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New Opportunities with Online50
We are constantly on the look-out for new opportunities to bring to our partners. This month we highlight the benefits to payroll bureaux of running the UK's leading payroll software, Sage Payroll, on the Online50 platform. We have also significantly enhanced the ability of our accountant and software partners to support their own clients with the release of “Screen2Screen” – a brand-new remote control tool.
As the functionality of our platform increases, Online50 moves further away from being a simple substitute for a desktop installation of Sage Line 50 software, to being an ever more powerful tool for practice development. More enhancements to our service portfolio are in development and we look forward to sharing with you how these will bind clients more closely to your business. One example is the PDSL service which we have developed to enhance the performance of the client-end connection to the service.
We are keen to share experiences of how practices are harnessing Online50 to their advantage, thereby empowering the Online50 community. To this end, we welcome ongoing contributions of ideas and suggestions.
Take Control with Screen2Screen
This month we are proud to announce the release of our new remote control tool “Screen2Screen”. This tool enables bureau users to take control of clients' screens when they are logged onto the platform, and to give immediate, precise support on the running of their accounts. By compressing the clients' training time on the accounts software, the practice can more quickly offload basic accounts work onto the client, and spend more time on higher-value added and higher-margin activities.
The Screen2Screen tool is the result of enhancements we have made to our internal systems and incorporates extra layers of security to correctly authorise access to users' screens. This means that you can be confident that your clients' screens cannot be accessed by unauthorised users - clearly essential for a shared infrastructure platform. This development is another example of the ongoing investments we are making for the benefit of our partners and their clients.
We are beta-testing Screen2Screen with a selected number of partners, and expect general release by the end of May. Graham Saul, of Booth Ainsworth, one of our beta-testers comments "Using Screen2Screen my clients have been delighted with my ability to simultaneously solve their immediate problem and show them how to improve the running of their accounts software - all in the same call. Over time I see this tool having the potential to transform the cost to Booth Ainsworth of delivering Sage training."
Competitive Advantage with Hosted Sage Payroll
With the advent of the payroll year-end, we have seen an increased number of enquiries about hosting of Sage Payroll. By enabling online access to Payroll for bureau staff, third-party associates and clients the practice can decide where work is done and by which party - to the advantage of the practice. One practice taking advantage of this flexibility is Artaius, the Stevenage-based outsourcing specialists.
Artaius will be providing Sage Payroll on the Online50 platform to one of their clients who is doing payroll data-entry in two locations in the UK and who already run their accounting function on the platform. Their client has a large fortnightly payroll (they are a cleaning contractor) and reliability of the platform is essential.
Artaius also plan to move their existing Payroll bureau online. Currently they process around 100 payrolls and make significant use of staff based in India. Historically they have been transferring Payroll backups between the UK and India but by placing the data online the need for a transfer will be removed.
Melanie Troiano, Customer Services Director at Artaius, comments: "By running our payroll bureau online we will be saving considerable time. We will no longer need to download and restore any backups that we need to access, all of the data will be available to us in real time. Since the service is running 24 hours per day we will be able to confirm details with our clients and have them processed in India, ready for when we commence work the following morning."
Artaius have been outsourcing certain operations to India for some time, and Online50 has proved to be an ideal platform. The costs of implementation are low, the running costs are variable according to demand, and the performance of the system is well in excess of user requirements. "We looked at the cost of alternative implementations for our Payroll Bureau requirement", comments Melanie, "and the Online50 solution was far cheaper than we had anticipated."
Users Benefit from Prioritised DSL (PDSL)
PDSL is a new type of Internet connection which gives priority to the business critical Online50 application over background Internet usage such as file downloading and general web browsing. We have developed this service as otherwise clients can experience a disruption to their service if their Internet connection becomes heavily loaded. This can happen if, for example, emails with large attachments are being received while working on a shared line. Even paying for faster connections does not necessarily solve the problem as it is generally not a problem with bandwidth (the Online50 service does not need lots of bandwidth) it is a problem with congestion of the line and contention between different users.
Using the service users can maintain a consistent user experience even under periods of heavy load. A recent PDSL user has opted for the service after experiencing ongoing issues with congestion on their line. Lee, the IT Manager, cited a common problem: "The infrastructure we have was adequate when it was installed 8 months ago - but now we are making many more demands on it, especially in terms of the amount of email traffic that is being supported."
The PDSL connection is delivered directly into our primary data centre, and from there we can provide ongoing connections to the Internet for our users. We have multiple transit providers and also interconnect with many other ISPs at LINX. Our technical infrastructure means we can confidently assure our most demanding users that the response time and continuity they expect from a hosted application can be met and comfortably surpassed. For more details on PDSL please call us on 0800 195 0835.
Empowering Iris with Online50
Business Direct of Slough have joined the practices having their Iris Accounts Preparation and Practice Management modules hosted by Online50.
The Iris software is still licensed directly by Iris and we do not resell or collect license payments on Iris' behalf. Our monthly fees break down transparently into hosting and license fees - the single hosting fee covers the infrastructure costs of running all a particular user's software on the platform. So an existing user on the Online50 platform, paying their hosting fee, does not pay anything extra to us to also have Iris hosted.
The benefits of hosting Iris will vary from practice to practice, but here are some of the benefits our partners have told us they expect to achieve:
- Work from anywhere - including clients' premises
- No need for an Iris 'Laptop license'
- Share work between offices
- Allow us to manage Iris updates
- Easy migration to new Iris SQL version
If you are an Iris user and you would like to discuss having your Iris software hosted, please contact your account manager or call the Sales Desk on 0800 195 0835.
