How To Reduce Manual Errors In Microsoft Teams 

You’ve spent the last hour making changes to the policies for the marketing department. 

You hit save. 

That’s it. Job done. Time for a coffee. 

Wait. 

It didn’t save? 

Okay, there’s an error message. Must be an easy fix. You spent the last hour on this, after all. 

Oh no. 

Not this. 

You made one little mistake, about 45 minutes ago. 

And it means you have to start all over again. 

Now, you really need that coffee. 

The impact one manual error can have on your day and your business 

This is a real story based on my time provisioning BroadSoft VoIP licenses.  

Every day I would receive new orders to onboard VoIP users, SIP trunks, and various integrations. It could be a simple job with 10 users or a complex project for 10,000. I thoroughly enjoyed this job and was really quite good at it. 

So much so, that the process of creating a new tenant, adding sites, then configuring users was second nature. I knew every step off by heart and could do it with my eyes closed. 

Until one day, I clicked one button slightly to the side of where I was aiming. I didn’t slow down and check as I was on autopilot. And nobody knew I had chosen the premium license over the basic license. 

The impact here was fourfold: 

1. Loss of money: we paid extra for licenses that we weren’t billing the customer for.  

2. Loss of time: I had to delete the customer and start all over again. 

3. Loss of reputation: the customer was upset with the company. 

4. Loss of confidence: maybe I wasn’t as great as I thought. 

With the loss of thousands of dollars, wasted resource time, and an unhappy customer, I slowed down my process. I got colleagues to peer review my config, and I doubted myself for several months. 

As a result of this manual error, I dedicated some time to creating checklists that answered three questions. They are similar questions but I approached them from slightly different angles to ensure I wasn’t blinkered or biased. 

1. How can manual data entry errors be reduced? 

2. How can I improve manual data entry? 

3. How can we reduce errors in the workplace? 

The most common answer for all these queries was to introduction automation into my provisioning process. Alas, nothing existed back in the BroadSoft days.  

Today, however, the majority of the UCaaS market is occupied by Microsoft Teams. When provisioning users and policies on Teams, or when we make bulk changes to existing users, the same danger applies here.  

Manual changes = risk of manual error. 

That’s where Callroute comes in… 

Callroute automates your entire user provisioning process on Microsoft Teams, so you save time, reduce errors, and remove manual inefficiencies. 

All you need to do is add your new user’s AzureAD attribute then leave the rest to us. 

That means every time you have a new starter, or need to make a move, add, or change, you assign them a persona and we assign all the relevant policies. 

Our automated provisioning tool makes it easy to assign policies like these… 

App Setup	Channels	Events	Messaging	Video Interop Service
Audio Conferencing	Compliance Recording	Files	Mobility	Voice Applications
Call Hold	Emergency Calling	IP Phone	Room Video Tele Conferencing	WorkLoad
Calling	Emergency Call Routing	Meeting Broadcast	Shifts	Meeting Branding
Call Park	Enhanced Encryption	Meeting	Survivable Branch Appliance	Dial Plan

Say, for example, marketing hires 10 interns on the same day as you have a new sales academy of 40 starting. And it just so happens that your operations team has doubled from 25 to 50 to meet the new demand of all your marketing and sales staff. 

That’s 100 new users to provision. 

It’s one thing coping with the tedium of doing the same task over and over again. But think about the time you could be spending on tasks where you add real value. Think of the time you get back in your day. 

And what happens if you make a mistake (we are all human, after all)? 

One small mistake, caused by manual data entry, could lead to marketing having access to private documents your accounts team wouldn’t dream of sharing with anyone. 

Callroute’s automated provisioning does all the heavy lifting, so you can get on with your job. 

That covers off how to reduce manual errors in Microsoft Teams. But I thought it useful to include some tips for reducing manual data entry across the board.  

Here’s everything I included when I created the checklists back in my BroadSoft days. 

1 – How can manual data entry errors be reduced? 

1. Document your process for new users and to refer to in training. 

2. Use test environments to practice and continually learn. 

3. Gather feedback from end users on their experience. 

4. Gather feedback from your internal team. 

5. Supervisor review at least once a month. 

6. Peer review at least once a week. 

7. Focus on quality over quantity. 

8. Automate where possible. 

2 – How can I improve my manual data entry? 

1. Slow down. 

2. Take regular breaks. 

3. Dedicate time for deep work. 

4. Keep a log of repetitive issues. 

5. Keep a visual of the processes in sight. 

6. Speak to your peers about common errors. 

7. Watch how experienced peers complete tasks. 

8. Automate where possible. 

3 – How can we reduce errors in the workplace? 

1. Change the culture to quality output rather than fast complete. 

2. Looks after employee mental and physical health. 

3. Identify error-prone areas in your processes. 

4. Set expectations when something changes. 

5. If in doubt, shout (for help or clarity). 

6. Offer help when someone is stuck. 

7. Review unrealistic deadlines. 

8. Automate where possible. 

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time provisioning Teams users, check out how Callroute can save you time and reduce manual errors.