Sound Strategy
Ten Important Preconditions
for Out-facing Services
Sounding Line evangelizes the benefits of out-facing services,
but it's reasonable to offer a few caveats. Out-facing services can't spring
full-blown from a principal's intensions. The groundwork must be in place
first. Here are some preconditions you should pay attention to before trying
to implement out-facing services.
- High speed Internet connection: Everyone in the agency should be connected
full time and at a reasonable rate (probably greater than 128KB or better
for each workstation).
- E-mail: Everyone in the agency should have an e-mail address, be trained
in its use, use it regularly, and respond to incoming mail in less than
one hour. In order to be really useful, the e-mail system must support shared
folders so that customer e-mail can be stored in a way everyone can have
access to it.
- Management system versions: If at all possible, agency management system
software should be brought to the current release within six months of its
availability. Your operating systems, utilities, servers, and other tools
should be kept current as well.
- Data: If your management system doesn't contain complete, accurate data,
you should create and implement a plan so that it will. Customer self-service
feasibility depends to a great extent on what data you have to work with.
- Paperless: Being paperless means have the commitment, procedures, and
discipline to take full advantage of technology - including digital interaction
with customers.
- Training: Your staff can only take advantage of technology if they know
how to use it - and that can't be left to chance. Include generic software,
like Windows and Word, in your training regimen.
- Disaster recovery: You must have a program in place that covers hardware,
software, data, paper, office space, and other elements. Recovery is only
possible with regular, tested backups stored off site.
- Security: To take advantage of the Internet, your system needs to be connected
to it, and that means taking appropriate precautions with firewalls, virus
detection, and other security systems and appropriate behavior.
- Participation: Make use of and contribute to your user group. Educational
programs, and especially peer help, can be enormously useful in steering
you toward practical solutions.
- Management: Technology doesn't manage itself, and left to its own devices
will become increasingly more expensive and less useful. Agency management
must be in charge and take ownership - and bring in others to carry out
projects - that the agency as a whole believes in.
© Copyright 2001 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights
reserved
