Customer Story
Velbygd reduced manual work with Business Online
About
Velbygd (formerly Odd Hansen) is an experienced homebuilder operating in the Haugalandet and Sunnhordland regions, with over 30 years of experience in the industry. The company builds both single-family homes and apartment complexes, with a strong team dedicated to delivering high-quality homes and a smooth construction process.
Challenge
A large portion of work hours was spent responding to and sending emails. Manually registering new customers and inquiries was time-consuming.
Solution
Velbygd uses Business Online to centralize everything in one place and, in collaboration with Business Online, developed a solution that automates inquiries submitted through their website.
Result
With Business Online, Velbygd has brought all employees into a single system, and by automating web inquiries, the company has significantly increased its efficiency. In addition, the data from Business Online provides the leadership team with a solid foundation for making more informed and strategic decisions.
Too much time spent on emails
Velbygd had already implemented SharePoint and Microsoft 365 tools across the organization, making the transition to Business Online a natural next step in the company’s development.
With Business Online, they now have a shared platform for collaboration between customers, suppliers, and projects—fully integrated with M365. This integration has allowed Velbygd to significantly reduce the volume of internal emails.
CEO Kjetil Alvheim grew frustrated with how much work time was being spent handling emails:
“Some of us receive 40–50 emails a day, which can be overwhelming. You have to open them, read them, then either delete, respond, or save them.”
He adds:
“On top of that, you can’t always be sure that everyone who needs the information is actually included in the email thread.”
Manual work became a time thief
For Velbygd, it’s essential to keep all project details in one place to maintain a complete overview of buyers, budgets, handover dates, sales dashboards, and price trends. The challenge was that all information about their various housing projects was being logged in Excel.
As an experienced homebuilder, Velbygd receives a high volume of inquiries—from both new and existing customers. With a five-year warranty on homes, it's important to be able to retrieve project data even from several years back.
With multiple projects underway, manually handling incoming customer inquiries quickly consumed valuable work hours. Alvheim explains:
“We had to manually register new customers and other inquiries.”
With ambitious growth goals in place, improving efficiency and minimizing manual work became a top priority for the company.
A flexible system that safeguards customer data
Previously, Velbygd employees worked across folders, Excel sheets, and emails. Over time, the need arose to consolidate documents and gain better control over internal processes.
When the time came to choose a new system, long-term thinking became essential. Given the rapid pace of technological change, it was crucial for Velbygd to invest in a platform built to last.
With so much critical information being centralized in a single system, it was also important to ensure reliable access to the data—so it could easily be retrieved if needed in the future.
Alvheim explains:
“The concern at the time was that we didn’t know how long these systems would last, or how easy it would be to extract our data. Because we’re now putting everything into the system.”
The solution was Business Online, where all data is stored in the customer’s own Microsoft 365 tenant. This means the customer always retains ownership of their data, and that data is protected by Microsoft’s enterprise-grade security infrastructure.
For Velbygd—who was looking for a long-term solution—it was also a major advantage that Business Online is built on top of Microsoft 365. That ensures the system evolves alongside one of the world’s most innovative technology companies.
Automation of inquiries
In collaboration with Business Online, Velbygd has developed a solution that connects website inquiries directly with the Business Online platform. The system distinguishes between potential new customers, general inquiries, and possible warranty claims.
“We now have auto-registration for new customers and inquiries. Before that, we had to manually enter each customer into Business Online, but since implementing auto-registration, we’re saving a lot of time.”
Increased efficiency across the entire organization
The flexibility that comes with using Teams inside Business Online has been essential for Velbygd’s employees, who work daily on housing projects through the platform. Communication has shifted from long email threads to project-specific Teams channels, making collaboration and task delegation simpler and more direct.
“The biggest gain for us has been the ability to include everyone—regardless of their interests or technical background,” says Alvheim.
By using Business Online and enabling more efficient internal communication, Velbygd can focus on scaling the business and approaching future opportunities with a robust and flexible system.
The increased efficiency Velbygd has experienced with Business Online is helping the company confidently pursue ambitious growth goals.
“We’ve set ourselves up for growth and now have a system that supports that goal.”
In addition to improving internal communication and reducing the need for emails, Velbygd has seen strong results from automating other processes. The automation of new customer registrations and website inquiries has significantly boosted efficiency. Alvheim shares his experience with the integration between the website and Business Online:
“Previously, we had to manually register every new customer and inquiry. But now, in collaboration with Business Online, we’ve integrated the system with our website—saving us time by eliminating manual registration,” says Alvheim.
“All information submitted through the website is now automatically entered into Business Online, which has greatly increased our efficiency.”
This integration allows Velbygd to shift focus away from time-consuming manual tasks toward gaining a broader overview of customers and projects. As a result, they can spend more time analyzing and leveraging the collected data—enabling more informed and strategic decision-making.