Computer Systems

Computer Systems

Computer Systems

Introduction

Small-Sized Enterprises often find it hard to deal with the customers in terms of order placement and delivery. In order to ensure the successful operations, SMEs often resort to online ordering system. Fortunately, there are steps companies can take to ensure invoices are completely accurate and issued in a timely manner. Many of these steps are manual, such as working with customers who have online billing websites. Though keying invoice data into the site may add to the workload, most of sites are front-ends to their accounting or supplier invoice systems and this ensures the invoice is both received properly and the data is entered into the customer's accounting system.

Problems

The booking system.

When a customer makes contact with the call center, the call is routed to an available telephone operator. The problem which can the company face is that if telephone operator is busy so it won't be available to pick up the customer call, when many customers are calling in.

If the operator is available using the enquiry/booking form, notes down the information about the customer manually so a lot of paperwork job is needed, after the same operator manually do calculations of the job price, if the account number of the customer is not known then it is looked up on the customer database, if it is a new account then an account number is created on the customer database. The problem which can operator face is if the booking form is lost. These are standalone machines not networked that have led to 'Islands of Data'. So the company is not having any network connections, the employees cannot communicate to each other or share any data (information) so the data can be lost.

The Control Room

When the enquiry/booking form is received a transport coordinator checks the Job Board for availability and allocates a vehicle and driver to the job just manually call driver and updates the form manually. Then TC calls the driver and agrees the collection and delivery point Expected Time of Arrival and updates the form manually again. Everything TC is doing manually. This inefficient progress wastes time as well as energy, especially when job done repeatedly. TC has high possibility that the papers mess up and it cause human error in the manual updating progress.

The Transport Coordinator should be in touch with drivers using mobile phone. Drivers are required call them every time when they start a shift, have collected a consignment, have completed the job. So they can disturb TC during the job with other client and TC can mess up with paperwork or do some mistakes which can create problems.

Accounts

When the driver telephones in to confirm delivery has been made the enquiry/booking form is “signed off” and put in the accounts tray for charging. The problem can be if the booking form is lost so the managers cannot collect the payment.

An invoice is prepared on a weekly basis and posted to the customer. The problem can be if the customer wish makes payment straight ...