Springtime Budget-Busters -- Savings Experiment
Save on Spring Cleaning With a New Vacuum -- Savings Experiment
Darren Shafae operates Paper-Check.Com, which is a proofreading business. Without web-based technologies, his business would probably be far smaller.
"I have taken the best of ideas I have seen, and refined them to meet our needs and improve work flow and customer and employee satisfaction," said Shafae.
So, what kinds of applications does Shafae use to improve his business? Well, let's take a look:
GotVMail: Basically, this is a virtual PBX system. In other words, there is no need to manage hardware or pay for consultants. Instead, Shafae pays for the service on a subscription basis.
Some of the features include custom greetings, multiple extensions, music-on-hold, toll-free numbers, Dial-By-Name Directory and so on. According to Shafae: "GotVMail offers professional voice talent that gives the impression that there are thousands of operators standing by to address client needs and concerns."
WebEx: This allows for remote presentations, including PowerPoint slides. The technology, which is now owned by Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), is fairly affordable for smaller businesses. No doubt, it's quite useful for Shafae. He uses WebEx for things like customer demos, training and customer support.
Rackspace: This company provides premium managed web hosting services. Basically, as Shafae's business started to grow, there was a need to allow for custom components – which is only possible in a dedicated server environment.
By using Rackspace, Shafae was able to save the potential costs of hiring an IT expert as well as purchasing expensive hardware. "Rackspace has saved our business five to seven times this year already," said Shafae. "The company continually monitors our server and, if there is a problem, they let us know, after they fix the problem."
Some advice: Of course, there are always perils when buying web- based applications. To help out, Shafae has some advice:
• Read the fine print: What if the applications don't perform according to specifications? Make sure you read the contract and you have a way to terminate things without causing much trouble.
• Do some research: Before making a purchase decision, Shafae checks online venues, such as blogs, message boards and even Twitter. "Most Twitter users are more than happy to give you their two cents," he said.
• Buying too much: Because of the low price points, it's easy to buy too many web-based applications. In other words, focus only on those that will make a difference.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-30-2008 @ 1:01PM
norman said...
Interesting. The thing all those services have in common is very telling: they use an internet-based platform to offer the client a professional edge that would be impossible otherwise. This is hardly a newsflash but I do think that web apps are changing the look and feel of small-to-mid-size businesses. It's getting hard to tell us apart from the big boys!
Admittedly, though, the only one of the services above I've actually used is GotVMail. The professional voice studio matched with their price was the primary reason I signed up, although I've been impressed with their uptime and "visual voicemail"-type service (play it on mobile, or some such). They're a good service to "grow into" as a company, nice to see others who use them.
Thanks for the WebEx tip, too, that sounds like something I could really use.
6-30-2008 @ 8:57PM
narfellich said...
Nice comment, norman. I agree on the bit about how web services are making every business look bigger, but it can also work vice-versa. Expanding businesses can also look more quaint. gotvmail can funnel its features through to a local number, so old-fashioned folks mistrusting of 800 numbers can still call a local and feel all safe.
7-07-2008 @ 3:17PM
Darren Shafae said...
Hello, Tom,
Our URL is www.papercheck.com.
Best regards,
Darren Shafae
7-07-2008 @ 3:21PM
Darren Shafae said...
Hello, Tom,
Our URL is http://www.papercheck.com.
Best regards,
Darren Shafae
7-16-2008 @ 8:01AM
Bill Harris said...
Great suggestions, I use a company call Source Resources www.sourceresources.com that I farm
out my background record checks, while I have my
own turf covered they complete criminal record and drivers history reports from other states for me and return them timely at a fraction of the time
and cost that I would incurr. see www.sourceresources.com