Article

May 1999 Issue

Society Technology Plan to Improve Member Service

A new membership program, increased network speed, virus protection, structured backups, and a new phone system are among the technological changes that the NYSSCPA information services team will make to provide better member service. These changes will enable Society staff to carry out their duties with greater cost-effectiveness and efficiency while remaining flexible enough to accommodate evolving products and industry advancements.

The most complicated and daunting task of the technology plan is to replace the system that is currently used to maintain the membership database. This upgrade will allow members to receive information more quickly and, unlike the old system, is Year 2000 compliant.

The current system runs on an outdated server and uses software that was written in-house more than 15 years ago. Custom Data Systems (CDS) utilized a modern programming language and database structure to develop the new system. More than 30 other state CPA societies use the CDS software.

The Society also will upgrade the speed of each employee network connection. The new connections will communicate information 10 times faster than the existing connections. Most of the enhancements the Society will make to hardware and software depend upon this upgrade.

Virus protection software is an improvement now underway. It has already stopped infected documents and programs from spreading through the office. Later this quarter, the information services team will load a virus-checking gateway on the mail server in order to ensure that staff members do not receive viruses through e-mail. The gateway will make it easier to guarantee that Society staff members work in a clean computing environment and will allow information services staff mambers to work on other projects. Additionally, a structured backup policy will ensure full recovery of lost data and minimal business interruption in the event of a system failure.

The NYSSCPA also purchased a new phone system. The current system is more than 20 years old and costs the Society more to maintain than to have a new system installed. Much research and multiple bids led to the selection of a system manufactured by Toshiba and distributed by Entel Systems. This product is an industry leader in small to medium businesses.

The new phones will help solve the calling problems that some members may have experienced. Incoming calls will no longer ring continuously without going into voice mail. The system has an officewide intercom system with paging capabilities. It can track outgoing calls, which gives the Society the ability to make a cost analysis of each department and its calling pattern. The new phone system will allow even distribution of calls to the customer service department, which should eliminate wait time for members. It also offers a fax-back service so members do not have to call in and request forms and documents. The Society plans to install the new phone system by the end of May and will finalize all technological improvements in the coming months. *