need to share a file with confidential data for a fixed period of time you can create a shareable link that is constrained by a set expiry date and time that you’ve pre-set. 

Password Protected 

Want to share very sensitive data? Microsoft has added password functionality so that the data you share has another layer of security. 

Scan & Go 

By using the OneDrive app you can scan, save and share documents that you can snap straight from your camera phone. It also lets you save these images as PDFs or directly into other applications such as OneNote. 

Offline Mode 

OneDrive gives you the option to make folders offline so that you can work on the go without an internet connection and back-up to the cloud once you’re back in the office. 

Version Control 

Whilst it’s important to make sure you are always working on the most up-to-date version of any document it’s also beneficial to refer back to older versions. OneDrive lets you look back at previous versions of each document to make sure no vital information is lost. 

Outlook 

We are all guilty of clogging up our inboxes with emails that on their own are useless but they have an attachment we want to keep. OneDrive lets you save these attachments straight to your chosen folder on OneDrive so that your Inbox stays clean and you don’t misplace important documents. 

Microsoft Office 365 Apps & Monpellier

Are you interested in what Microsoft’s Office 365 Apps can do for your business? OneDrive is but a drop in the ocean when it comes to the capabilities provided by the Office 365 suite. If you are interested in finding out more and how they can integrate into your business give us a call today to arrange your free onsite consultation. 

How to start tapping into AI and the IoT

Imagine climbing out of bed before dawn but instead of pulling on your boots and heading into the cold you simply check your PC for any urgent updates on your livestock or crops? This vision is a reality for many working in agriculture thanks to the power of AI the IoT.

What’s the difference between AI and IoT?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolves around the simulation of intelligent behaviours in machines of all kinds. For example, a drone using a robotic lens examining the yellow flower of a tomato seedling to estimate the time it will take to become ripe, picked, packed and distributed. In comparison, the Internet of Things (IoT) is all about helping farmers reduce waste and enhance productivity by using connecting machines to gather data.

How can it be used?

Technology is constantly evolving and changing the agricultural industry in many ways from driverless tractors, drones, automated irrigation systems and crop health monitoring. Companies such as Microsoft have invested millions into partnerships and sustainable AI and IoT projects to help farmers maximise their profits. And they are not the only ones focusing on smart technology; many companies have developed solutions that work in harmony with Microsoft to combat the coming demand for increased production. The UN predicts the world’s population will reach 10 billion by 2050 which is a massive 2.5billion increase from 1970.

Here and now?

As useful as it is to read about the coming technological advances businesses in the North West can often feel forgotten and wondering how and what is available right now. The Azure solution from Microsoft gives you the perfect future-proof foundation to get started with AI and IoT.  Azure is an ever-expanding set of cloud services with over 100 services and end-to-end tools that are designed to meet your exacting needs. Here are some examples of revolutionary solutions that work seamlessly with Microsoft.

SCR Dairy: Cow-monitoring system that gives farmers insight into milk production, the calving process and ensures healthier cows

GrassSat: Subscription service that gives online daily updates on grass cover and clear and actionable visualised maps and charts

Microsoft from Monpellier

Whether you’re ready to dive headfirst into AI or just need a knowledgeable partner to help you maximise your existing solution Monpellier can help. Based in Cumbria and the North East Monpellier provide support and solutions across a wide range of areas from accounting & payroll to CRM and EPOS. Give us a call on 01228 550 167 or email info@monpellier.co.uk to start farming for the future, today.

 First published: In Cumbria Magazine’s August’s 2019 issue. 

Number 3 in our Jargon Buster series: Microsoft Teams

Another tool within Office 365’s robust suite of services is the popular Microsoft Teams. Teams is a chat-based collaboration tool released by Microsoft in 2017. Although the tool is still somewhat ‘new’ to the market it has flattened the competitors and is now leading the space with the highest number of raw-user. 

Microsoft Teams gives you and your team the space to collaborate, creating a shared work-space where you can chat, meet, share files and work with business apps. 

The question is how does Teams help your business and which of its features would you find useful? We have pulled together our favourite features that our clients love for you to better understand if Teams is the right choice for your organisation. 

Meetings

Microsoft Teams really shines when it comes to meeting functionality. Teams gives you the ability to host audio, video and web conferences with anyone inside your company or an external third party. 

Features like scheduling assistance, note-taking, desktop sharing, uploading files, and chat messaging really highlights that Microsoft are focusing on making Teams the best-in-class tool for collaboration. Microsoft have announced Skype’s end-of-life date for July 2021 so for those that predominantly use this for their business conferencing needs it may be worth looking at making the switch to Teams. 

In addition to its regular meeting features Microsoft Teams also has the capability to host live large meetings and events. For example, if you needed, with Teams’ help you could give a virtual presentation to up to 10,000 attendees! 

Calls

The phone system within Microsoft Teams has PBX (Private Branch Exchange) capabilities and can even replace your on-premise PBX. Specialist calling features allows you to create call groups so that a specific colleague can answer your calls and gives you the ability to create and configure shared numbers.  

First-line Benefits 

First-line employees are often mobile, Microsoft Teams gives you access to training materials, handbooks, policies and on-demand video content via a mobile device. Compatibility with apps such as ‘Shifts’ creates seamless integration with your workforce management system.  

Security & Compliance 

Microsoft Teams was designed with your organisation’s advanced security needs in mind. Admin functionality grants you the ability to make granular changes and includes capabilities such as; data loss prevention, information barriers, retention policies, eDiscovery, legal hold, and more.

Free Consultation 

If your business is ready to make the switch to Microsoft Teams, Monpellier are here to help. Monpellier are a trusted Microsoft partner specialising in providing an end-to-end solution and support. If you would like more information on Teams or any of Microsoft’s products,  give our team a call on 0191 500 8150.

Number 2 in our Jargon Buster Series: SharePoint 

It’s hard to avoid a mention of SharePoint these days with many productivity experts hailing it as a must-have collaboration tool. But what exactly is SharePoint and how can it be used to help your business?

What is SharePoint?

In very simple terms SharePoint is a web-based document management and collaboration tool. It works with Office 365 and has a core set of functionalities including; document storage, intranet capabilities, and organisation sharing. 

Benefits of using SharePoint 

1. 1. Collaboration – Using SharePoint allows users to stay connected, even during live projects with the use of document version history. Losing information in a cluttered inbox becomes a thing of the past as all employees have access to critical and up-to-date documents at their fingertips. 
   2. Security – Integrated security within the platform protects your data from unauthorised access. You can set permissions per user giving you ultimate control over user visibility. 
   3. Customisation – SharePoint is jam-packed with unique tools that allow you to tweak your organisations build to look and function in a way that works for you. Add custom features, widgets, calendars and request forms to your organisation’s intranet in order to maximise productivity. 
   4. Less Training – By working seamlessly with Office 365 SharePoint feels familiar from the start. In addition to support from your solution provider, Microsoft have free training courses available via their support site to help with the integration of your new collaboration tool. 
   5. Informed Decisions – Use SharePoint to create personalised dashboards that allow your employees to see information from different sources and make better-informed decisions. For example, you could create a dashboard that acts as a live report area that allows you direct access to things such as KPI’s, critical financial data or even current stock levels. 

Free Consultation 

Monpellier are a trusted Microsoft partner specialising in providing an end-to-end solution and support. If you would like more information on SharePoint or any other Microsoft products give our team a call on 0191 500 8150. 

5 Pitfalls When Selecting Marketing Automation Software

When used correctly, technology will enable any company, large or small, to reach their goals. Unfortunately, some businesses have had bad experiences with marketing automation tools early on. The wrong strategies and investments will only create problems for both sales and marketing.

To get things right from the start with this type of software, here are five of the most common marketing pitfalls to avoid.

1. The lack of Meaningful Investments

Many executives make the mistake at focusing too much on technology pricing before considering long-term value. As a result of this, they allow for the unsupported implementation of poor-quality automation tools.

It’s important to do some serious research before selecting the first tool which will meet your budgeting expectations. Get everyone on board to choose the right tool without compromising too much on price.

2. Don’t automate the wrong activities

You can and should always automate:

• Contact management
• Social media posts
• Email marketing
• Content posting

Did you know that you can even automate follow-up scheduling for sales representatives? On the flip side, try not to automate every communication channel. Your audience will soon begin to notice when communications are “canned”.

Make sure to balance automated activities with live interactions from staff members. Within your organisation, get every marketing, sales and customer success agent involved.

3. The lack of strategic focus

It’s essential to understand the connection between marketing and sales. The right combination will have you on your way to being able to fully capitalise on the automated marketing process.

If you don’t have proven methodology, automating the process won’t change the results. The lack of strategic focus can only highlight any existing dysfunction.

4. Separating marketing and sales professionals

At the end of the day, marketing automation can only do so much. To really succeed, businesses should encourage marketing and sales team’s collaboration to generate qualified leads and then follow them through.

When it comes to the digital world, the lines between marketing and sales are still a little blurred. Professional collaboration can improve marketing tool utilisation which in turn drives revenue strings.

5. Don’t use unhelpful benchmarks

The right measurements can have a major impact on the efficiency of marketing automation. In terms of online engagement analytics, quality comes ahead of quantity. It’s essential to make sure your measurement tactics focus on consumers who are likely to convert rather than those who may be identified as low-quality leads.

Why not try targeting conversion pathways? This will provide the number of sales you generate from each marketing pathway. Stay clear of unhelpful benchmarks which will only have a detrimental effect on your business.

• There are also a number of other pitfalls to avoid involving marketing automation software such as:-
• Insufficient knowledge of technology and processes
• Insufficient integration with the CRM system
• Insufficient attention to cooperation and strategy
• Not enough support from the IT Department

Make no mistake, marketing automation has the potential for success. When used correctly, it will keep your business moving forward. Get in touch with us today!

Make the most of Power BI

Power BI is Microsoft’s cloud-based business intelligence technology. It’s part of the Office 365 suite – a cloud-based suite of productivity applications. This particular Microsoft feature is a suite of business analytics tools which analyse data and share insights. The Power BI dashboard also provides a 360-degree view for business users helping to highlight metrics in one place.

Whether in cloud or on-premise, Power BI can be used to unify all of your organisation’s data. It will connect you to a wealth of Microsoft Azure services which you can use to power up your apps and data analysis beyond visualisation services like:

• Machine learning
• Cortana Intelligence Suite

The power tools within this particular Microsoft application include:

• Power Query – to extract and transform
• Power View and Map – this visualises data
• Power Pivot – models and analyses

Experience data in new ways

Power BI can enable you to explore data in vivid new ways. From reports to graphs and charts, your data takes on an entirely new perspective. This will help you and your organisation make informed decisions, while at the same time monitoring your company’s growth.

Whether your data lives in a cloud service or on-premises, Power BI can connect, clean, shape, model and visualise live reports as well as dashboards. You can get started in minutes with Content Packs, reports for popular services including pre-built dashboards.

Data at your fingertips

At the heart of Power BI, is data. This Microsoft cloud-based business intelligence technology brings all of your business intelligence together. It allows users to interact and visualise data in one place. What could be better than to analyse and share insights in real time? You’ll also have the ability to access your data at anytime and anywhere.

Interaction your data across all devices

Your business has the ability to access data across all devices with:

• Power BI Desktop
• Mobile
• Gateway

With Power BI mobile apps, you can streamline your data and reports from anywhere in the world. Expect update changes to your dashboard to be processed automatically. By integrating Power BI into your organisation’s office tools, your data will be transformed to enable greater insights for quicker, more focused, informed decisions.

Cut down on operational time

It doesn’t matter whether your data comes from Excel spreadsheets, big data, the cloud or on-premises. Power BI will allow you to connect with all of your current data sources in one centralised location. As Power BI is shifted to a cloud-base and stand-alone framework, it’s easily integrated with existing data such as that found in SQL Server cubes.

Businesses can now access and gain insights from existing data without the need to have to move this data. This concept cuts down on operational time while helping to make the actual analytic process much more streamlined.

Why not get in touch with one of our consultants about the prospect of implementing Power BI into your organisation? Training can be provided where needed such as teaching you how to use Power Queries and charts. It pays to get the best out of Microsoft’s Power BI software.