Chris A Watkins - Business

 O365: Mobile Apps - the easy way See also -  Other Office 365 Posts Anyone following these posts will now know how easy it is to create data stores in SharePoint for documents and files and for listing data, such as customer details. We've also looked at making this data easily findable, how to flag items for the attention of individuals and teams within the Office 365domain and moving work through the system in a controlled manner. We've also seen how we can access this content when away from the office via mobile apps for Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. Occasionally the standard apps aren't really convenient and fail to lend themselves to mobile use. I'm thinking here of functions like stock lists, customer contact lists and the like, when the standard app delivers too much detail for a small screen, or where links and buttons are small and difficult to use. For these functions it would be better to deploy an app that is designed for fast, effective use on a mobile. ...

 O365: Meta Data - Auto Population for improved Search See also -  Other Office 365 Posts Having discussed the advantages of using meta data so far we have touched only on populating these fields using manual entry, either by typing or by selection from a drop list. If we wish to auto populate meta data fields we can do this in one or two ways. Default Meta Content. This method populates a Meta Data field with content that can be changed, removed or enhanced. Any Meta Data field that is created by adding a SharePoint list or library column will have a default value setting. This can be set in the List/Library Settings page to any value you wish. In the above illustration I have set the DocType column in a Training Documents Library. The effect is that any document created from the template in this library will be flagged as DocType = Training:   The content of the field can be subsequently changed or amended. So, A user could change "Training:" to "Training: SharePoint L...

 O365: Meta Data - the key to success? See also -  Other Office 365 Posts Having introduced the concept of Meta Data in the last post I will expand on its importance in the Office 365 environment. Auto generated Meta Data, such as dates of file creation and modification, added to author's ID and last editor's ID, provide very convenient methods to categorise and index both files and data. Manually added Meta Data, such as entry in the SharePoint or Office Title field, increase the power of search, sort, categorisation and index exponentially. Simply adding an 'Allocated to' field to any SharePoint library or SharePoint list means that ownership of any file, document or task can be identified with ease and speed. Changes to the same field can be updated to move data from one filtered list to another to accommodate simple and effective work flow. Adding the Field  For this exercise I am using an existing SharePoint List .  The list records events for a CRM style workfl...

 O365: Improving Search and Fast Find in Teams and SharePoint See also -  Other Office 365 Posts Okay. I just spent the last few posts saying how good search is in Office 365 and now I say it can be improved? Well, even the best can be better.  SharePoint Search launched with  or     followed by selecting SharePoint gives access to a search tool that spans content across the Office 365 domain and returns results for the user, filtered by the user's level of access. The search covers file name, meta data and text in the body of the document. Meta Data The important thing here is Meta Data. The elements of data that is used to index and categorise information. Meta Data has been an integral part of Microsoft Office apps for many years with Word automatically creating fields like - The items listed in the properties column are meta data fields. It can be seen from the above illustration that date and times of creation and last modification, document size,...

 O365: Search and Find Data when you need it See also -  Other Office 365 Posts Pervious posts have illustrated how easy it is to create storage in Office 365 and how you can populate the libraries and lists easily from the office PC or from a mobile or tablet when on the move. We've also looked at the powerful search and find functions within Office 365 and how users can be enabled to locate items for attention, take necessary action and move the items on in the work flow, while maintaining a full control audit at the highest level. What Data Do We Need? Following on from that we should consider - What data should a business be concerned with Where that data should be stored How that data should be stored. Start with Simple Stuff To start we can consider a customer name, address and contact details. This is the sort of data that may be captured by a sales person working from the office making cold calls or following warm leads, or maybe at the customers premises using a mobil...