How Odoo 15 helps with remote communication
The world has changed radically over the past year and a half. What we were used to suddenly stopped working. We have limited contact, we are much more closed at home, e-shops are not keeping up, we even buy groceries online.
Whether we want it or not, many of us have to work from home. Conduct online meetings, collaborate with colleagues and learn how to function remotely.
That's how we as employees see it. But what's happening on the other side? What are companies, employers and managers solving? They are very worried about how to keep it all running, how to handle the downtime of people who have fallen ill or are at home due to quarantine. They are solving how to keep employees working remotely and efficiently so that the company can continue to function.
Covid is testing everyone and companies in particular. Those who are flexible and adaptable win. Those who can change processes quickly and, if possible, have a company (ERP) system that will capture changes and help companies manage the company and employees remotely.
How did Odoo respond to Covid with version 15?
Some of you may already know that Odoo is the fastest growing ERP system in the world. It has over 7M users. What's interesting is that it has over a thousand core developers and a huge community of enthusiasts who are driving the development of the system incredibly forward.
Every fall we look forward to what new Odoo will bring, what it has improved by leaps and bounds.
If I had to single out one area, it would be COMMUNICATION.
Yes, Odoo 15 has improved in many other areas: marketing, trade, production, warehouses, service tools, and we will definitely get to these topics next time... But the key and, in my opinion, the most beneficial shift for today was in the remote communication tools, directly implemented into Odoo's DNA. For that, they get a thumbs up from me and let's see what the shift is.
The Odoo phenomenon - CHATTER
From previous versions, we are already used to the basic communication tool - Chatter. Once you understand it and use it correctly - there is no going back. It will practically replace email communication and various third-party "chatting" tools. You send everything from this "chatting" and communication window. It combines both sending emails, including the use of sample templates and generated content, as well as internal communication, notes and activities.
Chatter can be used almost everywhere in Odoo: for documents, projects, business cases, helpdesk tickets, products... Thanks to this, Odoo creates a perfect overview and order in your communication. You can find everything quickly and avoid endless rummaging through emails and third-party communication software.
But Chatter was already in Odoo in previous versions, so what's the change?
Online meetings directly in Odoo
Odoo has gone one step further in supporting online communication. Why leave the company system for online meetings? Why rewrite contacts into another software, whether it's Zoom or MS Teams, and pay for it? Since the current version of Odoo 15, released this fall, you have online meetings directly in Odoo. You can communicate with colleagues or send a link to external workers or customers, share your desktop and show what you need.
Online meetings also work great on the mobile app, which is completely free.
But that's not all...
NOTES for teamwork
Great thing. Suddenly, more people can write, for example, notes from a meeting and you can see it in real time. This is nothing new under the sun, you might say. We know Google Docs, Microsoft Office can do it, even Apple offers this function. And I agree with you. BUT! having this convenience directly in the company system is in a completely different league. You don't have to leave Odoo at all, go to another SW and that saves an incredible amount of time. You don't have to log in anywhere, search for anything, then link links to the company system.
Team-editable notes are practically everywhere in Odoo 15: on documents, projects, tasks, business cases, helpdesk tickets. And what is very nice, they are also free. Odoo has included them among the standard functions of the system. And what about data security and protection? There is nothing better than having data in a closed, secure system.
Support of social networks
Everything is moving to the internet. Moreover, in the Czech Republic, thanks to the approved amendment to the Communications Act, the ability to call unknown numbers - so-called "cold contacts" - will end in January 2022. We have to focus much more on the internet, collecting contacts via social networks and websites.
Odoo has therefore expanded the capabilities of the "Social Media Marketing" application and you can now create campaigns and publish on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter directly from Odoo.
Improved website editor
Since version 14, Odoo has been intensively focused on the development of their website creation tool, which they completely redesigned, and in version 15 there have been further improvements. I must admit that unless you need a truly specialized and totally tuned website that you compete with for top positions in search engines, you won't find a much better website builder on the market than Odoo. It will allow you to create your company website, blog, forum, sales page, e-shop, helpdesk, knowledge base... AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, the pages are directly connected to the Odoo database! (products, articles, posts, tickets, contacts...). Creating a simple page in Odoo, without the need for coding, really only takes a few clicks.
No more Excel exports! Safety first!
Please don't be alarmed now. Of course, the long-standing functionality of importing/exporting to Excel and CSV has not disappeared from Odoo. I don't want to irritate die-hard spreadsheet fans, but a little reflection from practice. GDPR and data protection are being addressed everywhere. Sometimes it feels like bullying to me, but so be it, it makes sense considering the preservation of our privacy. But then an employee exports a piece of the database to Excel to edit the data and create a report. Where is the aforementioned protection of rights and GDPR at that moment? :-)
That's why Odoo did a brilliant thing. It implemented the so-called Spreadsheet into the system. In Odoo, you can create a report, a pivot table, anywhere in the system that runs on live data, and you can now save it to the aforementioned Spreadsheet. This way you create a table that looks like an Excel or Google document, into which you can insert columns, calculations, graphs - BUT - this table is still in the Odoo system! No export is necessary. Plus, it works with live data, so this Spreadsheet is always up to date! And that's really great.
I must say that this is one of the biggest draws of Odoo, which is used in all our presentations.
So much for the news in Odoo 15, which concerned the shift in the field of communication and which is very helpful especially in these turbulent, scattered times.
Today I deliberately avoided describing other functions and gadgets of the Odoo 15 version. There are news in Odoo everywhere, from marketing, trade, purchasing, through sales, warehouses to production, service, etc.... And this is not for one article, but a series of articles and videos that you can look forward to next time.
If you are interested, don't forget to follow our YouTube channel, where we post webinar recordings and show Odoo news and functionalities.