Options Include Online Textbooks, Wireless Gadgets
Visitors to the MicroSkills corporate office on Miramar Road have more options when it comes to waiting room activities.
Yes, there are magazines spread across a table in the middle of the waiting area, but there is also a wide-screen TV mounted in the wall to offer visitors a little more entertainment.
The TV, operated by a touch-screen remote control, offers either a video presentation on MicroSkills’ services or access to several business and news cable networks, including CNN, MSNBC, CSPAN, and Fox News.
According to Bart Saxey, the technical education center’s president, the TV immediately exemplifies what MicroSkills is about.
“Why do you put on a suit to go to church?” Saxey asked. “It’s a presentation of who you are. This is a presentation of who we are and how we use technology in our business.”
MicroSkills moved into the office space in the Pyramid on Miramar Road just two months ago, and installed technology-savvy bells and whistles throughout the facility.
Saxey said the office is a reflection of what offices of the future will resemble because the technology is constantly being advanced and is more affordable.
– Technology Is Future of Business
“Technology is the future of all business growth, and as a company in the technology business we become more efficient and effective through that technology,” Saxey said. “It’s important for us to display that in our facility.”
He said investors poured between $2 million and $3 million to outfit the new office.
The wall television is just one of the innovations the company has equipped in its new office. The remainder of the tools, however, are used as a benefit to its executives and employees.
MicroSkills’ board room is somewhat of a game room navigated with wireless tools.
At the touch of a button, the lights are dimmed, the inside windows go from clear to opaque, while those facing the outside are immediately covered with blinds.
A remote control accesses the company’s computer network and allows presentations and spreadsheets to be displayed instantly on-screen. For research purposes, or to prove a point, the Internet can be pulled up on that same screen. So, there’s no need for interruptions or having an assistant pull a file or report.
There is a teleconferencing unit in the center of the 12-foot conference table that allows every participant to be heard and hear clearly. Plans are under way to install a videoconferencing unit in the room.
– Office Practices What They Preach
“We feel it’s important to practice what you preach,” Saxey said. “We show that technology not only through our school, but also through our office environment.”
The phone system at MicroSkills is run through a computer network that allows long distance calls to be made without a long distance provider. Calls come through just like an e-mail.
Educational facilities are no exception to the rule when it comes to implementing new technology into the workplace.
Take the University of Phoenix for example.
The school installed Smartboards in every classroom , at $10,000 each , to provide a better teaching environment.
The university has about 80 classrooms throughout the county, but Bruce Williams, the school’s vice president and director, said the substantial investment was worth it.
“There’s no question it’s a better tool,” Williams said. “It’s like a mouse, when you touch it, it will change.”
The Smartboards work with an overhead projection system that links to the board and a podium near the front of the classroom. The podium is equipped with a computer and VCR allowing instructors to present just about any display desired.
“You can play a videotape, play a CD-ROM or go onto the Internet,” Williams said.
– School Teaches With E-Books
The University of Phoenix has also started using a system that allows students to learn the coursework with no books.
It’s called e-books and is offered through Microsoft.
Williams said the school started using the program in August and has received high marks from instructors and students.
Through e-books, all the reading materials are downloaded to virtual books and are available online. Williams said students save about $30 per class by using online textbooks.
The director said he’s not sure what other tech tool the university will add, but said he’s sure some company will come up with something worthwhile.
“Technology is helping to make it easier for us to get our content more widely distributed,” he said.
Although the university managed when the Smartboards and e-books were not available, Williams said the tools are beneficial because they make it easy to customize information.
Bruce Ahern, a local technology industry analyst, agreed with Williams and said it’s true that schools worked before the advancements. But they work a whole lot better with them.
“Classrooms survived before there was the Internet and computers, but it’s nice to have them,” Ahern said.
– Tools Depend On Bottom Line
Ahern said a lot of the new tools being placed in offices and schools are just “fluff and are more entertaining and attractive.”
He said the tools are justifiable as long as the company is profitable, but once the bottom line drops, he said, so will the fancy tools.
“Such frivolities will be postponed or curtailed in lieu of high-level profitability,” Ahern said. “Those things are a little more fad-oriented and some of the more progressive companies that are profitable are going to take those kind of approaches. When profitability starts to drop off, those unique approaches will go first.”
Ahern said new gadgets like the ones implemented in MicroSkills’ office are typically seen in technology companies, but shouldn’t be expected in “old school” companies like locally based Buck Knives and WD-40.
“My gut impression is the more technological advanced companies and more forward-thinking companies are going to be doing that,” he said. “But I would not expect that in a mainstream approach.”
