The Benefits of Microsoft Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow): Examples of How to Supercharge Your Workflow

By Bryce Finnerty
October 22, 2020

Automations, implementation, flexible frameworks with Microsoft Power Automate Automations, implementation, flexible frameworks. They all sound great, but… Read More

Building a Document Management System using Microsoft

By Bryce Finnerty
September 24, 2020

Building a Document Management System using Microsoft Finding the right system to manage your documents is crucial to the success of any business. Using a… Read More

Microsoft Teams Integration with Procore Construction Cloud – Announced by HingePoint

By Bryce Finnerty
November 8, 2018

Procore customers can now automatically integrate documents between Microsoft Teams and Procore. The latest product from Microsoft Office 365, MS Teams, is… Read More

Benefits of Using SharePoint & Office 365

By Bryce Finnerty
March 13, 2018

With the seamless integration of Office 365 and SharePoint Online, Microsoft has breathed new life into SharePoint, one of the most used platforms for collaboration,… Read More

Using Microsoft Planner to Manage Project Tasks More Efficiently

By Bryce Finnerty
March 8, 2018

Microsoft Office 365 is comprised of many tools that can help streamline your daily workflow, while getting your job done more quickly and effectively.… Read More

Most Popular Microsoft SharePoint Blogs of 2017

By Bryce Finnerty
February 20, 2018

Best Posts of 2017 - Microsoft SharePoint HingePoint takes great pride in being an industry leader for Real Estate & Construction companies when looking… Read More

Top Trends from Microsoft Ignite 2017

By Bryce Finnerty
October 3, 2017

Last week Microsoft hinted and showed several trends at Microsoft Ignite, their conference that showcases the company’s enterprise products and services and… Read More

Why are Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Important?

By Bryce Finnerty
September 26, 2017

Business Intelligence in the age of artificial intelligence Business intelligence -- which is the ability to make better decisions on real-time, visual data… Read More

Microsoft Azure Goes Hybrid with Development, Cloud Services

By Bryce Finnerty
September 26, 2017

Microsoft is starting to break down the development wall between desktop and cloud services with Azure. Azure, Microsoft’s comprehensive set of cloud services… Read More

Microsoft Shows ‘Mixed-Use Reality’ as Collaborative Tool at Microsoft Ignite

By Bryce Finnerty
September 25, 2017

CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella said businesses are in the middle of a digital transformation. Microsoft has one of the most diverse crowds of 30,000 people… Read More

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                    [post_content] => 
Automations, implementation, flexible frameworks with Microsoft Power Automate
Automations, implementation, flexible frameworks. They all sound great, but how do they actually benefit your business? With Microsoft Power Automate, the possibilities may be endless but the benefits are easy to see. 

HingePoint is breaking down three key examples of how to supercharge your workflow and improve your organization’s productivity, processes, and bottom line. Grab your notepad and prepare to reimagine your business. Now let’s dive in. 
1. Easily integrate with hundreds of software applications
When businesses perform automation, the main barrier we see them face is the connectivity to specific services they already use. For example, integrations that connect data from a SharePoint list or from an Excel sheet to the OneDrive for storage aren’t always available. Power Automation seamlessly integrates with SharePoint project management tools, SharePoint workflows, and other systems that may already be in place within your organization. 
Our approach: To resolve this issue, we use SharePoint Designer Workflow, lists, and libraries to perform the automation. We also utilize Microsoft Flow to integrate with thousands of other software and services. Not only does Power Automate easily connect with Microsoft products, but it also communicates with ease with other programs. 
 
2. Automated triggers so you don’t have to lift a finger
In any automation, the most important step is defining what trigger or action signals the start of an automation process. When do you want automation to be sent and what determining factor dictates that initiation? 
Our approach: We use the Microsoft Flow Triggers to start the automation process. These triggers specify how and when a workflow gets carried out. We also create custom triggers specifically to collect data and perform further business operation logics.
 
3. Email automation that actually works
Power Automate can decipher an email’s content and process it according to predetermined filters. For example, an organization can utilize email automation for their invoice approval process. Power Automate takes an invoice as an email attachment and moves it into the library for automatic invoice approval. Simple, easy, and effective.
Our approach: We implement a filter according to specific keywords in an email’s subject line, body content, or by the email sender’s address.

How to set up Power Automate in your business
If your team isn’t already implementing Microsoft Power Automations (formerly Microsoft Flow), we highly recommend you explore the benefits it can bring to your workflow. From seamless integrations to preset power automation, your team can work smarter, not harder, with this tool. As a SharePoint consultant, we understand the complexities that come with integrations and setups. 

HingePoint has over 15 years of experience with SharePoint and has helped more than 200 companies implement SharePoint solutions. Our unique process ensures that you get a solution that works for you and even comes with a performance guarantee. That’s how sure we are that you’ll love Power Automate. 

If you’re ready to get started, we are here to help. Contact HingePoint today to learn more about how Microsoft Power Automate can work for you. 
Examples
Workflow 1: Loan/Case Management
Search existing cases and verify history and status



 

 

Apporove the Case



 

 

Dashboard



 

 

Workflow 2: New project request



 

Dashboard



 

History



 
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Building a Document Management System using Microsoft
Finding the right system to manage your documents is crucial to the success of any business. Using a Microsoft document management system can help solve the typical challenges businesses face when trying to create a scalable workflow. 
What is a document management system?
A document management system is for managing digital files such as Word, Excel, PowerPoints and more. In this era, we need secure, robust and customizable software that gives a great user experience. Switching from a legacy document management system to a newer system has the potential to improve performance and cut costs.
Typical Challenges with Legacy Document Management Systems
Does Microsoft have a Document Management System?
Yes, it does. Microsoft Office 365 provides various software solutions including SharePoint, Microsoft Dynamics and OneDrive for document management. Any of the above can be used depending on the needs of each organization. This system helps us to store, collaborate, and share the documents around different platforms. There are also different ways we can analyze the performance of the system.

 	
Security and Permission Management
Many document management systems don’t offer a way for users to set restrictions on who can see certain documents. Some documents should only be able to be viewed by specific users. Members from one department may not want another department to be able to access their files. Or, one department or group of users should be able to have add/edit permission while another group has read-only permission.
 	
Search and Filter
When there are a lot of folders and documents, it can be difficult to find the specific document you’re looking for. Many document management search systems aren’t configured to solve this problem.
 	
Notification and Approval
Some documents, like HR policy or invoices, need approval before they can be viewed by all users. Unfortunately, most document management systems do not offer this feature.
 	
Document History
Ever make changes to a document, only to need to restore the last version but were unable to? Many users cite the inability to keep the document history and restore past versions a pain point with legacy document management systems.
 	
Team Collaboration
There typically isn’t a way for teams to maintain project-specific documents. Projects should be able to be assigned a team that is able to manage the documents among the team members.
 	
Maintain the Folder Structure and Naming
Most document management systems will keep the same folder structure and naming conventions across the entire space. This means users aren’t able to organize or name folders in a way that makes sense to them, as those changes are reflected to every other user.



How Core Microsoft Applications Work Together to Support Document Management
SharePoint 
SharePoint gives your team a collaborative workspace with dashboards, calendars, tasks, notifications and updates. The SharePoint platform keeps these located in a central portal associated with company sites. You can set up a SharePoint site for each of your teams to access, with dashboards that give team and company notifications. You can also set up a corporate portal where searchable company-wide libraries and notifications live. Assign each employee a security level to allow access.

10 years ago, businesses used SharePoint for document consolidation, Skype for instant communication, and Outlook for messaging and planning. SharePoint has evolved into a robust document sharing center, with shared workspaces, storage, and presentation.


OneDrive 
 

OneDrive is an online document/file storage platform. It’s typically used by individuals and business teams who need a central location to store and access files. OneDrive’s versioning and sharing features make it easy to work together, so it’s more than just an online filing cabinet. Microsoft distinguishes between personal and business versions of the tool.

OneDrive (for Business) now contains all of the original SharePoint document offerings, including workflows, auditing, templates and version control. What it does not include are your marketing resources, such as website and social media connections. The business owns the account, and each user is assigned a personal account under the business’s account. This is where individual documents can be produced and stored before they are shared with the wider company audience.

OneDrive doesn’t offer the ability to publish your content on the web. While you can email links to documents, you cannot publish those documents directly to a web page from the OneDrive platform. You can make documents discoverable to your team, but you’ll need Office 365 or another CMS/website platform to publish your work publicly.



 
Azure
Take advantage of fully managed file shares in the cloud that are accessible via the industry-standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. Mount file shares concurrently in the cloud or on-premises on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Plus, cache Azure file shares on Windows Servers with Azure File Sync for local access performance. Use premium shares for performance-sensitive, IO-intensive workloads and standard shares for reliable, general-purpose file storage

 


Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 is a cloud-based solution that offers everything you need for CRM and ERP in a single package

See business and customer data in one place—across hundreds of sources—for a single, 360-degree view of your organization.


Microsoft Teams 
Microsoft Teams is designed to consolidate every aspect of collaboration -- not just document management and sharing. Through Microsoft Teams, employees are able to track their instant messaging, email, calendars, projects and more.

 


Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planner is a to-do app that comes with Office 365. It’s used for personal and teamwork planning, with a simple card-based interface.

Microsoft Planner provides a hub for team members to create plans, organize and assign tasks to different users, and to check updates on progress through dashboards. It also provides a centralized place where files can be shared and visible to the whole team. As an Office 365 app, you can find Planner within your Office 365 home.

Planner natively integrates with all of the other Office 365 applications, and using a tool within the Microsoft ‘ecosystem’ is very efficient. Microsoft has created a suite of apps that all complement one another and work beautifully together. Using Planner means you can easily integrate your tasks into Outlook, attach and view task documentation by linking to SharePoint, discuss a project within Teams while having your Planner open, hop onto a video call (with Teams, formerly Skype for Business), and much more

 


Benefits of Using Microsoft Software for Document Management
An effective document management solution specifies the following:

 	
What kinds of documents and other content can be created in an organization
 	
What template to use for each kind of document
 	
What metadata to provide for each kind of document
 	
Where to store a document at each stage of its life cycle
 	
How to control access to a document at each stage of its life cycle
 	
How to move documents within the organization as team members contribute to the documents' creation, review, approval, publication, and disposition

Microsoft provides the best solutions for all of the above. The following are the features and benefits of using Microsoft as your DMS partner. It has provided these solutions for many years and is one of the leading companies in this field. With cloud, on-premise, or hybrid, any structure you choose, Microsoft provides a better solution.

These solutions and benefits include:

 	
Ability to easily find/search for the info you need
 	
Mobile-friendly: Create/edit/collaborate any time, any place
 	
Overall Security: More secure than an on-premises server
 	
Folder and file-level security: Grant access to only the people that need it
 	
Compliance-friendly
 	
Version control so that there are not different iterations of a file floating around
 	
File history so you can see who made what change, when
 	
Easy collaboration with coworkers, contractors, and clients
 	
Quick and secure sharing inside or outside of the organization
 	
Integration & Compatibility: Microsoft’s solutions easily integrate into many other systems
 	
Document imaging/scanning lets you save physical space by storing your files online
 	
Scalable: It easily grows with your organization. You won’t be able to outgrow it as a document management solution
 	
Cloud-based: You don’t have to worry about the physical security of the servers or losing all of your data when everything is in the cloud. Access the files you need anytime, anywhere you have an internet connection
 	
Offline editing: if you’re going somewhere without an internet connection, you can easily take your files with you
 	
Save on human resources: You won’t need as many IT staff as you would for a legacy, on-site server

 Plus, migration from legacy servers or other solutions is easy.
How HingePoint Helps Our Clients Leverage Microsoft Solutions for Their Document Management Needs
We can help you implement SharePoint as your document storage solution. We’ll design the Information Architecture (IA) based on your unique business requirements. IA covers the required site collections, subsites, document library, metadata, fields and more.

[caption id="attachment_15301" align="aligncenter" width="810"] Project Example: Documents in left navigation with Tasks dashboard[/caption]

Organize your files into logical categories to help you stay organized

[caption id="attachment_15303" align="aligncenter" width="936"] Project Example: Documents Divided into Categories[/caption]

 

We take care of creating libraries with predefined metadata to ensure you find the content you’re looking for every time you search and filter. 

[caption id="attachment_15302" align="aligncenter" width="760"] Project Example: Find documents easily using metadata in the search and filter[/caption]

 

We can implement a workflow that makes it possible to set approval and notifications on certain documents. If you need a team site for collaboration, we can create that. We can also turn that site into a template that allows you to easily create separate spaces for each client or project that keep the same basic structure.

If you want to take team collaboration to another level, we can help you integrate Microsoft Teams. Your teams will be able to easily manage all documents related to a discussion in one place and find it easily in the future.

[caption id="attachment_15304" align="aligncenter" width="936"] Project Example: Using Microsoft Teams to Collaborate on Documents[/caption]

Managing documents that relate to project tasks? We can help you add Microsoft Planner to the equation to track the progress tasks. You can easily associate documents from SharePoint with your tasks and tie-in into conversations with Microsoft Teams.

[caption id="attachment_15305" align="aligncenter" width="936"] Project Example: Tracking Team Tasks Using Microsoft Planner[/caption]

Use custom forms to handle team requests and create tabs with custom reports to monitor the overall progress.

[caption id="attachment_15306" align="aligncenter" width="936"] Project Example: Custom Forms and Charts to Manage Support Tickets[/caption]

As you can see, there are a lot of ways you can streamline your document management processes using Microsoft tools.

You can even utilize SharePoint to manage documents you are using to publish content on your website.

[caption id="attachment_15307" align="aligncenter" width="936"] Project Example: Using SharePoint as a Content Management System[/caption]
What Would a Better Document Management System Look Like For You?
Does your organization still use a dated legacy document management system to manage your records? Get in touch with Hingepoint today, and see our experienced consultants can make your job easier with a system your users will love! 

 
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                    [post_content] => Procore customers can now automatically integrate documents between Microsoft Teams and Procore. The latest product from Microsoft Office 365, MS Teams, is the collaboration work hub on Office 365 (O365) that includes communications for calls, chat and online meetings as well as documents that is widely adopted by the business community. To better serve the needs of the construction industry, HingePoint is expanding the Procore SharePoint 2 Way Sync solution to work seamlessly with MS Teams. Now all your documents in SharePoint, OneDrive, MS Teams will be fully synchronized with Procore on all devices from the browser, mobile, apps and desktop tools. HingePoint will make the release public in December 2018 in the Procore App Marketplace.

Read the full press release on PRWeb here >>

SharePoint Two-Way Sync shares and mirrors files, folders and documents in both SharePoint and Procore libraries through a connector created by HingePoint, a Dallas-based company. The connector is built on the Microsoft cloud platform Azure and integrates SharePoint as the backbone of Digital Business Hubs that keep companies fully integrated with data, documents, and workflows to streamline construction and real estate development businesses.

This big development will allow companies more efficient ways of working, ensuring that new systems will not create more complexity or fracture the company’s enterprise ability to collaborate. Now construction companies can leverage the best of what both Microsoft and Procore offer by keeping all of their documents synchronized across all systems and devices. These systems talking to each other is the solution that clients are looking for when field teams struggle to collaborate with clients and contractors and keep all their information up to date and shared across all subcontractors.



“This is not a simple connector product app, it’s an actual real-time API integration that lets MS Teams, SharePoint, and Procore libraries mirror one another while having the security of both systems. This expands our solutions for the construction industry” HingePoint Managing Director Bryce Finnerty said.

HingePoint is offering a pricing model that will allow clients to license a turn-key solution that can be set up in a few hours. A solution that our clients can host in their own Azure environment scale to 100’s of projects across the enterprise will be key going forward.

A growing number of construction companies use MS Teams and SharePoint as their system of record to store important data about employees, contracts and project analytics. This connector eliminates multiple repositories of documents in both Procore and SharePoint and connects the construction unit to the rest of the company.

The new integration HingePoint provides for Procore reflects each organization’s commitment to openness and building out the construction technology ecosystem. What we call Digital Business Hubs, with the new connector, companies can automatically and securely sync files between Procore, MS Teams and SharePoint or Office 365, which will save time and confusion when managing project documents.

Digital Business Hubs creates better collaboration with the teams that are not in the construction space.

"We're excited for HingePoint to expand their integration to the MS Teams platform, once launched on the App Marketplace this will provide tangible new value to Procore users." said Doug Gibson, Business Development Manager at Procore. "This new solution for MS Teams is a testament to HingePoint's commitment to the construction industry and value of the Procore App Marketplace."

HingePoint integrates software so data can move from one system to another. They specialize in building custom tools that detect and collect data project and financial data, so a business can get control of their business.

Learn More Procore Solutions >>

Read the full press release on PRWeb here >>

 

For more information of a Demo, contact HingePoint today.

About HingePoint

HingePoint is a recently acquired WCI Consulting company (June 1st, 2018) that offers cloud, mobile and analytics applications for construction and real estate that are easy to adopt and employees love. Specializing in the systems that run the construction and real estate business including SharePoint, MS Teams, Salesforce, Procore, MS Dynamics, and Autodesk. Scale and grow profitably with Financial and Project Management Analytics, document management, and workflow automation for field to office collaboration.

HingePoint
8105 Rasor Blvd.
Suite 241
Plano, TX 75024
(214) 301-0000
www.hingepoint.com
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With the seamless integration of Office 365 and SharePoint Online, Microsoft has breathed new life into SharePoint, one of the most used platforms for collaboration, document management, team collaboration, IT support, web portals, project management, financial reporting, forms routing, and much more. The problem is very few companies take the time to maximize what Office 365 can do!
SharePoint Online improvements over the last year include upgrades that drastically impact users in terms of transporting cloud-based Office 365 capabilities onto the SharePoint platform. HingePoint identifies a few improvements we use to get the most out of Office 365 and SharePoint.


 	
The ability to leverage Office 365 Groups, which deliver a means of group communication, is a solid alternative to popular messaging applications, such as Slack. Using Groups gives your team the ability to view, edit, share all group files, view and schedule group meetings with ease allowing for better communications among team members. [Read more about custom integrations and consulting for Microsoft Teams here.]
 	
Using Microsoft Planner to your company’s teams or groups to create multiple task lists associated with different projects or daily to-dos. Microsoft Planner has many of the same filtering capabilities as SharePoint lists, so it is a niche replacement for tools that previously had to be built from scratch or customized from other list templates. Read more about Microsoft Planner here.
 	
The new workflow capabilities of Microsoft Flow feature code-free interaction with hundreds of third-party services such as Salesforce, Zendesk, Facebook, Twitter, OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Dynamics, and more. Microsoft Flow puts real power in the hands of regular users by easily connecting and automating services vital to your business.
 	
SECURITY: Limit who, outside your organization, gets to see your content. Granting external access in SharePoint Online is a breeze and no longer a time-consuming inconvenience. Simply connect a Microsoft account to their company e-mail or create guest links to give users access to folders, individual files, and sites within your environment. Don't want anyone with a gmail account to have access, no problem! Share your content with a specific group of people in your organization by setting permissions through Active Directory Security Groups. Use policies that will allow or block certain user behavior (such as documents with credit card info or employee salaries). Create a policy that blocks people from sharing that kind of information between one another.
 	
A new layout that includes rich text, images, videos, news, highlighted content, customizable dashboard, and recent site activity allows for a more mobile-friendly content display. Mobile SharePoint access used to be a nightmare due to the lack of responsive You can now access SharePoint from anywhere and communicate with your team remotely to get more work done with ease.
 	
Embedding Power BI reports to a SharePoint page - display charts, dashboards, reports, KPIs, etc. on your SharePoint site to make the information readily available to users. Additionally, the analysis/metrics tools are now available within the program instead of having to import them; so significant time is saved on importing data from other sources.


We have guru developers and architects that have ALL the Microsoft certifications. Create your own Web Parts, .Net, Office365 APIs, SharePoint Online and Integration with Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory (AD), and SQL Server.
If you properly implement SharePoint, it will transform your company’s productivity. Employees will be more efficient, you’ll have better access to your company’s data, and you’ll be able to better report on key metrics. HingePoint’s custom SharePoint solutions have helped many companies struggling with unorganized data and manual, multi-step processes. Those same customers have transitioned into a more organized, productive organization through automated workflows and easy-to-search information.
 

--
About HingePoint
HingePoint offers cloud and mobile applications for construction and real estate that are easy to adopt and employees love. Specializing in the systems that run the construction and real estate business including SharePoint, Salesforce, Procore, MS Dynamics, and Autodesk. Scale and grow profitably with Financial and Project Management Dashboards, document management, and workflow automation for field to office collaboration.

HingePoint
8105 Rasor Blvd.
Suite 241
Plano, TX 75024
(214) 301-0000
www.hingepoint.com
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Microsoft Office 365 is comprised of many tools that can help streamline your daily workflow, while getting your job done more quickly and effectively. An Office 365 project management tool that's been recently updated is Microsoft Planner.

Similar to Trello, Planner enables your company’s teams or groups to create multiple task lists associated with different projects or daily to-do checklists. Microsoft Planner helps remove chaos from team collaboration environment.
Review of Microsoft Planner for Project Management
Users can assign tasks, share files, and collaborate through chat to execute a project or plan.

Each plan has its own "board" where the user can organize tasks into different buckets, enabling the user to filter on Due Date, Categories, or by Assigned User. The HingePoint Team recreated our daily task lists using this tool and it seems to work like a charm!


“Built for Office 365, Planner lets you attach files to tasks, work together on those files, and even have conversations around tasks without switching between apps. With Planner, all your team’s discussions and deliverables stay with the plan and don’t get locked away across disparate applications.” Learn more about Microsoft Planner from Microsoft here.
Microsoft Planner has many of the same filtering capabilities as SharePoint lists, so it is a niche replacement for tools that previously had to be built from scratch or customized from other list templates.



 

The best part about Microsoft Planner is that it syncs directly with the associated Office 365 group. This allows you to embed your team’s plans into your SharePoint Team Site and add value and understanding to what your specified team is working on.

[caption id="attachment_14216" align="aligncenter" width="793"] Integration with Planner + SharePoint + Teams is one of the most powerful productivity boosters opportunities for O365 users. See how our strategic integration and onboarding of these MS apps can help you you can better your workflow. Learn More[/caption]


Read our "Top 5 Integration Features of Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint Online".



Microsoft Planner provides an out-of-the-box functionality for creating charts for your team's various assigned tasks. It keeps everyone informed about which tasks are in progress, not started, late, or complete.
Because we customize Microsoft Office 365 for businesses, we've even recreated a Microsoft Project plan in Planner to potentially use it as a way to communicate project plans across our organization, without assigning Microsoft Project licenses to all relevant parties. The prototypes track most of the same information that our project managers track throughout a project’s life-cycle and could prove to be a solution for Project Managers across all industries.
Integrating Office 365 can be frustrating.
We Can Help »
Microsoft Planner Details & Updates
Some of the new releases associated with Microsoft Planner include new “Group” and “Filter” options (mentioned above) and integration into the new Office 365 group card that gives you easy access to all the components of a group, such as conversations, calendar, notebook, files, planner, and other collaborative tools.

Microsoft is also currently rolling out a new feature that allows a user’s Outlook calendar to sync with Microsoft Planner.

Microsoft Planner is currently developing several new updates including:

 	
Microsoft Planner Guest User Access (Estimated Release Q3 CY 2018)
 	
New Planner SharePoint Web Part enabling users to bring their project tasks directly into a SharePoint page or news article. (Estimated Release February CY 2018. Have we mentioned that we're an experienced SharePoint developer and consultant?)
 	
Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Planner integration allowing users to view all of their assigned tasks across plans from Microsoft Teams. (Estimated Release February CY 2018)
 	
Ability display and share views of Planner tasks on a timeline (Estimated Release CY2018)

Planner comes standard with each the following Office 365 Plans:

 	
Office 365 Business Essentials
 	
Office 365 Business Premium
 	
Office 365 Enterprise E1
 	
Office 365 Enterprise E3
 	
Office 365 Enterprise E5
 	
Office 365 Education
 	
Office 365 Education E5

Overall, Microsoft Planner is a tool that HingePoint believes could be an excellent solution to many of the operational procedures that any company goes through on a day-to-day basis.  Of course, since this is an Office 365 product, users can also access and update their plans on any mobile device with the Microsoft Planner App.
Integrating Microsoft Planner
If you're interested in learning more about integrating Microsoft Planner or other Office 365 tools into your organization, we'd love to hear what you're looking to accomplish! Feel free to start a live chat with our solution consultant on this page, email us, or call us at (214) 301-0000 to get started today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUt2HwnkXtA
Integrating Office 365 can be frustrating.
We Can Help »



DOWNLOAD SELF ASSESSMENT
About HingePoint
HingePoint offers cloud and mobile applications for construction and real estate that are easy to adopt and employees love. Specializing in the systems that run the construction and real estate business including SharePoint, Salesforce, Procore, MS Dynamics, and Autodesk. Scale and grow profitably with Financial and Project Management Dashboards, document management, and workflow automation for field to office collaboration.

HingePoint
8105 Rasor Blvd.
Suite 241
Plano, TX 75024
(214) 301-0000
www.hingepoint.com
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Best Posts of 2017 - Microsoft SharePoint
HingePoint takes great pride in being an industry leader for Real Estate & Construction companies when looking for SharePoint Consulting and Development services. 2017 was our most successful year to date and we thought it would be helpful to provide a recap of our most popular SharePoint blog posts from the previous year. Here's a quick overview of our 2017 insights about SharePoint and what’s new in terms of SharePoint updates, best-practices, tips, tricks, and more:
#5. How To Use Office 365 & SharePoint Online To Build A Perfect Intranet
Looking for the perfect intranet solution? Want to maximize your Office 365 investment? This article outlines key tools and features to get you started.
#4. SharePoint Out-Of-The-Box Tips And Tricks From SharePoint Experts
A great read for those looking for some the practical SharePoint tips and tricks from our guru project manager that he learned through first-hand training and heads-down hard-work with our clients.
#3. 4 Ways To Use SharePoint For Company Data Management
Do you consistently find yourself wasting time hunting for files and documents? We detail four areas where SharePoint helps companies become more efficient and have more accurate, accessible information for employees.
#2. 7 Trends In 2017 For Commercial Real Estate: SharePoint Remains Top Collaborative Tool
In the commercial real estate industry, there are trends that can directly influence how companies work and achieve maximum growth. Here you will find HingePoint’s take on the top technological trends for commercial real estate developers.
#1. Top 5 Integration Features of Office 365 and SharePoint Online
Finally, our most popular SharePoint post of 2017. Read up on SharePoint upgrades and improvements over the last year that drastically impact users in terms of transporting cloud-based Office 365 capabilities onto the SharePoint platform. We identify five improvements we use to get the most out of Office 365 and SharePoint.

This article was so great that @SharePoint Retweeted it!


Thanks for Reading!
We hope that you found this recap beneficial as we took a look back at 2017. There are big things coming in 2018 that we are extremely excited about.


LEARN MORE


We look forward to keeping you in-the-know with all of our tips, insights, and developments as they unfold!

--

About HingePoint, LLC

HingePoint offers cloud and mobile applications for construction and real estate that are easy to adopt and employees love. Specializing in the systems that run the construction and real estate business including SharePoint, Salesforce, Procore, MS Dynamics, and Autodesk. Scale and grow profitably with Financial and Project Management Dashboards, document management, and workflow automation for field to office collaboration.

HingePoint
8105 Rasor Blvd.
Suite 241
Plano, TX 75024
(214) 301-0000
www.hingepoint.com
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                    [post_content] => Last week Microsoft hinted and showed several trends at Microsoft Ignite, their conference that showcases the company’s enterprise products and services and provides IT training.

Ignite is Microsoft’s premier event with more than 30,000 participants in Orlando, Florida. At HingePoint, we saw several trends emerging that are either going to disrupt or help business. Some of these are obvious, some are not.

But the bottom line is that Microsoft has made an already amazing enterprise platform to communicate with SharePoint and Office 365 even better.


Artificial Intelligence 
Microsoft makes Artificial Intelligence look like one of the greatest helpers to humanity. A hint of the scary-technology stigma that creates things like the robots in The Matrix was squashed. (Not sure what Elon Musk was referring to.)
Microsoft is working to deepen it’s artificial intelligence based solutions. For example, the keynote was being live streamed across the world, and artificial intelligence was translating the keynote in 12 languages simultaneously and instantly.
At the event, Microsoft had a station with facial recognition technology. Artificial intelligence could determine if you were happy, sad, angry, scared, in additional to several other emotions. It can also determine your age fairly accurately (It determined this writer is 40 years of age. It was way off… I’m almost 38; let’s keep it the 30s Artificial Intelligence!)
Artificial intelligence will also be used to communicate. According to Microsoft: “Organizations can now create and deliver rich conversational support solutions across multiple channels and improve support team productivity thanks to intelligent customer-facing virtual assistants that support live agents and conversation management.”

Mixed Reality 
Microsoft is going after mixed-use reality to increase collaboration. It’s where virtual reality, augmented reality and holograms are added into an immersive and often physical work environment.
Ford is using Microsoft’s mixed-use reality to design cars. Before car companies would make huge clay models to review their designs. Take bumpers. Designers would physically change the bumpers so engineering and designer can approve a new model.
Now, Ford designers and engineers can put on a virtual reality headset like Hololens, and see digital models. They can interchange multiple bumper models.
Enabling the Digital Transformation 
To enable the digital transformation, Microsoft works in four key areas: empowering employees, engaging customers, optimizing operations and transforming products.
At HingePoint, we still see small businesses working exclusively in Outlook, Excel, PDFs and not optimal versions of SharePoint. They have not reached the digital transformation Microsoft hopes. These companies are having problems where CEOs cannot see the whole picture about their business, and fear prevails of under-utilizing employees and making major financial mistakes.
This is what Microsoft hopes the digital transformation alleviates.
Moving You to the Cloud 
Microsoft is determined to move you to the cloud. So much so they have a team of trusted partners to help your company migrate to the cloud. Called FastTrack, the Microsoft teams are designed to help IT professionals and partners get the tools, resources, and guidance needed to move to Microsoft 365, Azure, and Dynamics 365. “FastTrack can provide you with personalized assistance at any time, as long as your subscription is active.”

Microsoft Teams 
If you ever thought Microsoft was lacking in ability or coolness, you should probably think and look again. Teams just leapfrogged Microsoft into one of the coolest, practical platforms an enterprise-style business can use while being confident of security and ease of use.
Microsoft Teams allows you to bring together conversations and content in a single app. Basically, anything you want can be accessed in Teams. The basic principle is to have one place for all communication needed internally and externally when working with a team.
The best way to learn about it is to try it. Give it a whirl here.
Microsoft is sophisticated.
If you’re a small business and want to go on the road to digital transformation, Microsoft tools can get you there. But technology is limited in what it can do for you.
The only piece to the puzzle that is really missing is the ability to find and collect the data you need to make great decisions about your business. If you are having trouble seeing the whole picture of your business in a timely manner or asking questions with no answer, technology is not going to solve your woes.
You need a data management strategy. You need a HingePoint. You can read our free ebook that is completely online to learn how to get a better data-management strategy.


Quit the Spreadsheet
Use the tools large enterprises use, control your data with SharePoint


  Contact Us to Learn More About SharePoint  
Managing Data with SharePoint Will Transform Your Business
Are you managing your entire company from a spreadsheet? How are you going to grow with those document management tools? Does your SharePoint work the way you want it to?

If you properly implement SharePoint, it will transform your company's productivity. Employees will be more efficient, you'll have better access to your company's data, and you'll be able to better report on key metrics. HingePoint’s custom SharePoint solutions have helped many companies struggling with unorganized data and manual, multi-step processes. Those same customers have transitioned into a more organized, productive organization by eliminating busy work and easy-to-find and search information.

HingePoint covers the AEC Industry and is the author of The AEC Industry 4.0 Report and the Autodesk Industry Report 2017. HingePoint helps construction and real estate development companies take control of their company’s information. We combine systems, software, and data so all company information can be seen and accessed from one screen, like a smartphone or computer.

HingePoint provides Procore, SharePoint and Saleforce consulting for Commercial Real Estate and Construction companies. HingePoint also helps the AEC industry with development & integration of AutoDesk and Procore products with enterprise systems. We are a trusted partner with over 25 years experience of systems development and integration work in the AEC industry. Our clients range from top hotel brands and restaurant chains to AEC firms and real estate developers and Facilities Management. We provide BIM with ROI. Results Guaranteed…Literally Guaranteed.
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Business Intelligence in the age of artificial intelligence
Business intelligence -- which is the ability to make better decisions on real-time, visual data -- will be the reason for the next renaissance.

The last renaissance was after the printing press revolutionized humanity by causing literacy to increase after its invention in the 1440s. But literacy didn't actually skyrocket until the Industrial Revolution made literacy economically valuable. Instruction manuals for machines became important to read during the Industrial Revolution. Books were cheaper and more subjects were available.

Kamal Hathi, a general manager at Microsoft, said spreadsheets were the printing press of data literacy. But artificial intelligence will make data literacy skyrocket like the industrial revolution made literacy skyrocket. Artificial intelligence will remove the need to understand statistics and code because it will automatically find interesting trends and outliers for users.

Business intelligence and artificial intelligence will democratize data so it will be available to everyone, not just data scientists.



Cool Stuff We Learned about Power BI at Microsoft Ignite

Power BI now has the ability to turn on forecasting, see trends, and automatically see clusters with one click. Go to analysis tab and click add forecast and it automatically and immediately adds a forecast. No statistics or coding is required.

Now Power BI has the ability to show drive times and demographic data by merging existing information with Geospatial data by Esri.

Companies can also publish and share Power BI reports from local servers, instead of using it through the web. That’s good for organizations that don’t want or can’t put certain data in the cloud, but they can still get the Power BI functionality.

Quit the Spreadsheet
Use the tools large enterprises use, control your data with SharePoint



Managing Data with SharePoint Will Transform Your Business
Are you managing your entire company from a spreadsheet? How are you going to grow with those document management tools? Does your SharePoint work the way you want it to?

If you properly implement SharePoint, it will transform your company's productivity. Employees will be more efficient, you'll have better access to your company's data, and you'll be able to better report on key metrics. HingePoint’s custom SharePoint solutions have helped many companies struggling with unorganized data and manual, multi-step processes. Those same customers have transitioned into a more organized, productive organization through automated workflows and easy-to-search information.

HingePoint covers the AEC Industry and is the author of The AEC Industry 4.0 Report and the Autodesk Industry Report 2017. HingePoint helps construction and real estate development companies take control of their company’s information. We combine systems, software, and data so all company information can be seen and accessed from one screen, like a smartphone or computer.

HingePoint provides Procore, SharePoint and Saleforce consulting for Commercial Real Estate and Construction companies. HingePoint also helps the AEC industry with development & integration of AutoDesk and Procore products with enterprise systems. We are a trusted partner with over 25 years experience of systems development and integration work in the AEC industry. Our clients range from top hotel brands and restaurant chains to AEC firms and real estate developers and Facilities Management. We provide BIM with ROI. Results Guaranteed…Literally Guaranteed.
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                    [post_content] => Microsoft is starting to break down the development wall between desktop and cloud services with Azure.

Azure, Microsoft’s comprehensive set of cloud services for developers and IT professionals, will be able to work in the cloud or in a local server. During Microsoft’s technology keynote at Ignite, it was clear that Microsoft is breaking down the development workflows to be both desktop and cloud integrated with Azure.

For example, Microsoft unveiled an integrated management portal that lets you see your whole infrastructure. It means you can see all the servers that are part of the data center, including the ones that are in the cloud and the ones on-premise on the same screen.
Need expert Azure Consulting, Development, and/or Integration Services? We can help.


Azure also lets you insert and create code snippets right into your app.  Simple right-click options will automatically insert the code into your app. If you need specific functionality you can just right click and get a block of code.

Azure Functions is a great solution for processing data, integrating systems, working with the internet-of-things (IoT), and building simple APIs and microservices.

Here are some examples of functions:

 	
HTTPTrigger - Trigger the execution of your code by using an HTTP request. For an example, see Create your first function.
 	
TimerTrigger - Execute cleanup or other batch tasks on a predefined schedule. For an example, see Create a function triggered by a timer.
 	
GitHub webhook - Respond to events that occur in your GitHub repositories. For an example, see Create a function triggered by a GitHub webhook.

The robust Azure stack allows cloud functionality to work on your server that is not connected to the Internet. For example, a ship out at sea that does not have the Internet will still have the same functionality as if they are connected to the cloud.

You can also develop mobile apps and immediately see the code you're working on. You can sync it with your mobile device and see it live so you can debug.
HingePoint is an expert at Azure Consulting, Development, and/or Integration Services
Microsoft is releasing SQL Server 2017, which has standard performance gains and it runs on Windows Linux. It allows SQL to be used consistently across the cloud and in your personal server to create hybrid environments. Now developers can use R, Python, and Ruby directly in SQL servers, allowing a variety of languages to interact with the server.

Quit the Spreadsheet
Use the tools large enterprises use, control your data with SharePoint


  Contact Us to Learn More About SharePoint  
Managing Data with SharePoint Will Transform Your Business
Are you managing your entire company from a spreadsheet? How are you going to grow with those document management tools? Does your SharePoint work the way you want it to?

If you properly implement SharePoint, it will transform your company's productivity. Employees will be more efficient, you'll have better access to your company's data, and you'll be able to better report on key metrics. HingePoint’s custom SharePoint solutions have helped many companies struggling with unorganized data and manual, multi-step processes. Those same customers have transitioned into a more organized, productive organization through automated workflows and easy-to-search information.

HingePoint covers the AEC Industry and is the author of The AEC Industry 4.0 Report and the Autodesk Industry Report 2017. HingePoint helps construction and real estate development companies take control of their company’s information. We combine systems, software, and data so all company information can be seen and accessed from one screen, like a smartphone or computer.

HingePoint provides Procore, SharePoint and Saleforce consulting for Commercial Real Estate and Construction companies. HingePoint also helps the AEC industry with development & integration of AutoDesk and Procore products with enterprise systems. We are a trusted partner with over 25 years experience of systems development and integration work in the AEC industry. Our clients range from top hotel brands and restaurant chains to AEC firms and real estate developers and Facilities Management. We provide BIM with ROI. Results Guaranteed…Literally Guaranteed.
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                    [post_content] => CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella said businesses are in the middle of a digital transformation.

Microsoft has one of the most diverse crowds of 30,000 people at its annual conference, Microsoft Ignite. The diversity of roles and functions is unlike anything Microsoft has seen.

"The most critical thing for us is to bring all of us across functional roles and expertise to support this process of continuous change and renewal."

Technology should enhance work and life. It should help humans be more productive while helping embellish human life.

Nadella rhetorically asked, How are we going to use technology to empower people?



That is precisely Microsoft's mission. Empower every person and organization on the planet to do more.

"We do not want to degrade humanity" with technology, he said during his keynote in Orlando, Florida.



To enable the digital transformation, Microsoft works in four key areas, empower employees, engage customers, optimize operations and transform products.

To do so, Microsoft is working in artificial intelligence. For example, the keynote was being live streamed across the world, and artificial intelligence was translating the keynote in 12 languages simultaneously.

They're also making a big push in alternative reality. While virtual reality has been big in companies like Autodesk. Microsoft is honing in on a more encompassing reality, mixed-use reality.

Mixed use reality



Microsoft is going after mixed-use reality to increase collaboration.

It's where virtual reality, augmented reality and holograms are added into an immersive and often physical work environment.

Ford is using Microsoft's mixed use reality to design cars. Before car companies would make huge clay models to review their models.

Take bumpers. Designers would physically change the bumpers so engineering and designer can approve a new model.

Now, Ford designers and engineers can put on a virtual reality headset like Hololens, and see digital models. They can interchange multiple bumper models.



The digital models even have safety and regulatory data in them. For example, if a designer changes how a rear view mirror looks, the Hololens will show how the new design changes what the driver sees.

The mixed-use reality reduces leaks because it controls who has access to confidential information. You can even verify your identity with your phone and it securely logs you into the team collaboration platform.



Someone can even work in two different physical places in the same virtual environment while working on the same physical product and seeing the same digital models.

Windows is creating a new mixed reality headsets to help with mixed-use reality.

Microsoft has positioned itself as the software platform to conduct business. With the advent of the cloud and it's many offerings, it's going to be hard to find a better solution for business.



Outlook now connects to LinkedIn. You can see LinkedIn profiles in outlook and connect







HingePoint is headed to Microsoft's Ignite conference. It is day one. We will be updating our blog here for updates.

Quit the Spreadsheet
Use the tools large enterprises use, control your data with SharePoint



  Contact Us to Learn More About SharePoint  

Managing Data with SharePoint Will Transform Your Business
Are you managing your entire company from a spreadsheet? How are you going to grow with those document management tools? Does your SharePoint work the way you want it to?

If you properly implement SharePoint, it will transform your company's productivity. Employees will be more efficient, you'll have better access to your company's data, and you'll be able to better report on key metrics. HingePoint’s custom SharePoint solutions have helped many companies struggling with unorganized data and manual, multi-step processes. Those same customers have transitioned into a more organized, productive organization through automated workflows and easy-to-search information.
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Automations, implementation, flexible frameworks with Microsoft Power Automate
Automations, implementation, flexible frameworks. They all sound great, but how do they actually benefit your business? With Microsoft Power Automate, the possibilities may be endless but the benefits are easy to see. 

HingePoint is breaking down three key examples of how to supercharge your workflow and improve your organization’s productivity, processes, and bottom line. Grab your notepad and prepare to reimagine your business. Now let’s dive in. 
1. Easily integrate with hundreds of software applications
When businesses perform automation, the main barrier we see them face is the connectivity to specific services they already use. For example, integrations that connect data from a SharePoint list or from an Excel sheet to the OneDrive for storage aren’t always available. Power Automation seamlessly integrates with SharePoint project management tools, SharePoint workflows, and other systems that may already be in place within your organization. 
Our approach: To resolve this issue, we use SharePoint Designer Workflow, lists, and libraries to perform the automation. We also utilize Microsoft Flow to integrate with thousands of other software and services. Not only does Power Automate easily connect with Microsoft products, but it also communicates with ease with other programs. 
 
2. Automated triggers so you don’t have to lift a finger
In any automation, the most important step is defining what trigger or action signals the start of an automation process. When do you want automation to be sent and what determining factor dictates that initiation? 
Our approach: We use the Microsoft Flow Triggers to start the automation process. These triggers specify how and when a workflow gets carried out. We also create custom triggers specifically to collect data and perform further business operation logics.
 
3. Email automation that actually works
Power Automate can decipher an email’s content and process it according to predetermined filters. For example, an organization can utilize email automation for their invoice approval process. Power Automate takes an invoice as an email attachment and moves it into the library for automatic invoice approval. Simple, easy, and effective.
Our approach: We implement a filter according to specific keywords in an email’s subject line, body content, or by the email sender’s address.

How to set up Power Automate in your business
If your team isn’t already implementing Microsoft Power Automations (formerly Microsoft Flow), we highly recommend you explore the benefits it can bring to your workflow. From seamless integrations to preset power automation, your team can work smarter, not harder, with this tool. As a SharePoint consultant, we understand the complexities that come with integrations and setups. 

HingePoint has over 15 years of experience with SharePoint and has helped more than 200 companies implement SharePoint solutions. Our unique process ensures that you get a solution that works for you and even comes with a performance guarantee. That’s how sure we are that you’ll love Power Automate. 

If you’re ready to get started, we are here to help. Contact HingePoint today to learn more about how Microsoft Power Automate can work for you. 
Examples
Workflow 1: Loan/Case Management
Search existing cases and verify history and status



 

 

Apporove the Case



 

 

Dashboard



 

 

Workflow 2: New project request



 

Dashboard



 

History



 
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