Half of our work involves building web sites for clients and driving traffic to them through SEO management and online marketing. The other half involves designing and constructing custom online tools that our clients’ customers will never see — backend tools that help companies operate more efficiently, respond quicker and spot trends that otherwise might go unnoticed.

Our understanding of how browser-based software can lead to smoother internal operations began with our own customer-support ticket system, which tracks every detail of a client’s issue, from that first call or email until we’ve received confirmation that the matter is resolved. Like everything in life, it comes down to communication — not just between client and WRIS, but between the members of the WRIS team. At a glance, we can see every ticket, how long it’s been active and who’s handling it. With a little drilling down, we can read staffers’ notes on the situation, communications with the client and estimated time until resolution. Of course we still talk face to face. The advantage of the online ticket system is that it provides the view from the ground and from above, simultaneously.

Our relationship with Gerber Collision & Glass, a national chain, began with a contract for a web work. Later we built them a customer-feedback system similar to ours. Customer service reps who field the calls and emails enter the data and route it to the proper departments. The system also aggregates the data so that managers can spot trends — an increase in a particular type of complaint, or a decline in a department’s response time. This helps them catch small problems before they grow into big ones.

That worked out well, and Gerber sought our help with a custom-built online benefits-enrollment app. Gerber had considered outsourcing this work, but our system not only let them keep it in-house, it helped them save half a million dollars over four years. See the case study.

Gerber is part of the Canada-based Boyd Group, which has been acquiring small collision shops across North America. That means a lot of new employees to on-board, and WRIS is working with Boyd on a portal that brings together new and legacy human resources functions. All details of employment — compensation, benefits, vacation time, reviews, emergency contacts, etc. — will be accessible through one browser-based portal.

Not all custom-built software solutions are that grand in scale, and not all companies benefitting from them are as big as Boyd. incentRev, which partners with radio stations for promotions, needed a customer-service ticket system, so we built them one modeled on ours; it’s easy to use on the front and back ends. Another client wanted its field reps to be better equipped on sales calls, so we pulled together specs, pricing, order status and other details into one data base that they could access via tablet.

The common thread is easy access to information. In every industry, details and big picture are equally important. The business that can see both is less likely to fall behind, and more likely to get a jump on the competition.

Please contact us for more information.