Steve Pavlina is a subject matter expert and blogger I came across just the other day. Steve has a different approach to things I am personally interested in such as self improvement and leveraging technology to improve you life. Do yourself a favor and read his materials, start here with his article on making money from your blog. The difference in the readings of Steve Pavlina compared to countless other bloggers is that Steve publishes real information, mostly all for free, or maybe signing up for a free newletter series. He has very good privacy policy so I dont worry about getting nailed after signing up for one of his workshops. His content is from real life experience and in one of those top 1% people I search out. There are more people like Steve out there, I will turn you on to them in my next post. Steve's site can keep you busy for week reading quality materials on self improvement and making money, my two favorite topics. Thank you Steve for sharing secrets with me that actually made me money the very first day I tried a few of his ideas. I am also using his techniques to change some lifestyle habits.
Thank you so much Steve for posting real content that helps people!
How to Make Money From Your Blog
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Top Bloggers Make Top Money
I am posting this strictly to motivate those
Authored by 4 unknown authors.
Topics: Tech Culture and Business
Launched: January, 2000
Stats: 2.6 million unique visitors and 22 million page views in one month
Advertising Rates:
$350 for a small ad button for one week
$2,000 to $3,000 for banner ads
Revenue: Over $1 million per year (and lots of free stuff)
Ads sold through the Federated Media ad network
Posting Frequency: 20 to 40 posts a day by 4 authors
 |
| The "BoingBoing" Man |
who struggle in search of success in their blogging and writing efforts.
Stories like this one are not uncommon even in todays economy. Any online effort that attracts millions of loyal followers carries potential that dreams are made of.
Topics: Tech Culture and Business
Launched: January, 2000
Stats: 2.6 million unique visitors and 22 million page views in one month
Advertising Rates:
$350 for a small ad button for one week
$2,000 to $3,000 for banner ads
Revenue: Over $1 million per year (and lots of free stuff)
Ads sold through the Federated Media ad network
Posting Frequency: 20 to 40 posts a day by 4 authors
Website audit can produce the extra boost needed in todays dark economic climate
Shane is offering website audits for $179.00 (through August). Get an in depth view of your site's visibility to search engines, insights into optimization, monetization and overall health of your Website. We'll provide a comprehensive overview of your websites current state and give you actionable recommendations that will help your Website achieve stronger search engine placement. Call 727.726.1487 to schedule. - Shane
Blogger Buzz: Viglink: Easier Way to Monetize Links On Your Blog...
Blogger Buzz: Viglink: Easier Way to Monetize Links On Your Blog...: "Guest post by Oliver Roup, VigLink CEO If you spend as much time working on your blog as we do, you wonder if there's a way to get paid. M..."
Blogger Buzz: Improvements to Realtime Search
Blogger Buzz: Improvements to Realtime Search: "The blogosphere is a dynamic environment that changes almost as quickly as the world that we live in. And as access to information becomes ..."
Blogger Buzz: How Blogger Inspired The Creation Of BlogWorld & N...
Blogger Buzz: How Blogger Inspired The Creation Of BlogWorld & N...: "Guest post by Rick Calvert, CEO of BlogWorld & New Media Expo When the Google Blogger team asked me to write a guest post for the Blogger ..."
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Search Engine Statistics are Revealing
Search Engine Rankings Report
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Search Engine Rankings Report - July 2010
Google continues to enjoy a 65.8% market share of the overall search market. Yahoo is still in the number two spot and MSN sites hold the third position. Yahoo and MSN are banking heavily on the merger of their search platforms to strengthen their position against Google and separate themselves from the smaller search engines. That separation could result in more revenue from increased search client activity. We are advising our clients to allow us to create a Yahoo/Bing account for them and to allow us to begin devoting some of the monthly marketing budget to this account.
ComScore Releases July 2010 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
RESTON, VA, August 17, 2010 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. With the July 2010 qSearch data release, comScore will now be reporting “Explicit Core Search” results alongside its standard “Total Core Search” results in order to provide transparency around the impact of contextually driven searches. For a more detailed explanation behind this reporting enhancement, please refer to the following blog post: http://blog.comscore.com/2010/08/comscore_explicit_core_search.html
U.S. Explicit Core Search
Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in July with 65.8 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 17.1 percent (up 0.4 percentage points) and Microsoft sites with 11.0 percent. Ask network captured 3.8 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL LLC with 2.3 percent.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Search Engine Rankings Report - July 2010
Google continues to enjoy a 65.8% market share of the overall search market. Yahoo is still in the number two spot and MSN sites hold the third position. Yahoo and MSN are banking heavily on the merger of their search platforms to strengthen their position against Google and separate themselves from the smaller search engines. That separation could result in more revenue from increased search client activity. We are advising our clients to allow us to create a Yahoo/Bing account for them and to allow us to begin devoting some of the monthly marketing budget to this account.
ComScore Releases July 2010 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
RESTON, VA, August 17, 2010 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. With the July 2010 qSearch data release, comScore will now be reporting “Explicit Core Search” results alongside its standard “Total Core Search” results in order to provide transparency around the impact of contextually driven searches. For a more detailed explanation behind this reporting enhancement, please refer to the following blog post: http://blog.comscore.com/2010/08/comscore_explicit_core_search.html
U.S. Explicit Core Search
Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in July with 65.8 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 17.1 percent (up 0.4 percentage points) and Microsoft sites with 11.0 percent. Ask network captured 3.8 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL LLC with 2.3 percent.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
eHR to Free HR - Lowing (eliminating?) HR Costs to the Enterprise
Below are the claims submitted to the US Patent offfice regarding an idea to reduce the per employee cost of HR by leveraging the already housed data on a large group and creating a buying pool that is awarded discounts through company channels when purchasing goods and services brought to their attention through the triggering of life event notifications and related offers. A good example of this would be if Mary Jane logs in to her company Intranet to change her address due to an upcoming move, the portal she is using to perform this task may, on the sidebar, offer her discounted storage, moving truck, supplies etc. The vendors which are plugged in to the mass userbase offer their goods and services at a discount while kicking back a small percentage to the company for the privalidge of being the vendor for such a large controlled purchasing environment. Also, the user or employee not only save money but saves time as well. Similar scenarios would be rendered during pregnancies, divorce, sickness, sending kids off to school and so on.
This idea was concieved about 10 years ago and was patented in 2008.
Please read the claims below and see if it sheds some light and a bunch of great ideas as to how we can reduce HR costs by leveraging the large scale userbases of online portals and databases. The patent goes further into wireless access as well to cover smart phones and PDA devices. This idea was ahead of its time but is no coming to fruition. Start thinking about the power of the data your company posesses and how you might leverage these large userbases to your advantage. Please comment with your ideas.
Till Next Time,
Shane Hopkins
United States Patent 7406441
System and method for online human resource outsourcing and portal access
Inventors:
Hopkins, Shane (Chicago, IL, US)
Application Number:
11/268321
Publication Date:
07/29/2008
Filing Date:
11/07/2005
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation
Assignee:
ACS HR Solutions LLC (Pittsburgh, PA, US)
Primary Class:
705/4
Field of Search:
705/27, 705/4, 705/14, 709/19, 705/1, 705/37, 705/26, 705/36R
View Patent Images:
Download PDF 7406441 PDF help
US Patent References:
6092047
Apparatus and method of composing a plan of flexible benefits
July, 2000
Hyman et al.
705/36R
5913198
System and method for designing and administering survivor benefit plans
June, 1999
Banks
705/36R
5799151
Interactive electronic trade network and user interface
August, 1998
Hoffer
4648037
Method and apparatus for benefit and financial communication
March, 1987
Valentino
Primary Examiner:
Garg, Yogesh C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
McCarter & English, LLP
Parent Case Data:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/595,114, filed Jun. 16, 2000, now abandoned which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/170,013, filed Dec. 10, 1999, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Claims:
The invention claimed is:1. A method for managing and delivering employee benefits to reduce cost to at least one employer for administration of a human resource function, comprising: a. at least temporarily storing information provided by the at least one employer indicative of interests of respective employees; b. processing the stored information such that the employees are organized into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests; c. at least temporarily storing information relating to vendors of employee benefits; d. obtaining a discount for employee benefits provided by the vendors by matching the common interests upon which the buying pool is based with the stored information relating to vendors; e. calculating a percentage of the discount to be deducted from the cost of the benefit to the employee to determine a discounted price for the benefit; f. offering the benefit for the employee at the discounted price via a portal web site; and g. providing an employer portion of the discount to the at least one employer to reduce administration cost; wherein at least steps a, b, c, and e are performed using at least one networked computer system. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least temporarily storing information provided by at least one employer, includes at least temporarily storing information provided by a plurality of employers. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the stored information such that the employees are organized into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests, includes processing the stored information such that the employees are organized into a plurality of buying pools based on respective common ones of the interests. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is provided by the at least one employers via the portal web site. 5. A method for managing employee benefits to reduce cost to at least one employer for administration of a human resource function, comprising: a. providing a portal web site for managing the employee benefits; b. receiving employee information provided by the at least one employer indicative of interests of respective employees; c. organizing the employees into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests; d. procuring a discount against a cost of a product from at least one vendor for the employees in the buying pool by matching the common interests upon which the buying pool is based with stored information relating to at least one vendor; e. offering the product with an employee portion of the discount at the portal web site to employees in the buying pool; and f. providing an employer portion of the discount to the at least one employer to reduce administration cost; wherein at least steps b, c, and d are performed using at least one networked computer system. 6. The method of claim 5, including calculating the employee portion of the discount to be passed to the employee. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein calculating the employee portion of the discount includes allocating a portion of the discount as an administrative fee to reduce the administration cost and allocating a remainder of the discount as the employee portion of the discount. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein procuring the discount against the cost of the product includes procuring the discount against the cost of a good. 9. The method of claim 5, wherein procuring the discount against the cost of the product includes procuring the discount against the cost of a service. 10. The method of claim 5, wherein procuring the discount includes providing the vendor with characteristics of respective employees. 11. The method of claim 5, including providing the vendor with an event point for an individual employee associated therewith. 12. The method of claim 11, including offering to the individual employee at the portal web site an event point product associated with the event point. 13. A method for managing and delivering employee benefits to reduce cost to at least one employer for administration of a human resource function, comprising: providing a benefits coordinator computer system with a portal web site for managing the employee benefits; receiving employee information indicative of interests of respective employees at the benefits coordinator computer system from at least one employer computer system; organizing the employees into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests; procuring a discount from a vendor computer system for the employees of the buying pool by matching the common interests upon which the buying pool is based with stored information relating to at least one vendor; offering the product with an employee portion of the discount at the portal web site to employees in the buying pool; and providing an employer portion of the discount to the at least one employer to reduce administration cost. 14. The method of claim 13, including calculating the employee portion of the discount to be passed to the employee. 15. The method of claim 13, including providing the vendor computer system with an event point for an individual employee associated therewith. 16. The method of claim 15, including offering to the individual employee at the portal web site an event point product associated with the event point.
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a typical employer-employee relationship, an employer will provide employees with benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, 401(k) plans, etc. Many employers will also offer additional benefits to employees, ranging from gym memberships to discounts on products and the like. A fundamental purpose of all such benefits is to strengthen the tie between the employee and his employer. In fact, with the increasingly dynamic job market of today, benefits have become such an important part of the employer-employee relationship that the value of the benefits are estimated to be within 10-40% of a given base salary. As retaining employees and replacing employees who leave becomes increasingly difficult in terms of both the availability of suitable candidates, and in terms of the actual cost of training new employees, employers are trying to maximize the benefits they provide their employees so as to strengthen the employer-employee bond in order to reduce turnover. Nevertheless, given the high administrative and other related costs, minimizing the associated costs has been an elusive goal, particularly considering the lack of economies of scale and efficiencies in the prior art methodologies.
By way of example, inefficiency is inherent in prior art methodologies because in most cases, the employer must arrange or negotiate with a third party for provision of such benefits. Some groups have tried to engineer multi-corporate buying pools. However, these organizations lack information regarding the employee base so that the organizations are not able to offer appropriate benefits at the appropriate time. Given that administration of the corporate human resource function has been traditionally provided in-house, and has been primarily based on paper oriented transactions, it is an increasingly expensive, cumbersome process. To address this problem, more recent prior art solutions over the past decade have tried to replace this type of internal operation with an outsourced, technologically enhanced function which is directed to the administration of benefit plans (e.g., 401(k), pension plans, medical plans, etc.). To this end, strategies have been developed to allow employers to outsource all non-benefit human resource functions themselves (e.g., recruiting, training), however, even the more recent prior art approaches to outsourcing have severe limitations, not the least of which is that they are essentially limited to certain human resource functions, which does not provide for the outsourcing of strategic human resource activities, (e.g., policy, design, development), or business advisory elements which directly add value to employee contribution and organization performance. Moreover, the recent prior art approaches do not maximize the economies of scale, which can be formed in large scale, centralized buying pools.
Furthermore, when employers have generally provided for a systematic administration of traditional benefit plans, they have also provided for non-traditional benefits but have yet to find an efficient approach to administering them. However, the recent popularity of non-traditional benefits (such as discounts from third parties) has added yet further difficulties for integration with the prior art methodologies. This is because all benefits (especially non-traditional benefits) have traditionally been haphazardly administered, with the resulting effect being that many employees do not take advantage of such benefits because they simply do not know about them as employees and are often unaware of certain things such as corporate discounts on goods and services, as well as all other manner of human resource benefits. Moreover, in some cases, they cannot fully appreciate the applicability of the benefits to their personal and professional lives. These shortcomings also stem from the fact that information regarding these benefits is almost never customized to match the needs or interests of each individual employee.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention provides data to benefit recipients across an electronic portal with wireless access, by means of an electronic portal network, a wireless network connected to said electronic portal network for receiving signals to be transmitted to said electronic portal network and for sending signals to be transmitted from said electronic portal network, and a client based computer system having wireless access capabilities for sending the signals to be transmitted to the electronic portal network and for receiving the signals transmitted from the electronic portal network, together for requesting and accessing said benefit resources data.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a detailed data flow diagram of the invention;
FIG. 4 shows a typical index page 92 from which a user may make a selection.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing use of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention provides improved administration and access of benefits to employees, dependents, former employees and all other benefits recipients. In order to provide for the improved access and administration to the improved benefits, the present invention also provides that at least three levels of self-service will be available to employees: voice response system, internet access and customer service centers, all with the contemplated reduced costs of administration and greater accessibility for employees. In so providing, the present invention further supports improved Awork@ related (i.e., traditional work benefits) transactions, and Anon-work@ related transactions, such as those where a third party outsourcing coordinator will provide the employees with access to discounts on goods and services, etc.
Hence, the present invention allows the third party coordinator to provide the employees with systematic and real time access to these discounts to expand the number of goods and services for which discounts are available so as to provide for a larger, more centralized volume of scale and systemized efficiency in administration, and to notify each individual employee of goods and services of which the employee, in particular, may need and which are available at a discount on the basis of the employment relationship. In doing so, a portion of the discount may be passed directly to the employee as an incentive to purchase the goods or services. The remaining portion of the discount may then be provided to the employer to further reduce or eliminate the cost of administering human resource benefits.
With such an efficient, multi-pronged approach, and given the further inventive online access and distribution of benefits, the benefit provider (i.e., employer) can provide the benefit recipient (i.e., usually an employee) with information which is relevant to his personal and professional concerns, and can provide the ability to purchase goods and services at a discount through customized access to the internet.
This allows employees to understand that their benefits extend beyond just a paycheck and 401(k) plan, and as the distinction between work and home begins to fade, employees will then have more factors to consider before deciding to leave his present job.
As seen in FIG. 1, is a broad over view of the system and method for online human resource outsourcing and portal access, centered around a structural business arrangement and portal 2 for accessing the benefits thereof. In terms of the various methods of accessing portal 2 , the present invention contemplates at least three separate portal entries: via PC (personal computer), PDA (personal digital assistant), and phone connection, any one of which may be done via either a wired connection, or as contemplated in the preferred embodiment, via a substantially wireless connection. In one embodiment, user 4 accesses the inventive environment 6 via either online portal 8 (for PC and PDA connections), or via a phonelink 10 (for regular or cell phone connections) in order to access or send data packet 12 via the internet.
As mentioned, one embodiment of the present invention contemplate a PC Interface, and this embodiment would involve a User Interface or front-end which will preferably be constructed of mainly HTML based documents running on a variety of different machines (such as, Compaq, Dell, IBM or other such computers known in the industry) and will be utilized in coordination with many different types of software, such as IIS, WindowsNT, Unix or other known industry standard. Such an interface might involve a general layout of the site was created with storyboards, with a set of simple HTML documents as known in the art, that once uploaded, act as the webpages available to the PC or laptop computer user.
Turning to FIG. 2, is a broad overview of the preferred embodiment of the data flow from the client perspective. Although data from data packet 12 may flow through any of the above detailed portal entries, in an especially preferred embodiment, a wireless PDA such as the PalmVII sold by 3 Com Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif. (USA) will be utilized. As such, data flow from user 4 utilizing the most preferred embodiment might involve powering up PDA 26 and tapping on a proprietary icon to begin the access. An internal Application Launcher Software (also available from 3 Com Corp.) 24 would open PQA (Palm Query Application) file 22 (or a web clipping file, not pictured), all of which would be derived from PQA builder software 20 from the Palmnet Program (also available from 3 Com Corp.) 20 , and stems from HTML files 18 , created at 16 , which open by default index page 92 (see FIG. 4). Accordingly, index page 92 , and the rest of the HTML documents, make up the installed PQA file 22 reside one the PDA 26 itself.
For interfacing to continue, user 4 will be prompted for a user name and a personal identification number via an HTML form. Once entered, the form request is converted at 28 to a CDPD (cellular data packet delivery) signal 30 and transmitted to the nearest communication tower 32 , such as those supplied and maintained by 3Com Corp. Communication tower 32 will then send CDPD signal 30 to a conversion server 34 (such as those manufactured by 3Com Corp.). Conversion server 34 will convert the CDPD signal to an internet friendly language such as HTML (or any other comparable language) and then will send data packet 12 through internet 14 .
Turning towards an even more detailed view of the process in FIG. 3, is the substance of the preferred elements and a connectivity in the inventive method and system, in terms of an exemplary data flow, as seen say, the perspective of user 4 in a client environment 39 . The starting point then, of previously mentioned access tools personal computer 16 which preferably uses Windows 99 available from Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash. (USA), PDA (such as PalmPilot VII) 26 , and WAP (wireless application protocol) device 13 (i.e., cell phone or other device that utilizes WAP protocol to access the internet). Provided in client environment 39 is web client 36 , which is capable of receiving or transmitting, through an optional firewall 42 , data packets 12 along connection 50 to internet 14 . Similarly, PDA 26 and WAP device 38 may connect to internet 14 , along a wireless based connection, beginning with PDA to wireless tower input/output 46 , the input/output of which includes capability for transmission and reception of signals such as CDPD, XML, analog WML, CDML, GSM or any other type of WAP languages as known in the art. Wireless signal 48 is either received or transmitted in concert with transmission towers 32 , which transfer data packet 12 to internet 14 via wireless converter 34 (essentially server hardware and software that converts any web language to a wireless signal and vice versa, such as that available from wireless providers such as Bell South Corporation of Atlanta, Ga. (USA)). Client environment 39 may further be provided with a server such as that available from Citrix Corporation, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (USA), for direct access along connection 26 to a data control center 84 , for direct data access between the client and the data warehouse.
Connected to internet 14 are at least one, and most preferably, a plurality of vendors 54 whose participation will be arranged by a third party enterprise 75 . In the course of all operations, third party enterprise 75 will preferably offer a real time online help knowledge database (utilizing hardware and software technology provided by Ask.Com, or Net effect) for providing the improved access of benefits information to client (i.e., employee) from third party enterprise 75 .
As seen in FIG. 5, third party enterprise 75 comprises at least two main third party components who service the benefits provider 1 (i.e., an employer, social service organization, government agency, etc.) and the benefits recipient 13 (i.e., employee, former employee, aid recipient etc.) (user 4 will, in an especially preferred embodiment, be an employee or former employee): (1) third party outsourcing coordinator 77 ; and, (2) vendors 54 . As discussed herein in greater detail, vendors 54 are coordinated as participants with respective benefits provisions by at least third party coordinator 77 (and in some cases by the benefits provider who would, in a most preferred embodiment, relinquish administration of any benefits related relationships with vendors where not supplanted by analogous relationships of third party outsourcing coordinator 77 ). Third party coordinator 77 will contract and establish relationships on a case by case basis, for provision of efficient access to benefits recipients. The two main components, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 , and vendors 54 , are connected via the internet 14 , and most preferably via thin client 58 , such as the Portal Website, and across firewall 62 to web server 76 via patch 64 . Web server 76 will primarily comprise at least one or more web servers running on an operation system such as Windows NT available from Microsoft Corp. and IIS, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond Wash. (USA). Connected thereto along path 70 will be mailservers such as Microsoft Mail, or other type mail server for receiving, storing and logging mail received in connection with the operations of the system. Also connected to Web Server 76 (and mailservers 74 ) is portal configuration server 68 , which is a server which utilizes portal conversion software such as that produced under the trademark Portal-to-go, owned by Oracle Corporation of Redwood, Calif. (USA). As previously alluded to, at least one Master Server 66 (such as the Compaq Prolinea, Dell server or other industry known standard running software from Citrix Systems), which serves as an outside connection to client server 40 (such as the Compaq Prolinea, Dell server or other industry known standard running software from Citrix Systems) along conduit 44 , which is useful for Direct data access. Through conduit 44 , direct two way data access is achieved through a dedicated line from the client environment to inventive environment 6 . This is accomplished through the use of the aforementioned server or through any PC Anywhere-type device as known in the industry combined with a T1 bundle which can comprise lines such as ISDN, T1, Bundled T1s, T3 or other lines, as known in the art. Master Server 66 is connected to Control Center 84 , which can consist of Dell, Compaq or other hardware Running Windows NT, Unix or other. Data Control Center 84 , is preferably a multi-platform data center for wharehousing large amounts of data, and may be based on Sybase SQL development tools available from Sybase, Inc. of Emeryville, Calif. (USA), based on a relational database management system, such as that available from Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, Calif. (USA), utilizing Windows NT operating system and a Common Object request Broker Architecture ACORBA@(for use as communications components of the object management architecture), Net Ware Network Operating Systems, sold by Novell Inc., of Provo, Utah (USA), IIS from Microsoft, etc., and may use Unix-type operating systems such as those available from Novell's Unix Systems Group of Novell, Inc. Data Control Center is also attached to Web Servers 76 along path 82 , and to Mail Server 74 along path 86 , and to Benefits input/output module 90 , along path 88 . Benefits input/output module 90 is a Data Management Server which operates software such as that sold under the trademark People Soft version 7.5x available from PeopleSoft Corp. of Mountain View, Calif. (USA), or other equivalent (AHRSM@) input/output softwares. The purpose of benefits input/output module as is to provide data on personnel. In a most preferred embodiment, the entire physical architecture described above will be backed-up by offsite disaster recovery module 78 as known in the art, by being connected to each of the various physical modules, described above, along path 80 .
Thus, in terms of the data flow of data packets 12 in an exemplary transaction, data packets 12 are sent via TCP/IP protocol and are routed to the proper IP address as requested by the original HTML form request as filled out by user 4 . Since this particular transaction is preferably performed on a PDA 26 , there is no reason for user 4 to be connected with say, a thin client (i.e., a web based user interface) as the PQA 22 is the thin client in the preferred embodiment. Passing over the thin client, and directly accessing the back end of innovative environment 6 (FIG. 1) is a result of the IP address destination being generated from the query. Continuing to trace the next segment, seen in FIG. 3, data packet 12 penetrates firewall 62 , which comprises switches/routers (such as those available from 3 Com Corp. Sunnyvale, Calif. (USA) or other standard routing equipment as known in the art) to filter out certain data by reading the data packet header to filter out/in certain ranges of IP addresses. Once successfully through the firewall 62 , data packets 12 will enter the Portal Converter 68 , which is preferably a server such as the Prolinea Server made by Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston, Tex. (USA), or any industry known standard server which can run software such as Portal-To-Go Software™, available from Oracle Corporation, which will convert any signal to HTML or other web friendly language. Once data packet 12 has successfully has reached the back-end of the inventive environment 6 it can now travel around freely, via TCP/IP to find the proper database, mailserver, or web site that has been requested.
With respect to the preferred embodiment of the PDA interface in FIG. 2, the same can be obtained by building a set of the same files 18 , which can be taken and run through PQA builder 20 , as part of the SDK (Software Development Kit) available from Palm.net of 3 Com Corp. PQA builder 20 creates PQA file 22 from HTML documents 18 that are fed into it. PQA file 22 that results is preferably installed on the PDA (i.e., the Palm VII from 3Com Corp.) via the Hotsync function 24 . The purpose of PQA 22 is to take a skeleton of the web site and pre install it on PDA 26 (see FIG. 4). Accordingly, provided for user 4 of PDA 26 can move through the majority of the web site with out the need for a wireless transaction. However, in terms of the previously mentioned phone interface, the interface thereon would be different because an entire different set of files would need to be created for the phone portion of portal 2 . The WAP version would preferably be programmed in XML (extensible mark up language) documents called cards, which are very simple HTML-like documents. A full rundown on this process is available through the free online SDK (software development kit) available from www.phone.com, the complete set of cards may be stored on a proprietary server such as Compaq, Dell or other, which will be accompanied by UP Link server software (also available from www.phone.com) or can be stored directly on the phone.com server for a fee. Provision of such an architecture allows that a multitude of web enabled phones or wap devices may be utilized as WAP devices may be defined (but are not limited to) wireless PDAs and WAP cellular phones such as those available from Motorola Inc. of Schaumberg, Ill., (USA), however, other devices using WAP are explicitly contemplated by the present invention.
As detailed earlier, the present system and method may be utilized for all manner of institutional benefits outsourcing, but in a most preferred embodiment, will relate to the beneficial relationship between employers and present or former employees and as such, these terms may be interchanged throughout the logistics of the method of the present invention may be described in related segments called steps. The preferred procedural process of the invention thus begins with a first step when the employer enters in to an outsourcing agreement with a third party coordinator. This outsourcing arrangement could be for the administration of a single benefit plan, multiple benefit plans, a single corporate function or some combination thereof, up to, or even including, the entire corporate human resource function. Under a set of terms of the outsourcing agreements, employers would agree that these employees will become part of the buying pool, in order to achieve maximized buying power/discounts.
Turning toward a second step in the preferred procedural process, as part of the outsourcing, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 compiles various information on each employee and his household. Information collected typically includes data such as the employee's sex, age, address, marital status, salary, employment history and job classification. Additionally, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 would receive information regarding the employee's spouse and dependents such as their gender, ages, and addresses. In cases where third party outsourcing coordinator 77 administers the employer's health care, third party outsourcing 77 coordinator would also collect information regarding the relevant health care history of the employee and his or her spouse or dependents.
In the course of administering the human resource function, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 is preferably updated as to the data which changes for the employee and his employee household. In an especially preferred embodiment, the invention will provide for the case of former employees such as retirees and terminated vested employees, but in any case, the third party coordinator may need to provide incentives to receive updates on such information. The incentives could include, for example, a provision of a free PDA, which provides access to the outsourced function as well as access to the internet. In a preferred embodiment, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will maintain, update and access the employees information using software such as a human resource management system found in PeopleSoft, version 7.5x.
In a third step in the preferred procedural process, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 provides managers and employees with real time direct access to the human resource related information and transactions. The real time may be provided by setting up at least three levels of self-service, which will be available—voice response system, internet access and customer service centers. Internet access will be available over the employees computer (if the employee owns one), public kiosks (if available to the employer), as well as through the previously mentioned wireless technology such as the PDA (i.e., Palm VII) or cellular phones. Third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will provide the employee with useful information relevant to his or her interests such as benefits, health care, 401k, personal or other info), and relates to his personal professional concerns (such as scheduling, expenses etc). Provision of such will enable the third party coordinator will be able to treat each individual employee as a unique market and customize the information for that employee. Accordingly, the employee will be more inclined to use the internet access (i.e., portal 2 ) third party outsourcing coordinator 77 as his general portal to internet 14 and will begin to see the distinctions between work and personal life disappear.
Looking next to a fourth step in the preferred embodiment, the third party coordinator will enter into outsourcing arrangement with numerous employers. Third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will combine the various groups of employees into one buying pool. Because the number of households in this buying pool would be in the millions, the buying pool will have significantly more power than a single company buying pool instance thereby reducing costs below those which might be achieved outside of the pool.
Turning to a fifth step in the preferred embodiment, by using the market power of the buying pool, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 can negotiate arrangements with providers of goods and services, i.e., vendors 54 . Under the terms of the arrangement, vendors 54 will offer discounts on their goods and services in exchange for exposure and access to the buying pool. In addition, the benefits providers 1/employers who enter into the outsourcing with the third party outsourcing coordinator 77 can even make their own consumer goods and services available to the buying pool at a discount. Hence, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will enter into the arrangements on behalf of the benefits providers 1/employers. When so provided for, the discounts may range between 10% and 30% of the readily available retail price, thereby providing employees with further strengthened bonds with the employer.
In a sixth step, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will provide the employee and their households direct access to the discounted goods and services via the portal 2 , which it has established as part of the outsourcing. As specified, the third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will organize the access to the goods and services under categorical headings such as job and career, personal, finances, health, travel, news and entertainment. As part of the individualized nature of portal 2 , user 4 will be able to reorganize the offerings in ways that are logical to him.
Turning to the seventh step in the preferred embodiment, by using the data which third party coordinator 77 originally (and continually) collects as part of the outsourcing, third party coordinator 77 will be able to offer particular goods and services to employee households at relevant points in time, thereby treating each individual user 4 as a market of one. For example, upon the birth of a child, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 can subsequently alert user 4 of the availability of discounted goods and services such as child car seats, day care providers and toy stores. As a child reaches certain ages, the third part coordinator can then bring to the employee products such as pre-SAT courses. Other examples of discounted goods and services might include items such as airline flights, hotels, groceries, pharmaceuticals, clothing, gym memberships, buying club memberships, phone services, and books. In the preferred execution of this step, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will not allow the providers of goods and services to initially contact the employees directly.
When structured as such, the benefit recipients 13/employee will be inclined to purchase the goods and services through third party outsourcing coordinator 77 for several reasons. First, the goods and services (and any discounts associated therewith) are easily accessible in accordance with the online module described herein. The benefits recipients 13/employees will be aware of which goods and services are available, and will be able to access those goods and services at times and in ways that are convenient for each individual benefit recipient 13/employee. Second, the nature and timing of the particular goods and services offered to benefit recipient 13/employee will often be customized to the needs of each particular benefit recipient 13/employee. Finally, regarding the goods and services which will be offered at a significant discount, the details thereof can easily be discovered and ordered by way of one of the internet capable devices, such as a personal computer, described herein, as it will allow real time access to the goods and services relevant to each individual employee at a discount.
As an eighth step in the preferred embodiment, the discounts will primarily be provided to the benefit recipient 13/employees as an incentive to purchase goods. However, in an especially preferred embodiment, a percentage of the discount will be provided to the benefit provider 1/employer as a means of reducing or eliminating the cost of the outsourcing. This will enable the benefit provider 1/employer to reduce the costs associated with administration and payment of plan enrollments to at or near zero, if desired. The employer will then work with third party outsourcing coordinator 77 to determine how much of the discount is provided to the benefit recipient 13/employee and how much is to be provided to the benefit provider 1/employer himself Although the benefit provider 1/employer and third party outsourcing coordinator 77 may determine to apply the same division to all providers. This determination is done on a supplier by supplier basis.
For a broad example of the resulting cost savings/impact of the overall system in an employment situation, the average cost of administering human resource benefits for employers who have between 10,000 and 25,000 employees is estimated at $1600 per employee according to industry estimates. By outsourcing the administration of benefits in accordance with the present invention, this cost can typically be reduced to $1440, a 10% reduction. Outsourcing the payroll function typically reduces human resource administration cost to $1510, a 5.5% reduction. By outsourcing the entire human resource function according to the system described below, other than strategic planning, employers can potentially cut the cost of the administering the human resource function in half, to $800 per employee. Also by way of example, in a specific case, where a provider of say, car seats for children is providing a 20% discount to the buying pool, this discount could be split 15% for the employee and 5% to the related employer. If the cost of the administering the human resource function is reduced from $1600 for each employee to $800 for each employee if the human resource function is totally outsourced, this invention will allow that $800 to be reduced to potentially zero.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
This idea was concieved about 10 years ago and was patented in 2008.
Please read the claims below and see if it sheds some light and a bunch of great ideas as to how we can reduce HR costs by leveraging the large scale userbases of online portals and databases. The patent goes further into wireless access as well to cover smart phones and PDA devices. This idea was ahead of its time but is no coming to fruition. Start thinking about the power of the data your company posesses and how you might leverage these large userbases to your advantage. Please comment with your ideas.
Till Next Time,
Shane Hopkins
United States Patent 7406441
System and method for online human resource outsourcing and portal access
Inventors:
Hopkins, Shane (Chicago, IL, US)
Application Number:
11/268321
Publication Date:
07/29/2008
Filing Date:
11/07/2005
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation
Assignee:
ACS HR Solutions LLC (Pittsburgh, PA, US)
Primary Class:
705/4
Field of Search:
705/27, 705/4, 705/14, 709/19, 705/1, 705/37, 705/26, 705/36R
View Patent Images:
Download PDF 7406441 PDF help
US Patent References:
6092047
Apparatus and method of composing a plan of flexible benefits
July, 2000
Hyman et al.
705/36R
5913198
System and method for designing and administering survivor benefit plans
June, 1999
Banks
705/36R
5799151
Interactive electronic trade network and user interface
August, 1998
Hoffer
4648037
Method and apparatus for benefit and financial communication
March, 1987
Valentino
Primary Examiner:
Garg, Yogesh C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
McCarter & English, LLP
Parent Case Data:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/595,114, filed Jun. 16, 2000, now abandoned which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/170,013, filed Dec. 10, 1999, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Claims:
The invention claimed is:1. A method for managing and delivering employee benefits to reduce cost to at least one employer for administration of a human resource function, comprising: a. at least temporarily storing information provided by the at least one employer indicative of interests of respective employees; b. processing the stored information such that the employees are organized into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests; c. at least temporarily storing information relating to vendors of employee benefits; d. obtaining a discount for employee benefits provided by the vendors by matching the common interests upon which the buying pool is based with the stored information relating to vendors; e. calculating a percentage of the discount to be deducted from the cost of the benefit to the employee to determine a discounted price for the benefit; f. offering the benefit for the employee at the discounted price via a portal web site; and g. providing an employer portion of the discount to the at least one employer to reduce administration cost; wherein at least steps a, b, c, and e are performed using at least one networked computer system. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least temporarily storing information provided by at least one employer, includes at least temporarily storing information provided by a plurality of employers. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the stored information such that the employees are organized into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests, includes processing the stored information such that the employees are organized into a plurality of buying pools based on respective common ones of the interests. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is provided by the at least one employers via the portal web site. 5. A method for managing employee benefits to reduce cost to at least one employer for administration of a human resource function, comprising: a. providing a portal web site for managing the employee benefits; b. receiving employee information provided by the at least one employer indicative of interests of respective employees; c. organizing the employees into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests; d. procuring a discount against a cost of a product from at least one vendor for the employees in the buying pool by matching the common interests upon which the buying pool is based with stored information relating to at least one vendor; e. offering the product with an employee portion of the discount at the portal web site to employees in the buying pool; and f. providing an employer portion of the discount to the at least one employer to reduce administration cost; wherein at least steps b, c, and d are performed using at least one networked computer system. 6. The method of claim 5, including calculating the employee portion of the discount to be passed to the employee. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein calculating the employee portion of the discount includes allocating a portion of the discount as an administrative fee to reduce the administration cost and allocating a remainder of the discount as the employee portion of the discount. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein procuring the discount against the cost of the product includes procuring the discount against the cost of a good. 9. The method of claim 5, wherein procuring the discount against the cost of the product includes procuring the discount against the cost of a service. 10. The method of claim 5, wherein procuring the discount includes providing the vendor with characteristics of respective employees. 11. The method of claim 5, including providing the vendor with an event point for an individual employee associated therewith. 12. The method of claim 11, including offering to the individual employee at the portal web site an event point product associated with the event point. 13. A method for managing and delivering employee benefits to reduce cost to at least one employer for administration of a human resource function, comprising: providing a benefits coordinator computer system with a portal web site for managing the employee benefits; receiving employee information indicative of interests of respective employees at the benefits coordinator computer system from at least one employer computer system; organizing the employees into at least one buying pool based on common ones of the interests; procuring a discount from a vendor computer system for the employees of the buying pool by matching the common interests upon which the buying pool is based with stored information relating to at least one vendor; offering the product with an employee portion of the discount at the portal web site to employees in the buying pool; and providing an employer portion of the discount to the at least one employer to reduce administration cost. 14. The method of claim 13, including calculating the employee portion of the discount to be passed to the employee. 15. The method of claim 13, including providing the vendor computer system with an event point for an individual employee associated therewith. 16. The method of claim 15, including offering to the individual employee at the portal web site an event point product associated with the event point.
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a typical employer-employee relationship, an employer will provide employees with benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, 401(k) plans, etc. Many employers will also offer additional benefits to employees, ranging from gym memberships to discounts on products and the like. A fundamental purpose of all such benefits is to strengthen the tie between the employee and his employer. In fact, with the increasingly dynamic job market of today, benefits have become such an important part of the employer-employee relationship that the value of the benefits are estimated to be within 10-40% of a given base salary. As retaining employees and replacing employees who leave becomes increasingly difficult in terms of both the availability of suitable candidates, and in terms of the actual cost of training new employees, employers are trying to maximize the benefits they provide their employees so as to strengthen the employer-employee bond in order to reduce turnover. Nevertheless, given the high administrative and other related costs, minimizing the associated costs has been an elusive goal, particularly considering the lack of economies of scale and efficiencies in the prior art methodologies.
By way of example, inefficiency is inherent in prior art methodologies because in most cases, the employer must arrange or negotiate with a third party for provision of such benefits. Some groups have tried to engineer multi-corporate buying pools. However, these organizations lack information regarding the employee base so that the organizations are not able to offer appropriate benefits at the appropriate time. Given that administration of the corporate human resource function has been traditionally provided in-house, and has been primarily based on paper oriented transactions, it is an increasingly expensive, cumbersome process. To address this problem, more recent prior art solutions over the past decade have tried to replace this type of internal operation with an outsourced, technologically enhanced function which is directed to the administration of benefit plans (e.g., 401(k), pension plans, medical plans, etc.). To this end, strategies have been developed to allow employers to outsource all non-benefit human resource functions themselves (e.g., recruiting, training), however, even the more recent prior art approaches to outsourcing have severe limitations, not the least of which is that they are essentially limited to certain human resource functions, which does not provide for the outsourcing of strategic human resource activities, (e.g., policy, design, development), or business advisory elements which directly add value to employee contribution and organization performance. Moreover, the recent prior art approaches do not maximize the economies of scale, which can be formed in large scale, centralized buying pools.
Furthermore, when employers have generally provided for a systematic administration of traditional benefit plans, they have also provided for non-traditional benefits but have yet to find an efficient approach to administering them. However, the recent popularity of non-traditional benefits (such as discounts from third parties) has added yet further difficulties for integration with the prior art methodologies. This is because all benefits (especially non-traditional benefits) have traditionally been haphazardly administered, with the resulting effect being that many employees do not take advantage of such benefits because they simply do not know about them as employees and are often unaware of certain things such as corporate discounts on goods and services, as well as all other manner of human resource benefits. Moreover, in some cases, they cannot fully appreciate the applicability of the benefits to their personal and professional lives. These shortcomings also stem from the fact that information regarding these benefits is almost never customized to match the needs or interests of each individual employee.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention provides data to benefit recipients across an electronic portal with wireless access, by means of an electronic portal network, a wireless network connected to said electronic portal network for receiving signals to be transmitted to said electronic portal network and for sending signals to be transmitted from said electronic portal network, and a client based computer system having wireless access capabilities for sending the signals to be transmitted to the electronic portal network and for receiving the signals transmitted from the electronic portal network, together for requesting and accessing said benefit resources data.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a detailed data flow diagram of the invention;
FIG. 4 shows a typical index page 92 from which a user may make a selection.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing use of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention provides improved administration and access of benefits to employees, dependents, former employees and all other benefits recipients. In order to provide for the improved access and administration to the improved benefits, the present invention also provides that at least three levels of self-service will be available to employees: voice response system, internet access and customer service centers, all with the contemplated reduced costs of administration and greater accessibility for employees. In so providing, the present invention further supports improved Awork@ related (i.e., traditional work benefits) transactions, and Anon-work@ related transactions, such as those where a third party outsourcing coordinator will provide the employees with access to discounts on goods and services, etc.
Hence, the present invention allows the third party coordinator to provide the employees with systematic and real time access to these discounts to expand the number of goods and services for which discounts are available so as to provide for a larger, more centralized volume of scale and systemized efficiency in administration, and to notify each individual employee of goods and services of which the employee, in particular, may need and which are available at a discount on the basis of the employment relationship. In doing so, a portion of the discount may be passed directly to the employee as an incentive to purchase the goods or services. The remaining portion of the discount may then be provided to the employer to further reduce or eliminate the cost of administering human resource benefits.
With such an efficient, multi-pronged approach, and given the further inventive online access and distribution of benefits, the benefit provider (i.e., employer) can provide the benefit recipient (i.e., usually an employee) with information which is relevant to his personal and professional concerns, and can provide the ability to purchase goods and services at a discount through customized access to the internet.
This allows employees to understand that their benefits extend beyond just a paycheck and 401(k) plan, and as the distinction between work and home begins to fade, employees will then have more factors to consider before deciding to leave his present job.
As seen in FIG. 1, is a broad over view of the system and method for online human resource outsourcing and portal access, centered around a structural business arrangement and portal 2 for accessing the benefits thereof. In terms of the various methods of accessing portal 2 , the present invention contemplates at least three separate portal entries: via PC (personal computer), PDA (personal digital assistant), and phone connection, any one of which may be done via either a wired connection, or as contemplated in the preferred embodiment, via a substantially wireless connection. In one embodiment, user 4 accesses the inventive environment 6 via either online portal 8 (for PC and PDA connections), or via a phonelink 10 (for regular or cell phone connections) in order to access or send data packet 12 via the internet.
As mentioned, one embodiment of the present invention contemplate a PC Interface, and this embodiment would involve a User Interface or front-end which will preferably be constructed of mainly HTML based documents running on a variety of different machines (such as, Compaq, Dell, IBM or other such computers known in the industry) and will be utilized in coordination with many different types of software, such as IIS, WindowsNT, Unix or other known industry standard. Such an interface might involve a general layout of the site was created with storyboards, with a set of simple HTML documents as known in the art, that once uploaded, act as the webpages available to the PC or laptop computer user.
Turning to FIG. 2, is a broad overview of the preferred embodiment of the data flow from the client perspective. Although data from data packet 12 may flow through any of the above detailed portal entries, in an especially preferred embodiment, a wireless PDA such as the PalmVII sold by 3 Com Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif. (USA) will be utilized. As such, data flow from user 4 utilizing the most preferred embodiment might involve powering up PDA 26 and tapping on a proprietary icon to begin the access. An internal Application Launcher Software (also available from 3 Com Corp.) 24 would open PQA (Palm Query Application) file 22 (or a web clipping file, not pictured), all of which would be derived from PQA builder software 20 from the Palmnet Program (also available from 3 Com Corp.) 20 , and stems from HTML files 18 , created at 16 , which open by default index page 92 (see FIG. 4). Accordingly, index page 92 , and the rest of the HTML documents, make up the installed PQA file 22 reside one the PDA 26 itself.
For interfacing to continue, user 4 will be prompted for a user name and a personal identification number via an HTML form. Once entered, the form request is converted at 28 to a CDPD (cellular data packet delivery) signal 30 and transmitted to the nearest communication tower 32 , such as those supplied and maintained by 3Com Corp. Communication tower 32 will then send CDPD signal 30 to a conversion server 34 (such as those manufactured by 3Com Corp.). Conversion server 34 will convert the CDPD signal to an internet friendly language such as HTML (or any other comparable language) and then will send data packet 12 through internet 14 .
Turning towards an even more detailed view of the process in FIG. 3, is the substance of the preferred elements and a connectivity in the inventive method and system, in terms of an exemplary data flow, as seen say, the perspective of user 4 in a client environment 39 . The starting point then, of previously mentioned access tools personal computer 16 which preferably uses Windows 99 available from Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash. (USA), PDA (such as PalmPilot VII) 26 , and WAP (wireless application protocol) device 13 (i.e., cell phone or other device that utilizes WAP protocol to access the internet). Provided in client environment 39 is web client 36 , which is capable of receiving or transmitting, through an optional firewall 42 , data packets 12 along connection 50 to internet 14 . Similarly, PDA 26 and WAP device 38 may connect to internet 14 , along a wireless based connection, beginning with PDA to wireless tower input/output 46 , the input/output of which includes capability for transmission and reception of signals such as CDPD, XML, analog WML, CDML, GSM or any other type of WAP languages as known in the art. Wireless signal 48 is either received or transmitted in concert with transmission towers 32 , which transfer data packet 12 to internet 14 via wireless converter 34 (essentially server hardware and software that converts any web language to a wireless signal and vice versa, such as that available from wireless providers such as Bell South Corporation of Atlanta, Ga. (USA)). Client environment 39 may further be provided with a server such as that available from Citrix Corporation, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (USA), for direct access along connection 26 to a data control center 84 , for direct data access between the client and the data warehouse.
Connected to internet 14 are at least one, and most preferably, a plurality of vendors 54 whose participation will be arranged by a third party enterprise 75 . In the course of all operations, third party enterprise 75 will preferably offer a real time online help knowledge database (utilizing hardware and software technology provided by Ask.Com, or Net effect) for providing the improved access of benefits information to client (i.e., employee) from third party enterprise 75 .
As seen in FIG. 5, third party enterprise 75 comprises at least two main third party components who service the benefits provider 1 (i.e., an employer, social service organization, government agency, etc.) and the benefits recipient 13 (i.e., employee, former employee, aid recipient etc.) (user 4 will, in an especially preferred embodiment, be an employee or former employee): (1) third party outsourcing coordinator 77 ; and, (2) vendors 54 . As discussed herein in greater detail, vendors 54 are coordinated as participants with respective benefits provisions by at least third party coordinator 77 (and in some cases by the benefits provider who would, in a most preferred embodiment, relinquish administration of any benefits related relationships with vendors where not supplanted by analogous relationships of third party outsourcing coordinator 77 ). Third party coordinator 77 will contract and establish relationships on a case by case basis, for provision of efficient access to benefits recipients. The two main components, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 , and vendors 54 , are connected via the internet 14 , and most preferably via thin client 58 , such as the Portal Website, and across firewall 62 to web server 76 via patch 64 . Web server 76 will primarily comprise at least one or more web servers running on an operation system such as Windows NT available from Microsoft Corp. and IIS, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond Wash. (USA). Connected thereto along path 70 will be mailservers such as Microsoft Mail, or other type mail server for receiving, storing and logging mail received in connection with the operations of the system. Also connected to Web Server 76 (and mailservers 74 ) is portal configuration server 68 , which is a server which utilizes portal conversion software such as that produced under the trademark Portal-to-go, owned by Oracle Corporation of Redwood, Calif. (USA). As previously alluded to, at least one Master Server 66 (such as the Compaq Prolinea, Dell server or other industry known standard running software from Citrix Systems), which serves as an outside connection to client server 40 (such as the Compaq Prolinea, Dell server or other industry known standard running software from Citrix Systems) along conduit 44 , which is useful for Direct data access. Through conduit 44 , direct two way data access is achieved through a dedicated line from the client environment to inventive environment 6 . This is accomplished through the use of the aforementioned server or through any PC Anywhere-type device as known in the industry combined with a T1 bundle which can comprise lines such as ISDN, T1, Bundled T1s, T3 or other lines, as known in the art. Master Server 66 is connected to Control Center 84 , which can consist of Dell, Compaq or other hardware Running Windows NT, Unix or other. Data Control Center 84 , is preferably a multi-platform data center for wharehousing large amounts of data, and may be based on Sybase SQL development tools available from Sybase, Inc. of Emeryville, Calif. (USA), based on a relational database management system, such as that available from Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, Calif. (USA), utilizing Windows NT operating system and a Common Object request Broker Architecture ACORBA@(for use as communications components of the object management architecture), Net Ware Network Operating Systems, sold by Novell Inc., of Provo, Utah (USA), IIS from Microsoft, etc., and may use Unix-type operating systems such as those available from Novell's Unix Systems Group of Novell, Inc. Data Control Center is also attached to Web Servers 76 along path 82 , and to Mail Server 74 along path 86 , and to Benefits input/output module 90 , along path 88 . Benefits input/output module 90 is a Data Management Server which operates software such as that sold under the trademark People Soft version 7.5x available from PeopleSoft Corp. of Mountain View, Calif. (USA), or other equivalent (AHRSM@) input/output softwares. The purpose of benefits input/output module as is to provide data on personnel. In a most preferred embodiment, the entire physical architecture described above will be backed-up by offsite disaster recovery module 78 as known in the art, by being connected to each of the various physical modules, described above, along path 80 .
Thus, in terms of the data flow of data packets 12 in an exemplary transaction, data packets 12 are sent via TCP/IP protocol and are routed to the proper IP address as requested by the original HTML form request as filled out by user 4 . Since this particular transaction is preferably performed on a PDA 26 , there is no reason for user 4 to be connected with say, a thin client (i.e., a web based user interface) as the PQA 22 is the thin client in the preferred embodiment. Passing over the thin client, and directly accessing the back end of innovative environment 6 (FIG. 1) is a result of the IP address destination being generated from the query. Continuing to trace the next segment, seen in FIG. 3, data packet 12 penetrates firewall 62 , which comprises switches/routers (such as those available from 3 Com Corp. Sunnyvale, Calif. (USA) or other standard routing equipment as known in the art) to filter out certain data by reading the data packet header to filter out/in certain ranges of IP addresses. Once successfully through the firewall 62 , data packets 12 will enter the Portal Converter 68 , which is preferably a server such as the Prolinea Server made by Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston, Tex. (USA), or any industry known standard server which can run software such as Portal-To-Go Software™, available from Oracle Corporation, which will convert any signal to HTML or other web friendly language. Once data packet 12 has successfully has reached the back-end of the inventive environment 6 it can now travel around freely, via TCP/IP to find the proper database, mailserver, or web site that has been requested.
With respect to the preferred embodiment of the PDA interface in FIG. 2, the same can be obtained by building a set of the same files 18 , which can be taken and run through PQA builder 20 , as part of the SDK (Software Development Kit) available from Palm.net of 3 Com Corp. PQA builder 20 creates PQA file 22 from HTML documents 18 that are fed into it. PQA file 22 that results is preferably installed on the PDA (i.e., the Palm VII from 3Com Corp.) via the Hotsync function 24 . The purpose of PQA 22 is to take a skeleton of the web site and pre install it on PDA 26 (see FIG. 4). Accordingly, provided for user 4 of PDA 26 can move through the majority of the web site with out the need for a wireless transaction. However, in terms of the previously mentioned phone interface, the interface thereon would be different because an entire different set of files would need to be created for the phone portion of portal 2 . The WAP version would preferably be programmed in XML (extensible mark up language) documents called cards, which are very simple HTML-like documents. A full rundown on this process is available through the free online SDK (software development kit) available from www.phone.com, the complete set of cards may be stored on a proprietary server such as Compaq, Dell or other, which will be accompanied by UP Link server software (also available from www.phone.com) or can be stored directly on the phone.com server for a fee. Provision of such an architecture allows that a multitude of web enabled phones or wap devices may be utilized as WAP devices may be defined (but are not limited to) wireless PDAs and WAP cellular phones such as those available from Motorola Inc. of Schaumberg, Ill., (USA), however, other devices using WAP are explicitly contemplated by the present invention.
As detailed earlier, the present system and method may be utilized for all manner of institutional benefits outsourcing, but in a most preferred embodiment, will relate to the beneficial relationship between employers and present or former employees and as such, these terms may be interchanged throughout the logistics of the method of the present invention may be described in related segments called steps. The preferred procedural process of the invention thus begins with a first step when the employer enters in to an outsourcing agreement with a third party coordinator. This outsourcing arrangement could be for the administration of a single benefit plan, multiple benefit plans, a single corporate function or some combination thereof, up to, or even including, the entire corporate human resource function. Under a set of terms of the outsourcing agreements, employers would agree that these employees will become part of the buying pool, in order to achieve maximized buying power/discounts.
Turning toward a second step in the preferred procedural process, as part of the outsourcing, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 compiles various information on each employee and his household. Information collected typically includes data such as the employee's sex, age, address, marital status, salary, employment history and job classification. Additionally, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 would receive information regarding the employee's spouse and dependents such as their gender, ages, and addresses. In cases where third party outsourcing coordinator 77 administers the employer's health care, third party outsourcing 77 coordinator would also collect information regarding the relevant health care history of the employee and his or her spouse or dependents.
In the course of administering the human resource function, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 is preferably updated as to the data which changes for the employee and his employee household. In an especially preferred embodiment, the invention will provide for the case of former employees such as retirees and terminated vested employees, but in any case, the third party coordinator may need to provide incentives to receive updates on such information. The incentives could include, for example, a provision of a free PDA, which provides access to the outsourced function as well as access to the internet. In a preferred embodiment, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will maintain, update and access the employees information using software such as a human resource management system found in PeopleSoft, version 7.5x.
In a third step in the preferred procedural process, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 provides managers and employees with real time direct access to the human resource related information and transactions. The real time may be provided by setting up at least three levels of self-service, which will be available—voice response system, internet access and customer service centers. Internet access will be available over the employees computer (if the employee owns one), public kiosks (if available to the employer), as well as through the previously mentioned wireless technology such as the PDA (i.e., Palm VII) or cellular phones. Third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will provide the employee with useful information relevant to his or her interests such as benefits, health care, 401k, personal or other info), and relates to his personal professional concerns (such as scheduling, expenses etc). Provision of such will enable the third party coordinator will be able to treat each individual employee as a unique market and customize the information for that employee. Accordingly, the employee will be more inclined to use the internet access (i.e., portal 2 ) third party outsourcing coordinator 77 as his general portal to internet 14 and will begin to see the distinctions between work and personal life disappear.
Looking next to a fourth step in the preferred embodiment, the third party coordinator will enter into outsourcing arrangement with numerous employers. Third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will combine the various groups of employees into one buying pool. Because the number of households in this buying pool would be in the millions, the buying pool will have significantly more power than a single company buying pool instance thereby reducing costs below those which might be achieved outside of the pool.
Turning to a fifth step in the preferred embodiment, by using the market power of the buying pool, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 can negotiate arrangements with providers of goods and services, i.e., vendors 54 . Under the terms of the arrangement, vendors 54 will offer discounts on their goods and services in exchange for exposure and access to the buying pool. In addition, the benefits providers 1/employers who enter into the outsourcing with the third party outsourcing coordinator 77 can even make their own consumer goods and services available to the buying pool at a discount. Hence, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will enter into the arrangements on behalf of the benefits providers 1/employers. When so provided for, the discounts may range between 10% and 30% of the readily available retail price, thereby providing employees with further strengthened bonds with the employer.
In a sixth step, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will provide the employee and their households direct access to the discounted goods and services via the portal 2 , which it has established as part of the outsourcing. As specified, the third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will organize the access to the goods and services under categorical headings such as job and career, personal, finances, health, travel, news and entertainment. As part of the individualized nature of portal 2 , user 4 will be able to reorganize the offerings in ways that are logical to him.
Turning to the seventh step in the preferred embodiment, by using the data which third party coordinator 77 originally (and continually) collects as part of the outsourcing, third party coordinator 77 will be able to offer particular goods and services to employee households at relevant points in time, thereby treating each individual user 4 as a market of one. For example, upon the birth of a child, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 can subsequently alert user 4 of the availability of discounted goods and services such as child car seats, day care providers and toy stores. As a child reaches certain ages, the third part coordinator can then bring to the employee products such as pre-SAT courses. Other examples of discounted goods and services might include items such as airline flights, hotels, groceries, pharmaceuticals, clothing, gym memberships, buying club memberships, phone services, and books. In the preferred execution of this step, third party outsourcing coordinator 77 will not allow the providers of goods and services to initially contact the employees directly.
When structured as such, the benefit recipients 13/employee will be inclined to purchase the goods and services through third party outsourcing coordinator 77 for several reasons. First, the goods and services (and any discounts associated therewith) are easily accessible in accordance with the online module described herein. The benefits recipients 13/employees will be aware of which goods and services are available, and will be able to access those goods and services at times and in ways that are convenient for each individual benefit recipient 13/employee. Second, the nature and timing of the particular goods and services offered to benefit recipient 13/employee will often be customized to the needs of each particular benefit recipient 13/employee. Finally, regarding the goods and services which will be offered at a significant discount, the details thereof can easily be discovered and ordered by way of one of the internet capable devices, such as a personal computer, described herein, as it will allow real time access to the goods and services relevant to each individual employee at a discount.
As an eighth step in the preferred embodiment, the discounts will primarily be provided to the benefit recipient 13/employees as an incentive to purchase goods. However, in an especially preferred embodiment, a percentage of the discount will be provided to the benefit provider 1/employer as a means of reducing or eliminating the cost of the outsourcing. This will enable the benefit provider 1/employer to reduce the costs associated with administration and payment of plan enrollments to at or near zero, if desired. The employer will then work with third party outsourcing coordinator 77 to determine how much of the discount is provided to the benefit recipient 13/employee and how much is to be provided to the benefit provider 1/employer himself Although the benefit provider 1/employer and third party outsourcing coordinator 77 may determine to apply the same division to all providers. This determination is done on a supplier by supplier basis.
For a broad example of the resulting cost savings/impact of the overall system in an employment situation, the average cost of administering human resource benefits for employers who have between 10,000 and 25,000 employees is estimated at $1600 per employee according to industry estimates. By outsourcing the administration of benefits in accordance with the present invention, this cost can typically be reduced to $1440, a 10% reduction. Outsourcing the payroll function typically reduces human resource administration cost to $1510, a 5.5% reduction. By outsourcing the entire human resource function according to the system described below, other than strategic planning, employers can potentially cut the cost of the administering the human resource function in half, to $800 per employee. Also by way of example, in a specific case, where a provider of say, car seats for children is providing a 20% discount to the buying pool, this discount could be split 15% for the employee and 5% to the related employer. If the cost of the administering the human resource function is reduced from $1600 for each employee to $800 for each employee if the human resource function is totally outsourced, this invention will allow that $800 to be reduced to potentially zero.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
SEO and SEM on a micro-budget
SEO ans SEM does not have to cost you a fortune nor does it require a full time employee to operate the SEO Program. You do not have to spend thousands of dollars and your scaleable phase-one SEO/SEM program can be planned, executed, measured, anylized and adjusted in a matter of days after going live! Now, there is ongoing work to be done, but planning properly will provide a managable maintenance plan of measureable results and adjustments ongoing. With the correct data, SEO should be a small percentage of the overall daily operations for any web-based program. Analysis of all trend data including search engine data, is another story and deserves more attention as this data will drive the direction of your product or service program regarding marketing and functional element enhancement programs.
Stick around and I will show you how to break down SEO/SEM to basic managable elements using free tools and resources. This combined with some usabbility, user experience and good old common sense will elevate your efforts from the predictability of online product programs under-performing due to the direction of product enhancement being driven by opinions of the clients, developers, managers, and stakeholders. Start backing up your recommendations with undisputible data and making arguments against wasteful implementations of technology with in-your-face statistical data, proving that an element, utility or idea is just not working.
We will address internal company applications, Business to Client apps, Business to client Employee extranets, public marketing websites, eCommerce sites, Benefits and plan sponsorship portals, Work life intranets, Total Compensation and Self service HR portals, HSA Member and non Member sites, Investment House Portals, Day trading applications and any other online program or service you are in charge of making successful.
Usually when a company is looking for SEO/SEM candidates to begin work or take over a program, it usually means the company has a website of some sort with little or no supporting programs that make up the foundation for the online product program. SEO/SEM is just today's buzz word for something every Web application needs and if ignored you may be lost in the dark depths of page 10,234, of Google's search results. This means no one will find you no matter what search criteria is entered. SEO and SEM along with supplimental support programs can strengthen your success rate into the top teir of online web services. No matter your size, shape or budget.
If after reading my free information you do not wish to take all of this on yourself due to time constraints, lacking skills in content writing, HTML, or general interest. Call me and I will layout a strategy for you after a free consultation. You can then take that strategy plan to any credible SEO house to have it executed. I can fulfill the program launch and ongoing maintenance if you wish at a fraction of what bigger firms charge for their services. Reason being is that I take a different approach involving less work with measurable success. If my plan fails to make the target goals, you dont pay me, it's just that simple. I am so confident in my SEO methodologies, I can guarantee measured traffic increases with higher conversion rates with a lower cost per lead.
Here are the secrets to a successful Web Product or Service Program:
Secret #1:
Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing (SEO/SEM) is a small part of the process in launching your online program. SEO/SEM is one of the many elements needed to create, market, grow and profit from an online product or service no matter what you are selling. SEO/SEM should be planned up front in and around the design phase but fully implemented lastly except for some initial code needed for META tags and the naming conventions for images, pages and links are important as well as Domain setup, and keyword research. Your SEM plan can be helped along by myself or by having a Google rep. come by to strategize with you. Google can provide a wealth of data on your specific niche but may charge a comparable fortune to reveal it to you. Most data Google reps are armed with can be had for free or for much less through a consultant such as myself. I too promote products and services on the web and use the same utilities as everyone else so tapping my brain can be much less costly.
Asking a designer to plan out the UI with the training Development Manager may seem like a waste of time to the designers and development people, yet integrating the training methodologies early into the development lifecycle speeds up development and makes for the most effective training program thats somewhat built in to application. This is true for customer service and customer satisfaction programs as well. When planned early on, it makes for seamless launch and bed-down process for the application or service.
Secret #2:
The online product or service your marketing must have value, viral elements and a great design to attract your target audience. It needs scaleability, quick-to-market functionality, ongoing enhancements, fresh content, fresh content and fresh content. Add that to a group of well planned support programs, and you have what makes up the core foundation of any Web-based program. The support system for web-based product is made up of Dynamic Communications, internal and external Marketing, Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, Content Management, Daily Operations, Ongoing enhancements, trend data capture and analytics, and legal/corporate compliance. Without any of these elements, SEO/SEM is just an effort you are billed for monthly and provides no value as well as destroying the integrity of your product/service and company brand. Even if your revamping an old proprietary application, you can leapfrog competitors products by building a foundation from these elements. Follow this method when reinventing applications by adding tools and services that other applications from your competitors do not yet have. I have been involved with many projects that took 20 year old, outdated and under documented applications and within a few Sprints we were able to leapfrog the competitor with new self-service tools, life event triggers, manager self-service and massive, dynamic, personalized electronic communications to the userbase. We gave the application new life and all we did was add 3 not-so-new elements and reinforced the core supporting programs by dusting them off and updating some best practices. 75 clients and 200,000 users thought we had built a whole new system. The biggest change for me on this app was an error code that came up when a specific data field was not filled in by the user. The error read: "Field fault error code 2771 stack code dump". Well, in a few minutes, we changes the error to "please fill in all required fields, Thank You! Benefitsweb Team" this change eliminated 20,000 tickets and calls to our call center over a year period. A significant savings in labor and an easy fix to something that was wrong for 20 years due no error tracking and no gathering of feedback.
Secret #3:
Right Skills for the right Jobs: Team members need to align with thier jobs. If you are an entrapenuer working alone, you will need help. Identify your weaknesses and find those who are strong in those areas. You may not need to hire them but consult at the least and there maybe some opportunity to barter for some services if your budget is tight. In a corporate setting, have a Bus. Analyst, usability person, User experience person, javscript specialist, graphics designer and a flash developer. Some will wear multiple hats but try to keep specialized unless budget prevents this. The product owner takes requirements from the client but should not dtermine the placement of buttons and links usually. usability/UX folks know what works and frown on designing based on the opinion of underqualified stakeholders.
Secret #4:
Stick around and I will show you how to break down SEO/SEM to basic managable elements using free tools and resources. This combined with some usabbility, user experience and good old common sense will elevate your efforts from the predictability of online product programs under-performing due to the direction of product enhancement being driven by opinions of the clients, developers, managers, and stakeholders. Start backing up your recommendations with undisputible data and making arguments against wasteful implementations of technology with in-your-face statistical data, proving that an element, utility or idea is just not working.
We will address internal company applications, Business to Client apps, Business to client Employee extranets, public marketing websites, eCommerce sites, Benefits and plan sponsorship portals, Work life intranets, Total Compensation and Self service HR portals, HSA Member and non Member sites, Investment House Portals, Day trading applications and any other online program or service you are in charge of making successful.
Usually when a company is looking for SEO/SEM candidates to begin work or take over a program, it usually means the company has a website of some sort with little or no supporting programs that make up the foundation for the online product program. SEO/SEM is just today's buzz word for something every Web application needs and if ignored you may be lost in the dark depths of page 10,234, of Google's search results. This means no one will find you no matter what search criteria is entered. SEO and SEM along with supplimental support programs can strengthen your success rate into the top teir of online web services. No matter your size, shape or budget.
If after reading my free information you do not wish to take all of this on yourself due to time constraints, lacking skills in content writing, HTML, or general interest. Call me and I will layout a strategy for you after a free consultation. You can then take that strategy plan to any credible SEO house to have it executed. I can fulfill the program launch and ongoing maintenance if you wish at a fraction of what bigger firms charge for their services. Reason being is that I take a different approach involving less work with measurable success. If my plan fails to make the target goals, you dont pay me, it's just that simple. I am so confident in my SEO methodologies, I can guarantee measured traffic increases with higher conversion rates with a lower cost per lead.
Here are the secrets to a successful Web Product or Service Program:
Secret #1:
Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing (SEO/SEM) is a small part of the process in launching your online program. SEO/SEM is one of the many elements needed to create, market, grow and profit from an online product or service no matter what you are selling. SEO/SEM should be planned up front in and around the design phase but fully implemented lastly except for some initial code needed for META tags and the naming conventions for images, pages and links are important as well as Domain setup, and keyword research. Your SEM plan can be helped along by myself or by having a Google rep. come by to strategize with you. Google can provide a wealth of data on your specific niche but may charge a comparable fortune to reveal it to you. Most data Google reps are armed with can be had for free or for much less through a consultant such as myself. I too promote products and services on the web and use the same utilities as everyone else so tapping my brain can be much less costly.
Asking a designer to plan out the UI with the training Development Manager may seem like a waste of time to the designers and development people, yet integrating the training methodologies early into the development lifecycle speeds up development and makes for the most effective training program thats somewhat built in to application. This is true for customer service and customer satisfaction programs as well. When planned early on, it makes for seamless launch and bed-down process for the application or service.
Secret #2:
The online product or service your marketing must have value, viral elements and a great design to attract your target audience. It needs scaleability, quick-to-market functionality, ongoing enhancements, fresh content, fresh content and fresh content. Add that to a group of well planned support programs, and you have what makes up the core foundation of any Web-based program. The support system for web-based product is made up of Dynamic Communications, internal and external Marketing, Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, Content Management, Daily Operations, Ongoing enhancements, trend data capture and analytics, and legal/corporate compliance. Without any of these elements, SEO/SEM is just an effort you are billed for monthly and provides no value as well as destroying the integrity of your product/service and company brand. Even if your revamping an old proprietary application, you can leapfrog competitors products by building a foundation from these elements. Follow this method when reinventing applications by adding tools and services that other applications from your competitors do not yet have. I have been involved with many projects that took 20 year old, outdated and under documented applications and within a few Sprints we were able to leapfrog the competitor with new self-service tools, life event triggers, manager self-service and massive, dynamic, personalized electronic communications to the userbase. We gave the application new life and all we did was add 3 not-so-new elements and reinforced the core supporting programs by dusting them off and updating some best practices. 75 clients and 200,000 users thought we had built a whole new system. The biggest change for me on this app was an error code that came up when a specific data field was not filled in by the user. The error read: "Field fault error code 2771 stack code dump". Well, in a few minutes, we changes the error to "please fill in all required fields, Thank You! Benefitsweb Team" this change eliminated 20,000 tickets and calls to our call center over a year period. A significant savings in labor and an easy fix to something that was wrong for 20 years due no error tracking and no gathering of feedback.
Secret #3:
Right Skills for the right Jobs: Team members need to align with thier jobs. If you are an entrapenuer working alone, you will need help. Identify your weaknesses and find those who are strong in those areas. You may not need to hire them but consult at the least and there maybe some opportunity to barter for some services if your budget is tight. In a corporate setting, have a Bus. Analyst, usability person, User experience person, javscript specialist, graphics designer and a flash developer. Some will wear multiple hats but try to keep specialized unless budget prevents this. The product owner takes requirements from the client but should not dtermine the placement of buttons and links usually. usability/UX folks know what works and frown on designing based on the opinion of underqualified stakeholders.
Secret #4:
Mandatory Supporting Programs for ANY online product or service. These elements are just as important as SEO/SEM and make up the core foundation of any successful online program and are as follows:
- Product Design (or service structure) Program, Stable and proven development process with qualified team using some form of Rapid Software Development methodology such as the Agile development process.
- Hardware and Network Development Program
- Product Launch and Bed Down Program
- Operations/Administration Program
- Enhancement Program/ Product Growth and Evolution
- Marketing Program - Internally and Externally. Ongoing within the company, with print, web, press, radio, social media, publications, blogs, micro-blogs, verticle indexes
- Communications Program - Internal, External, Mass, Public, Inter-app, Dynamic B2C, B2B, B2E, B2Subscriber, press, direct, leadership updates, print to web publications, mass email tracking and reporting, list management, list development, CAN Spam compliance, integration to CRM i.e., Salesforce, Integration of 3rd party vendor's API to any proprietary data fields inside participant portal and applications for personalized communications and data tracking. All data must be analysed to drive direction of communications.
- Comprehensive Reporting Program to all levels of employees, developers, management, stakeholders and leadership with well formatted data that suits it's target audience along with outside industry data, benchmarks, recommendations based on trend analysis for Web usage, Communication, Development research, Competition, product peformance, industry trends, culture trends, actuarial predictions and new technology developments and breakthroughs monitoring.
- Training Development Program - For all stakeholders, client leads, operations team, developers, user base, trainers, sales personel, designers, clients, other product program participants
- Compliance Program - Legal, Corporate, Client requirements, contractual, SLAs, best practices
- Customer Service Program strict SLAs, unsurpassed response time and perfect resolution record.
- Customer Satisfaction Program - 4.5 or higher as based on ASCI standards
- Process Development, Best Practices identification, Ongoing Process Improvement, Documentation through structured writing of manuals and quickstart guides for all operational elements with ongoing process of analyzing/prioritizing/implementing change derived from consistant feedback from all program participants.
More on this topic later with real life case studies from fortune 500 companies and their past projects.
So for now, keep screwin' it up till your next conference call is with Bangalor India...
Shane J
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