Telescan Blog

What TUNe is Playing?

TUNe is not a new music group, but they are always singing the praises of Telescan.  TUNe stands for Telecommunications User’s Network.  It is a group of call center owners and managers across the U.S. who conducts business with Telescan equipment. TUNe members work directly with Telescan management to help develop equipment and improve performance. Currently about 75% of Telescan users are members of TUNe.

Robbie Parnell, of Medcom in Columbia, SC, is in his second year as President of TUNe. Robbie has been a Telescan user since 1994. “Through the TUNe network,” Robbie said, “we conduct field testing on products being developed at Telescan. We are currently working on VoIP products. This is a major technology shift for our industry. TUNe set up a committee to explore VoIP with Telescan. We have been working directly with Roger Young, Telescan President, to discover areas of technology that will make our business more productive. It’s a great system for us and Telescan.”

Robbie and his group have recently completed a new logo for TUNe and a new website: http://www.tunegroup.net.  Members can share ideas or ask questions through the web server. They even have a Telescan “wish list” of products or improvements they’d like Telescan to develop.

“It’s great to share with other Telescan users,” said Robbie. “If you post any question about your system or business operation, chances are you’ll get 20 answers from other TUNe members. Sharing ideas about your Telescan system makes us all more efficient.”

TUNe also sells keyboards and conducts webinars for their members. They hold an annual meeting in the fall. The next meeting will be September 9, 10 and 11 in St. Charles, Missouri. In 2013, the annual meeting will be moved to May.

For more information about TUNe you can check their website: http://www.tunegroup.net..

 

 

Keeping Your Business in Business With a Phoenix

Last year was a record year for tornadoes. In 2011 there were 1,691 tornadoes reported across the country, breaking many storm records including greatest number of tornadoes in a single month (758 in April) and the greatest daily total (200 on April 27). Joplin, Missouri, saw one of the deadliest tornados in recent memory with 160 deaths. What will this year bring? Tornadoes?  Hurricanes? Earthquakes? Who knows? It only takes a good thunderstorm to knock out your TAS system. How long would a major event keep your business down?

One answer to this dilemma is Telescan’s Phoenix Back-Up Server. Edwards Answering Service Enterprises, Vernon, Connecticut, is one of many Telescan users who worry less about disaster because they have installed the Phoenix Back-Up Server. Gary Edwards, owner of Edwards Answering Service is a bit of a pioneer with Telescan and loves to try new things. He’s always looking for better ways to backup his valuable data, so when Telescan introduced the Phoenix Back-Up Server he wanted to try it.

“The Phoenix Back-Up Server copies real-time data from our three production servers to the backup server,” says Ron Wendus, Sales & Client Relations Manager for Edwards. “If one of the production servers would go out, we can bring up the information on the Phoenix Back-Up Server.  It gives us a seamless operation even if the server goes down, without losing any data.”

Unfortunately, Edwards had an opportunity to test the Phoenix Back-Up server. “One of our communications servers stopped working," said Ron. “It’s crucial because it provides faxes, instant messaging, emails, and text messaging. When it’s down we can’t communicate to clients or our operators. It went down one time about a year ago. All we had to do was bring up the window for the Phoenix Back-Up Server and we were back in business. Without the Phoenix, we could have been down for a couple of days.”

 “This means a lot to our business,” said Ron. “We tell our clients we are always there, 24/7/365 and we take great pride in keeping that promise. If we fail, if we have to be out of service for any amount of time, we could lose clients. The Phoenix Back-Up server helps us deliver on that promise, and keep our clients. In addition it saves us money because we don’t have to buy parts and put them on the shelf in case of an emergency. “

If you want to know more about the Phoenix Back-Up Server, call Telescan at 800-770-7662, or Patty at 314-616-2445 or patty@telescan.net.

Telescan Users Talk About Training
Tina Wilkerson came all the way from Florence to attend Telescan’s Level 1 Technical Training. Florence, Alabama, that is. Tina was one of three people from Tele-Sec to attend the training. “The training gave me a much better ‘big picture’ of the system,” said Tina, Tele-Sec’s IT manager. “Now I can follow a call all the way through the system. It will also help me diagnose and solve problems on my own. “

Nine Telescan users attended the Telescan Technical Certification Level 1 Training, March 13 – 15 at Telescan in St. Louis. The class covered an overview of the Spectrum system architecture, general telephony, basic networking, system hardware and essential spares, environment and system monitoring, routine maintenances and updates, and remote support.

Mike Bloomberg, owner of Medical Dental in Youngstown, Ohio, said, “I upgraded to Spectrum in 2010 and I wanted to know everything there is to know about the system from the operator’s function to identify and resolving problems. To manage my company well, I need to thoroughly understand the equipment and every program. I also learned different ways to do things from the other Telescan users in the class. This was great. I’m looking forward to continuing with the Level 2 Training.”
“One of the benefits of training for me was working with the Telescan service staff,” said Bill Sabol of Industrial Communications in Odessa, Texas. “It was great to meet the people I rely on for service. Now I have a much better understanding of how the programs interact and work together. I know I will be able to trouble shoot much better.”

Rod Schell of Mobilpage in St. Joseph, Missouri, said it gave him the chance to learn more about the operator side of the business. “Before this training I didn’t really know much about the operator side,” he said. “Now I understand the operator function much better, and I know that different programs use different technology. I will be able to diagnosis a problem much better,” Rod added.

At the end of the course, attendees took a 133 question test. A passing score of 80% or better was required for attendee to receive a certificate of achievement.  Level 2 Technical Training will be July 23 – 27 in St. Louis.  The next Level 1 Technical Training will be September 12 - 14.

 

Finding Gold in Funeral Homes
Dustin R. Cremeans of Huntington, WV, may not have found gold in his Funeral Home clients, but he has found a way to make this business very profitable with Telescan’s Spectrum Funeral Home Manager. Dustin has owned Tri State Answering Service (dba Funeral Directors Answering Service) since 2009. In 2010, Dustin installed Telescan’s Spectrum System, including the Funeral Home Manager. Since 80% of Dustin’s clients are Funeral Homes, this was an important step for his business.

“Telescan’s Funeral Home Manager allows the funeral home staff to log into our data base and enter the funeral arrangements directly into the system. This allows the funeral home to have complete control of the information our operators will provide to callers. A typical funeral home may have up to eight visitations a week. Since we don’t have to enter all that data into the system the Funeral Home Manager saves my business the cost of one full-time position. That’s time and money. It saves our clients too, because we can charge them less,” said Dustin.

“The Spectrum Funeral Home Manager has helped our business grow,” Added Dustin. “It has been a significant factor in getting more Funeral Homes for our business. With this system, we don’t have to rely on websites, which we know can go down without warning. The Funeral Home Manger data is clear, consistent, and concise and it is always there for our operators to see. It is more precise and more secure system than any other system I’ve seen.”

If you want to see how Spectrum Funeral Home Manager will help you increase business in the highly lucrative market, call Telescan at 800-770-7662, or Patty at 314-616-2445 or patty@telescan.net.