How to use Artificial Intelligence to Automate tasks, save time and money
I think I speak for every business owner out there when we say time is money. We’re continually looking at ways we can get things done quicker. From controlling the coffee machine with an app, to automating customer services enquiries, to having a bot do the kids’ bedtime (okay, maybe not the last one, but we can keep our fingers crossed for that one!).
We can agree though that focusing on saving time is one of the main priorities of a business. Proactively managing your business processes will in turn save the associated costs.
Save your finance team time
In today’s automated world, there’s no need to manually input data. If you’re processing many invoices or receipts, consider using an app such as Dext. By linking to your accountancy software, simply take photos of receipts or forward invoices in your e-mails to your account and let Dext do all the hard work by extracting the key information for you, reducing both human error and time spent on menial tasks.
Software programmes such as Xero can also be utilised for data collection and expense submissions, and with multi-currency and mobile notifications, the whole expense process can be efficiently streamlined. Leaving your finance team to focus on the figures that matter most to your business.
Use Microsoft365 AI to answer internal FAQ’s
Whether you outsource HR or have an internal team, they’re busy people! Employees often go to their HR team to ask questions such as “What is my holiday entitlement?”, “When is the office closing for Christmas?” or “What is the company’s policy for sick pay?” etc. By using Microsoft Teams as a virtual Head Office, you can use a modern digital assistant to digitalise knowledge for the business, making it easy for members of staff to find out their FAQ’s, ensuring the HR team aren’t receiving a constant stream of FAQ enquiries from employees.
It is also thought that removing these tedious tasks from employees makes them feel more valued and happier in the workplace.
Make meeting planning easy
Forget the to-ing and fro-ing of dates, trying to find one that suits everyone. Use the Microsoft plug-in FindTime or scheduling tool Calendly. You suggest a few different dates and those that are invited can vote for their preferred date and see which dates suit others. Once the best date is chosen, each participant will then receive the calendar invite. This not only saves time, but reduces friction in trying to find something that works between those invited.
Translate E-mails
This time saver is brilliant if your business deals with people from all over the world, and translating comms is an important part of your work. By using the Translator Outlook add-on you can translate complete e-mails at the click of a button. Perfect for sending and receiving!
Automate Workflows
By streamlining repetitive processes, your employees will complete certain tasks more efficiently. Microsoft 365 can be used to help create processes such as diary management of weekly, monthly or annual events, once set up, the process can easily be re-produced for each client.
There are a whole host of ways you can use artificial intelligence to automate your business processes to save your team on time-consuming tasks, thus in turn saving your business a substantial amount of money. AI is still in its infancy, and it’s still very much a process of trial and error, but working out what works for you and your company could change your processes dramatically.
If you’re interested in exploring this topic further, why not join our strategic advisor, Mark, who has created a free webinar that looks at how using automation can save your business time and money. With the right processes in place, Mark has found his ROI model can save a 50-user accountancy firm £350,000 in lost revenue, just by making their IT investments work better for them.
For more information about the free webinars, click here http://bit.ly/3RCE6l5
