Employees returning to Microsoft's Puget Sound campus have a lot to offer, including improved transportation. Microsoft's Transportation and Commuting Program, a system of shuttles and buses that gets employees to work and helps them move from building to building, has a new web and mobile interface that is consistent with other workplace services. This upgrade provides drivers with a modern mobility platform.
In addition, the entire backend of this environment has been updated, giving Microsoft a scalable and extensible system that can be deployed around the world. Employees around the world will soon benefit from reliable service, real-time updates and new improvements.
These improvements also benefit the drivers and operators who manage these transportation services by giving them visibility into route utilization, passenger traffic and automated vehicle dispatch.
[Find out what Microsoft is doing to create a digital workplace.Learn how Microsoft is reinventing the workforce in a hybrid world.]
Changing routes to deliver new experiences
Known on the Puget Sound campus as MERGE (Manage Explore Reserve Go Anywhere), the booking platform serves as the primary method for passengers to obtain a seat on one of Microsoft's buses or ferries. This includes booking rides on the connector, buses that transport employees to and from work, fixed-route shuttles that run around campus, and on-demand shuttles that shuttle people between offices.
The older booking platform served Puget Sound well, but had a different interface than other services available to Microsoft employees, resulting in an inconsistent user experience. Moreover, MERGE was closely tied to local transportation services exclusive to Puget Sound, meaning the application could not be easily replicated at other Microsoft campuses. It was also difficult to extract important and accurate data from the transportation system for operational insight.
The first thing we think about is the driving experience. We start with the physical world, the environment in which we live and work, then we think about the digital world. We want to deliver an experience focused on ease, flexibility and choice.
—Esther Christoffersen, Senior Services Manager, Real Estate and Infrastructure
All of this added up to one key conclusion - it's time to turn Merge into a Global Commute Service, a new mobility service that offers a consistent interface, modern features, scalability and visibility.
Two teams worked together to help update transportation systems: Microsoft Digital Employee Experience, the organization that drives, protects and transforms the company, and the Microsoft Real Estate team, which is responsible for managing and operating the company's global facilities and services.
“The first thing we think about is the driving experience,” says Esther Christoffersen, Senior Services Manager, Real Estate & Facilities. “We start with the physical world, the environment in which we live and work, then we think about the digital world. We want to deliver an experience focused on ease, flexibility and choice.”
The team knew that building a strong bridge between the physical and the digital would provide drivers with a better transport experience.
“We had to think about what really matters,” says Dominique Huang, program manager for Microsoft Digital Employee Experience. “It meant building something modern, real-time and fast for the riders. But we also wanted operational flexibility for the real estate and facilities team.”
Technology has already changed the way consumers book rides, giving them real-time visibility and status updates on web or mobile interfaces. Why shouldn't our drivers have a similar experience at the Microsoft campus?
Improving Mobility at Microsoft
Time has been both a blessing and a curse.
Both organizations started brainstorming in 2019 about new rider experiences, but a few months into the project, the Puget Sound campus shifted to mostly remote work with only essential staff on site.
“It was an opportunity to stop and really dig into feedback to see what we could do better,” says Christoffersen.
We have created a robust, reliable and scalable service. Now we can implement similar solutions for other Microsoft campuses around the world.
—Ram Kuppaswamy, Principal Software Engineering Manager, Microsoft Digital Employee Experience
In the event of a campus service shutdown, Microsoft could dismantle the front-end - the web interfaces and applications drivers interact with - and the back-end - the operational workhorses that manage transportation services - without causing disruption.
Work began by separating the Global Commute Service from the established Puget Sound hinterland. This made it possible to integrate the new Microsoft service with any transport system. For example, if the campus were to use a new transportation system, the Global Commute Service will connect seamlessly, offering passengers a consistent experience no matter which Microsoft campus they are on.
"We've built a robust, reliable, and scalable service," says Ram Kuppaswamy, senior software engineering manager for Microsoft Digital Employee Experience. "Now we can implement similar solutions for the rest of Microsoft campuses around the world."
The vehicles were shipped manually. By choosing this partner, technology drives everything from booking, shipping management, and vehicle allocation. If we want to provide features like real-time updates and driver communication, we can do that now.
—Dominique Huang, program manager, Microsoft Digital Employee Experience
By separating the booking interface, Microsoft was able to transform the back office management of its transportation system. This would provide much-needed visibility and ownership of operational data, one that enables real-time status updates and introduces new enhancements such as automated vehicle dispatch and data-driven service scaling.
To achieve this, Microsoft has partnered with a new partner to help bring these new data-driven optimizations to Puget Sound. After incorporating a partner into Microsoft Azure, Microsoft now had access to transport data that it once lacked.
“It used to be that vehicles were shipped by hand,” says Huang. “By choosing this partner, technology drives everything from booking, shipping management and vehicle allocation. If we want to provide features like real-time updates and communication with drivers, we can do that now.”
The data also brought other benefits.
“In the past, we didn't have a common dashboard for operations and engineering,” says Kuppaswamy. “There was no easy way to understand why the system was failing. Now we can have a consistent understanding."
Access to this technology also provides greater operational flexibility to Microsoft's transportation services. Data can be magnified and machine learning can be applied to gain greater operational insight.
“We can share this data with our partners to adjust routes, increase or decrease the number of buses, and prioritize service and operational adjustments,” says Christoffersen.
Microsoft corporate transfer simulator
Again, time has been a blessing and a curse.
Microsoft was able to do a lot with most employees working remotely at the height of the pandemic. Unfortunately, this also meant that there were few staff on campus to test the new service.
“It was an unexpected part of the lifecycle,” says Jessie Go, application manager at Real Estate and Facilities. “Due to the service outage, we had to do a lot of testing virtually. Nobody traveled.
The way the passenger makes the booking, how long it takes the driver to stop and how the driver is verified by the driver all needed to be tested for bugs. To make sure it works in a real-world usage scenario, the Microsoft Digital Employee Experience engineering team worked on-site at the Puget Sound campus to walk everything through the steps.
“We followed all COVID safety protocols,” says Kuppaswamy. “One or two engineers would book a ferry trip; we tested all major use cases. It is also a new experience for drivers who have been trained in the new technology.”
One trip at a time, Microsoft was able to validate the improved transportation environment. Now that employees are back, both teams are using this opportunity to gather more feedback to improve mobility on Microsoft campuses.
Reserve your seat in the new future
Microsoft has launched a seamless transportation experience for passengers.
Whether they want to use the web or a mobile app, passengers have a consistent interface similar to other workplace services. Global Commute Service will soon be implemented in the new Puget Sound kiosks, giving users more options for planning their transportation.
“We want to give Microsoft employees the best way to get anywhere between home, office or any building on campus,” says Kuppaswamy. “The first step was to unify the experience. Now we want to deploy it everywhere.”
We can update routes and how often we visit them in our timetables in almost real time. We couldn't do it earlier. The work we've done so far has an impact on scalability and visibility.
—Jessie Go, Application Manager, Real Estate and Facilities
Passengers will have access to real-time updates on the status of their transport plans. When you move the population of Microsoft Puget Sound employees, it's a big deal.
“At Puget Sound, we have approximately 55,000 or more employees; we run a small town,” says Christoffersen. “Everything is organized, nothing is ambiguous. I can now see a shuttle on the map moving towards me. This creates a sense of confidence that reduces the stress of getting from point A to point B.”
Data visibility gives Microsoft the operational flexibility it once lacked, enabling real estate and facilities to provide an even better transportation experience for passengers.
“We can update the routes and how often we use them in our timetables in almost real time,” says Go. "We couldn't do that before. The work we've done so far has an impact on scalability and visibility."
Now that modern transportation solutions exist on Microsoft campuses, teams are looking at how to further empower passengers.
“The next big step is to increase choice,” says Huang. “There are so many ways to get around campus, how can we support that? What is the total time for walking, cycling and even public transport? Let's give employees options so they can choose the best way to move around."
- Meet passengers where they are: on mobile devices, desktops or at kiosks. There are different ways to access the new transportation environment.
- Testing at various stages of development is critical, but difficult due to office closures.
- Employees expect a modern transportation experience, just like booking a taxi or other means of transport.
- Digitally transforming a real-world service starts with a physical experience; the discovery that the intersection between physical and digital benefits users.
- Ease, flexibility and choice - these are the three priorities for creating a better employee experience.
Find out what Microsoft is doing to create a digital workplace.
Learn how Microsoft is reinventing the workforce in a hybrid world.
Tag:digital transformation,Microsoft Azure