Saturday, October 27, 2012

Virtual Offices - The New Age Workplace

Many huge offices, of well established companies, believe in setting up huge organizations across various cities connected by their huge, wide link of corporate branches, offices and meeting rooms. These organizations often neglect the issue of space encroachment, especially rising costs of realty and dumping unwanted office space.
At such times, for the companies, it starts haunting them when such costs show up on their balance sheets and as a result of keeping their organizational goals intact, they start firing employees. Instead, a balanced, proficient HR official would give every company a very important advice, of switching over to a virtual office.
Such implicit offices are considered a boon in today's times, owing a lot to the technological advancements as well as space and resource saving techniques. A company with its huge number of virtual offices can structure its workforce into other areas of skill, for which they could be trained. Accordingly, the company could drop its status of a hire and fire organization. Also, even if a company has to let go off a certain batch of employees, in the wake of such technological readjustments, having worked their virtual office requirements in sync with their company goals, explaining this fact to the greying employees would not be something to worry about.
Virtual offices allow company representatives to communicate from their so-called offices across various parts of the globe with various consumers. A firm which is into selling products and arranges for after sales services will always want to set up a hotline for the customers to seek compensation for any damage caused to their goods or provide them assistance with regards to how to use particular appliance, etc. Such places known as call centres come under the bracket of business process outsourcing (BPO).
These BPOs are the new rising forms of virtual offices. Apart from this, virtual offices exist in the form of home-offices and virtual file directories, saving out on a lot of office and realty space concerns. Video conferencing is another form of virtual office where the client as well the company officials could continue their daily business dealings with the help of a computer and a video imaging software.
In this new age, firing employees is no way of creating goodwill for a company in the market, where every customer has become wise. Also, an enterprise has to keep a good relation with the media and the law.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Thinking About Cash For Gold? Tips To Guide Your Decision

You need cash and you have some jewelry that you are thinking about selling. Before you rush out to get cash for gold, there are some things that you must think about to get value for your jewelry collection.
One thing you must know about cash for gold transactions is that it is the weight of gold that determines what its value is. Bear in mind however that jewelers use a standard measurement known as the Troy ounce. Scales in the United States will measure 28 grams per ounce while it will measure 31.1 grams per Troy ounce when it comes to a jeweler's method of measurement. You need to understand how the scales work before you walk into a shop to trade gold for money.
You also should know that there are some dealers who use a weight system known as pennyweight (dwt) in order to measure a Troy ounce. Still other dealers choose to measure with grams. This can be confusing if you do not know what is being worked with. A pennyweight is equal to 1555 grams. A dealer may weigh what you bring in by pennyweight but then pay you by grams. Be prepared for the sneakiness that you may have to contend with and don't be fooled!
When deciding to go for cash for gold you also need to understand your karats. Pure gold is very soft and must be added to other metals in order to give it durability, resilience and color. All jewelry that can be purchased in this country can be thought of as an alloy with karat fineness. One karat would therefore equal 1/24 of pure gold in terms of weight. A 14 karat ring or necklace for example would consist of 14 parts made up of gold and 10 parts consisting of other types of metals. Jewelry that is classified as gold must be no less than 10 karats to be called such. Anything less than this is illegal to be labeled in this manner. You must have a working knowledge of karats in order to have a basic understanding of the scrape value of the pieces of jewelry that you possess.
If you are thinking of obtaining cash for gold at a party then you need to make sure that your jewelry pieces that have different karat values are not all weighed together. Some dealers will take all of the items presented to them and will weigh them as one. Once they do this they will then pay their customers for the absolute lowest value in karats. This is not the right way to do business and is very unscrupulous. Be as shrewd as possible in your karat education and do not fall for this ploy. Separate the jewelry you have according to the karat value of it before you take it anywhere to be looked at.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Pick, Pack, Ship: Know What You Need When Choosing A Full Service Provider

here are plenty of warehousing and packaging companies available to handle your pick, pack, ship needs, but not all of them offer full service customer support or even the appropriate engineering, space or software in order to fully automate your order fulfillment requirements. When you're ready to talk look for an order fulfillment expert, have some questions prepared and be sure you can get the coverage you need for all the operations you want to outsource. Experienced pick, pack, ship providers will be able to answer your questions and outline their proposal clearly so that you know what they can and can't offer.
Voice Pick -- What Version Are They Using?
Voice pick is the newest solution to order fulfillment on the market. No longer in its infancy, voice pick can now provide extreme accuracy and fast picking by using impressive voice recognition protocols that mean multiple users can use the system when necessary. Ask about the database system -- does it offer a way to record voice directed picking activities? Can users easily refer to an order look-up screen as needed? Can the voice activated system be directed to use specific templates for carton, cart or pallet? The more flexibility that's built into their voice system, the less likely it is you'll have to scrap one system for another as you expand your operations.
Does The Company Have In-House Engineering And Development?
It's preferable to work with a fulfillment service that has in-house engineers and developers who can take a novel approach to the pick, pack, ship process and turn it into a customized solution for your business. Hiring a warehousing and shipping business that can't redesign an old system or develop a new one for your shipping needs can't evolve without outside help. Be sure you ask whether they have in-house engineers and designers who will work with your company as your needs change. In-house experts can create customized solutions that will minimize touch, lower labor costs and improve your ROI. Guaranteed validation of the expected results of any customization should also be offered by any pick, pack, ship organization.
Do They Offer Advanced Print And Apply Systems?
Print and apply systems can significantly reduce labor costs when combined with automatic packing. They also improve the accuracy of printed address and packing labels. In fact, you can reduce shipping costs significantly simply by using a print and apply system that lets a single operator do the work of up to 15 traditional work stations focused on manifests and labeling. The best print and apply solutions take into account the size of your product, any special packaging needs and your ultimate cost saving goals.
How Can They Help You Reach Your Goals?
Any warehousing, packing and shipping provider can get the job done, but you're looking for one that can not only get it done, but do so in a way that will improve your bottom line and customer satisfaction. Be very clear about what you're looking for. Is saving time or saving money your primary goal? Do you need to increase order accuracy or delivery times? Will you need substantial warehousing space for your products?
Getting the answers to some straightforward questions will quickly tell you whether a company can combine all your needs, including voice activated automation, print and apply, and pick, pack, ship systems, into one customizable solution.