We caught up with Michael, Microsoft MVP, and consulting extraordinaire. Watch and read about how Shift helps keep Michael on top of meetings and notifications.
** Michael is using the old version of Shift (v7). Check out the new version of Shift (v9), here. **
The Need for Shift
Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional; that's the prestigious status Michael's held for the last eight years. This busy father of three works as a Microsoft consultant, working with a small team of Microsoft experts. He provides educational and advisory services for numerous clients, helping them to implement and get the most out of using Microsoft Teams and other Office products. On any given day, Michael interacts with eight or more clients and often has back-to-back conference calls. Before using Shift, Michael was constantly logging in and out of Microsoft Teams and other apps to ensure he joined using the correct profile. He also struggled to manage his notifications and stay on top of new activity among the numerous profiles and environments he was part of. To add to the chaos, Michael also started his own consulting company, which meant even more clients, partners, and accounts to manage.
Like most Shift enthusiasts, Michael tried countless browser tools and the typical tricks to manage all his environments. From multiple devices with different accounts to browser profiles and various windows, and even building his platform. All these "solutions" weren't solutions at all and ended up being messy and unorganized.
“I ended up having browsers everywhere and when a call or message came in it was like whack-a-mole trying to find the right browser or the right tab within a browser to respond.”
Michael recalls finding Shift through a Google search back in March 2020 when he knew he needed to find a better way to manage his back-to-back meetings and stay on top of his notifications. Once he discovered that Shift separates profiles, allowing him to be logged into multiple profiles simultaneously, with easy and customizable notification management, he knew he had to try it. It took him less than three days into a free trial of Shift when he knew he had to have it. Shift does offer a free 7-day trial to anyone who requests it.
“It was a quick turnaround. Once I played with it for a couple of days, I was like ok, I need to buy this now. It took me less than 72 hours to realize that I couldn’t continue doing what I was doing before. The price of Shift for the year was a no-brainer for me.”
Shift Benefits
Michael now saves countless hours in a month. With all his accounts added to his sidebar, he can see what needs his attention and where new activity has occurred at a glance. He no longer needs to waste time searching through countless web tabs and browser windows to check for notifications. Badges and customized notifications in Shift now help Michael stay on top of everything, with peace of mind that he's not missing anything. He also saves time and the hassle of having to log in and out of multiple accounts. He can now truly have back-to-back meetings scheduled since he can quickly and easily navigate among all his profiles. Again, he has peace of mind that he's also joining the correct conference call with the correct profile.
He also benefits from being able to modify his Shift setup anytime and knowing that those changes will save automatically. As projects ramp up and down, he can add and remove apps and Workspaces as he needs.
Michael recommends anyone considering Shift give it a try. As a consultant with many clients and projects on the go, for Michael, Shift just makes sense.
Michael is a Microsoft MVP with his own consulting company. Connect with him on his LinkedIn Profile here.
What's next?
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Find quick tips and best practices in our Getting Started section here.
Read about other Shift Case Studies here.