About Scothosts |
Virtual OfficeScothosts' national award winning
virtual working environment. |
Virtual Office
Our innovative working environment saw Scothosts awarded the 2003 national WOW Award. In 2004 and 2005 we were awarded a UK E-Commerce Award for Best Use of Broadband in Scotland. In October 2005 we received our biggest plaudit to date by scooping the award of UK champion for teleworking at the prestigious E-Commerce Awards in London.
As a Fife web design company our business is completely
orientated by the Internet and associated technologies.
With the advent of broadband the traditional location aspects
became less important and we realised our staff could effectively
work from anywhere. In a bid to increase productivity and
reduce unnecessary costs Scothosts implemented the following:
WAN - Our
Wide Area Network is one of the most sophisticated in
Scotland, sharing a 100 MB dedicated broadband connection
from our central server to 8 remote offices. This system
has avoided unnecessary staff distractions from within
a traditional office environment and increased productivity.
The increased productivity clearly allows us to complete
projects in a timely manner and take on additional contracts
which would previously have been impossible.
Virtual Operator Phone
System - In
partnership with Reality Telecom Plc, this is the most
sophisticated technology implemented within Scothosts
to date. Our phone system is controlled by a web based
administration panel and allows us to set departments
and hunt groups instantly. This then routes calls to
our remote based staff, without the clients ever needing
to know or dial their home telephone number. If the team
member is engaged then the system automatically routes
the call to the next number and if nobody is available
the call is diverted to our human answered call centre,
who subsequently take a message and then send via email
to the person for which the call was intended. The system
also allows us to set our office hours, ensuring that calls
are not routed to our staffs out with working hours. This
system also increased our productivity, though further
savings are gained through not having cost of employing
telephone receptionists, having to answer other people's
calls, having to give out a mass of numbers (mobile/home/office/fax,
etc), having to be near your answer phone to listen to
messages or change your greeting and the investment costs
of expensive equipment and support.
MIS (Management Information
System) - Our web-based
interactive tool management system has drastically improved
both our internal and external processes. For clients the
system comprises: (1) Automated ticketing system for technical
support with complete archiving capability. (2) Accounts
system which links directly with our back-office system,
allowing clients to view all their associated web services
with Scothosts, plus access all current and past invoices
and/or pay online. The system also automatically handles
credit control for overdue invoices with an in-built range
of email notifications. (3) Site Maintenance - Clients
are now able to renew their annual site maintenance contracts
online, if a client that has not purchased an ongoing maintenance
plan requires technical support on a certain issue, they
will be provided with a range of plans, suited to the solution
they have, with an option to purchase online. (4) Quotes
System - Client quotes are also stored in their account
area by way of file sharing exercise, this in turn allows
the client to enter comments directly into the quote, which
our consultants can then reply; all within the same document
and thus create a full paper trail of the sales communications.
(5) Sales - Our range of fixed price web solutions are
available via our public website, however unless the visitor
is a current Scothosts client they are required to enter
their basic contact details, at which point an email is
sent with a link to their email address, hence verifying
who they say they are and ensuring that we know exactly
who is accessing our pricing information. This information
is automatically logged into our VPN enables sales ticketing
system and assigned to a member of the sales team for follow
up. (6) Hosting Store - Our hosting e-commerce store will
be fully controlled from within the MIS, in terms of products,
plans, renewal frequency etc. (7) Development - For project
management we have implemented a VPN enabled development
ticket system, which allows the entire design team to get
an instant snapshot of the design/development status, including
a full log of communications and documents shared with
the client, sales/contract notes, graphical works, testing
results and financials.
Hosting - Our
dedicated servers in the UK and USA are housed in multi-million
pound data centres, managed by the Internet's premier
co-location firms. Out-sourcing these services is more
cost effective in that our team do not require technical
training and can focus on their key development roles.
Naturally our broadband capability allows us to constantly
monitor and control the server functionality on both
sites from our remote location.
Security - A
VPN (Virtual Private Networking) firewall router system
has been implemented throughout our remote offices, ensuring
all client data remains intact within our WAN environment.
This ensures backup and anti-virus are controlled from
the central server.
In summary the office closure, made possible through broadband technology; has seen major savings in premises rental, telephone costs, heat and light expense, travelling expenses and most importantly productivity.
Our working environment doesn't stop us meeting our clients. We offer various options for meetings and are always happy to discuss client requirements and demonstrate previously completed projects. Meetings options include:
Local Facilities - We
have various meeting and conference facilities available
at all times in Fife, and can comfortably accommodate
up to 20 delegates at each location on request. These
facilities are equipped with broadband connections which
allow us to demonstrate and discuss system specifications
in a timely manner. We are also happy to consider meeting
Site Visits - We are happy to travel and visit clients from anywhere in the
UK . As our working environment proves, location is not a factor in our industry
and we can service a global market from any base. We will always attempt to identify
the specification and scope of client requirements prior to travelling in order
to make the meeting as productive as possible.
Conferencing - As an ardent investor of modern technology, Scothosts will gladly
arrange video and voice/data conference calls with any company that can facilitate.