Corporate-sponsored volunteerism certainly isn’t a new concept. For years now, American Employees have volunteered coordinating food drives, mentoring students, serving on advisory boards and providing support to many community-based projects, often with (or without) the support of their employers. 

Increasingly American companies have begun structured volunteer programs which are integrated into core business strategies.  These programs are designed to help the communities they serve.  Additionally, they’re now also being used to help employees develop greater understanding, sensitivity and involvement in their communities.  

Here at AMTdirect our Employees with Management’s support have been involved in several community-based projects.

• A family of four who recently lost all their belongings received $350.00 in cash, a number of store gift cards and several large boxes filled with food items, household goods, etc.
• An Employee indicated a need for items to supply two children who she was fostering with clothes, diapers, toys, etc.  It was a departmental request, which was met with over-whelming Employee/AMTdirect response!  Cash, store gift-cards, food items, toys…and the list went on and on….
• Involvement Big Brothers/Big Sisters school based mentoring program is also underway.  Employees are permitted to get paid for time away from their normal work schedule to mentor a student from a local elementary school.

Besides being the “right” thing to do, this community involvement also support’s AMTdirect’s corporate values of collaboration, interdependence, accountability and stewardship.

Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history.  ~Joan Wallach Scott 

After months, maybe years, of justification, project buy-in and approvals, budgetary authorization, vendor review and selection, reference checking and protracted contract negotiation, you have finally arrived!  It’s time to begin your software implementation.  Your project will involve some or all of the following steps:  data mapping and conversion, document organization, imaging and indexing, software training, abstraction, gap analysis, first-time integration with your financial systems, testing, running parallel, creating new processes and procedures - - - it can be a lot and the project must be managed.  But this is what you’ve worked so hard for and you’re eager to begin, eager to improve your department’s and organization’s efficiencies, productivity and save bottom-line dollars, as well, with your new technology.  You’re excited - - isn’t everybody? 
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I recently substituted for one of AMTdirect’s Technical Support Personnel while one of our full time “Techies” was on vacation.  This wasn’t that much of a stretch for me because I used to work in that position, but it always amazes me how shocked people are when you’re nice to them.   

Where has Customer Service gone? Why should we be shocked when we get a “live” person on the line on the first try without pressing 20 buttons and wasting 45 minutes of our precious time, and why should we be shocked further by the person who answers the phone being nice to us and doing what he/she says she’ll do?  It’s such an easy thing to do – treat others the way you want to be treated, but still it’s seldom done.  Simple Solution – Be nice. 

I remember when I first started my journey at AMTdirect over 2 years ago – I was LOST!  It helps to remember where you’ve come from – not just where you are now.  That’s what I do when I work Tech Support.  I remember that a lot of the people on the other end of the line are just like I was:  wanting answers from a real person who is patient, and takes the time to work through their problem like it was my own!  They want someone who will listen to their issue, find a way to solve it, or if that can’t be done, create a case for it, and follow up!  They just want to know that their problem is not only real to them, but it is also real to someone else.  Simple Solution – Listen. 

Sometimes, the real problems also have a simple solution.  When someone works with Tech Support to solve their issue, and we take you through the steps to solve the issue, remember, that many times, you have to restart your computer before the “solution” will work. This is the computer saying, “I learned something new – now I have to add it to my brain.”  It may also be as simple as adding the url as a trusted site, or allowing pop-ups from the web site.  These little things can keep the User from getting into the system; which is a Real Problem.  Simple Solution – Restart the computer, allow pop-ups, and add the site as a trusted site.   

Sometimes, Tech Support professionals are not so lucky, and the issue is something we cannot solve on the phone, so we pass it along to the “Real Computer Gurus” to get the ball rolling.  Either way, communication is the key.  Our Clients are the most important part of AMTdirect, and without you, we wouldn’t be here.  So if you need us, give us a call or shoot us an email – we will be here for you, as always, to create Simple Solutions to your Real Problems.