iCompass Technologies

Today iCompass unveiled Customer Advisory Board

iCompass officially unveiled its first ever Customer Advisory Board.  The members of the inaugural iCompass Customer Advisory Board include:

• Cindy Bouchard, Manager of Legislative Services, City of Williams Lake, BC (also Chair of the iCompass Customer Advisory Board)
• Connie Maden, Director of Administrative Services, North Valley Hospital District, Tonasket, WA
• Vicki Hodgkinson, University Secretary, University of Guelph, ON
• Sherry Davis, Manager of Legislative Services, City of Abbotsford, BC
• Lyle Huntley, Clerk & Director of Community Services, Thompson-Nicola Regional District, Kamloops, BC
• Marlene Beaulieu, EA to the President and College Board, College of New Caledonia, Prince George, BC
• Candace Dueck, Chief Administrative Officer, Village of Mannville, AB
• Lynn Suskin, City Clerk, City of Kenmore, WA
• Sue Dawe, Director of Corporate Services, Municipality of Port Hope, ON

“We are thrilled that we have successfully assembled a world-class Customer Advisory Board consisting of highly experienced and diverse individuals from the local government, post-secondary and health sectors,” said Todd Stone, President & CEO of iCompass Technologies.  “Our Customer Advisory Board was established to more richly engage iCompass customers who are widely recognized as ‘power users’ of our Meeting Management services, and who are willing to assist us in our obsession to eliminate the meeting and tracking pains suffered by public agency professionals across North America,” added Stone.

The iCompass Customer Advisory Board was created in April 2010 and has held several meetings over the past couple of months.  The creation of the Customer Advisory Board fulfills yet another of the Grand Slam Service Commitments published by iCompass in January 2010

The Customer Advisory Board is chaired by a customer representative - Cindy Bouchard of the City of Williams Lake - and it is tasked with advocating and promoting the interests of all iCompass customers in the following key areas:

• New product ideas
• Priority areas for enhancement / improvements to existing services
• Priority areas for customer service improvement
• New methods to foster improved collaboration between customers

Please feel free to click here and meet the members of the very first iCompass Customer Advisory Board.

Life before iCompass Meeting Management

Life Before iCompass

Being new to the community and to the role of CAO, I had a steep learning curve ahead of me upon arriving in 2007. Thankfully, the prior CAO had scanned all the historical minutes and bylaws to FilePro which could be easily searched and reprinted to become familiar with past actions. My hope was that the future could now be my focus; however I spent most of my time in meeting mode. Between researching, compiling information, preparing recommendations, typing, formatting, gathering attachments, photocopying and distributing the agenda packages plus the editing of minutes, staff briefings and creation of action lists after the meeting, I was spending almost 20 hours per meeting in non-productive activities. In addition, the majority of this work was late into the night on Friday or on Saturday to try to meet the deadline and still be late. With two meetings per month it was frustrating and inefficient for myself and Council.

Why We Chose iCompass

Believing there had to be a better way, I made contact with at least two other companies from tradeshows, but neither was responsive enough to earn our business. When iCompass contacted me to propose a demo of the Meeting Management program, I was excited since it would be an expansion of services from a company with whom we were already satisfied. Including both my communications officer and recording secretary, we viewed the demo and saw how the software could address our needs and produce a better organized, more complete agenda package in much less time. It would also create more accurate, draft minutes sooner and could generate the action list with notification. iCompass seemed very intent on customer satisfaction and offered the expanded services at a reasonable cost.

How We Made the Purchase a Reality

Once feedback was gathered from all staff and the benefits understood, I began researching funding options. The Municipal Sponsorship Program through the Government of Alberta supported projects that facilitated improved governance at 100%, so the presentation was made to Council outlining how deadlines could be met, staff hours reduced and efficiencies achieved throughout the communication process. Council agreed and the program was ordered.

Life After iCompass

Now an agenda package can be prepared from start to finish in about 4 hours instead of 18. Items needing to go to Council can be prepared and saved to appropriate folders at the time it is first reviewed rather than searching and having to familiarize again. The packages include recommendations or more complex requests for decision, attachments as backup, descriptive footers, page numbers and double-sided or pdf print options. Meetings run more smoothly because Councilors are informed well in advance of meetings. I am also calmer and more confident and spend much less time finalizing the minutes after. The draft motions and back-up documentation are accessible by staff when they receive their action list. I wouldn’t give up my Meeting Management System and see many more uses for the iCompass services - such as for tracking Assessment Review Board requirements, annual performance reviews, and notice of decisions.

Our Experience in Dealing With iCompass

iCompass truly is there to serve the customer. The implementation was great. All training was done remotely at our site - no time or money lost travelling. iCompass provided a schedule of goals, priorities and homework to ensure we utilized the system. Every query was addressed promptly and training repeated if necessary. The trainers spoke in ‘everyday’ language and were responsive to make changes as more was learned about our particular process. The commitment to customer service was even more evident at the annual iCompass user conference I recently attended.

Thanks to Candace L. Dueck, Chief Administrative Officer for this Case Study!

How to successfully manage change in your Organization

Organizations are changing every day in some way or another, however in some organizations it is harder to manage the changes. For instance in some organizations filling cabinets are getting replaced by computers, or the office environment has changed in going from 15 employees to 50 in what seems overnight. So how can we deal with these changes and are their ways to better manage the changes when they happen? Below I constructed a list of changes that might happen in your organization and ways in which might help you better manage the changes.

You come to work and the office filling cabinets filled with public records have been replaced with computers and all you think to yourself is run! Computers and technology are not there to replace your job in the workplace. It is there to make your job more efficient and sustainable. The easiest way to deal with computers is to embrace the technology and try to learn from it. One way would be to take “computers 101 how to use computers” class at your local college or community center or to purchase a book called Computer Forensics for Dummies you won’t regret this easy read.

Work place competition has heated up in most organizations and for some employees can be detrimental. Some of ways to deal with competition in the work place is not to get stressed out and overwhelmed by your new competition. Instead take a break when you feel you are getting anxiety or stressed and get some fresh air. You’re going to need to either embrace the competition or ignore it because it’s not worth getting all worked up about it. My advice would be just performing your job to the best of your ability and keep yourself on track.

You come to work on a Monday morning and a brand new person is sitting beside you ready to start work and you notice your personalities type are completely opposite. Dealing with co-workers and other members of the organization is a must in order to be happy at work and enjoy coming. Some the ways to deal with different personality types is to try and find common ground. Common ground can be anything from your husband’s liking the same golf course or both of you enjoy seafood, or you like going to the movies. My point on this is that common interest gives you something to like about each other which will make your workplace more desirable.   

I’m going to finish this article my leaving you with “John P Kotter's eight steps to successful change” by implementing these eight changes you would be surprised how easy change in the workplace can be to deal with:

1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.

2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.

3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.

4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.

5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.

6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.

7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.

8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into

Nicky Plato, Marketing Coordinator

What are customers saying about iCompass

North Valley Hospital - Case Study 

Connie Maden, Director of Administrative Services North Valley Hospital, Tonasket, Washington, USA

Life before iCompass

Well, plainly put, I do not ever want to go back. The data we have to track from our healthcare admin offices has always been significant, and the administrative healthcare duties that I am responsible for continue to grow day by day. If I was to start a list of my responsibilities, I would still be here next week! 

I gave a short presentation at a previous AHCAA conference on improving admin office efficiencies using Access for tracking policies and procedures and the beauty of the related reporting capabilities. As my Admin Assistant duties and responsibilities grew (I am now Director and on the Senior Management Team), Access was being utilized more and more for more detailed tracking for contract management and I was beginning the process to generate a foundation for tracking our strategic planning projects as well.

Then, several years ago, I stumbled across iCompass at a city conference (I am also on our local city council). After watching several demos at their vendor booth, I knew I had to have these tools in the admin office of the hospital district. I then arranged for a demo in-house and further negotiated a contract utilizing all of the modules that collectively form their Meeting Management Solution (Meeting Manager, FilePro and Action Tracking modules). North Valley Hospital became the pilot healthcare facility for iCompass Technologies.

Life After iCompass 

When I implemented iCompass I soon realized that what I had gained was likened to an office assistant or two at a much reduced expense. I also determined quickly that I now had the ability to access and track important executive data and easily create reports on items that are not tracked through the more sophisticated software - whether within our hospital patient care, financial, or billing software. My research has shown me that separate software packages are very expensive (one firm wanted to charge me $20K a year JUST for a Strategic Planning Tracker). Smaller healthcare facilities cannot feasibly entertain that kind of price point.

Meeting Manager

The iCompass Meeting Manager module alone helps me to completely eliminate paper packets to the board – everything is now online at their disposal any time day or night. Additionally, I now provide that all important transparency to the community.

Action Tracking – General

The iCompass Action Tracking module contains a number of ‘Trackers’ which are highly versatile. They are usable for any department (not just Admin) needing to track any kind of data (such as HR, Plant Engineering, Laundry, Contracts, Strategic Planning, etc.) They also provide powerful capabilities related to keeping lists, producing reports and tracking historical data. These Trackers can be accessed via Meeting Manager or directly within the Action Tracking module. I have the ability to set up notifications and reminders for future timelines (great for contract management). Committee meeting and staff meeting minutes can now be created and funneled into one main depository. Log-in information is set up for all managers to be able to go in, update, access and create their own Trackers, all the while preserving a historical trail of who did what, when.

Action Tracking - Contract Management Tracker

I have over 250 paper contract documents that I manage with one of my Trackers I created - I call it my ‘Contract Management Tracker’. I now attach the pdf contract document to the Tracker item and put the responsibilities for managing the contracts back in the hands of the managers of the appropriate departments with the tracking, reporting, and reminder options. Just having the reminders set for insurance contracts in our billing department can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars of reimbursement if the contracts are negotiated at the appropriate time, ensuring also that they do not fall through the cracks and result in lost revenue.

Action Tracking - Strategic Planning Tracker

The Strategic Planning tracker is becoming a living and breathing tracker/document that will enable managers and supervisors to provide comments on detail of implementation of projects and objectives. I have been working with iCompass application engineers to fine tune this tracker and I am very excited about these capabilities. Imagine a transparent dashboard with admin able to extract data and managers/supervisors able to input comments and attach documentation as to the status of a project. Imagine the ability to track whether a project is on budget, below or over budget with the financial detail attached directly from the responsible staff. These are only a few of the capabilities available to us with this Tracker. At the end of the day, our strategic plan is no longer a set of papers with admin assistants running around to track down information prior to a Strategic Planning or board meeting.

Action Tracking - Employee Suggestions Tracker

This Tracker provides the ability to track when employee suggestions come in, and which Manager is responsible for doing the PDSA and further development. Employees can track the progress of their own suggestion.

FilePro - Document Storage & Search

With FilePro, I manage all of our policies and procedures from my office through the Internet. We had what could have been a real safety issue – nurses could search for policies on my old system but they would also pull up the old archived copies - this was a medication error waiting to happen. Now, everyone can access and search our documents safely via a secure site on the Internet.

iCompass Customer Service - The best!

In almost 3 years, I have not had one issue that iCompass has not handled as a top priority and with the utmost professional customer service. Highlights of their customer service include getting a person on the phone 24/7, a web-based incident reporting process, and their new Customer Advisory Board which will assist iCompass with further on-going functional improvements, new product development and enhanced customer service.

Big thanks to Connie Maden for this Case Study!

Nicky Plato, Marketing Coordinator

Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators Annual Conference

I recently had the privilege of attending the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators annual conference held in beautiful Toronto, Ontario. This three day action packed conference was built around their theme "Seizing Opportunities - Action through Leadership" it featured over 300 delegates, 14 sponsors, and 35 exhibitors (including us of course). It was a wonderful opportunity for us to network with all the delegates and to sit in on some of their stimulating sessions.

Throughout the conference there were inspirational keynote speakers, however one got our attention as soon as we read the session title "Woman Are Always Right! Men Are Never Wrong - Gender Differences in the Workplace" presented by James and Kelly Robbins. This husband and wife speaking duo were incredible, their session covered everything from helping organizations increase workplace productivity, building stronger relationships between co-workers, and creating a better workplace environment. We also had the opportunity to attend the Hockey Hall of Fame in downtown Toronto. It is a fabulous venue and is home to the legendary Stanley Cup. While we browsed hockey history we got to practice our hockey shots and goalie techniques.

Overall the conference was delightful and very well organized and we look forward to seeing all the CAMA members in Halifax NS next year! 

Nicky Plato, Marketing Coordinator

5 ways to make your office Sustainable

Reduce your paper consumption in your office and start becoming more sustainable right away. Large quantities of paper in offices are largely wasted by not thinking before printing. You can also reduce paper use by using both sides for printing, photocopying, faxing, and for internal reports. Instead of using Post-It-Notes or multiple notebooks when trying to remember things from your meetings try and save it to your blackberry or onto your desktop. In board meetings try and use dry-ease boards or chalkboard to jot down notes and actionable items to follow up on.

Invest in computers and other technology to help make your office more sustainable and efficient. Some offices are not so technology savvy or want things done the old fashion way of writing them all down, however technology is there to help personal performance not hinder it. Also because of the complexity of breaking down computer parts they have to be disposed of in the appropriate matter.

Green purchasing at the office is not just a trend it is a movement in the right direction. Your office space if the environment you and your staff call home for 7-10 hours a day. Your office building uses tremendous amounts of energy, water, and paper products every single day. However improving your offices efficiency of your office can have huge impact on your bottom line. Some of ways you can make a difference in your office is by asking your suppliers for details of their environmental policies. Try and buy recycled or reclaimed products whenever possible, especially when buying bulk. If possible try and avoid products that are shipped from over sea and try to start buying locally.

Recycling will help your office become more sustainable and have an immediate impact. Recycling has become more important as the whole world is becoming more aware of environmental issues. Some of ways to encourage recycling is to make simple. Providing recycling boxes that are clearly labelled for plain paper, cardboard, glass, newsprint, coloured paper, and organic matter make it accessible and easy. Also having a shredder next to the printer or copier area will allow employees to shred unwanted papers. Then your shipping department if you have one can use the shredded paper for packing materials.   

Energy efficiency is a must to becoming more sustainable at your office. Switching off electrical appliances when not in use or to ensure they are in power savings mode will help with your electricity bill and the environment. Try and purchase environmental friendly light bulbs for your whole office will have a huge impact on your energy consumption. Replacing plumbing fixtures to love-flow toilets and sanitary items to recycled ones is a quick and easy change.

iCompass Announces Grand Slam Service

April 14, 2010

Today, iCompass officially launched the details of a bold and company-wide 2010 customer commitment, called Grand Slam Service.

"Our number one priority in 2010 is to take our customer service to a whole new level, and in doing so, WOW our customers in every way possible," said Todd Stone, iCompass President & CEO.  "This delivery of unequalled customer service means first class acknowledgement and responsiveness.  It means consistency of performance and meeting deadlines/expectations.  It means constant communication and products tailored to your needs.  It means being as easy to do business with as possible," added Stone.   

Two important ingredients in delivering success on all of the above are clarity and being specific.  Therefore, iCompass has delivered to each of its customers a document called "Grand Slam Service" which details 20 specific commitments that the company is making to all of its customers through 2010. 

"Many of these specific commitments require significant investments, new behaviours, and new business best practices," said Stone.  "I am pleased to report that through the first 90 days of 2010, we have delivered on 80% of these commitments.  For example, we have increased our customer service staffing levels by over 40%; we are responding to incoming requests/inquiries within 10 minutes of our Customer Advocacy Team receiving them; customer calls are now answered by a person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; we have extended our Customer Advocacy office hours to 5 AM to 6 PM (Pacific); and we have taken great strides at improving our implementation procedures, documentation and self-help tools," added Stone.

"While it has been a busy first quarter, we have many more exciting initiatives to come through 2010 so stay tuned for a continual stream of innovations and improvements in service," said Stone.  "On behalf of the entire iCompass team, we thank our customers for all of their loyalty and support over the years," added Stone.

Todd Stone

President & CEO

User Conference 2010 in Beautiful Whistler BC, Canada

Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa, Whistler, BC

Secure the budget and block the dates in your 2010 calendar!  The 2010 iCompass User Conference will be held in Whistler, British Columbia at the luxurious Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa ). This will be the only iCompass User Conference in North America in 2010.  Room rates for our conference are as follows: $129/night for a classic King or Queen. 

As the provider of and , leading Meeting Management Solutions for busy government and academic professionals, iCompass strives to provide our customers with the latest best practices to maximize your use of our services. This is why we are creating an intensive, two-day program including talks, demonstrations, round-table discussions, and tutorials to better help you maximize your use of the Meeting Management Solution. This will be a unique opportunity to meet the iCompass team, network with your peers, acquire new skills, and plug-in to the fast-growing and user communities.  A detailed User Conference Program will be made available within weeks.

iCompass and FileBank Announce a Marketing Affiliation

KAMLOOPS, BC - November 17, 2009 - iCompass Technologies, a leading meeting management software provider, is pleased to announce its newest marketing affiliation with FileBank Professional Services to refer their document storage solutions to hundreds of public sector organizations across North America.

Taking advantage of each company's expertise as leaders in their respective fields, this affiliation aims to make it easier for organizations to streamline their document storage. Our users now have a proven, reliable service to assist them in document storage and imaging needs. This relationship enhances iCompass' whole product offering by making it easier to prepare hard copy documents for upload into the CivicWeb Solution from iCompass making it easier for the public sector to find key documents using keyword searches.

The affiliation marks a very important business development initiative and reflects iCompass' commitment to continuous improvement of solutions for customers. "We recognize the increasing requirement for document management and see tremendous business opportunities for both iCompass and FileBank," says Jason Cacaci, Director of Business Development at iCompass.

About iCompass

iCompass provides CivicWeb, the leading web-based Meeting Management Solution for City Clerks and Board Secretaries who are swamped with never-ending process related to managing the preparation, approval and distribution of agendas and minutes AND tracking mission critical deliverables within the organization. CivicWeb automates the entire meeting process within one system. It also reduces paper consumption, contains ‘smart' templates, and enables the shifting of time savings to tackle other key priorities.

About FileBank

FileBank has been a leader in Records Management for over 20 years, managing over 10,000 000 bar coded containers, files, data tapes, digital images and x-rays for our clients across Canada.  We provide custom solutions for our customers back office requirements through Document Management, Offsite Backup, High Speed Digital Imaging, Secure Shredding and IT Consulting and Repairs.    While offering a customized solution is definitely one of the keys to our success, our clients will tell you it's our commitment to customer service that really sets us apart.   Customer Service is the inspiration behind everything at FileBank.

iCompass Participates in 'Movember'

Did you know 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer? Typcially there are no symptoms until it is spread beyond the prostate.

These statistics alone prompted eleven iCompass, a meeting management solution company, staff to register and raise money in the fight against prostate cancer this November. iCompass was part of a global movement of 255,494 Mo Bros and Sistas who joined together for 30 days to bring much needed attention to prostate cancer.

The cause commonly known as 'Movember' is a huge success and all proceeds go directly to Prostate Cancer Canada. Amongst the iCompass group was Lorraine, a 'Movember' Sista, who was a constant supporter and active fundraiser, despite not growing a moustache. In total thirteen iCompass staff members showed their support by growing moustaches including the entire management team.

Branden Moskwa, Implementation and Training Team Lead, was the iCompass Mr. Movember topping the team by raising $420.00. Branden was married a little over a month ago and got involved with the cause when one RSVP came back with the news of a very dear friend that would be unable to attend the wedding due to his current struggle with prostate cancer. This got him thinking and before he knew it he could name 6 direct relatives off the top of his head that have suffered from prostate related illnesses.

With the help of Branden and many other iCompass staff the iCompass 'Movember' team was able to raise a total of $1,080.00 for Prostate Cancer.

To read more about the iCompass 'Movember' team visit: http://ca.movember.com/mospace/members/search/q/iCompass