Microsoft Dynamics Customer Solution Case Study

Gizmo Gets Gadgets Going with Customized CRM Solution

Overview “The technicians already have essential information Country or Region: Australia about the case in the palm of their hand before they Industry: IT Support Services even knock on the door.” Customer Profile Troy Cox, Chief Technical Officer, Gizmo Gizmo is a start-up IT services company that provides technical support for a wide range of home technologies. It has a head office in Sydney and operations in It’s a fact: home computers and gadgets are part of our daily lives. Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. People want broadband-connected computers and wireless Business Situation networks in their homes, but setting them up and maintaining them Gizmo’s mobile technicians needed up-to- date schedules and accurate customer can be a headache for many home users. Gizmo, a clever start-up data. The company needed to get the right company in Sydney, spotted this need in the home computing technician to the right job at the right time. market and provides home users with the technical support they Solution need to get the most out of their equipment. Gizmo needed a Gizmo built a Web-based scheduling and customer management solution using customer management software system that would allow it to start Office SharePoint Server 2007, small and scale up as it began to partner with leading IT industry Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, GP and Microsoft Dynamics players. The company implemented a tailored customer CRM. relationship management (CRM) system designed by Microsoft

Benefits Certified Partner, Bortell. It connects Microsoft Dynamics™ GP 9.0 „ Accurate scheduling of mobile and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to link customer and financial technicians. ® ® „ Efficient use of staff time. data. The system, based on SharePoint Server „ Streamlined invoice processing. 2007, allows Gizmo to distribute and re-use knowledge using the „ Improved collaboration between staff. „ Rapid deployment and scalability. company intranet. This has increased Gizmo’s competitiveness and improved customer satisfaction.

Situation knowledge and share it among our workforce Australian start-up company Gizmo provides to the benefit of our customers.” comprehensive on-site or phone technical support for a wide range of home Gizmo management started looking for a technologies. Gizmo’s philosophy is to keep customer relationship management (CRM) technology simple and fun. The company’s application to support its customer service services include home networking, repairs, representatives and help deliver better upgrades, Web and email security, storage service. It would also provide concise and and back-up. accurate information to mobile technicians on the road using personal digital assistants Founded in August 2006 and headquartered (PDAs). in Sydney, Gizmo quickly expanded to Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. It plans “Because we have a large mobile workforce, to grow its mobile workforce to several we had to make sure that all our systems hundred technicians in all major Australian were available outside the office,” says Troy cities over the next two years. Cox, Chief Technical Officer, Gizmo.

To cope with this rapid growth, Gizmo needed Solution a customized and scalable customer Gizmo worked with Microsoft Certified Partner management software system. Bortell to design a tailored Web-based solution that allowed customer information to A key issue for Gizmo was the ability to be accessed from any internet-connected schedule appointments for its team of widely device. distributed mobile technicians. Gizmo wanted a technology solution that could schedule the Now, when a customer calls the Gizmo right technician with the right skills to go to contact center his or her details are entered the right customer at the right time. To keep into a customer database built on Microsoft the business successful, the mobile team Dynamics CRM 3.0. If a customer’s problem needed to maintain minimal resolution times can’t be solved over the phone, his or her without sacrificing the customer experience. details are sent in real time to a mobile technician’s PDA running Microsoft® Windows With technicians constantly on the road, the Mobile™ 2005. system had to be paperless and wireless. The company also wanted to achieve real-time The PDAs use a mobile version of Microsoft invoicing through one simple electronic CRM developed by CWR in the Netherlands. transaction. They synchronize in real time with Gizmo’s CRM server over a 3G wireless broadband Knowledge sharing was an integral concern network. From their PDAs, technicians can for the new company. With a widely access their schedules, customer distributed workforce, it was important for information, case notes and payment details. everyone to feel connected and part of the Microsoft® MapPoint® software gives each broader organization. technician driving directions from their current location to the next customer’s “We are the epitome of a knowledge address. organization,” says Danny Gilligan, Founder, Gizmo. “We wanted to harness our “MapPoint is perhaps the most exciting part of the system because it solves our major

worry of one hundred percent staff Benefits utilization,” says Cox. “It provides the travel Satisfied Customers path and estimated travel time. We know The efficient scheduling capabilities of where any technician is at any time because Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 allow Gizmo to the details are stored in the CRM system. provide exceptional customer service.

“This means that when our customer “Traditional service industries in Australia tell representatives allocate a job, they use the their customers ‘a technician will be there in-built scheduling system in Microsoft between 11am and 4pm’; we say ‘a Dynamics CRM, which has been integrated technician will be there at 2pm’ and that’s with MapPoint, to find out which technician is when they show up,” says Cox. closest to the customer. Dynamics CRM scheduling also makes sure we supply a The accuracy and sophistication of the technician with the right skills.” scheduling system means technicians almost always arrive within five minutes of the Bortell designed a connector between designated time. Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics GP, which manages Gizmo’s “We keep our promises to customers,” finances, e-commerce and supply chain. At adds Gilligan. the end of a job, the technician closes the job from their PDA and the system automatically A Knowledgeable Workforce creates an invoice in real time and processes Mobile technicians arrive at customers’ the credit card payment. The customer is houses ready to start working. automatically emailed an invoice in PDF format. The system uses SecurePay, a third- “The technicians already have essential party payment gateway integrated by Bortell information about the case in the palm of with Dynamics GP, to ensure the process is their hand before they even knock on the safe and secure. door,” says Cox. “Even though there is only one technician in their home, the customer To facilitate collaboration among mobile really receives the benefit of all our technicians, Gizmo installed Microsoft Office technicians’ knowledge. SharePoint Server 2007. Staff use forums, blogs and wikis to share information. The “It is incredibly valuable to have everyone Web-based system gives users access to the communicating through a common toolset. information from anywhere. The forms and wikis in Office SharePoint Server 2007 ensure we are all working “Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 together.” allows anyone to contribute to or correct existing articles,” says Cox. Rapid Deployment and Scalability The flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics, Office Gizmo also installed Microsoft® Exchange SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft® Server 2003, giving every employee Web- Windows Server™ software allowed Gizmo to based access to their email, calendar, quickly build a highly effective technology contacts and tasks. base that could grow with the company.

“We created a system in six weeks that was flexible, tailored and customized to Gizmo’s

For More Information mobile workforce,” says Julian Miller, Microsoft Dynamics For more information about Microsoft Director, Bortell. “Gizmo has very aggressive Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, products and services, call the Microsoft growth targets and the system has easily adaptable business management solutions Sales Information Center at (800) 426- been able to handle the company’s that enables you and your people to make 9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft expansion.” business decisions with greater confidence. Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar 2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of- Streamlined Business Processes Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone The automated software system has also which means less of a learning curve for your (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in reduced human error. “The system requires people, so they can get up and running the United States or (905) 568-9641 in minimal manual intervention,” Miller quickly and focus on what’s most important. Canada. Outside the 50 United States and explains. “Invoices are generated And because it is from Microsoft, it easily Canada, please contact your local automatically from the case details recorded works with the systems that your company Microsoft subsidiary. To access information in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM database. already has implemented. By automating and using the World Wide Web, go to: Credit card details are also recorded streamlining financial, customer relationship, www.microsoft.com automatically, streamlining the invoicing and supply chain processes, Microsoft process.” Dynamics brings together people, processes, For more information about Bortell and technologies, increasing the productivity products and services, call (613) 9537 Optimum Productivity and effectiveness of your business, and 3406 or visit the Web site at: The efficient scheduling in Microsoft helping you drive business success. www.bortell.com.au Dynamics CRM and intelligent map technology in Microsoft MapPoint have For more information about Microsoft For more information about Gizmo improved the efficiency of Gizmo’s mobile Dynamics, go to: products and services, call 1300 275 449 technicians. www.microsoft.com/dynamics (within Australia) or visit the Web site at: www.gizmo.com.au “The number one driving factor in our business is utilization – how do we keep the techs busy and how do we keep them doing their jobs on time,” explains Cox. “This solution gives them all the resources they need to do just that. Even if we get one extra job per technician per week, that has a

Software and Services − Microsoft SQL Server 2005 „ Products − Microsoft 2005 − Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 − Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Hardware − Microsoft MapPoint 2002 „ HP DL380 G4 servers − Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 „ HP DC7600 SFF PCs − Microsoft Office Live Communications „ i-Mate JasJar PDAs Server 2005 − Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Partners 2007 „ Bortell

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. massive impact on our revenue.” Microsoft, the Microsoft logo, Microsoft Dynamics, the Dynamics logo MapPoint, SharePoint, Windows, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Document published February 2007