Buying a Phone System – Part 3
November 9, 2009
Part 3 –Discovery Process
Discovery, by the very definition is “the act or instance of discovering”. In G3TP terms it is the process of uncovering hidden or root problems that keep businesses from making the right technology decisions. It is very common for organizations to make snap decisions for the wrong reasons without first addressing these root problems.
Initial Need: A law firm is looking to update their outdated technology.
Discovery Questions:
- Why do you think your organization is losing revenue?
- What are you doing now to grow your business?
- In a perfect world, tell me about how you’d like to see your business run?
Initially, the discovery questions seemed obscure to the client but they allowed me to see their business as a whole, get a better understanding of their expectations, and pinpoint the prospect’s priorities. After the Discovery Process, here is what I uncovered:
The firm was having difficulty recouping billable hours from its attorneys. Management had the attorneys keeping a paper trail of hours spent on each client. Inevitably with depositions, court appearances, multiple clients, etc., the written hours were being miscalculated or not accounted at all. Ultimately revenue was lost.
Solution: The firm did receive an updated solution however it included a call accounting application that automatically sends a report via email (or text) to the attorney and management at a specific time every week that the firm now uses for billable time. This simple, efficient report allowed the attorneys to focus on their clients and helped management take the guess work out of billing which helped increase revenue (actually by 4% out of the gate).
Note: I offer all of my prospects a mutual non-disclosure document. This legal document protects any proprietary information disclosed during the discovery process.
The 411 on the 311?
November 2, 2009
The 411 on the 311?
Part 1
Many city governments today are either implementing or considering a 311 service to improve assistance and responsiveness to the public. “311” is the slang term used for a centralized service center equipped with the tools and information needed to handle various non-emergency calls from the public. Some common things that a 311 service provides support for are:
- Reporting potholes
- Reporting graffiti
- Garbage collection information
- Blocked roadways, driveways, and fire hydrants
- Reporting broken traffic lights
- Mayor action line (complaints)
- Reporting abandoned vehicles
- Reporting stray animals
- Provide information on which department to call for any given service when there is uncertainty
- Information and possibly call routing for local shelters, public assistance, domestic issues and other urgent/emergency like calls
According to New York City’s website, their 311 even provides language translation! Also, some cities have even set up their 311 service as a 911 back up or as a disaster recovery site.
Buying a Phone System – Part 2
October 28, 2009
Part 2 – Initial Discovery
So you’ve thought about it, now what?
You’ve conducted your interviews, you’ve chosen the partner that has your best interest in mind and you have an outline of what business objectives you’re trying to accomplish – now what? This phase in the process, called Initial Discovery, is typically the tipping point for some vendors. I call it the “tipping point” b/c during this time in the early evaluation process either the customer or vendor is going to try to tip the project in their favor and hope that the outcome is favorable (for the customer: requesting everything under the sun for little or no money. For the vendor: Pushing their agenda, not doing the right thing for the customer.) In most cases the project goes dead and no one succeeds. To avoid this there must be open lines of communication, expectation setting, and established trust (this goes back to choosing the correct vendor for your business – step 1). It is on both the customer and vendor to establish this critical communication connection.
I mentioned in a previous blog, the evaluation process is 6-9 months in length due to finding out exactly what needs to be accomplished, why and how all of that is going to happen, and what the expected outcome is – all in detail.
In part 3, I will dive into the detailed portion of the Discovery Process. What questions to ask your vendor, why and more importantly, what those questions can and will mean to the future of your business.
Increasing Billable Hours By Better Tracking. How One Law Firm Increased Revenue.
April 29, 2008
To a legal firm, communications with clients mean billable hours. Tracking every phone call, voice mail, e-mail and fax that crosses a desk generates potential revenue. Optimizing your invoices to clients, however, requires managing each type of communications media accordingly.
1 Tracking
Most law firms look for the tools to supply cutting-edge connectivity between their attorneys and clients and can overlook the lost billable hours they spend with each interaction.
Your ability to accurately capture the quantity of your billable time directly affects the total amount of time you spend working. Your ability to accurately describe the quality of your billable time will allow your firm to craft timely, persuasive bills that stand the best chance of achieving every lawyer’s ultimate goal in every billable matter through each interaction, phone, fax, web, and wireless mobility.
We’ve helped numerous law firms overcome this by providing the tools to track all interaction through technology.
Technology has evolved during the last decade into dynamic business ventures designed to meet today’s fast-paced business environment. Key to this change has been the effective use of technology in providing our clients with additional value.
2 Disaster Recovery
Your Disaster Recovery Plan is the most important item in your business portfolio. It is what you will turn to if there is indeed a disaster or other serious incident.
Having a back-up communication platform will allow you to continue serving your clients. With most Law Firms communication is the core of their business. Hopefully, you will never have to use it, but if you do, it can be the difference between the loss of your organization and its survival. It is therefore absolutely critical that it is workable. How you continue to operate day to day will help guide you through the crisis.
That’s what we do at G3 — help you plan a communication platform that will provide the communication interaction you will need during a disaster.
3 Attorneys Well-Connected With Clients
Your law firm could be using state-of-the-art technology to promote collaboration between your clients and attorneys. Not only will you be delivering outstanding customer service, but you will be better able to bill appropriately. Your Clients benefit in many ways, including efficiencies in attorney and staff productivity.
Pam Ottinger is a specialist with G3 Technology Partners and a contributor to the blog. She can be reached at pam.ottinger@g3tp.com
Saving Lives By Being Wireless
April 18, 2008
As a technology specialist, everyday I see the power that technology can have in helping a business grow and helping people become much more productive—both of which potentially lead to a financial impact.
I was talking with one of our most recent health care clients last week and I posed the more serious question,
“Can proper use of technology help save lives in a hospital?”
He’s a rather profound thinker so it made perfect sense to him to explore the topic. As a note, we recently installed a wireless communication system at his site. The list below came as a result of a total diagnostic that his site went through prior to the selection of a wireless solution. Obviously, every facility is different and recommendations vary on a case by case basis.
Yes, because of faster reaction times and increased staff availability.
In diagnosing his situation (pre-sale), we found that his staff didn’t feel mobile. They felt tied to their unit. Consequently, they believed quality of care suffered because of that. With a wireless system, their mobility increased—they could perform their jobs from anywhere in the hospital. A nurse there told us a story about a common situation that used to take 3-5 hours to resolve. And that with the new communication system, she coordinated the exact same result in less than 30 minutes. Over the course of 400 nurses and 2300 patients, that two hours turns into tens of thousands of hours of productivity advancement.
Yes, because of paging delay elimination between doctors, nurses and staff.
Under the old system, nurses spent less time taking care of patients directly and personally, and more time with admin details. They all felt like patient care was a casualty. With their new system, doctors have all critical information and direct access to nurses and staff. Doctors also spend much less time on hold which allows them to do what they do best—administer care.
Yes, because more and more people are involved in patient care, which can create errors in the handoffs.
The information flow is greatly increased. (More here on patient info flow. Think about a story like I have in the prior paragraphs.) For example, it used to be when someone wanted……this happened. And it caused….
Conclusion
The basis for this argument is that hours spent with the patient instead of running people and information down—or waiting for information-will lead to better patient care and thus better referrals to the hospital. Has it saved a life yet? Well, not that we know of. But the time will come when an hour saved will be the difference between life and death.