Dear EMS Customer,
In this edition of the Reservation Times, we announce the impending release of the latest
(and newly Vista certified) versions of EMS along with a new training method to help
you get the most out of them. We also look back at our recent Corporate Summit
and review the results of a third-party customer satisfaction survey. In addition, EMS
corporate partner RegOnline contributes an article on how to encourage event attendees
to register online, and our Customer Support department chimes in with some Tips and
Tricks for EMS. So, read on...
Sincerely,
The Newsletter team at Dean Evans & Associates, Inc.
emsnewsletter@dea.com
Table of Contents
New Versions of EMS Leverage Leading Technologies
EMS Training on Demand
Brainstorming in the Big Apple: The EMS Corporate Summit
Survey SAYS...
EMS Tips & Tricks
The EMS Users Conference: Scheduling at Its Peak
Promoting Online Registration: Strategies for Making Electronic Sign-ups
Simple and Appealing
New Versions of EMS Leverage Leading Technologies
As we put the finishing touches on the ".1" versions of EMS Enterprise (Version 4.1), EMS
Professional (Version 10.1), EMS Lite (Version 6.1) and EMS Campus (Version 1.1), it’s
worth noting that we’ve leveraged a lot of leading technology from both Microsoft and IBM.
Some highlights of these latest releases include:
- Certified for Windows Vista
- Compatible with Windows Office 2007
- Built on the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
- Compatible with IBM Lotus Notes Email
With the release of Windows Vista® in January, we decided to pursue the “Certified for
Windows Vista” status for all EMS client software. “The requirements proved to more
rigorous and thorough than we expected,” said Ed Nowak, director of product development.
“We have much more of an appreciation for the difference between a software product that
simply runs on Vista versus one that’s been officially tested and certified for Vista.” Dean
Evans & Associates is currently 1 of only 136 companies to have achieved this certification,
and EMS software represents 4 of the 206 officially certified products.
Also new in the .1 versions of EMS is compatibility with Lotus Notes®. This compatibility
comes in two forms: basic email compatibility that’s built-in for free, and more advanced
Lotus Domino integration that’s available as an add-on module. If your organization uses
Lotus Notes for email, you can now send email messages from EMS and they will appear as
Sent items within your Lotus Notes client software. And similar to the way our optional
Microsoft Exchange® Integration works, Lotus Domino Integration now offers Plan-a-Meeting
functionality where you can check attendee and room availability at the same time and book
everything at once. Lotus Domino Integration is only available for EMS Enterprise – please
contact your account representative for details.
Before downloading and installing the upgrade, we encourage you to review the system
requirements, release notes and installation instructions carefully to familiarize yourself
with changes in the application and the upgrade process itself. The new .1 versions of EMS
and complete documentation will be available soon from the Customers
Only area of our website.
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EMS Training on Demand
At Dean Evans & Associates, one of our top priorities is ensuring that our products are
easy for you to use. That’s why we offer numerous training options, so you can fully and
confidently explore all the features of EMS as soon as you install your software.
We’re currently recording a series of free, downloadable training courses to act as a
primer for existing users and a training overview for new users. These sessions walk you
through multiple functions applicable to all levels of EMS Enterprise and Professional users,
but can also be helpful if you use EMS Lite. Using EMS Enterprise, our consulting team is
recording these detailed demos, taking you step-by-step through our software so that you can
learn the system from the comfort of your own office.
Each session will allow you to view the entire demo or choose from a list of task-specific
chapters. Sections show the product in use, with a voiceover explaining how to take full
advantage of all that EMS has to offer.
The first suite of demos is scheduled to be available on our website in early summer. The
initial releases will include “Making Reservations in EMS,” “Running Reports and Query
Builder,” “Using the EMS Navigator,” “Billing in EMS,” and “Virtual EMS Web User Tutorial.”
New episodes will be introduced throughout the year, as they are completed.
This training option is free to organizations that have a current Annual Service Agreement
(ASA). To learn more about updating your ASA, please contact our sales team at 800-440-3994
ext. 863 or sales@dea.com.
To learn about additional, more in-depth EMS training methods, go
to
www.dea.com/training.aspx. Other options include online web-conferencing sessions,
instructor-led courses at the EMS Training Center in Denver and onsite trainings where our
consultants come to you to discuss your specific needs and help your staff get the most out
of EMS.
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Brainstorming in the Big Apple: The EMS Corporate Summit
In early April, Dean Evans & Associates held its first ever EMS Corporate Summit in New
York City at Citigroup’s Executive Conference Center. Key contacts from over 20 of EMS’s
largest corporate customers met with Dean Evans and other senior staff for two days to
discuss best practices and help set priorities for future EMS product development.
Among the topics discussed were continued refinement of our software’s integration with
Microsoft Outlook® and Lotus Notes®, videoconference scheduling, shared workspace management
(also known as “hoteling”), visitor management and services management.
“Inviting feedback
from our customers has always been an important part of – in fact, the very first step in –
our product development process,” says Dean Evans. “What’s unique about the Corporate Summit
is that we solicited that input in a group setting, where, through the collaboration of some
of the sharpest real estate and corporate service professionals in the business, we were able
to bring general product enhancement ideas into sharp focus in just a few days’ time. The
result was both confirmation that we are moving in the right direction and some insightful
suggestions on new areas in which to concentrate our R&D energies.”
The positive feedback from the event suggested that the Corporate Summit should not be a
one-time event, but should be turned into an annual gathering. Heather Smith of Osler Hoskin
& Harcourt LLP said of the Corporate Summit, “[It] was a fantastic networking experience with
peers in the corporate community. Not only did I have the opportunity to meet and learn from
clients with needs similar to my own, I felt that our feedback to Dean Evans & Associates will
help shape future releases of the software. Truly excellent!”
With the success of the event, we are now are now exploring ways in which we can offer a
similar forum for other markets where EMS enjoys a significant market share, such as higher
education, religious, government, K-12 schools/districts, and healthcare.
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Survey SAYS...
As a benefit of our partnership status, Microsoft will periodically arrange for an independent,
third-party research firm to measure customer satisfaction with our products and services.
Results of the survey help us identify our strengths and weaknesses so that we can continually
enhance and refine our offerings.
Here are some highlights from the survey completed last month.
- 81% of those invited to participate completed the survey (Many thanks to those of
you who took time out of your busy days to respond!)
- Asked about their “overall customer satisfaction” more than 90% indicated that
they were "Satisfied", with more than 80% saying they were
“Very Satisfied”
- On the Customer Loyalty Index, 90.3% of respondents were in the “Loyal”
category
- On a scale of 1 – 200, our (i.e. your) "Net Satisfaction" score
was 178
Are there areas for improvement? Absolutely! You asked for interface enhancements,
regional users conferences and a general increase in the amount of communication you get
from us, among other things. We hear you, and planning is already underway to address many
of your suggestions. (See the related article on the
recent EMS Corporate Summit.)
Again, thanks to everyone who participated in the survey. And thanks, too, to anyone who
has taken the time over the years to provide us feedback. Your input is what drives us!
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EMS Tips & Tricks
Want to know why an event is not being displayed in Virtual EMS? Need to follow up on bookings
in a room, or for a group, that you’ve inactivated? Wishing the process of logging into
EMS could be automated? You're in luck!
Virtual No-Shows – For an event to display in Virtual EMS, three things must be true:
The room, the event type and the status for the booking must all be set to “Display on Web”
in Configuration. If any of these three requirements is not met for a particular booking,
the booking will not be displayed in Virtual EMS.
Playing Detective – New in the latest versions of Lite, Pro and Enterprise
(6/10/4 respectively) are two reports that help you find bookings that are in rooms you’ve
made inactive or for groups that you’ve made inactive. The reports, not surprisingly
titled Inactive Rooms with Bookings and Inactive Groups with Bookings, help you be proactive
in moving or cancelling events as necessary.
Accelerated Access – The current client versions of Lite, Pro and Enterprise have a
built-in function referred to as “integrated authentication”, which is designed to
streamline the login process. When integrated authentication is activated, EMS uses
the User ID and password information you supplied in logging in to your network to
confirm your identity and grant you access to EMS. In this way, you bypass the login
screen and go straight into EMS simply by double-clicking the EMS icon or selecting the
option from the Windows Start menu.
To turn on integrated authentication, log in to EMS as a system administrator and go to
System Administration – Security – Users. For each user, add an entry to the Network ID
field for domain\windows login. For example: ourdomain\msmith. Once you have made this
entry, EMS will begin using Windows login information to authenticate the user and
automatically log them into the system.
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The EMS Users Conference: Scheduling at Its Peak
Planning for the 2007 EMS Users Conference is well underway and so far, response is
at an historical high. Maybe it’s the anticipation of experiencing scenic Breckenridge,
Colorado in the prime of summer, or possibly it’s the promise of learning everything you
ever wanted to know about your EMS software from the people who actually created the product,
or perhaps it’s the potential to closely interact and share tips and thoughts with fellow
EMS users from around the world. Whatever the reason, attendee numbers have already reached
nearly 160 with more people registering daily. Open registration runs until June 29th.
The theme of this year’s Users Conference, “Scheduling at Its Peak,” represents not only
the mountain location of the conference, but also signifies our ongoing effort to ensure
that EMS products are the most comprehensive and user-friendly on the market – to keep
them, and your scheduling operation, at their peak.
The program this year will be comprised of over 80 learning sessions, including sneak-peeks
at forthcoming EMS updates and new features, interactive discussions with DEA representatives
to learn how to best utilize all features of your software and multiple presentations from
your conference peers.
There will also be a pre-conference training session that is designed
to give new users a jump-start with EMS and build a foundation of knowledge for the conference
to follow. In addition to this training, the EMS Users Conference is known for its fun programs
and excellent opening reception and closing banquet.
We invite you to join us for our 6th annual EMS Users Conference August 6-9 at the Beaver
Run Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado. For more information on the conference and links
to register online, please visit
www.dea.com/UsersConference/Conf.aspx.
Some of the best ideas on how to use our products come from our users! If you are interested in
presenting a session, please email Scott Anderson
for more information.
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Promoting Online Registration: Strategies for Making Electronic Sign-ups Simple and Appealing
Today, most organizations offer online registration for attendees of their events. Online
event registration can relieve meeting planners of numerous labor-intensive tasks,
while providing registrants with a quick and easy way to sign up for events.
While most people are comfortable with the electronic sign-up process, there are always
a handful who resist online registration and insist on doing it the old-fashioned way,
via fax or snail mail. Following are some tips to help wean these folks off paper and
move them online.
Offer Incentives
If you want your registrants to register online, you need to sell the method to them.
In the event brochure -- whether it’s printed or electronic -- call attention to
the online option by highlighting it on the list of registration methods with a bullet
point or a bold font, with “easiest method” or “recommended/preferred method” written
next to it.
Take the call to action one step further by offering attendees a registration fee discount
or other incentive (a free report or promotional item) to motivate the move to online.
We’ve seen incentives like these increase the use of online registration by up to 30 percent.
Protect Privacy
Registrants might feel uneasy sharing their personal information online. Be sure to highlight
your privacy policy on the registration form and make it easily accessible to your potential
registrants. Create further trust between registrants and the association by stating that the
organization does not sell information to any third parties.
A recent study of RegOnline clients showed that having a security certification (in this
case, ScanAlert Hacker Safe certification) and logo on the registration form increased
completed online registrations by 12 percent. A service such as Trust-e, an independent,
nonprofit online privacy watchdog organization, can review and certify your privacy policy.
Be sure to promote this and any other privacy certifications to your registrants.
Stress Security
Frankly, security of payment should no longer be a concern. Technology has evolved to make
safe online transactions the norm instead of the exception. If you use an outsourced online
registration system, the providers should have security measures in place that you can promote
to your registrants.
RegOnline, for example, offers a 128-bit RSA encryption Secure Socket Layer. Sound like
geek speak? Here’s how we communicate it in plain English: “Our security exceeds the
highest government standard, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s top 20 security
vulnerability tests.”
Estimate Time
People sometimes are put off thinking that online registration will be tedious and time
consuming. But it actually has the benefit of immediacy. Time yourself taking a test
registration and then let registrants know the approximate amount of time it takes to
register online.
Use Testimonials
Testimonials from people who have used your online registration process are tremendously
valuable in boosting the confidence of first-time online registrants. Include several
testimonials in your promotional materials, on the event website and on the first page of
your registration form.
Article courtesy of RegOnline, Inc.; first published at
www.meetings-conventions.com.
RegOnline offers meeting and event planners a simple, cost-effective online
registration service. Learn more at www.regonline.com.
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