Industry voice: Transactional communications via web portals

For years technology professionals have been advocating the benefits of cloud computing. However, when there are so many other ways of communicating via telephone, post or email, why should a business direct customers and even employees to a web portal in the cloud?

Simple. Re-directing any transactional communication to a web portal enables organisations to gain security, visibility and efficiency – as well as cost reduction. Opting for a web portal that is fully integrated with the existing back end document management system ensures documents are 100% identifiable and traceable.

Below are three reasons why every business should move towards a dedicated web portal now:

1. Secure and Compliant – Only those documents a business wants to share with customers and suppliers are published via the portal and there is a clear, secure separation between the portal and the rest of the company's documents. A web portal also provides a single view of all client correspondence with full transparency and audit trail – and only those individuals with the correct security clearance can access the information.

2. Efficient – Using a web portal to source and keep track of documents that require a complex review and approval process ensures nothing gets missed or lost. Critically, a web portal can transform the speed of turnaround with minimum effort and minimum elapsed time. Businesses can exploit the portal to streamline processes and introduce new, more effective working practices. Full visibility and transparency enables a business to impose greater control, minimise time spent searching for updates and rapidly prioritise key areas of activity.

3. Supports closer customer relationships – A portal also provides customers with a 24-hour touch point with the business. The information can provide additional customer value, enable some degree of self-service and remove the risk of a customer experience being compromised as a result of one member of staff being out of the office for any reason.

For any business, especially those delivering professional or advisory services, it is time to start thinking about making the move to a web-portal for business critical transactions - or ultimately your business will start to suffer.

Stuart Evans is Chief Technical Officer at Invu.

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