Applications for finance

Problems
The image of the title “CFO” (Chief Finance Officer) no longer corresponds to that of a severe auditor who authorizes minimal expense, and who is always waiting for revenues, behind closed doors. Relationships with investors, and “road shows” for brokers in an effort to get financing, as well as the publication of results, take up much time which could be better used to improve the company’s revenues. In some major projects, the sales people are left on their own to negotiate directly with a particularly skillful CFO to discover the margins and to make the prices go down.

Solution
Web conference presentations using PowerPoint and Excel are among the new arsenal used by CFOs to convince financial partners. As a follow-up to the interest or questions of the interlocutors, another document can be sent by the CFO to complement the information or to direct them to a particular WEB page. Apart from the online meeting, it is also possible for him to have a private conversation with a participant, an associate, or a partner for immediate consultation in order to make the best decision for the company’s benefit.

Results
It is best to have your interlocutors’ attention focused on their screens instead of on the walls of a meeting room. Still better would be to have scanned copies of all the supportive information needed ready, beforehand, just to send it to an investor at the exact moment when a question is raised. From an investment point of view, the swiftness of reaction is crucial for the subsequent decision. Otherwise, the impact will be lost and, in all probability, the interest of the interlocutors will fade away. Their time is as valuable as anybody’s, and usually they are very concerned about how they use it. As a matter of fact, there is nobody better than a CFO to negotiate an important contract with another CFO. Now all this is possible without them having to leave their offices.

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Applications for personnel

Problems
Integration of new employees is a difficulty faced by many companies. The new additions are left to fend for themselves, hoping to learn directly in the arena. In such a situation, a training method that is a continuing formation adapted to the ever-changing needs of the firms would be illusory; also, efforts to manage all the information within an organization as back-up data would be unrealistic. Often, consultation with employees is usually nonexistent, too. Hence, it can be safely concluded that the research result which says that clients’ loyalty is directly proportional to employees’ motivation is true.

Solution
Pedagogical methodology has profoundly evolved during the last ten years. Virtual classrooms have appeared, with long-distance training. Closer to us, “coaching” has become a common practice. Both these methodologies can make use of the web conferencing technology. By constantly recording the training sessions as well as the meetings, information can be made widely available to everybody. Usually, these concern better practices or strategic visions that can be shared. Also, thanks to the polls and votes during a web conference, the management gets to know the personnel’s opinions which they can actively implicate.

Results
First of all, optimizing training to integrate new employees shortens the time needed for them to fully develop their capacities and to perform better. Profit targets are met faster as costs get reduced, as well. Moreover, the organization’s efficiency in the developing of exchanges and the sharing of best practices improves, too. This has a considerable impact on profits. The higher the individual motivations pyramid, the more the people will feel the need to belong, to be appreciated, and to accomplish something. In short, the key is bidirectionality.

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Applications for service

Problems
In many ways, the requests for technical assistance are symptomatic of the deficiencies in the users’ training or the quality of the documentation they were given. Of course, the users have to read the training material; understandably, the reading can be monotonous. However, producing step-by-step videos for the purpose of instructing does not make economic sense. This is especially difficult if the user seeking assistance is extremely ill-informed.

Solution
An after-sales service team puts together technical demonstration online to explore and explain the problem. A panic button on the WEB site connects the client to a meeting room from where the presentation is made, simultaneously, by an agent. The agent might ask the client to go to a specific page of a knowledge database; for example, the one that describes step by step all the steps required to complete anoperation. Also, the usual questions, the FAQ (Frequently Ask Questions), are put together on prerecorded help clips that the clients can consult, as free service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Results
The audio-visual is without doubt the most powerful of all media. The television and cinema are proof enough for this. The level of comprehension is manifestly superior as is the level of satisfaction of the clientele. By converting part of the technical assistance requests to self-service, the cost per client can be lowered, thus enabling more resources to be available for the more difficult cases. Thus, with us, long distance technical support, in telework, is available just a click away.

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Applications for production

Problem
Within companies, coordination of information, whether technological or professional (related to architecture, engineering, or other kinds of practices) is of utmost importance. Project coordination always calls for sharing of schemes, plans, and timetables. Sometimes, the coordination of meetings takes up more time than the actual meetings. Undoubtedly, the satisfaction of the clientele and the relationship with them are of capital importance. That said, building that relationship requires time.

Solution
Virtual meetings conducted through web conferencing have all the functionalities needed to share documents on the screen as well as to transmit them. The same applies to a Powerpoint presentation, a project diagram done with Microsoft Project, or an image. By opening an interactive whiteboard, the participants can work together on a scheme, with virtual pen. Moreover, the availability of the colleagues can be known from the indication given by the IP software, Skype. This way, meetings can be held on demand and in time, thus eliminating the need for having to wait for the right time for everybody to get together for that purpose.

Results
A better coordination of the resources required for the development of products or the realization of projects reflects directly on their quality as well as on the time needed for their completion. The better coordination of the working teams is generally translated into a lower rejection rate. In all chapters, the potential economies are evident. The time saved can be devoted to optimizing the relationship with the client, as this is an imperative condition to deserve the client’s loyalty and to renew the experience.

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Applications for sales

Problems
The traveling time lost in getting to a prospect is expensive and not necessarily justified due to various reasons, such as when the prospect is insufficiently qualified or when the prospect’s role in the acquisitions process is not clear. Nevertheless, reviewing a proposition with the client will actually save time for everybody as compared to just emailing or using rapid delivery services. Coordinating the responses to bids that involve many different resources within the company (but which are not always available) in conjunction with the deadlines that approach rapidly is, without doubt, a Herculean task. Our services give you the edge here, with the added advantage that the sales team will not be the last to know if a competitor makes a borderline maneuver.

Solution
In some cases, it is more appropriate to conduct a virtual meeting with a prospect, a client, a distributor, or a partner. Through web conference, a PowerPoint presentation, a software demonstration, or consultation of a document may be done online. Also, it is a great way to review and reinforcea proposition already sent to a client by email. Thanks to the presence indicator of the voice over IP software, Skype, othercolleagues can be reunited, according to their availability, in order to produce a bid offer. Finally, an alert on the competition allows the exchange of all information related to, and needed for, the sales force.

Results
Reducing the traveling time of representatives proportionally increases their sales time, thus allowing them to focus better on the task. The level of stress that goes with answering a bid diminishes with better coordination, resulting in the improved quality of a proposal, which may be evident even to the client’s eyes. Sharing of experiences among the sales team members, regarding the competition, better equips them to neutralize arguments and to go ahead successfully.

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Applications for marketing

Problems
Communications for marketing should play an essential role not only from a promotional point of view but also from the point of view of the generation of qualified prospects for their sales team. The key people are committed to organizing brainstorming sessions and focus groups, and in conceiving and validating concepts. Press conferences, sometimes lasting several weeks, are also held during product launches. For the fruition of these efforts, the prospects have to be carefully identified as qualified. Otherwise, these efforts will be futile, and the team will have to begin again without being able to capitalize their exchanges and use them repeatedly.

Solution
The marketing team announces on their WEB site the online presentations (WEBinar), for which the visitors have to register in advance. The brainstorming sessions among colleagues, the focus groups, press conferences, and product launching are done long distance during webconferences. In addition, these events are completely recorded, both voice and images, and then copied by different means and placed on the WEB site, the local network, and on CD or DVD in order to be reused or replayed for new prospects, employees, and partners.

Results
The added advantage of WEBinars is that the participants are identified as qualified beforehand. It’s only later on that they are considered as prospects for the sales team – this produces better “closing” performance from the team. The time devoted to events is significantly reduced. The response rate of the prospects is faster. The audio-visual archives integrated through the years represent priceless collateral material that can support sales. In addition, we have the power of multimedia to the performance of polymedia, on different kinds of supports, regardless of the time.

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Applications for management

Problems
It has been observed that it is becoming increasingly difficult to conciliate the agendas of the people managing the company in order to schedule the statutory meetings in conjunction with the workshops of the ongoing projects. Moreover, the absence of a management representative at a meeting (albeit due to an important situation such as negotiating an important contract) is not uncommon. Consulting your colleagues helps you to take better decisions for the company. To conveniently hold meetings anytime and anywhere (also in small groups), make use of Tele-efficiency’s superior service.

Solution
The statutory meetings that are planned by the president are automatically scheduled in his Outlook calendar, after which he asks the participants to confirm their availability. During the meeting, he introduces the other presenter who gives a PowerPoint presentation and submits a document on the screen, which is also transmitted to his coworkers. If there is an absentee, the meeting is integrally recorded, both voice and images, and emailed to the absentee, along with the hyperlink and password so that it can be replayed. The voice over Internet software, Skype, along with the instant messaging presence indicator, allows the members of the management team to know, at a given moment, their coworkers’ status, i.e., if they are with a “connected,” “no show,” “not available,” or “do not disturb” signal.

Results
If some of the management personnel are frequently traveling, they can participate in the meetings via the Internet from their hotel room, airport, or an Internet café, or even from home. Moreover, even if they are absent, they can watch the recorded meeting and share their views with their colleagues. By knowing the availability of the management personnel, at a given time, the president can schedule a meeting; also, he can be signalled during the meeting about someone’s changed status of availability, as well as of a new arrival.

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