Sometimes technology surprises us by offering benefits we maynot have realized it provided, such as additional uses for existingsoftware programs or innovative ways to manage workflow. Thathappened at our agency just last month, when our virtual privatenetwork (VPN) and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) phone systemprovided an unexpected solution to a sudden crisis.

A VPN allows an agency with multiple locations to reducesoftware and maintenance costs by combining an agency managementsystem database and a Microsoft exchange server for e-mail from asingle location. We replaced two separate servers with one by usingterminal service for data transmissions and remote voice accessover a VoIP network, and as a result reduced management systemoperating costs by 40%. Our first year's savings offset the cost ofthe additional VPN hardware and software. Other agencies might alsofind that upgrading to a high-level technology platform createsenough savings to justify the investment.

Besides reducing expenses and improving efficiency, a VPN withterminal services allows employees to remotely access an agency'ssystem. For a paperless agency, this capability may give the ownerand staff members even greater flexibility than they may haveanticipated. For example, because our office is paperless and wecombine a VPN with terminal services, two of our customer servicerepresentatives can effectively work from home.

Recently, however, a set of unusual circumstances revealed evenmore advantages of our technological configuration. We knew thatboth our offices would be short-staffed for about a month becausesome of our personnel were scheduled to attend meetings, one personwould be teaching a class, and another was working from homepart-time. We had arranged coverage for both offices for the entiremonth, but with our staff already stretched quite thin, we hopednothing would go awry because there was no room for error.

One week before the alternative staffing plan was to takeeffect, one of our customer services representatives surprised usby resigning to become a bookkeeper in a different industry. Thisrevelation meant not only that in two weeks our agency would lose aCSR at a time when we could ill afford to, but also that we wouldhave to hire a replacement–a process that takes considerable timeand energy even during the best of times.

Our first priority was ensuring that both our offices wereadequately staffed throughout the month. To do so, we would have tomove personnel between them. We normally have three people at eachoffice, but during most of the hectic month ahead, only one personwas scheduled at each location. The CSR's departure left us withthe prospect of having one office “uncovered” for several days.

As we scrambled to rearrange our logistics, we realized that ourtechnology platform offered some built-in benefits we had notpreviously considered. Because employees can access the agency'smanagement system and database from either office, people from thefirst office who were temporarily working at the second office–orvice versa–could bring just a few things with them and work as theynormally would at their regular location. Also, the VoIP phonesystem allowed us to transfer telephone calls between the twooffices (which are 35 miles apart) as simply as we transfer themfrom one extension to another. So “dislocated” staff members couldtake calls from their customers as if the calls had beentransferred from the next room, provide the customary level ofservice, and maintain their zero-backlog performance standard. Bytapping into some previously unused–or even unknown–features of ouragency's management system and other technology platforms, wesurvived a potentially catastrophic staff shortage with minimalimpact on our employees or clients.

So, the next time you hesitate to spend your hard-earned dollarson technology, think about the tremendous value of having built-inworkflow flexibility during an unforeseen crisis such as the one weexperienced. Investing wisely in technology can keep you operatingsmoothly under normal circumstances and also help you avert acatastrophe–or at least emerge from one unscathed.