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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Theresa Putzier
May 2007

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Set policies, then choose products, so work can happen anywhere

Technology is allowing more flexibility in work schedules and locations than ever before. Yet clients are demanding high levels of customer service and responsiveness.

Businesses can support these seemingly contradictory desires with smart business solutions. Choosing those solutions requires a careful look at your current systems, the wish lists of current employees and a vision for how – and where – they want to work in the future.

Here are three scenarios to help you start thinking about remote working conditions that are still secure, efficient and cost-effective.

Access from home
Two common levels of home access are for those employees who want to work occasionally from home, and employees who want to work mainly from home.

You might have managers who want to do a little work in the evening such as check their e-mail or pull a client file.  If the employee just wants to access e-mail, an easy and low-cost solution is to configure corporate e-mail so that it can be accessed via the Web.  For greater access to files or programs, there are a few options:

If you have a Windows server and workstation environment, Terminal Services may provide the access and security you need. Terminal Services is a Windows component installed on top of the Windows operating system. This is a useful remote access tool that gives users a complete Windows desktop to retrieve files and use applications. The desktop can be virtually indistinguishable from sitting at a local PC.

Another more advanced option is Citrix. Citrix is a software package that is installed on top of Terminal Services, providing additional security and use for remote access. Citrix improves printing options, the ability to run published applications (such as corporate applications) and levels of security.

Citrix can be configured so that network applications appear to run locally but are actually running on the remote Citrix server. Users also may be more comfortable with the familiar icons that appear on their desktop, but the downside of this option is increased costs.

For employees who work mainly from home, another solution is a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPNs allow users working at home or on the road to connect securely to their corporate network. They have the same access they would have if logged in at the office.

For any of these options, it is important to set policies and procedures that ensure sufficient firewall and virus protection on the home computer.

Traveling employees
If your sales staff is traveling frequently, they’ll need access to their e-mail as well as client files. They may also require access to the network to update sales data or check on the status of a shipment.

Any of the options in the home scenario will work, but these employees also need additional tools to access contacts, calendars and client information.

To this end, many companies are adopting customer relationship management software to track customer contacts and sales so the traveling employee can get the right information to the right people in the fewest possible steps.

Customer relationship management software (such as Microsoft CRM) can be tailored to give employees access only to information relevant to their jobs, such as client files and sales calendars.

They can also use the software while offline – after meeting with a client, for example – and then sync with the company network when they return to the office or have a secure connection.

Another handy solution for travel is mobile devices. With Windows Mobile, users can browse the Internet, send and receive e-mail, and use mobile versions of Office applications. Windows Mobile is a rich platform, so users can download third-party software to customize their device. With mobile devices, employees can access client information while they’re with the client, increasing productivity.

One of the newest communications solutions for travelers is cellular Internet. By subscription, cellular companies are now providing Internet access by making use of idle cell capacity. The technology is migrating to laptops and mobile devices to allow access in areas without available wi-fi, DSL or cable connections – a client’s lobby or the airport.

Remote offices
The primary solutions for remote office connectivity today are either point-to-point connections (such as a T1 line) or site-to-site VPN connections. These solutions allow connections between remote sites so that there is integration between the branches. A point-to-point connection requires a dedicated phone line from one location to the other; a site-to-site VPN uses the Internet to connect sites, resulting in a less expensive solution for connecting remote offices.

Whether you choose point-to-point or VPN, these solutions allow your IT team to take advantage of remote administration of servers and computers – resulting in reduced costs and less down time because systems can be monitored and maintained 24/7.

There are other necessities for other scenarios. Employees may want to work from anywhere, but they don’t want to feel isolated.  It is important to schedule regular meetings to keep everyone informed. A tool that can help is Web conferencing software such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting, offering recording and chat capabilities as well as real-time viewing of desktop presentation materials.

Regardless of the hardware or software choices that are made, the key to successful telecommuting lies in the establishment of corporate policies and procedures and a training program that sets clear expectations for both parties.

Establish policies that maintain the integrity of company data, and for the care and use of company hardware such as laptops or mobile devices. Ensure that back-ups are appropriate and that IT maintenance such as software and security upgrades is scheduled.

When the employer and the employee agree in these areas – and have a common vision on how they want to work – then they can get into the fun of choosing the right business solutions.