Month: May 2011

BACS software takes the problems out of payday

If you’re a member of a large firm then you are probably already paid by BACS. In fact, most or all of the accounts will be operated this way, since BACS payments are speedy, secure and simple. The acronym stands for Bankers Automated Clearing System, and just means electronic payments. When you log in to online banking and send money to someone else, or pay a bill, this is mostly done by BACS (a variation is SWIFT, which is the same except that the cash goes through on the same day rather than in three working days; it does, however, cost extra). Many medium and small businesses do not use bacs software for their accounts, preferring to work with cash and chequebooks. It may simply be that the firm was started before BACS became common, and the accounts department never updated their software. Either way, upgrading can be a good way to streamline your finance department.

BACS has a number of benefits over the old-fashioned way of doing things. For starters, it means you don’t have to keep a lot of cash on the premises, since on payday the money automatically goes to people’s bank accounts. If you’ve been working by cheque, this is a step in the right direction, but it is still subject to error and other glitches – not to mention the pain of making out a separate cheque for the correct amount to every employee. BACS software can be merged with your accounts software, so the right amounts are calculated for you. This can save a massive amount of time, and avoids most errors you might make – as well as delays. Even if a cheque takes no longer to clear (which is not always the case – BACS varies and some payments can go through very quickly), people still have to pay them into the bank. If you’re pushed for time, a cheque can sit around for days or weeks before you get around to it.

There have been lots of news stories in recent years about the disappearance of the chequebook, as cards become more and more normal. Like cards, BACS is fast and secure – another reason to expect that the cheque will soon become a thing of the past. bacs software therefore has a number of advantages over the alternatives and is well worth looking into if you don’t have it already. BACS payments have well established themselves over recent years for good reason.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.bottomline.co.uk/

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Why should one make audio visual conferencing standard practice?

The uses of video conferencing in the business sector are well documented, as the need for many people to communicate frequently with colleagues around the world grows increasingly in our modern day ‘global village’.  Telepresence video conferencing is so well developed that we can fairly accurately create the experience of a face to face conference with participants from Texas, Adelaide and Dublin all able to take part from the comfort of their own offices.  It seems odd, though, that audio visual conferencing seems to be struggling to take hold of the mobile communications market.  Although Skype is very popular for those who wish to communicate with friends and relatives abroad, there seems to be very little demand for mobile telephones which allow us to see the person we are talking to.

In its early days, video phone technology was extremely expensive, costing users about 90 dollars a month.  Currently, however, modern technology has reduced the costs to almost zero.  Webcams and highly advanced smart phones mean that cost is no longer a factor in discouraging us from using video conferencing. In its early days, many people expected that videotelephony would become widespread, but it is still used fairly infrequently.

This may in part be because videophone calling tends to be a poor substitute for real face to face conversation.  The conversation tends to be focussed around a video screen and a small camera, and participants often look at the screen rather than the camera, which prevents them from having direct eye-to-eye contact with each other.  Some have put forward the theory that videotelephony may be less popular than expected because people actually prefer less direct communication. Texting, instant messaging and email are much more popular than video calling, which suggests that written conversations which can be handled at one’s convenience is, for most people, preferable to recreating the experience of face-to-face conversations.  In addition, some people regard video cameras as an intrusion.  ‘Why does my friend need to see what I am doing?’ ‘I don’t want to feel I have to look nice for a phone call,’ and ‘I don’t feel comfortable being watched’ are all common responses when people are asked about this kind of technology.

It does seem interesting that video conferencing has proved so popular and widely used in business, but most of us are reluctant to embrace it on a daily basis. Perhaps telepresence video conferencing exerts too much pressure on us to be fully involved in a conversation, when actually we quite like to be able to do the gardening or cook dinner while chatting to our friends and family.  audio visual conferencing does seem to be here to stay, though.  Perhaps we had better just get used to it.

Please visit http://www.edgevision.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.edgevision.co.uk/

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