Consider technology’s efficiency

by Daniel Kehrer, Providence Business Journal

In a dismal economy, technology represents a delicate balancing act for many small-business owners. On the one hand, you want your business to operate at peak efficiency, with the best technology to get the job done quickly at the lowest cost. On the other hand, you might not have money available to buy or update equipment and software. And you certainly don’t want to be overspending to perform tech-related tasks you could get cheaper.

Switching to Web-based applications and tech outsourcing are two ways to lower costs, or at least keep them under control. Lloyd Group (www.lloydgroup.com) is a New York firm that manages tech for small- and mid-sized businesses. “We’ve seen some clients save as much as $100,000 per year by removing their internal IT resources and switching to a managed service model,” says Adam Eiseman, CEO.

Employees of Total Office Interiors, an office design and furniture company, spend much of their time away from the office. “We needed a better way to communicate with our mobile work force, and prepare our company for future growth,” says Gene Loughery, a partner in the business.

So Total Office switched to a VoIP phone system managed through Evolve IP. Customers, suppliers and prospects now dial one number and calls get routed wherever each employee of Total Office wants them to go that day. Employees can manage their calls and voicemail online as well. “The new system helps us to never miss a phone call or e-mail, regardless of whether we’re on the road, at our warehouse, on-site with a customer or in our own office,” says Loughery.

Likewise, operating costs at Yellow Brick Financial, a debt relief management firm in King of Prussia, Pa., dropped when the firm ditched its old-school switchboard phone system and switched to a virtual, private-managed network through Evolve IP. The move eliminated the cost of buying on-site phone technology, software for call routing and conference calls, and tech expertise to install and maintain it.

How your business manages its information is another tech area open to better efficiency and cost savings. That could include financial information, customer contacts, product specifications and dozens of other data items.

Most small businesses start out using basic spreadsheets or other database software to handle this task. But trying to herd all of this information into the right places at the right time becomes increasingly difficult with these tools alone.

As published in the Providence Business Journal