As remote work becomes the norm across Asia, Sansan Inc., the leading contact management platform announced that its virtual cards function will now be available on Microsoft Teams. Teams users can send Sansan’s virtual cards from the service’s calendar feature, making it easy for them to exchange contacts seamlessly before any online meeting or business negotiation begins.
According to Microsoft’s work trend index, nearly 60 percent of people surveyed feel less connected to their colleagues since working remotely more often. To engage their audience, companies across Asia have reformed their work styles, and have shifted to online events, webinars, and digital interactions. Knowing who is at the other end of the screen and the ability to visualise all valuable connections within the company has assumed greater importance, given that corporate interactions nowadays are mostly online and not face to face. As the traditional business networking practice of exchanging business cards goes digital, more than 3000 of Sansan’s customers have already started using this function to support their business and sales teams.
“COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation across corporate and government enterprises. We are confident that by linking with Sansan’s Virtual Cards, we will promote a new way of working and create an opportunity to exchange business cards,” says Yoshihiro Yamazaki, General Manager of the Microsoft 365 Business Division, Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. “Through this, we hope to create connections between people and businesses online and contribute to further evolution of the business landscape.”
“Given the trend of telecommuting because of social distancing and travel complications, companies are trying to enable teams to work better together from wherever they are. Collaboration has come under the spotlight for businesses to run operations successfully and support their growth and that of its people. Both Sansan and Microsoft Teams are walking the same road in propagating collaboration within work teams. With Microsoft Teams, we are excited to give access to the virtual cards exchange function to the tool’s users across Asia as we facilitate networking in the digital age,” says Edward Senju, Regional CEO, Sansan Inc.
“With Sansan on Microsoft Teams, the key benefit is that the attendees can exchange virtual cards to know whom they will be chatting with ahead of the meeting. Moreover, if someone within your company already knows the person who you are about to meet, Sansan will automatically pick up this person’s professional information from the central database for you to view and stay informed,” he further says.
‘Teams’ is used daily by more than 75 million people worldwide as a collaboration hub for teamwork in Microsoft 365. It has become an indispensable tool for hybrid work as companies digitally transform their work practices.
Cloud-based Sansan’s namesake platform has enabled companies to scan and organise business contacts into a proprietary, expanding, AI-informed database. The company is one of Japan’s most-funded tech start-ups, having generated over US$120 million in funding before its IPO. Sansan is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Market. Sansan’s investors included Goldman Sachs, Salesforce, Nikkei, Japan Post Capital, Cyber Agent, T. Rowe Price, SBI Investment, and DCM Ventures. Today, Sansan owns over 80% share of the Japanese market, scanning and organising hundreds of millions of cards and contacts a year.
Read also: Valuing and Harnessing the Power of Human Connections with Edward Senju, Regional CEO at Sansan
