The term “portal” is used to describe a Web site (intranet, internet, extranet, etc.) that provides quick access to information, applications, and services. Employee portals (intranet), for example, provide access to the information and collaborative environments employees need to do their jobs. E-commerce portals for customers offer a rich buying experience, based on customizable user preferences and actions. Partner portals (extranet) allow companies to share information, perform transactions and collaborate, saving time and resources.
Here are some of the key benefits Portals deliver to your business:
- Immediate access to critical data - Portals deliver integration to your financial and business management systems, allowing immediate access to customer data, inventory queries, purchasing reports, and much more.
- Quick responses to customer questions and concerns - Using a single point of entry to the information they need, employees can answer many common customer requests almost instantly. For example, customer service representatives can simply open an Internet Explorer page and, right away, create a query that will provide the customers with answers to questions, such as shipping information or the status of an order.
- Accelerated employee productivity - Timesheets, expense reports, requisitions, and other tasks can be delivered through the user's Web browser in the form of icons or shortcuts, reducing the time it takes to manage these processes and eliminating related paperwork and data reentry.
- At-a-glance access to key business metrics - Portals allow you to create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to define and track metrics that are critical to your business success. You can deliver personalized views of this key business information to executives. Decision-makers can then drill down quickly to discover underlying causes of changing conditions.
- Reduced load for your IT department - Portals allow browser-based access to information, which means less administration for the IT department - both by reducing the number of dedicated applications they have to install on users' PCs, and by giving them central control over who has access to which data.
For more information on Portal applications, please contact Rob Hardisty at 808- 585-0444.
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