RREAL (Rural Renewable Energy Alliance) is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to making solar energy available to communities of all income levels. Since 2000, RREAL has been providing residential solar energy systems to low-income families. In that time they have grown quite a bit. For one thing, they used to purchase the solar energy systems they installed, and now they manufacture their own systems. Due to this growth, maximizing the funds they raise so their dollars go further became ever more paramount, and to do this and more, RREAL turned to Microsoft Dynamics GP, integrated with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
To maximize the dollars they raise, RREAL wanted to ensure that every single minute spent by their staff is a minute that is spent efficiently. Microsoft Dynamics GPmade it possible for RREAL to integrate their inventory system, their manufacturing system, their purchasing system, and their accounting system, and that saved them a tremendous amount of time.
In addition, one thing that RREAL staff was unable to do before was work with their business management system remotely. Thanks to Microsoft Dynamics GP and Azure, that has changed, and now staff can access the system from solar panel installation sites nationwide.
When clients apply for solar panel installation, RREAL is now more easily able to capture their information and keep track of it efficiently with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which they have integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP. The whole application process is much faster now, and it is much easier to look at any application and see where it is in the process.
The result? It used to take RREAL 2-3 days to complete a solar panel installation, and now it takes them one day. And with more time and more money saved, that means RREAL can serve more low-income families who are in need, which is the whole point in the first place.
