Enabling 13,000 global employees to collaborate on Microsoft Teams

Founded in 1985, the International SOS Group has been saving lives for 40 years.

Headquartered in London & Singapore, it is trusted by over 9,000 organisations. This includes the majority of the Fortune Global 500, as well as mid-size enterprises, governments, educational institutions, and NGOs. Nearly 13,000 multi-cultural security, medical, logistics and digital experts stand with you to provide support & assistance from over 1,200 locations in 90 countries, 24/7, 365 days. Between them, International SOS employees speak nearly 100 languages and dialects in our Assistance Centres, Clinics, and offices.

13,000 multi-cultural security, medical, logistics and digital experts, manage each client’s case from initial alert or enquiry, all the way through to resolution. They provide advice, services and support to ensure individual wellbeing and organisational security.

International SOS Statistics 2024

• 13,000 global employees
• Present in over 90 countries
• 28 Assistance Centres
• 54 Clinics
• 1,000 Workplace Sites

Consolidating Investment in Technology

“We had invested heavily in new technology and wanted to ensure that we were maximising our return on this investment.

As a company we had pockets of digital excellence in our sophisticated Assistant Network and Case Management System, but we recognised that we needed to do more to train and support our people to make the most of what tools like Microsoft Teams could really do.”

Why TrainingU?

“TrainingU had been providing ad hoc training for International SOS since 2013 and had gained a strong reputation within the organisation.

They had consistently achieved excellent Net Promoter Scores in their training evaluations with us, so they were the perfect choice for our ambitious training aims for Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft 365 applications.

Also, importantly they understand International SOS’s technical environment and have an appreciation of what will and will not work in different parts of the business.”

Content

In 2022, TrainingU worked with International SOS to co-design 5 core Microsoft Teams modules for all staff members, and a further 5 optional modules depending on an individual’s function and role.

This bespoke curriculum initially covered Microsoft Teams but quickly evolved towards the inclusion of Teams Premium, Microsoft CoPilot, Mobility and Workflows/Power Automate.

TrainingU are very good at taking people through real and relevant case examples and responding positively to questions to aid understanding.

Delivery Method

Online training was a necessity, given International SOS’ presence across the world.

TrainingU devised virtual interactive sessions of 90 minutes each aimed at 100-150 participants per session. Delivering 3 online sessions per day to accommodate different time zones.

“At the time of this interview in December 2024, I can report that TrainingU have delivered upwards of 475 sessions with an average attendance of 80 people per session, and an incredible Net Promoter Score after each session of more than 80% – this is truly world class.”

Collaborative

“TrainingU have worked in partnership with us and demonstrated perfect consistency and dedication.”

Innovative

As the organisation determines the viability of further MS licences for the use of MS365 CoPilot, TrainingU are developing the training package in readiness.

Expert

“It is good to know that we have a reliable partner who we can trust to stay ahead of the curve in new technologies.”

Integrity

“TrainingU continuously evolve their offering based on each set of feedback and are adaptable to business demand as much in training content as delivery times.”

Friendly

“TrainingU’s facilitation style is natural, warm, and engaging. And even though it is all delivered in English to non-native English speakers there is no language barrier.”

Passionate

“They are as engaged and committed on session 475 as they were on session 1.”

“TrainingU are much more than a supplier or a provider of training.”

As of December 2024, TrainingU have delivered upward of 475 sessions with an average attendance of 80 people per session, and an incredible Net Promoter Score after each session of more than 80%.

Improved Return on Technology Investment

Before this concerted training effort, staff were not using MS Teams to its full potential.

There is certainly a much deeper understanding of the technology and functionality now, which is leading to cost savings, improved efficiency and more creativity and innovation in our business.

The excellent Net Promoter Scores show the value of the training and people’s appreciation of TrainingU’s support.

Eliminated Expenditure

International SOS’ annual leadership event involves around 400 participants from all over the world and up to last year they had hosted the conference on an external platform at a significant cost.

With the confidence that TrainingU’s curriculum instilled, they were able to run the event in 2023 at zero cost, using only the Microsoft Teams technology already owned.

“It was a very positive experience, and we were able to facilitate break out groups and share content in a way that we hadn’t done before.”

Efficiency, enjoyment and more added value

TrainingU’s guidance around tools such as Microsoft Teams Premium for meeting management has helped transform the experience of running meetings and has taken the onus off international staff to attend meetings out of their local hours.

They now have the confidence in intelligent meeting summaries, minutes and actions generated by Microsoft Teams Premium, which has significantly increased efficiency, and enabled staff to focus on more value-adding and rewarding work.

Secure Deployment of Generative AI

International SOS are benefiting from the extra security of the Microsoft CoPilot tool which enables them to interrogate sources in the public domain without exposing their internal knowledge and information.

They are now looking at the business case for Microsoft 365 CoPilot which gives them the ability to interrogate and summarise their own information repositories. For example, by helping to develop tailored presentations for their clients.

These are very useful capabilities to reduce research time and enable more value-adding activities.

Increased 1-1 Training for Senior Executives

It is important that every manager of people in the organisation knows how to create and sustain the collaborative environment that MS Teams makes possible.

There is strong senior leadership sponsorship for the training deployment, and to make it easier for the senior executives to participate they are looking at TrainingU providing 1-1 support.