From: Yahoo Finance
By: Ram Charan

Meetings get a deserved bum rap. They tend to be poorly run, veer off track, and fail to produce much in the way of action, consensus, new insights, or clarity of direction. People often walk out of the room feeling drained and demoralized.

But the truth is that meetings are an invaluable business tool. You simply cannot lead effectively without them. It's up to you to ensure that they serve their intended purpose of synchronizing people's activities and moving the organization forward in the right direction.

The ability to use meetings to bring people together for a particular output is a critical part of managing your organization's social system -- one of the most important know-hows a leader must have.

Meetings Don't Have to Drain

Read More

DataServ, the leading on-demand service provider of document management, workflow and outsourcing solutions, announces that our company continues to grow with multiple new hires in Q4.

Constance McCord has accepted a position of Client Support Representative. McCord will be working with customers on support issues, client communications and leading training sessions to ramp up new clients. Constance has over 20 years of experience in client relationship management, sales and marketing. Her diverse business and managerial background makes Constance a valuable member in DataServ's Client Service group.

Shane Ferral has accepted a position of Document Solutions Specialist. Ferral will be responsible for second level Information Systems (IS) support for multiple clients, varied new client implementation activities and miscellaneous projects to support or enhance DataServ's solution delivery capabilities.

Craig Jungels has accepted a position of Major Account Manager. Jungels will be responsible for the acquisition of new business for the company. His experience of over 10 years of marketing, sales and pre-sales leadership makes Craig a valuable member of DataServ's sales team.

Tricia Holliday has accepted a position of Strategic Account Manager. Holliday will be responsible for the acquisition of new business for the company. Tricia brings with her experience from corporations such as ADP, GM and Time Warner.

George Sutton has been added to DataServ's Imaging Operations department.

"It is a very exciting time for our company to be expanding as quickly as we are," says Jeff Haller, CEO. "As our company continues to grow, we continue to add on talent to help keep our business and solution offerings running smoothly to provide the best service to our clients."

Although there is an increased use of electronic payments, paper checks are still a way of life for many AP departments. That means that check processing---printing, signing, and distribution---is an ongoing operation. Here are some insights into how to make this operation more efficient.

Check printing: To increase productivity in check processing, consider reducing the number of check runs. However, there are two potential problems with this policy: (1) the demand for rush checks may increase; and (2) invoice discounts may be lost. To reduce these negative side-effects, educate employees about when the check runs are done. Another idea is to create penalties (such as service charges) for not getting invoices or check requests in on time.

Check signing: To speed up check signing, some companies raise the dollar limits for dual signatures. Also, the use of electronic signatures can greatly reduce the time it takes to get checks signed. To increase the use of electronic signatures, you can: (1) raise the limits for checks that can be signed electronically; (2) use electronic signatures for recurring payments, such as rent, utilities, equipment leases, and the like; and (3) use electronic payments for payments backed up by approved purchase orders and receiving documentation.

Check distribution: Checks should always be mailed, not picked up by the requestor or someone the requestor designates. Allowing pick-ups not only wastes the time of the AP staff, it can open the door to fraud. One common scheme is for someone to submit a phony invoice, pick up the check from AP, and then deposit it in his or her own account. Of course, mailing all checks will increase postage costs, but the time saved and the reduced exposure to fraud will generally more than offset the increased cost.

For more policy tips, refer to our Accounts Payable Policies & Procedures Guide. It's designed to help you build a comprehensive set of policies and procedures and includes sample policy language and ready-to-use forms for invoice and payment processing, p-cards, master vendor file issues, petty cash funds, unclaimed property, 1099s, and more. Take a look at the guide's Table of Contents.

DataServ, the leading on-demand service provider of document management, workflow and outsourcing solutions, announces that Constance McCord has accepted a position of Client Support Representative. McCord will be working with customers on support issues, client communications and leading training sessions to ramp up new clients. Constance has over 20 years of experience in client relationship management, sales and marketing. Her diverse business and managerial background makes Constance a valuable member in DataServ's Client Service group. McCord holds a B.A. from Webster University and an MBA from Fontbonne University located in St. Louis, MO.

Prior to joining DataServ, McCord was Client Relationship Manager at Computer Associates International where she was in charge of ensuring clients' overall quality of product, service and satisfaction.

From: Manufacturing Business Technology
By: Kevin Parker, Editorial Director

This article provides an outlook into what Manufacturing companies are expecting to spend on their IT investments in 2007.

Read Article

DATASERV SOLUTION: DataServ's solutions integrate with your current systems, leveraging the technology you have already invested in. Therefore, the need to add additional IT staff for implemating projects is eliminated.

DataServ, the leading on-demand service provider of document management, workflow and outsourcing solutions, announces that Tricia Holliday has accepted a position of Strategic Account Manager. Holliday will be responsible for acquiring new business on the East coast. Tricia's experience of over 20 years in various sales positions in the Telecom industry makes her a strong asset to DataServ's Sales team. Holliday holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Prior to joining DataServ, Holliday was National Account District Manager at ADP where she was responsible for opening new territory in Puerto Rico. Tricia has also held a variety of managerial and sales roles at GM, XO, EPIK, Time Warner and Philips in Holland.

From: Integrated Solutions
By: Ken Congdon

It's commonplace to hear stories about how document imaging technology played a vital role in eliminating physical storage requirements or enhancing employee productivity by creating electronic documents that are easier to find and access. However, it isn't every day that a document scanning platform is credited with making it possible for a company to launch new business services that relieve key customer pain points and inject fresh revenue to the organization's bottom line. This is the tale athenahealth, Inc. has to share. athenahealth provides medical groups with practice management and EMR (electronic medical record) services designed to streamline workflow routing, patient information management, billing and collection, and other healthcare management tasks. The company has more than 8,600 physicians representing over 800 clients in 33 states and manages more than $2 billion in client revenues annually.

Read More

DATASERV SOLUTION: This story outlines a case that we frequetly solve. We help assist our clients' business processes as they grow. Unlike this story, where the company builds the solution themselves, we take all the hassle away for our clients. We provide the solution that helps them streamline their processes, increase visibility, improve productivity and reduce costs. Streamlining business processes with DataServ On-Demand™ Solutions results in an immediate return on investment, offering all the benefits of a purchased system without the large capital expenditures and IT investment typically associated with these projects.

DataServ, the leading on-demand service provider of document management, workflow and outsourcing solutions, announces that Craig Jungels has accepted a position of Major Account Manager. Jungels will be responsible for sales and promotion of DataServ's Finance Managed Services to named Midwest accounts. Craig has over 10 years of experience in marketing, sales and pre-sales. His broad experience in the industry makes Craig a valuable member in DataServ's Sales Department. Jungels has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale.

Prior to joining DataServ, Jungels held various positions at EDS, marchFIRST and a number of startup companies in the Engineering and Supply Chain Collaberation space. In his most recent position, Craig was responsible for team sales and business development for a 12 state region of manufacturing and services companies.