Sentry Equipment Launches New Website

Sentry Equipment Online Presence

Waterford has partnered with Sentry Equipment (www.SentryEquipment.com) to build a new online presence for their businesses, create a secure sales workflow system for submitting online quotes, and build and manage social media campaigns.  Sentry Equipment, incorporated in August of 1980, has risen to the top of its profession by offering a complete line of conveying equipment and machinery and Waterford is excited to help them reflect their business on the web and in social media!

“After years of getting by with a homemade website, we finally made the decision to take our online presence to the next level.  We researched local website designers and went through a lengthy interview process.  Since the beginning we’ve felt like it was a collaborative effort rather than a customer / vendor transaction.  The result is something that our whole company can take pride in.  We have other projects coming up in the near future, and we are looking forward to working with Waterford and Steve once again.”

- Les Womack/Vice President Sales

Solution

• New website design
• Custom Online Quote System
• Content Management solution for easy updates
• Social Media setup/integration
• Branded email
• Site management and hosting services

www.SentryEquipment.com

Sharepoint for Small Business Collaboration

Many of our small business clients are moving to SharePoint these day and more of them are finding Sharepoint really helps them address specific business problems with measurable results. In most cases hosted Sharepoint Windows Services (WSS) is sufficient to deliver huge value, and the cost is consequently very reasonable for the tightest of budgets.

We always tell our clients, “Crawl before you walk”, and that applies here.  Start with one or two pressing business problems that Sharepoint can solve and start there.  Over hte next week we’ll go over some typical  small business SharePoint solutions, starting with

Information

The good ‘ole Intranet site.  This is a common site for all employees, or groups of some kind.

• HR Policies/Documents – employee manuals, vacation request forms,  employee contact lists, emergency contact lists etc.
• Client files – current contracts, contact information, meeting notes,  expense forms etc.  Sometimes these may be their own workspace.
• Operations files – reports, accounting files, procedures, vendor contact  lists etc.
• Links to partner sites or common information sources

Beyond the common Intranet team workspace you may have others for specific clients, divisions, or other purposes.  We’ll throw some more out there next time.

Blue Ridge Store Online Store

“We wanted to be more than just a place to buy soccer equipment and apparel.  Our goal was to become THE destination for local soccer, whether it is equipment, information, league and camp signups, or anything else.  I believe the Waterford Technologies team got us there!  With over 12,000 products available to our customers online, camp information, local club information, and more we now have a great resource to serve our existing customers better and reach new ones throughout the entire Central Virginia area.”  

- Ryan Bullock

Solution

• New website design
• E-Commerce solution with online payment processing
• Content Management solution for easy updates
• Social Media setup/integration
• Branded email
• Site management and hosting services

www.BlueRidgeSoccerOnline.com

The solution being put forth is a design technique called “Context-Aware Images“.  The goal of this technique is to deliver optimized, contextual image sizes for responsive layouts that utilize different image sizes at different resolutions. Ideally, this approach will allow developers to start with mobile-optimized images in their HTML and specify a larger size to be used for users with larger screen resolutions without having to request both image sizes. The scaled images appear to change fluidly with the help of  updated developer tools and coding languages, allowing designs to look sharp in  every context. Responsive web designing is remarkably different from traditional  designing in terms of technical and creative issues, and a careful use of this can do wonders while designing.

It’s now becoming possible to make sure your site offers the same high level experience for whatever device your audience is using. Responsive Web Design is a means of designing websites so that they adapt to the many possible devices people are viewing them on with the ultimate goal of building a single website that provides the same user experience on any device. This approach allows your site to seamlessly adjust and fit the screen its viewed on.

How?  Well we’ll start to look in to that next.

Light University Online Launching its New Student Information System

Light University Online of Virginia (www.lightuonline.com) is set to launch its new, state-of-the-art student information system  on October 1st.   Working with  partner Waterford Technologies Inc. (www.waterfordtech.com), our in-house development team helped design a new Light  University Online  that will feature such  benefits as simple navigation, a graphically pleasing interface, and easy to  use course registration modules…just to name a few!

Shaun Redgate, Vice President for Enrollment  Management, says this new student information system was necessary because of  the growth of the university and the need to provide a more customized solution  to better serve its students.  “I’m  thrilled to see the end result of months of hard work and development.  And better yet, I know our students’ will  appreciate the user-friendly features as they register for courses, check their  academic progress, and interact with the university support staff.”

Steve Horton, President of Waterford  Technologies says it was time for a change.   “This time through we’ve designed a solution that meets the unique needs  of Light University Online.  By taking advantage of the latest technologies we  ensured that the system can grow to meet the demands of their growing  university AND offer the best experience to their students.”

Light University Online, a distinctively  Christian institution, offers world-renowned faculty, a robust and interactive  online learning experience, proactive student support, and a relevant  curriculum to help ensure students’ success. Students enjoy interacting with  peers around the world, flexibility in time and place of study, achievable five-week  terms, and small, tight-knit “virtual” classes. As a result of these  “best-in-class” features, Light University Online has experienced a  300% year over year growth rate and has already graduated close to 400 students  who are now better trained in the helping ministries.

So last time we were wondering if the rapidly growing Instagram photo sharing community could benefit our businesses.  I think we’ve figured out now that the answer is a resounding “YES”!  It’s another opportunity for businesses to participate in and be a part of a community.  So what does that look like practically speaking?

Here are a few ways others are using Instagram for their business now.  Maybe some will resonate for you:

• Oceana is encouraging Instagrammers to share  their photos of the ocean. Tag them #ocean to include them among the more than 12,000 ocean photos already on Instagram.
• Threadless shares photos of new t-shirts and some behind the scenes photos that show the t-shirts being made.
• Red Bull is sharing cool photos from their events all over the world with their 10,000 followers.
• Starbucks shares coffees from all over the world along with updates showing different straws and encouraging engagement with followers.
• Waterford Web Works displays new client websites as well as screen captures of white boards and architectural documents from design sessions.  :>

So there are 5 different types of companies using Instagram for their business.  Does that give you any ideas?

What is Instigram?

Instagram is a mobile app that allows users to instantly take and/or upload photos and quickly edit them using a unique set of filters and a branded tilt-shift feature (3-D effect) that sets them apart from the rest. They say pictures speak a thousand words, and Instagram lets people share their thoughts and experiences through images.  So what should business owners know?

Instagram is Immediate!

Instigram is primarily a mobile application so just using your iPhone or Android, you snap the photo, edit, upload, add a comment and share from your brand’s profile within seconds.  How about a new menu item for your restaunt?  New items for sale in your store?  Networking events for your consulting business?  Etc.

ANYONE Can Take Pictures!

Everyone likes taking photos and everyone CAN take photos.  While you may not feel comfortable creating status updates, promotions, etc. you can sure take a quick picture on your phone and share it!

Highlight Your Brand

Use Instagram to show off your product/service or even your staff. Instagram albums give personality to brands in a manner that no other social media networks do.

Reach People Easier

If you frequently post interesting images that feature your product service on Instagram, customers are more likely to follow you there than on any other Social Network. It will be easier for you to build brand recognition with a bigger fan base. Because Instagram easily links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, it helps those social networks grow for you as well. The same rules of social network marketing apply though – interact with (comment and “like”) and follow your customers FIRST. On Instagram, they actually follow back.

Conclusion

Instagram may be the easiest and most fun-to-use social sharing network out there and it can be a tremendous tool in developing your business’ brand persona and in gaining brand recognition with your online customer base.  Contact us at Solutions@WaterfordTech.com to talk with our Social Media marketing team and we’ll be happy to help!

1. Be wary of emails asking for confidential information—especially of a financial nature. Legitimate organizations will never request sensitive information via email.
2. Don’t get pressured into providing sensitive information. Phishers like to use scare tactics, and may threaten to disable an account or delay services until you update certain information.  Be sure to contact the merchant directly to confirm the authenticity of their request.
3. Familiarize yourself with a Web site’s privacy policy.
4. Watch out for generic-looking requests for information. Fraudulent emails are often not personalized, while authentic      emails from your bank often reference an account you have with them.
5. Never submit confidential information via forms embedded within email messages.
6. Never use links in an email to connect to a Web site. Instead, open a new browser window and type the URL directly into the address bar.

* Some new Anti-virus and Malware applications (including Norton Internet Security) will automatically detect and block fake Web sites and will authenticate major banking and shopping Web sites.