All About Microsoft Licensing for First-Line Workers
Explore how Microsoft Licensing empowers first-line workers and makes companies more efficient across all industries in the US.
Frontline workers hardly ever get enough digital tools to support their functions, yet they’re responsible for strategy execution. Failure to include the team when making your technology decisions creates a massive performance gap that would sink your performance if not resolved early. As of 2020, there were over 30 million first-line workers in the US alone, spread across retail, transport, manufacturing, child care, healthcare, and social services.
Such astronomical figures make it even more relevant for organizations to equip their frontline teams with digital tools that make them more competitive in their industries.
Communication and productivity apps help to magnify their ability to serve customers on the shop floor or produce more products on the factory floor. Microsoft Licensing aims to bridge this gap by providing the apps and tools needed for frontline teams to remain productive.
What’s in a Typical Microsoft Licensing for First-Line Workers Package?
First-line workers hardly ever need a desk to discharge their duties. And if they have one, they will always be away from it, attending to customers on the shop floor or building your company’s products. Automating some of the mundane tasks that this workforce encounter lessens their burden, helping them to produce more focused work. With Microsoft Licensing, first-line workers can be more productive thanks to the following applications:
Office applications
Microsoft Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote help to simplify basic tasks like word processing, data entry, data manipulation, note-taking, and making presentations. Frontline workers can use these to prepare reports, log production data, or take quick notes as they work.
Email and calendar apps
Email applications help the frontline teams to stay connected with customers and employees. Exchange is a server backbone that allows instant messaging, emails, and calendaring on the Microsoft network. Workers can access emails from an Outlook application installed on their devices. The exchange server syncs the calendar and messaging apps with email, so the team keeps track of upcoming appointments.
Meetings and voice chat
Microsoft Licensing improves collaboration between employees using video messaging tools like Teams. Using real-time audio and video communications, frontline workers can send and receive instantaneous feedback. For instance, a production team member may need quality control to look into an urgent issue from a remote office. They will both get on a video call and have it sorted.
Device and application management
Microsoft Licensing comes with built-in features that allow IT admins to manage client applications for the workforce. For example, it allows them to assign apps to devices and users. For devices running on Windows Enterprise, the feature lets you configure, secure, and update applications for your users.
Social intranet
It doesn’t matter if you have blocked mainstream social media on your networks. Microsoft’s tools allow you to create a social network within your intranet. It is an excellent way of sharing company updates and information as it gives you a wider reach compared to regular intranet.
Files and content
Front line workers need to be able to share files without leaving their workstations unattended. With Microsoft’s tools like Stream, Sway, and OneDrive, they can access files from anywhere. They can also create and share videos and publications spontaneously.
Some other handy tools and applications allow better workflow management and collaboration between teams. They include apps like Forms, Planner, Power Apps, and Power Virtual Agents.
Strategies to Get the Most Out Of Your Microsoft Licensing First Line Workers Subscription
One of the common issues 4it experts have encountered in managed IT services has been how to manage what employees can access outside the corporate network. With our best-in-class solutions, we have been able to exploit the advanced features of Microsoft Licensing, customizing it to meet business requirements. Here are a few strategies we have used successfully with businesses in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Identity and access management
Forced to choose between productivity and data privacy, highly regulated industries like healthcare will pick privacy for a good reason. Understanding that frontline workers in this space need to navigate between compliance and getting things done, the team at Microsoft included add-ons that provide a secure way to execute their duty.
Microsoft Licensing provides a secure connection between devices using integrated identity access management features that control access to services and applications. They include basic applications like Windows Hello and Credential Guard, to premium options like Azure Active Directory.
Threat protection
Microsoft’s Advanced Threat Analysis (ATA) is a cybersecurity feature that protects your on-premise and cloud networks from attacks. It implements machine learning technology to monitor gateways and log network and device activity. ATA will detect and analyze potential threats and raise an alert in case of compromise. The technology recognizes different phases of cyberattacks. It will detect malicious attacks and suspicious activity, sending the information to a user-friendly dashboard where admins can view and take action.
Information protection
Windows Information Protection (WIP) and Bitlocker protect your sensitive data from getting into the wrong hands. WIP is a set of policies guiding IT admins on how to secure employee devices and the enterprise environment. Bit locker is a drive encryption tool integrated into the operating system. It secures data from theft or exposure when a device is lost or decommissioned.
Security management
Business owners want to be confident that their systems are secure, especially when they have a distributed workforce. With limited visibility of the actions of frontline teams, it pays to have a solution on constant watch for security breaches. Microsoft Licensing offers analytics that reports on the security and compliance status of the system applications.
Discover Microsoft Licensing for First-Line Workers in South Florida with 4it
Despite commanding a large portion of the workforce, it’s quite intriguing that first-line workers don’t have access to the same tech tools as business executives. Frontline teams are always deep in the trenches – managing critical areas like dealing with customers and working on the production lines.
Microsoft Licensing improves productivity by equipping staff with better communications tools, easy access to instructional videos and training documents, and more efficient shift-management tools. If you want to discover how Microsoft Licensing for first-line workers can maximize your productivity, contact 4it for a demonstration.
