by Sara Horn (shorn@uu.edu)

In the business world, time has generally, as the cliché goes, consistently meant money – but it has not always meant speed. Today, however, if business professionals want to stay on top, they must be on top – by working quickly, responding immediately and beating out their competition. Critical advances in technology are making this possible by improving productivity levels, raising efficiency standards, and ultimately allowing things to be completed today that normally would have taken until tomorrow.

“People want information faster,” states Doyle Miller (’84), a CPA and president of his own accounting firm in Brentwood, Tenn. “They want an immediate response and they expect quicker results.”

With only three full-time employees and a couple of part-time workers, Miller says it would not be possible to manage the 400 clients he serves were it not for technology.

John David Barham, director of computing services, is never far from work, thanks to new technology that allows him to check his email even when he’s far from the office.

“It has definitely made my life easier,” adds Miller. “If I didn’t have technology, I could not do this. There are probably other ways that I haven’t grasped yet that would allow us to offer more services.”

Miller remembers that when he first started in the accounting field, a lot of traditional written work was required – clients would bring in their financial data and accountants would manually input it and generate financial statements and records.

“What has happened now is that most people have computers within their businesses – we go to them and review their accounting records within their databases, making sure everything is properly classified and entered. This has given us the opportunity to get this information relatively quickly,” explains Miller, who says that a client’s payroll can now be completed in 20 minutes by computer compared to 3 hours by hand.

While technology definitely saves time, Miller says it still is contingent on whether clients also realize how valuable it is.

“Several years ago, one of my clients who owned a small manufacturing company did everything by hand. He said that at age 60, he was just too old to learn a new way of doing things,” recalls Miller. However, soon he was able to talk his client into purchasing his first computer, and now at 67, Miller says his client still can’t believe how much easier it has made his life.

Making life easier seems to be the mantra of the waves of technology rolling through in recent years, especially within the banking industry. According to Rodney Lanham (’78), vice president of Farmers National Bank in Lebanon, Ky., everything we ever wanted to know is at our fingertips.

“There is more information out there now than we can ever absorb,” says Lanham. “Unless you have the knowledge on how to use it, you can go into information overload.”

Lanham, who deals primarily with lending, says that most consumers don’t realize how much of their personal information is “out there” for anyone to see.

“If someone walks into a jewelry store and makes a purchase, a credit report is created that anyone can get access to,” explains Lanham. He notes that protecting personal financial information is the biggest investment banks make today. It’s extremely necessary, Lanham says, as more and more information is transmitted electronically and via the world wide web.

Technology has also improved bank relations for the consumer, says Lanham. The speed and access of information has improved with checks and specific transactions being available for recall at the touch of a few buttons.

“We are now able to store a tremendous amount of information in a very small area,” says Lanham, which allows banks to easily maintain and access specific information for the customer. “Also, a lot of banks have started internet banking, which gives the consumer an opportunity to do almost everything from your own home – from paying bills to shopping for stocks and bonds.”

Changing the Way We Travel

Perhaps one of the consumer industries that has been affected most by technology has been the travel industry. No longer content to wait on a travel agent to look up information for them, more and more people are turning to the Internet for information on trips, airfares, and vacation destinations. However, according to Forrester Research, Inc., only six percent of all people who surf online for airfares actually pur-chase them online. That evidence offers proof that many travel agents believe points to the importance of customer service and personal attention they say is still lacking from the World Wide Web.

Dehoney Travel in Louisville, Ky. – owned by Dr. Wayne and Lealice Dehoney (’61) – is one of the many agencies that has embraced the web, using it as a tool in its quest to provide top-of-the-line ser-vices to its clients.

Melanie Mitchell, retail travel manager for Dehoney Travel, says technology has always been a friend to the travel agent, pointing out that before the first computer reservation systems came about in 1976, agents had to use “rev cards,” writing a flight request out by hand, calling the airlines, making the booking and then handwriting or typing up the ticket.

According to Mitchell, who has worked in the travel industry since 1979, once computer systems began to diversify, connecting through the web and allowing agents to book car rentals and hotel reservations, people started realizing that they needed to start capturing information on their clients.

“Now we have a way of noting which clients enjoy jazz cruises, or that a certain client who was a Christian studies professor enjoys learning about tours to the Holy Land,” says Mitchell. “This system really helps you get to know your clients very well, which as a result, helps you better service their travel needs.”

Mitchell sees the Internet as a great research tool, both for consumers and for travel agents.

“People today want it yesterday – they want it done now,” says Mitchell. “We have to be able to turn things around very quickly and the Internet is the tool that helps us do that.

“I used to have three big filing cabinets full of brochures, which I would pull and mail when a client had a question about taking a trip to a specific country or place,” Mitchell says. “Now, I can just pull it up on the web while they’re still on the phone, and maybe even direct them to the site so they can look at it for themselves,” explains Mitchell, who also uses the Internet for downloading required forms for clients who are traveling overseas.

When going online to book airline tickets or trips, Mitchell cautions consumers before they hit that ‘submit’ button.

“We had a client a couple of years ago who was going on a Holy Land tour that our agency had scheduled. She booked her airfare through an internet agency, but ended up needing to make some changes on it. She didn’t know who to contact on that website for help, and unfortunately, we couldn’t help her because we hadn’t booked the ticket,” recalls Mitchell. She also recommends that when booking something on the Internet, as with any purchase, it’s always a good idea to make sure that the site is a legitimate business by checking with the Better Business Bureau or another reliable organization.

The Workforce Revolution

Jackie Taylor (right), assistant director of Career Services, helps senior Carla Cash create her resumé.

According to Jaqueline Taylor (‘99), Union’s assistant director of Career Services, technology has dramatically changed the shape of today’s workforce.

“While these advances in technology have caused companies to scale back on people resources, other jobs are created as a result, and overall, a need for better trained, better educated employees has come about,” explains Taylor. “It’s enhanced the fact that we need people to be better trained in technical fields.”

She cites higher education as an example. “We have a base of professors and instructors that are having to be more technologically savvy in order to keep the attention of the students that are coming into our colleges and universities,” says Taylor.

Some fields have dramatically shifted due to technology.

“We no longer have secretaries,” points out Taylor. “Now, we call them administrative or executive assistants and it’s because of that technology factor. They’re expected to know so much more now – they have to be able to teach or assist their supervisors in making presentations, using laptop computers and presentation software. They have to know what the technology does, how to troubleshoot it and how to use it more effectively.”

“You don’t just ask for someone who can type 80 words-per-minute, but who can also handle databases, spread-sheet software and other technical ways of managing information,” says Taylor.

While some jobs have been enhanced by technology, other vocations are significantly declining. Occupations such as farming, sewing machine operators, electrical assemblers, private household cleaners, office machine operators, service station attendants and bank tellers have experienced significant loss in numbers as a result of technological advances.

Job-searching has also been affected by what you can, or can’t do with technology. According to Taylor, employers expect prospective job candidates to have the ability to get a resume to them instantly – whether by email or fax. And they expect an email address to be on that resume, says Taylor.

She adds that there is a growing trend toward “video mail,” where employers can see what the person looks like.

“I think it’s a good choice,” says Taylor, who compares it to a pre-interview, which allows an employer to see particular mannerisms, the candidate’s comfort level, and how polished he or she comes across. “It adds more of a personal feel.”

T R AV E L ... www.dehoneytravel.com • www.mapquest.com • www.thetrip.com • www.biztravel.com  • www.raileurope.com

CAREERS... www.monster.com • www.flipdog.com  • www.collegegrad.com