How to Use Microsoft Power Automate? [In Under 10 Minutes]

It doesn’t matter what your function is, I can guess you waste (at the least some) time in your job. Not since you need to. You waste time as a result of your job quietly calls for it. Copying information from one instrument to a different. Chasing approvals. Sending the identical replace for the tenth time. Such mundane, but important duties resolve whether or not your work strikes ahead or not. Day after day, these small, repetitive duties drain your focus excess of the “essential” work ever does. Enter Microsoft Energy Automate, an AI automation instrument constructed to resolve precisely this drawback.

Energy Automate takes the repetitive, rules-based work off your plate and lets automation deal with it for you. As a substitute of adjusting how you’re employed round damaged processes, Energy Automate reshapes the method itself. As soon as that shift occurs, you cease working as per the method; your course of begins working for you.

Because the identify suggests, Microsoft Energy Automate brings the “energy” of automation with it. With little to no-code requirement, Energy Automate permits you to optimize a number of enterprise processes with end-to-end automation. What this mainly means is that this – arrange the method automation as soon as, then sit again and calm down, as Energy Automate does the job for you, day-after-day, with out fail.

Right here, we will discover this AI instrument from the home of Microsoft intimately. We will have a look at the way it advantages the customers, the way it works, and the right way to put it to make use of on your personal processes.

Enlightening, proper? However why do you want it?

Why Use Energy Automate – Advantages & Worth

Allow us to start with the very fundamentals. Above, I’ve shared what Microsoft Energy Automate actually is – an AI-powered automation instrument. However the actual, or slightly extra impactful query is – how does it aid you?

Nicely, the advantages are many, but the most important one, and the very purpose for its existence, is that Energy Automate permits you to save time by decreasing guide work. Think about not having to ship that each day mail with all of the experiences to everybody in your staff. As soon as arrange, Energy Automate can do it for you routinely, day-after-day, with out fail.

In case that wasn’t a purpose sufficient to make use of it, right here is how Microsoft Energy Automate can deliver unparalleled effectivity to your workflows:

1. Improves accuracy & consistency: A human worker could also be on depart or just “overlook” to do the repetitive job day-after-day. An AI automation won’t ever miss it. What’s extra, it should do it with utmost accuracy, simply as you practice it to do, so no extra miscalculations or “Oops! Missed it” moments.
2. No-code automation for enterprise customers: As soon as you start utilizing Energy Automate, you’ll realise how Microsoft has constructed it from scratch for utmost accessibility. How? The AI instrument mainly handles all of the backend coding and automation by itself. All you must do then is just hyperlink some processes on a canvas and let AI do the remainder.
3. Integrates Microsoft and third-party instruments: Though it’s an in-house instrument by Microsoft, Energy Automate doesn’t prohibit itself to Microsoft apps. It could automate processes throughout third-party apps as nicely, like Gmail and others, eradicating any potential roadblocks in your course of automation journey.

Microsoft Energy Automate: Core Idea and The way it Works?

To take advantage of Microsoft Energy Automate, we first want to grasp the way it truly works. Fortunately, the core concept behind the instrument could be very easy. It follows a ‘Set off to Motion’ format. One thing occurs first, and Energy Automate responds with an motion that you’ve outlined earlier. In case you’re aware of Make.com or n8n automation instruments, you understand what I imply right here.

For instance, a brand new e-mail arrives in your inbox. That’s the set off. Energy Automate then saves the attachments from the e-mail right into a folder of your alternative. That’s the motion. You’ll be able to chain as many actions to a set off as you need, increase a whole chain of automation.

These automated chains are referred to as Flows. Every stream handles one full job from begin to end. Microsoft Energy Automate affords several types of flows to deal with totally different environments:

1. Cloud Flows: These flows run completely on the cloud. They work finest for on-line apps like Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Groups, Google Drive, or Slack. Simply choose a set off occasion, outline the motion, and your automation runs on-line with out touching your desktop.
2. Desktop Move: Some duties don’t occur on-line. Many firms nonetheless depend on outdated or offline apps. Desktop flows clear up this drawback. They use RPA (Robotic Course of Automation) to click on buttons, sort textual content, and transfer information in your laptop identical to a human would do. This makes automation potential even for legacy methods.
3. Templates and Connectors: Right here is the perfect a part of Microsoft Energy Automate. You do not want to construct all the things from scratch. The platform affords a whole lot of ready-to-use templates. Decide one which matches your job, tweak just a few settings, and you’re performed.

Connectors assist Energy Automate discuss to different functions. These connectors act like bridges between totally different instruments. Due to them, a single stream can transfer information easily throughout Microsoft apps and plenty of third-party platforms.

Right here is a picture to summarise all the things about Energy Automate that we’ve gone by way of until now.

Tips on how to Entry Microsoft Energy Automate?

Getting began with Microsoft Energy Automate is surprisingly easy. You do not want any particular {hardware}, complicated installations, or technical setup. All you want is an online browser and an e-mail handle. That’s it.

Energy Automate is out there as a part of Microsoft’s Energy Platform and might be accessed straight by way of your browser. Should you already use Microsoft merchandise like Outlook, Groups, SharePoint, or Excel, chances are high you have already got entry to Energy Automate in some kind. In that case, merely log in along with your Microsoft account and begin constructing your first stream.

For newcomers, Microsoft additionally affords a free tier. This allows you to discover fundamental automation options, check out templates, and perceive how flows work earlier than committing to a paid plan. As you advance, you might need to go for versatile paid plans that scale along with your wants.

Briefly, there is no such thing as a steep entry barrier right here. Energy Automate is designed to be accessible from day one, and highly effective as you develop into it.

So now that we all know the place to search out it, let’s bounce proper right into a sensible use-case to higher perceive its working.

Setting Up: First Steps with Energy Automate

Since Energy Automate is designed with accessibility at its core, it doesn’t require any prior automation expertise. In reality, the platform is designed to information you thru the method from the very first click on.

Listed below are step-wise directions to present you a glimpse of your upcoming expertise with Energy Automate:

• Go to the Microsoft 365 web site by clicking right here.
• Check in to your Microsoft account if not logged in already.
• Click on on the Apps choice on the backside of the sidebar on the left. You will note this proper above your account data.
• From the prolonged menu, click on on All Apps. Then scroll down to search out Energy Automate. Click on to open.

You’ll be able to comply with these photographs for any help by way of this course of:

As soon as open, you shall now see the dashboard of Energy Automate. Hereon, you will have two choices to proceed:

1. Construct workflow from Scratch
To construct a stream from scratch, choose ‘Create’ from the sidebar on the left. Then start by deciding on a set off – an occasion that begins the automation. This could possibly be one thing like receiving a brand new e-mail, a file being uploaded, or a kind being submitted. As soon as the set off is ready, you outline a number of actions that Energy Automate ought to carry out in response. These actions can vary from sending messages to updating information or shifting information. e.g., an incoming e-mail might set off a notification for a gaggle on Groups.

2. Use a Template
For newcomers, this is a perfect solution to discover the capabilities of Energy Automate. Microsoft affords a whole lot of ready-made templates for widespread duties corresponding to sending notifications, saving e-mail attachments, syncing information, or managing approvals. In case you are new, merely head to ‘Templates’ within the left sidebar, discover one which fits your wants, and click on on it to set it up in a canvas. It’s that straightforward!

Study as you go, as Energy Automate walks you thru every step utilizing a visible editor. You merely choose apps, select actions, and configure them utilizing easy inputs. There isn’t a coding concerned.

As soon as your stream is prepared, you put it aside, flip it on, and let it run within the background.

Your setup is now full, and the workflow ought to now execute routinely each time the set off happens. Now sit again, and say goodbye to guide effort.

Having walked by way of the steps of organising an automation, allow us to now discover what a real-life automation with Energy Automate seems to be like.

Get Instantaneous Alerts When a File Is Uploaded to OneDrive

To display how Microsoft Energy Automate works in a real-life situation, we first take an instance from the templates inside the app. The automation will ahead a cellular notification, in addition to an e-mail, as quickly as a file is uploaded to a drive. Right here is the way it goes:

Notify and e-mail when a brand new file is uploaded to OneDrive

1. To start with, choose the next template from the Templates menu – ‘Notify and Electronic mail when a brand new file is uploaded to OneDrive.’ This shall open a dashboard with a pre-set 3-step automation. You’ll be able to take a look at this within the picture beneath.

2. All we now must do is ready the parameters within the varied steps, and the automation shall begin operating. Choose step one – ‘When a file is created’ – and select the folder you want to join beneath the ‘Folder’ choice. You’ll be able to depart the remainder of the fields as they’re.

Word: In case your OneDrive will not be already related, you might want to join it first by way of the ‘Change connection reference’ on the backside of the left panel.

3. Subsequent, choose the second step – ‘Ship me a cellular notification’ – finalise the message within the ‘Textual content’ subject, and join your cellphone quantity on the backside.

4. Choose the third step – ‘Ship me an e-mail notification’ – select the goal e-mail and body the Topic and the Physique of the e-mail as you need, and you’re performed. Click on on the ‘Save’ choice from the highest toolbar, and check it should you like (by way of the choice adjoining to Save) earlier than operating the automation.

Mechanically Summarize Incoming Emails Utilizing ChatGPT

Our second automation instance summarizes emails utilizing ChatGPT. Right here is the way it works:

Summarize emails utilizing ChatGPT

1. Choose the template ‘Summarize emails utilizing ChatGPT’ from the Templates menu. This shall open a dashboard with a pre-set 5-step automation. You’ll be able to take a look at this within the picture beneath. Choose step one and enter all of the parameters for the brand new e-mail within the left panel.

2. Choose step 2 – this step creates a string variable that shops a reusable HTML footer message. This footer message is mainly hooked up to AI-generated summaries for compliance and transparency. You’ll be able to depart all of the parameters right here as they’re.

3. Choose the third step to finalise its parameters. Throughout the Immediate part, choose the immediate you want to execute (on this case, AI Summarize is apt). Choose ‘Topic’ and ‘Physique’ as Enter Textual content. This shall subset the topic and physique of the incoming e-mail inside your immediate.

4. Choose step 4 – the “Get my profile (V2)” step fetches your Microsoft 365 consumer particulars so the GPT-generated abstract might be accurately attributed, routed, or posted in Groups beneath your identification.

5. Choose step 5 and outline the parameters for Publish as, Publish in, Recipient, and Message. As soon as performed, you may merely Save the automation and Check it earlier than making it stay.

Energy Automate: Widespread Use Instances

Now that we all know how Energy Automate works, listed here are simply a number of the prospects that the Microsoft instrument opens the doorways to:

1. Electronic mail Administration and Notifications

Receiving the identical sort of e-mail day-after-day? Energy Automate can provide you with a warning solely when one thing essential occurs, as a substitute of you sifting by way of the boring stuff always. For instance, it could possibly ship a Groups message when a high-value buyer sends an e-mail.

2. Automated Information Entry and Syncing

Copy-pasting information from one instrument to a different is annoying and dangerous. Energy Automate retains your information up to date throughout methods, additionally serving to to wash information and cut back human errors.

3. Approval Workflows

With Energy Automate, you may request approvals for leaves, budgets, or paperwork with one click on. So, no extra ready for somebody to verify their inbox. Approvers get reminders immediately.

4. Doc and File Dealing with Automation

Each time a brand new file arrives, Energy Automate can rename it, organise it right into a folder, and even extract essential information. So, now you spend extra time working with the file and fewer time managing it.

5. Helpdesk and Buyer Help Duties

Help groups can automate ticket creation, leading to swifter buyer assist response. For instance, each time a consumer fills a kind, a assist ticket is created within the system.

6. HR and Worker Onboarding

Sending welcome emails, granting entry, creating consumer accounts, now all of it could possibly run in an automatic stream inside Energy Automate.

7. Desktop Automation for Legacy Methods

Many organisations nonetheless use outdated software program that can’t combine with cloud instruments. Desktop flows let Energy Automate click on, sort, and navigate screens like a human, fixing the issue completely.

There are lots of extra use circumstances throughout finance, provide chain, compliance, services, and IT operations. Automation prospects broaden day-after-day as extra methods join with Microsoft Energy Automate. So, merely determine how Microsoft Energy Automate may also help reduce your workload and use it to automate your methods, finest suited to you. Allow us to have a look at just a few examples of how that is being performed around the globe.

Actual-World Examples of Microsoft Energy Automate

Listed below are some real-world implementations of Energy Automate that spotlight its automation prowess and the outcomes it delivers.

1. Cineplex – Media & Leisure

With Energy Automate, Cineplex automated bill processing, ticket refunds, onboarding duties, and monetary reporting. They saved over 30,000 working hours yearly. Staff now concentrate on decision-making as a substitute of paperwork.

2. SLB – International Power Supplier

The corporate automated large-scale information entry and bill processes utilizing Energy Automate. Desktop flows now extract info from scanned paperwork and switch it into methods with out human effort. This improved accuracy and velocity for 1000’s of transactions.

3. Toyota Motor North America – Manufacturing

Toyota automated quality-control critiques and reporting actions with Energy Automate. What earlier took hours of guide checks now completes in minutes, growing product reliability and full automation of repetitive duties.

4. Virgin Atlantic – Aviation

The airline makes use of Microsoft Energy Automate to hurry up inner approval and documentation flows. Response occasions dropped considerably. The crew can now focus extra on delivering a greater passenger expertise.

Conclusion

By now, we have now explored what Microsoft Energy Automate is, the way it works behind the scenes, and the way it may be of use to automate our on a regular basis workflows. We additionally noticed real-life use circumstances of the way it advantages firms, and established some fast workflows to have a fundamental understanding of the right way to use it.

All that’s left for you now could be to expertise the facility of automation first-hand. Belief me, when you do, there is no such thing as a turning again to the common, boring, and very tedious duties that took up half of your workday. Energy Automate can be your new, and very succesful work buddy that has your again.