| | OCTOBER 20199CIOReviewMicrosoft Cloud. Specifically, we are using Microsoft Dynamics and Microsoft Azure which together, provide us with a single source of truth across sales, field service, inventory, accounting, and other parts of our business. And we use ICONICS software running in Azure, in addition to Smart thermostats, and any other device that is communicating the health of the equipment in that building, together with various Azure Internet of Things (IoT) services and Microsoft Power BI, to analyze building data and gives our employees visual insights into that data, in a way that makes sense for their different job roles.Once installed by MacDonald-Miller, a building's IoT sensors feed data into Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service when they detect a problem. For example, on the new Microsoft campus that we are currently engaged in, if an HVAC unit generates an alert that a part is overheating, this alert is passed to Dynamics 365, which automatically creates a trouble ticket for our service department. Our technician shows up at the customer site knowing what the problem is, having a complete repair history in front of him/her, and bringing the right parts and tools so s/he can be much more efficient and effective, making a first-time fix.With the IoT data and automatic alerts, we're able to catch and fix a potential problem before the customer even knows it exists.Not only are our technicians more efficient, but we also get more visibility into problems in the field now. It makes us more efficient as a company for service technicians to be able to see all the work that we have done for a customer before they undertake a regularly scheduled service procedure.We're working with Microsoft to innovate and improve our ability to fix the right thing at the right time, with the right people, and continuously drive down energy and maintenance costs. With the Microsoft Cloud, we achieve faster time-to-market and lower our costs with new solutions.We continue to invest heavily in Microsoft Cloud offerings, providing data visualization and analytics, including equipment analytics, to our customers as a service. We have fully embraced Microsoft PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Office 365 to help our employees work closely together and be effective from anywhere.MacDonald-Miller has fully embraced the capabilities of the wearable technology that we have integrated both with ICONICS and Dynamics 365 to give frontline workers the ability to see real-time equipment operating metrics and the details in the work-order tickets. We'll continue to invest in creating visual artifacts for "seeing" the performance of equipment in real time, which assists in decision making and historical reference. Building owners and property managers must trust their maintenance provider is actually doing the work they claim. Most building owners will never see the work being done on their properties, but they will receive a list of recommendations for changes and a bill. It's a relationship built on trust. Through our partnership with Microsoft, our wearable technology worn by our service technicians adds a level of transparency and customer experience where we are able to show in real-time what is happening on roofs and in mechanical rooms by embedding the audio and video content into each summary report, providing customers with the peace of mind that comes with unbridled transparency.We're also investing heavily in cloud-based, geo-specific user experiences that give customers the opportunity to virtually see behind the walls of their buildings. We recently launched the MLAB, computer-aided virtual environment (CAVE), which will provide architects, general contractors, and our customers with a virtual experience that enables them to see and experience their building in virtual reality before it's built, including Microsoft. This data lives in the Microsoft cloud and has presented us with the amazing opportunity to interact with, make changes and realize the costs of those proposed changes before a shovel goes into the ground.The future is now, and MacDonald-Miller is excited to be a thought leader in the confluence of technology and construction through our partnership with Microsoft. We're working with Microsoft to innovate and improve our ability to fix the right thing at the right time, with the right people, and continuously drive down energy and maintenance costsBradd Busick
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