Friday, February 20, 2009

Accountability & Oversight

When implemented prudently, computers are about much more than checking email, surfing the internet and keeping track of accounting records.  Computers are also about accountability and oversight, among other things.  If you operate under the mindset that computers are just a necessary evil to make accounting easier, then you are missing out on a wealth of benefit.

 

Your computer network is like a vast untapped resource of business process improvement.  Nearly every process in your company can be improved with software.  If you doubt, call me and put me to the test.  I'm up for the challenge.

 

I suggest you evaluate every business process in your company and ask yourself if more employee accountability or more management oversight would improve the process results.  The vast majority of the time, the answer is yes.

 

Ryan Williams

 

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/ryanwill

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanwill

Website:  http://www.techbetter.com

Blog:  http://blog.techbetter.com

 

Smart Voicemail

YouMail is a fairly new service in which you can create "Smart" voicemail greetings.  Richard Baker, one of Nexxtep's project managers, turned me on to this service.  Among other things this service allows you to create different voicemail greetings based on caller ID.  So, you can have one voice mail greeting for family and friends and another for business associates.  YouMail also provides visual voicemail management via their website or via text message.  It's worth checking out. 

 

If you have an iPhone, however, you may consider it a step backward since the iPhone already has visual voicemail.

 

Ryan Williams

 

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/ryanwill

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanwill

Website:  http://www.techbetter.com

Blog:  http://blog.techbetter.com

 

Field Research At Disney World

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the sign that is posted in Disney World's employee areas.  As a refresher, the sign says "Be so nice they can't believe it!"  I wondered what this type of service must feel like so I decided to do some field research.  This past week I did some serious field work at Disney World.  The customer service was superb and based on the lines the economy has not affected Disney's clientele at all.  Mickey was still employed and according to my boys, he was everywhere.  Donald Duck was also still employed, although I'm not sure what he does all day.  I can't fault him though.  I know plenty of people like that.

 

Ryan Williams

 

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/ryanwill

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanwill

Website:  http://www.techbetter.com

Blog:  http://blog.techbetter.com