Ask The Expert: A talk with Bjorn Bernaerts about the integration of OMNITRACKER and Microsoft Teams

Roth, Ellen | 17.03.2023
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Hello Bjorn, let’s start with a little introduction, tell us about yourself and what it is you do at OMNINET.

My first work experience, after studying computer sciences, was as a system administrator for a startup in the Netherlands. After a few years I switched to the government where I worked for 13 years. First as a programmer and then as a project manager and finally program manager. 

Since 2015 I have been working for OMNINET, initially in pre-sales and for the last 6 years as an account manager with a focus on customers within the government.

I’ve been hearing about a nice new feature between OMNITRACKER and Microsoft Teams. Can you tell us more about this?

The purpose of solutions such as OMNITRACKER is to ensure that the operation of an organization runs as efficiently as possible. Employees must be able to perform their tasks with as little resistance as possible.

OMNITRACKER provides organizations with a wide range of functionalities for exactly this purpose. It is important that these functionalities can be used in a user-friendly way that is in line with the user's profile.

Microsoft Teams is used within many organizations, and this across the entire breadth of the organization. It was therefore logical for us to ensure that employees can exchange information with their Service Desk via MS Teams while the Service Desk in turn can continue to work within OMNITRACKER for the handling of all questions, reports, etc.

Quote on MS teams integration by Bjorn Bernaerts

That’s interesting! Why do you think, so many customers were anticipating this integration?

I think this is obvious. The integration allows employees and the service desk to exchange information with each other in such a way as to allow both parties to use their own trusted tools, while making sure that these contain all the relevant information.

According to you, what are the 3 biggest benefits for integrating OMNITRACKER with Microsoft Teams?

Simplifying and facilitating the way employees work brings with it a whole range of benefits. 

For example, the interaction between employees and the service desk will improve, allowing questions and calls to be handled more quickly, improving the efficiency of our processes.

Nor should you underestimate the job satisfaction of employees. For them, having to use many different tools is often complicated and even frustrating. This integration takes away some of that complexity and frustration with positive consequences.

Are there any specific challenges with this integration?

No. The only requirements are that the organization uses Microsoft Teams, that the OMNITRACKER Web server has access to the Internet if using the OMNITRACKER Web client, and that the user's PC has access to the Internet if using the Windows client.

Is this integration already available? If not, when will it be available for our customers?

This integration is already possible today using MS Graph. Depending on the complexity of the integration, it can be configured in as little as 2 days.

As of OMNITRACKER version 12.5.0, scheduled for release in Q4 2023, this integration will be supported from within the OMNITRACKER core. In terms of functionality, this will not make a big difference, but from then on the integration will be fully release compatible, allowing customers to roll out subsequent OMNITRACKER Core versions without impacting the integration.

Thanks for your time and knowledge sharing, Bjorn! Any final thoughts for our readers?

When determining what to look for in a solution, such as OMNITRACKER, an organization often focuses on functionalities that have a direct impact on their business. However, next to the direct benefits, there are also many features that indirectly have a positive impact, which should not be underestimated. User satisfaction is certainly one of these indirect benefits. 

Those users are usually not IT specialists, nor is this their task, so it is important to ensure that they can use the offered tools in a way that gives them the least possible resistance. Linking their trusted Teams client with, in this case, OMNITRACKER is a big step in the right direction for those users.