In all the glitz, smoke, mirrors and fancy talk, the Unibase by DMAC booth with our dealers, vendors and staff seemed very down to earth.  We know we had sufficient people manning the booth at all times so that questions were answered quickly.  We had Unibase by DMAC enviroment demonstrations on MSDOS, OS/2 Warp, and UNIX platforms.  We had a 150 mhz Tandem UNIX box to show real speed.  We had all new literature.  We had our dinosaur fans to hand out.  We just did not and will not have neon lights on our booth.

Client Efforts Shows the Smoke

One telling tale about the show came about a month later at a client site in New York.  The client, after signing a Unibase by DMAC contract, told us that he called five different show vendors about their data entry/imaging products.  Quick responses from the salesmen arrived promising the best data entry/imaging products.  When DMAC's new client asked for demonstration copies, three vendors postponed offering a demonstration -- not quite ready yet.  He felt for him Unibase by DMAC was the best solution after seeing and playing with our demonstration copies and being supported by the DMAC hoteline.  DMAC's hotline support he felt was the best in the industry.

Speaker Wants Truth

Another tale comes from attending a forum on the role of the service organization in data entry in the future.  One of the speakers is a distinguished service organization head not using Unibase by DMAC but using heads up keying.  When asked by Fred Tarbox of DMAC what could vendors do to help organizations like his, the response came quickly.  "Tell the truth."

Seems that regularly his clients ask him about the costs associated with data entry through imaging.  His now-standard opening speech tells the clients that you can expect half of what a vendor is promising whether it is speed, ease of use or total throughput.  "All of us in the industry can be proud of our application of techonology -- why can't we say where we really are?"  In particular, his clients feel that his margins are too great when in fact they are insufficient because of this truth stretching.

End Comes to REI Era

Talking with people at the TAWPI show from Recognition International Inc. was sad.  For years the leader in data entry and in OCR processing, they now look forward to operating as a part of BankTec, Incorporated.  BankTec is a rapidly growing company focusing on document processing systems for the banking, financial services, insurance, government utilty, telecommunications and retail industries.  We wish them well.

Service Bereau Head Wants Impact

Another head of a large service bureau spoke about the declining role of service organizations in TAWPI.  She lamented that less than ten percent of the attendees were with service organizations.  Asked why so few, she felt needs were not being met.  Asked about these needs, she had this to say.

Service organizations want to know how the changing technology affects the people involved.  Currently at TAWPI when a case study is provided, it is an analytical study.  Costs, hardware, time lines are featured.  She feels the impact upon the organization, its efficiency, turnover caused by the changes, frustration level, support levels, and average number of "show stoppers" per day are as important as the numbers currently presented.  "How did you prepare, or should have prepared, for the change in technology a new system brings?  What advice can be offered others about this process?"  This emphasis will probably change in the future at TAWPI, if only to answer her questions.