At my old Geek Squad, one of the methods we used to help save customers money was Repair Estimates. We don't repair physical issues for computers in-store; they get routed to our repair center for service. Anything sent to them requires a deposit, which goes toward final costs determined after the computer is shipped off, and if they decline the service, they are out $85. This process takes at least 5 days to ship and get the cost. If people are priced out, they have to pay $85 and wait for their computer to come back, whereas, if it were determined that it would be cost-prohibitive, they could look into a new computer and transfer the data. So, our store saves money and time for the customer by pre-screening the device and sending a message to the team that works on it (via Teams).

The way that process looks is like this:

1. Ask for customer info.
2. Screen the damage.
3. Take the information down on a form.
4. Log in to a computer (very slow)
5. Go to Teams and create a post for the repair center team to look at (1-2 business days).
6. Archive the form and check every morning to see if the repair center replied.
7. Call the customer with an estimate or other details.

It was interesting to me that we continued to use this non-digital form for this process, and being me, I decided that I needed to automate this; too many steps and analog. I'm lazy, so if I can make my life easier at work every day, I will do so. I had attempted to automate our main work (still hope for agents later when everything is in one place in a React app), but corporate lockdowns (for good reason) and no API (also for good reason). I somehow stumbled upon Power Automate, and I had access. It was time to spend 10 hours automating a 10-minute process.

I used Microsoft Forms for data entry, Microsoft Teams to message the repair center, and then Power Automate to tie everything together. Power Automate is a low-code tool that is (sometimes) included in 365 packages that allows you to connect many tools (email, Teams, Excel) and create flows. Not a hardcore user of Power Automate since it's a corporate/enterprise tool, seemingly, but I'm extremely familiar with n8n: a low-code tool used similarly. I use it extensively in my personal second brain system to help with reminders, backups, etc.

This is the new way the process looks:

1. Ask for customer info (computer is already on)
2. Screen the damage.
3. Take the information down on the Microsoft Form.
4. Submit.
5. Optionally, wait for printable document. (It is emailed to everyone).

This saves a lot of time, and if I had a bit more time at BB, I would attempt to completely automate the process. After submitting, we still need to check back in on the Teams chat and then call or email the customer after the repair center replies. I would create an app (much like the others in the Best Buy Workstation we have) where, instead of the form, the info could be inserted into a master/detail (or even automatically filled with info based on existing numbers in the system) and then when someone replies to the thread the replies show up in the master/detail (instead of going to teams) and then you can call the customer or click a button to email the customer with the info.

There were a lot of challenges with the flow. Certain actions can't be used with each other at the same time (create a file and email, I think), some things you just can't do, like set up webhooks for Teams, and a lot more. I used HTTP requests as an alternative for some actions, but have since removed them since it's not the most secure (data leaving the BBY network). I also had to make a Test flow so I could make sure it would create the document, but not constantly ping the Teams chat.

By the time I left, I had nearly all of the front precinct employees regularly using the app, and many said it was useful. I wish the application were like I wanted, so it would basically do everything except call people. Since other methods of automation were not panning out (However, I did learn that on certain computers, pyautogui works 😈), I tried what I could to automate something, it's in my nature to automate rote activities at work. I probably saved folks minutes of time a day, but they said it was useful, so yay!