Changing the future of business.

Not since the introduction of the PC in the mid-1970s has technology been poised to play such a prominent role in the way companies do business. For both emerging and established businesses as well as entrepreneurs, the technological solutions of the '90s can mean greater cost savings, enhanced communications and the opportunity of getting products to market much faster.

Telecommunications, networking, and database and document management are the three key areas to watch for. "It's not how much money you're going to make necessarily in these ventures but how much money you're going to save," notes Brian Roemmele, president of Multiplex Media Corp., a Beverly Hills, California technology consultancy. What the Internet has done, he adds, is create a relatively inexpensive way for business to connect globally by eliminating the geographic barriers to business.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVANCEMENTS

Communications is fueling today's technological explosion, and much of it is driven by the Internet. E-mail, fax-on-demand services, videoconferencing and Internet telephony are just a few of the array of communications devices and applications altering the business landscape, offering productivity solutions only dreamed of years ago.

Red River Shipping Corp. is an 50-employee, $18.8 million, Rockville, Maryland, owner and operator of seagoing vessels. For most of its 13-year history, Red River has used antiquatted methods to communicate with its far-flung crews to help them position vessels, make cargo pick ups and stow plans and do payroll accounting.

Until last April, the company used a fax machine to transmit orders and documents, which was cumbersome and inefficient. "We might try to send 23 vouchers trying to get through a fax machine over 5,000 miles of distance," says Red River engineering manager Pat Tarrant. "The fax quality sometimes wasn't there, and we'd have to ask them to resend certain pages." The solution was electronic mail.

In place of a radio officer on board ship, as required by federal regulations, Red River invested about $125,000 in a communications system that includes primary and backup communications services via radio, digital and satellite bands. The satellite portion is equipped with a digital modem to transmit e-mail. Not only did the one-time fee for installation of the communications system eliminate roughly $100,000 in salary and benefits, it also did away with the arduous manual process of faxing and refaxing.

"For us it's very easy. It's secure communications in a private mailbox," affirms Tarrant. "If you send it in writing [via e-mail], you have a tendency to make fewer mistakes because it's right there in front of you." Red River pays about $3 per minute for satellite sending time, in contrast to $7 for faxed pages; messages are sent via a laptop computer. Red River's e-mail system also enables it to transfer full documents such as payroll vouchers and to retrieve data at headquarters in customized mailboxes.

Another key communications technology involves custom fax services such as fax-on-demand. Custom fax services let companies distribute information 24 hours a day from an Internet site, corporate intranet site or a network database at the customer's convenience. Direct marketing, sales information and employment verification in human resources are a few of the applications of custom fax services, notes Steve Hersee, president, Copia International, Wheaton, Illinois, Hersee's firm offers custom fax services to companies and organizations, ranging from the American Chemical Society to Hewlett-Packard to the Department of Commerce.

Typically fax-on-demand costs about 10 cents a minute, Hersee said. When tied into an Internet site, a client can select information about a company's product and services and request that it be sent to their fax machines or e-mail addresses on the spot, without having to wait the next day to call the office.

One client, AT&T, uses fax-on-demand to send out employment verification letters to for employees who have applied for bank mortgages and personal loans. "If they can push a button and have it printed directly at the bank's fax machine, then that allows them to get better service with fewer people for less cost," Hersee said.

VIDEOCONFERENCING

Desktop videoconferencing bridges the distance gap for face-to-face meetings and collaborations. Companies with large travel budgets, nationwide sales office, ongoing training programs and regular CEO presentations might find desktop videoconferencing suitable. Other companies may want to employ videoconferencing for special occasions such as annual meetings.

With desktop videoconferencing, a camera is attached to computers at employees' desktops, and stations can then share information, contribute to work in progress or exchange graphics and video. Sage Research, which tracks the videoconferencing market, puts current desktop videoconferencing use among U.S. businesses at 19% with another 47% of U.S. companies expected to employ the technology in two years.

"Globalization has really played a very big part in the growth of desktop videoconferencing," notes Jeannine Linehan, a research analyst for the Natick, Massachusetts-based Sage Research. "Just [for] the fact that organizations and the clients they serve are so much more geographically dispersed than they used to be. Particularly for a smaller company, it saves them in travel costs to use desktop videoconferencing as an internal solution."

The good news for companies considering desktop conferencing is that computer manufacturers are bundling it with their new systems, thus forcing prices down. As businesses look to upgrade their internal local area computer networks and buy new equipment, it makes sense to consider upgrades that include videoconferencing. Some desktop systems can be purchased for as little as $1,500, notes Linehan. Video-conferencing equipment can also be leased for about $250 to $300 an hour. The quality of the transmission usually depends on the speed of the lines over which the images are being transmitted.

The Internet has also ignited the reemergence of network computing. A global network of computers, the Internet can be used to store and transmit applications from remote locations to trimmed-down PCs (network computers) without hard drives. This takes the place of storing software on a computer's hard drive or in a network server. The network computer is expected to be a key driver for businesses.

Network computers, known as dumb terminals, can increase a company's control over how systems are used by sealing out unnecessary use. For instance, it would make it impossible for to store computer games or resumes on the network computer.

Network computer terminals -- which have been advertised to sell for as little as $500 to $700 -- won't completely replace the typical $2,000 personal computer. But they do make a lot of sense for a number of segments, including distributions, notes Roemmele of Multiplex Media. They also have lower maintenance costs than traditional PCs.

FTD, the international florist, plans to use the network computer to simplify the upgrading of software to its vast dealer network, says Roemmele. Instead of having to forward new software out at each upgrade, dealers can log-in to the company's Internet/intranet site. Network computers will mostly be used in the business area, according to Datamonitor, an international market research company with offices in London and New York. This will represent a fundamental shift in the computing world, from personal computing to network computing which shares applications and resources.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Data management will be key to business success in the future, whether companies exploit information on open networks like the Internet or on their own in-house systems. Data warehousing allows companies to quickly analyze their operations and shift priorities depending on business concerns, notes Doug Lynn, senior research analyst for the Meta Group Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut. One such solution, based on an information mover infrastructure (IMINS), enables businesses to sort, analyze and store operational data for access later on.

Once they have timely access to nonredundant information, companies can reduce fraud, flow inventory and analyze risk, says Lynn. A nursing home, for instance, can use data warehousing to gauge cost versus quality of service, a manufacturer can analyze why certain parts wear out more quickly than others, and a steelmaker can study temperatures in the fabrication process to determine optimum heat settings, he notes.

Managing data is central to Dr. David Dalton's business. Dalton is chairman, president and CEO of Health Resources Inc., a Lemoyne, Pennsylvania company that processes health providers' medical, dental, optical and pharmaceutical claims. When Dr. Dalton started the business in 1989, the medical network management firm was totally dependent on paper.

"A dentist would have to complete a claim form. Then they would put that claim form in an envelope with a stamp and mail it to our office. When it comes into our mailroom we would have to sort it, then keypunch it in, then process it. And, if the information was correct it would process through. If it was not correct, it would have to be rejected, sent back to the provider for the correct information," explains Dalton.

This all changed when he invested about $150,000 to upgrade to an electronic database, where the provider enters information directly into the company's computer. In the new system, errors are flagged and can be corrected at the source. Database management at Health Resources has reduced the cost-per-claim for a medical billing from around $7 to $2.50, Dalton estimates. Dental claims processing now cost $1.25 and pharmacy claims 35 cents. Dalton believes most companies, depending on the scope and needs of their business, can save up to 66% annually through data management. Health Resources, which reports more than $40 million in annual sales, serves a range of organizations, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, HMOs and insurance companies but specializes in physician networks.

With such dramatic business savings, employees can enjoy a higher economic reimbursement, Dalton claims, because the money is being put back into training and technology literacy. "It allows you to have your employees grow from just manual administrative components into the technology world."

Companies considering database solutions need not be frightened off by seemingly high upfront costs because many vendors are willing to accept their payments over time. "You don't reinvent the wheel. You have to do your research to find out which vendor is appropriate for the type of business you're in," says Dalton.

It's also important for business owners to understand that technology is evolving. Consult an expert to find out what type of technological solution is best for your business. Make sure that your solution has room for growth, that it can be implemented based on your immediate needs, and subsequent solutions can be added later on. Don't get discouraged if the first fit is not quite right -- like any other relationship, it takes time and understanding to get it right.