The OSAS/Link^TM automated web based software system efficiently coordinates the education, screening, diagnosis, treatment, compliance, and outcomes of obstructive sleep apnea programs for corporate employees.

This nationwide sleep apnea management system has been created to assist in the reduction of healthcare expenses and fatigue related risks specifically for, but not limited to, large corporations in the transportation and manufacturing industries. The OSAS management program eliminates the need for employers to spend valuable man hours dealing with implementation and in-house management of fatigue / wellness related issues.

The challenge for any company attempting to roll out a sleep apnea program for the transportation industry is that there are a lot of moving parts and people involved in the process, such as primary care doctors, sleep doctors, sleep diagnostic providers and sleep therapy providers. If you then have employees spread out over a large geography at numerous locations, the number of people involved quickly becomes unmanageable.

OSAS/Link^TM joins these individuals together via this secure web portal, providing the corporate client the visibility and assurance that their employees are being serviced efficiently and only by highly qualified service providers. This is because “OSAS Service Partners” are chosen from a select few, who can achieve superior results. They are primarily recruited from ResMed’s “Sleep 4A Healthy Life^TM” network of providers. These are providers who specialize in sleep, and through a combination of high quality service and high end technology, achieve much higher compliance rates then the industry average.

Additionally OSAS/Link^TM allows the entire national network of partners the opportunity to be involved in sleep apnea programs throughout the country for corporate clients and the automation of the software system allows management of quality control for employees at all of our client’s locations throughout the United States. The system is scalable to handle a small number of employees at just one location, to thousands of employees at hundreds of locations. We have established key service protocols for our “OSAS Service Partners” to adhere to that are consistent, cost effective, must be completed in a timely manner, and ensure quality outcomes.

With statistics reporting 28% of CDL drivers and 11.6% of shift workers at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, the OSAS/Link^TM, the OSAS national network of regional directors, and the highly qualified nationwide “OSAS Service Partners”, combine forces to provide a consistent quality of service and care to client employees and will help fill an ever growing need for employers wishing to efficiently manage sleep apnea in the workplace.

Interested parties are encouraged to participate in the OSAS “Sleep Well / Be Healthy^TM“, “Sleep Well / Be Productive^TM“, and “Sleep Well / Be Safe^TM” fatigue wellness programs and should contact OSAS at 877.397.2727.
Visit our website at www.osas.biz for more information.
###

About Occupational Sleep Apnea Solutions, Inc:
Occupational Sleep Apnea Solutions, Inc. (OSAS) provides businesses specialized programs that improve employee health, helps reduce the risk of accidents, increase workplace productivity, and reduce associated costs, by education, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of employees with obstructive sleep apnea.

James Berryhill, President / CEO states, “I have been in the medical equipment sales and service business for over 25 years. I created OSAS after seeing that a man, his wife, and their two children were killed by an 18 wheeler, while attending to a flat tire, on the side of the road. It was later determined that the driver of the truck had fallen asleep, prior to impact. My professional experiences led me to assume that the driver had sleep apnea, and I thought I might have saved their lives if I had been able to treat the driver’s disorder. I realized that the family in that car could have been my daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. As a result, I embarked on creating OSAS, whose passion is to improve the health of those that suffer from sleep apnea, and most importantly to save lives. I began providing service locally, to a small trucking company. Shortly thereafter, one of the client’s employees diagnosed with sleep apnea failed to receive treatment for over 30 days. It became apparent that the coordination and tracking of all the processes had become much too cumbersome for my staff. I decided that I either needed to hire another 25 employees, or create an automated process that would allow us manage the OSAS program for companies with multiple locations and prevent any risk of human error. I decided on the latter, and now our web-based proprietary software system, with protocols that are consistent, cost effective, and are completed efficiently, allows us to manage hundreds of companies and thousands of employees at the same time at multiple client location throughout the U.S. ”

More information about OSAS can be found online at www.osas.biz .

SAN RAMON, CA – July 23, 2009 – Sabrix, Inc., a leading provider of transaction tax management for companies of all sizes, today announced support of the latest back-to-school tax breaks, which were created to offer consumers and retailers much needed relief from the continuing economic downturn.

Researched by Sabrix’s multi-disciplinary professionals in tax law, accounting, and audit, the back-to-school tax breaks will be automatically integrated into Sabrix’s entire product line ensuring that retail clients continue to achieve compliance with confidence. As other jurisdictions update their respective tax rates in response to the weak economy, Sabrix’s SAS 70 Type II Certified tax research proactively identifies legislative changes to ensure Sabrix customers will continue to seamlessly stay compliant without the hassle of researching and keying in the new tax breaks.

“For affected retailers, achieving compliance with the back-to-school tax breaks will require considerable effort,” said Carla Yrjanson, Sabrix’sVice President of Tax Research. “Our clients can be confident in the fact that we are monitoring the tax holidays and including them into our entire product line so that they can remain in compliance without the operational hassles.”

The news comes on the heels of the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Back to School Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, which revealed that the average family with students in grades Kindergarten through 12 is expected to spend $548.72 on school merchandise, a decline of 7.7 percent from $594.24 in 2008. The survey also revealed that spending in most back-to-school categories is expected to decrease, with one bright spot: electronics, which is expected to increase 11 percent.

“The economy will likely create a difficult back-to-school season for retailers,” added Yrjanson. “We are pleased to help our retail clients focus on managing their businesses and maximizing sales while we manage the cumbersome tax holiday rules.”

States differ on the variety of items that are exempt and the threshold amount. Most states will exempt clothing and footwear, while others will also exempt school supplies and computers as well. Listed below are the different states offering tax holidays, the dates of the tax break and what items qualify.

About Info-Surge

Info-Surge is the first company to offer physicians and hospitals a comprehensive and fully customizable web-based system for patient education. Driven by the need to fulfill a void in clinical practice, Info-Surge improves patients’ access to accurate information by harnessing the convenience and broadcast power of the Internet. For more information, please visit www.info-surge.com or call 1-888-203-0465

Open Source Experts, Intelestream Inc., Unveil Landmark intelecrm™ 2.0 Version

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) — Intelestream, Inc. today announced the release of intelecrm™ 2.0. This exciting new version is equipped with advanced reporting and a host of new CRM features. Since its initial launch in 2008, intelecrm™, has rapidly become a top Open Source CRM application enjoying incredible global success. Customers include Fortune 500 companies as well as small to medium sized businesses. The rapid growth of this offering rivals the customer set of some of the most popular proprietary products in the CRM industry.

intelecrm™ was created on the simple principle of real world users utilizing a real world CRM application. “Executing thousands of CRM implementations gave us the base understanding of what functionality needed to be at the core of the application. Unfortunately, most CRM products focus on the feature set and not the central use cases that the organization needs. intelecrm™ is the result of executing countless CRM projects and implementing the recurring use cases that consistently surfaced during 90% of all consulting and development engagements. We are excited to see the overwhelming acceptance of the product in the marketplace and will continue to develop rapidly in order to keep steadily ahead of the CRM industry,” comments Ray Stoeckicht, Vice President of Consulting Services.

Advanced Reporting

One of the main features for the 2.0 release was the introduction of ireports, a new reporting and analytics engine that provides intelecrm™ users with the ability to write comprehensive and complex reporting sets, matrix reports, and run-time filters. Customizable reports and dashboards give users greater visibility and improved insight into sales effectiveness and customer behavior. With an expanded number of pre-defined and dynamic reports, ireports allows users to merge data sets from different intelecrm™ modules. This reporting capability makes it possible to filter customer data in hundreds of ways to gain new insights and information that can help drive sales.

A key benefit of the new reporting engine is for increased analysis and greater administrative control to manage the information flow across an organization while allowing users to tailor intelecrm™ to meet the unique requirements of their individual role. With cross-module reporting, ireports allows users to quickly design and display custom reports from any intelecrm™ module in a variety of formats, including line, bar, pie graphs, and many more. With over 70 visualization options, ireports is comparable to the most sophisticated reporting engines amongst other Enterprise CRM applications. “The development of ireports was a major endeavor and the final result was a masterpiece. I have been a part of the development efforts of other Open Source reporting tools and ireports surpasses anything I have ever seen by an indefinite amount. This puts intelecrm™ at the top of Open Sourcing CRM reporting engines,” comments Jason Green, CEO.

Additional Features:

intelecrm™ 2.0 introduces innovative features that enhance the end user experience. Key functionality enhancements include:

Tag Cloud Browsing: Manage tagging within a hierarchy structure and empower users with an additional method to query data.

Star Rater: Rate contacts and leads 1-5 using the rating system. Allows for searches based on rating criteria and enhances internal grading of leads, accounts, and contacts.

Document Search: Search for keywords within documents attached to the system. Allows PDF, word, PowerPoint, and excel files to become searchable when archived to a specific record. Enhances the ability to retrieve documents based on keywords selected.

Zip Code Radius Search: Search for Contacts or Accounts within a certain number of miles of an entered zip code. Improves advanced search capabilities and generates locale-centric results based on specified geographic location.

Service and Availability

intelecrm™ 2.0 is available under a hosted on-demand service agreement in a variety of different packages starting at $20/month for unlimited users. The Software as a Service (SaaS) model eliminates in-house software installation and manual updates, while providing a more fluid application deployment. The unlimited user model is unprecedented within the traditional CRM licensing model and makes for a very economical price point. For more information, call the Intelestream sales line at (800) 391-4055, email sales at intelestream dot net, or visit http://www.intelestream.net/en/mainmenu-home-products-34/intelecrm-sublevel-mainmenu-140/product-features

About Intelestream, Inc.

Intelestream Inc. is a Chicago based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product development and consulting firm that offers solutions related to business processes and CRM technology. Intelestream is the creator of the esteemed intelecrm™ application and specializes in the deployment of custom tailored CRM solutions for individual organizations, the development of industry specific software verticals, and value added enhancements to open source CRM software applications. With Intelestream’s diverse team of experts in both business and technology, the company is made up by many of the brightest minds in the CRM industry.

For further information about Intelestream, please visit the company’s website: http://www.intelestream.net, or call (800) 391-4055.

The Partnership will allow Intelestream to provide enhanced CRM functionality to the North American Open Source CRM market.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) June 23, 2009 — Intelestream, Inc. (www.intelestream.net), the leader in Open Source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) consulting, today announced the company has formed a strategic partnership with GrinMark to provide North American customers with the Microsoft Office Addin for SugarCRM, intelecrm™, and info@hand applications. Intelestream will also offer other Grinmark software solutions including the Activities Monitor, Travel Calendar, and GrinMark Machine Parks.

“We recommend GrinMark’s Microsoft Office Addin because it is affordable and integrates the entire suite of MS Office applications with the open source products we support,” states Intelestream’s CEO Jason Green. “Up until recently, this market has been dominated by cost-prohibitive applications with limited functionality. GrinMark finally changes that with a richer functioning product for half the price.”

“A GrinMark / Intelestream partnership makes a lot of sense. We have developed a great product and now Intelestream can help us by expanding it deeper into the Open Source CRM arena, where Intelestream is well respected as a leading player,” states GrinMark CEO Alexey Grinevich.

Functionality: Microsoft Office Addin for SugarCRM, intelecrm™, and info@hand

Intelestream recommends the addin as an affordable solution for users that depend heavily on both MS Office and Open Source CRM applications when doing business. The solution, which seamlessly integrates the two environments, has a rich functionality that includes the following:

Outlook Integration

• Contact Synchronization

• Email Archiving to multiple objects within the CRM

• CRM Lead Creation from within Outlook

Archiving Microsoft Office files to multiple Objects within the CRM:

• Supported file types include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Project, and Visio

Advanced GrinMark Activity Monitor:

• Central portal for monitoring all Calls, Meetings, Tasks, and Reminders

• Allows multiple users to observe activities

Create Mail Merge documents with MS Word adding data automatically from the CRM:

• MS Word templates stored centrally in the CRM Documents module

• Finished documents sent to recipients with Outlook, archiving a copy to the CRM

Integration with Windows Explorer “Send To” menu

• PDF documents, images and other files could be archived to the CRM directly from Desktop or other folder window

Service and Availability of The GrinMark Microsoft Office Addin:

The GrinMark MS Office Addin is available for purchase through Intelestream as part of a CRM implementation package or as a stand-alone product. The floating software license allows a single user to log on at home, at work, or on the road.

The application can be customized by Intelestream to meet the needs of virtually any use case.

Additionally, The GrinMark MS Office Addin is available for Intelestream’s affordable and remotely hosted intelecrm™ (http://www.intelestream.net/en/mainmenu-home-products-34/intelecrm-sublevel-mainmenu-140) product. More information, including the scheduling of a free demo, can be obtained by visiting www.intelestream.net or by calling the company directly at (800)391-4055.

About Intelestream Inc.

Intelestream Inc. is a Chicago based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product development and consulting firm that offers solutions related to business processes and CRM technology. Intelestream is the creator of the esteemed intelecrm™ application and specializes in the deployment of custom tailored CRM solutions for individual organizations, the development of industry specific software verticals, and value added enhancements to open source CRM software applications. With Intelestream’s diverse team of experts in both business and technology, the company is made up by many of the brightest minds in the CRM industry.

Further information about the premier provider open source CRM consulting services and products, please visit the company’s website: http://www.intelestream.net, or call (800)391-4055. To request a quote for Intelestream Professional Services and products, click this link (http://www.intelestream.net/en/contact-us).

DENVER – July 20, 2009 –Evergreen Energy Inc. (NYSE Arca: EEE) announced today that Norway-based DNV (Det Norske Veritas) released review findings that show, when properly customized for a specific and approved monitoring plan, C-Lock Technology, Inc.’s GreenCert™ greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement and management protocol for coal-fired electric power plants is in compliance with the European Union Emissions Trading System’s (EU ETS) GHG Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines (MRG).

“The EU’s standards for monitoring and reporting CO2 emissions from large power plants are the world’s most stringent, and DNV’s review shows that a customized GreenCert solution can comply with the world’s most rigorous standards,” said Miles Mahoney, president and general manager of C-Lock®, a subsidiary of Evergreen Energy. “In addition to compliance with the standards when customized properly, GreenCert provides functionality beyond the scope of the MRG that provides value-added economic and environmental benefits.”

DNV is one of Europe’s leading independent verifiers of greenhouse gas emissions credits and technologies, and is a market leader in third party certification and assessment services. It is accredited by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change as a Designated Operating Entity under the Clean Development Mechanism and is an approved certifier under the California Climate Action Registry and the Chicago Climate Exchange.

“This independent review by DNV means GreenCert customers in the EU power generation sector will realize the financial and precision GHG reporting benefits of a properly customized GreenCert carbon information management solution while in compliance with EU ETS monitoring and reporting requirements,” added Mahoney.

GreenCert provides utility companies, industry and agriculture with a scientifically accurate, scalable method to measure greenhouse gases and generate verifiable emissions credits. Built on IBM’s Service-Oriented Architecture, GreenCert is the only enterprise-wide emission information management system that is completely transparent and can be fully audited to meet the increasingly complex compliance standards of the green energy economy. IBM’s Beacon Awards Program recently recognized GreenCert as an “Outstanding Energy and Environment (Green) Solution.”

Improved Knowledge – Manage and Predict Allowances and Offsets

DNV’s assessment of the GreenCert protocol was conducted within the parameters of GreenCert’s ability to help electric power generation facility operators to:

• Improve their knowledge about their CO2 emissions
• Provide real-time diagnostics of their operating and monitoring systems, and
• Manage and predict their potential need for emissions allowances and offsets.

Following its review, DNV concluded that “The EU ETS monitoring and reporting aspects treated in the (GreenCert) Protocol are in compliance with the EU ETS Directive and the MRG” for emissions monitoring and reporting under the terms that GreenCert will be customized to harmonize with the requirements of a power plant’s existing GHG monitoring plan. All coal burning facilities under the EU ETS already have an approved monitoring plan, so DNV’s review shows that when properly customized for a specific monitoring plan, GreenCert can adapt to existing EU monitoring and reporting requirements.

EU Directives and Requirements

The GreenCert Energy Protocol as submitted to DNV included direct CO2 emissions from coal-fired electric power plants, power plants co-fired with coal and biomass, and co-generation of heat and power. The protocol describes how GreenCert will be used for quantifying CO2 emissions as required by EU Directive 2003/87/EC and EU Commission Decision 2007/589/EC, more commonly known as “Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines 2007” or MRG.

Investor Update Call:

Management wishes to further discuss this and other information in its investor update conference call scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. EDT. To access the call, please dial 866-383-8003 and the participant pass code is 68769582. International callers should dial 617-597-5330.  This call may also be accessed via the web at:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=80446&eventID=2329178

A replay of the conference call will be available starting July 21st at 7:00 p.m. EDT and will run through July 28th at 11:59 p.m. EDT. It will be available at 888-286-8010 or, for international callers, 617-801-6888. The replay pass code is 24965940.

About C-Lock Technology

C-Lock Technology Inc. is a subsidiary of Evergreen Energy Inc. (NYSE Arca: EEE). Evergreen Energy delivers proven, transformative green energy solutions for cleaner coal production and precise, scientific carbon measurement. www.evgenergy.com

Alliance between market leaders in BPO and recruitment process outsourcing will allow organizations to benefit from a portfolio of robust, cost effective HR Services

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090729005198/en

CHICAGO—July 29, 2009 — Xchanging plc, the global business processor, and Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS), the market leader in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), have today announced they will be forming a strategic alliance for the delivery of end-to-end HR services. The innovative partnership will enable organizations to access a broad portfolio of separate or “bundled” HR services. These services will be competitively priced, allowing organizations to drive efficiencies and lower operational costs, while benefitting from a high degree of expertise, flexibility and choice.

“This is an interesting development for the HR outsourcing marketplace, offering customers a single point of contact for a broader range of HR services. This is proving to be a key sourcing consideration for some organizations given the current economic circumstances as buyers look to reduce operating costs and internal management overheads by consolidating HRO supply,” said Helen Neale, Head of HRO practice at NelsonHall, the BPO experts.

The alliance will deliver a suite of solutions spanning the full HR lifecycle to clients globally. The solutions will include the global HR spend management expertise and learning and development, HR advice and administration, payroll and data reporting, immigration and reward services of Xchanging, combined with the comprehensive recruitment process outsourcing offerings from Alexander Mann Solutions. These cover outsourced permanent, contingent and graduate recruitment solutions and a range of high-value professional services, such as employer branding, business intelligence and technology consulting.

The partnership will leverage the network of high performance service centers of both organizations, and the combination of expertise, infrastructure and resources from both companies will offer clients new efficiencies in systems, processes, speed and quality of services.

“Without doubt, organizations across the world today are looking for greater cost efficiencies in their HR operations, and the ability to remove fixed costs from within their businesses,” commented AMS’s CEO Rosaleen Blair. “However, they continue to seek excellence and want to realize even greater value from investments they do make. Through bringing together the expertise of Xchanging and AMS, we can make sure they achieve both these aims. I believe the partnership is a real reflection of our commitment to provide the best people, processes and technology to meet current and future needs of our clients.”

David Andrews, Xchanging CEO said: “This is a winning combination. Alexander Mann Solutions brings rich experience and breadth of RPO solutions and Xchanging, an established track record as a HR business processor. This makes it a compelling proposition to maximize the value and services we provide to our respective customers globally. Xchanging is aggressively pursuing the vision to be the global business processor of choice for customers globally. This alliance represents a further step forward in our progress towards that goal.”

About Xchanging

Xchanging is a fast growing, pure play global business processor with blue chip customers. We provide complex industry specific processing services to the banking and insurance industries as well as procurement, finance and accounting, and human resources services across industries.

www.xchanging.com

About AMS

Founded in 1996 by Rosaleen Blair, the Veuve Clicquot 2007 Business Woman of the Year, Alexander Mann Solutions is a global leader in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). A December 2007 management buyout was backed by Graphite Capital, and in February 2008, the company acquired Capital Consulting, a leading RPO player operating in Europe and Asia Pacific.

AMS builds world-class talent functions for its clients that cover permanent, contingent, internal mobility, graduate and talent resourcing programmes. The company acts as a trusted advisor to its clients, building partnerships that usually span between five and ten years. AMS has over 1,000 professionals working across more than 60 countries, and its people are based in the company’s global network of client services centres or work alongside client teams, embedded in their organisations and working under their brands.

In 2008, the company recruited over 50,000 permanent hires and made 205,000 contingent transactions on behalf of its clients. In addition to pure play RPO solutions, AMS also offers a range of high-value Professional Services in areas such as employer branding, assessment and selection and recruitment technology consultancy. It also offers an instant RPO solution, AMS OnDemand, designed for organisations that want the advantages of a world-class recruitment function but don’t have the resources or recruitment volumes.

www.alexandermannsolutions.com

The application enhances talent acquisition and candidate management by following a proven CRM workflow. Perpetual Sourcing 2.0 added features include search integration with major social and business network sites, automated OFCCP compliance, and a system wide global search.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) September 3, 2008 — Intelestream today announced the company has released version 2.0 of the popular web based HR sourcing (http://www.intelestream.net) application Perpetual Sourcing. Industry veterans Todd Davis and Shally Steckerl worked closely with Intelestream to design the application according to advanced talent acquisition methods proven to greatly enhance sourcing results at Fortune 100 companies.

The application is based around a proven Customer Relationship Management (CRM) workflow that allows HR recruiters to manage talent acquisition similarly to how a sales force manages its leads.

New features added to Perpetual Sourcing 2.0 include the following:

-Automates internet sourcing tactics by integrating with social and business network sites including Linked-in, Spoke, Hoovers, Jigsaw, and Zoom Info.

-Automatically ensures compliance with OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs) regulations by documenting sourcing data, search strings, etc.

-Global keyword search simplifies record searching by trolling through all modules and archives including Resumes stored as Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, and Excel Spreadsheets.

Additionally, version 2.0 continues to offer users the following key features that have always been included as a part of Perpetual Sourcing software:

- On demand reporting metrics show return on investment, recruiter productivity, recruitment conference results, and breakdown of talent pipeline that includes companies, regions, areas of expertise, and more

- Customizable phone screen templates attached to talent records flesh out a talent profile and ensure more targeted talent searches

- Sophisticated direct email campaign capabilities and Outlook synchronization

- Private teams option protects sensitive recruiting efforts

- Built in warehousing of documents, resumes, bios, profiles

- Data migration possible from several formats

- Web based solution is accessible anywhere, including PDAs

- Stable performance with little to no downtime

Perpetual Sourcing is appropriate for any organization that has embraced modern sourcing strategies. Intelestream has implemented the application for Fortune 100 companies and small businesses requiring a passive candidate pipeline that assists in finding the best talent in the marketplace.

Intelestream’s Sales Director Ray Stoeckicht comments, “Our customers are implementing Perpetual Sourcing because it truly automates a cutting edge sourcing workflow. It is unlike any solution on the market. Version 2.0 brings more to the table and has been a big success already.”

Intelestream’s Director of Marketing Stafford McKay states, “This product is especially unique due to the level of industry expertise found at its core. As a senior recruiter with companies such as Microsoft, Google, Starbucks, and Yahoo, Todd Davis offered his knowledge to help us create his ‘dream solution’. Shally Steckerl, founder of JobMachine consulting has also played an intricate role in collaborating on this project. It’s great to be right in line with the best practices taught by the experts.”

The solution is immediately available through Intelestream. Pricing information can be obtained by contacting the company directly.

About Intelestream, Inc.

Intelestream Inc. is a Chicago based consulting firm that delivers solutions to clients seeking enhanced sales, marketing, and customer support related business processes. The company specializes in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and all customer relationship management (CRM) related workflows. Intelestream’s development team builds custom tailored solutions for organizations, industry verticals, and plugins for open source software applications. The company’s team of consultants delivers an unparalleled quality of service and support. Intelestream’s leaders previously held executive positions at Fortune 500 companies, founded successful technology firms as entrepreneurs, and have expertise developing strategic customer focused business processes. If your company is evaluating a new enterprise application, looking to replace an expensive legacy system with a more affordable enhanced solution, or considering developing a new web based internal application, contact Intelestream.

For more information visit www.intelestream.net, or call (800) 391-4055.

New research shows working remotely causes 243 percent more problems
June 17, 2009 – Provo, UT – New research shows that 13 out of 14 common workplace relationship
problems occur far more frequently within “virtual teams” (teams with members scattered across
various geographies) than within teams located in the same building.
According to the new study conducted by VitalSmarts and the authors of the New York Times bestseller
Crucial Conversations (McGraw?Hill), distance in the workplace does more harm than good. The online
survey of more than 500 people found that problems with remote colleagues are significantly more
difficult to solve and last longer than with on?site colleagues. What’s worse, the most common means of
coping with the effects of distance are not only destructive to working relationships, they are also
destructive to overall productivity.
According to the survey, when people face challenges with a colleague who works in a different location,
they either resort to silence or other passive coping strategies, or they become “verbally violent” or
attacking toward their colleague.
When resorting to silence, common strategies include screening phone calls from remote colleagues,
not returning their calls and e?mails, leaving them out of the loop on important decisions, or avoiding
working with them all together.
Common “violence” strategies include dissuading others from working with remote colleagues,
criticizing them, gossiping or complaining to others, and vengefully challenging the colleagues’ decisions.
Joseph Grenny, bestselling author of Crucial Conversations and co?author of the study, says that while
CEOs have done a good job calculating the savings and efficiencies of virtual teaming, they haven’t yet
accounted for the unintended costs.
“The solution isn’t co?location—it’s communication.” says Grenny. “Unless leaders of virtual teams
invest in the skills required to make these teams work, they’ll continue to significantly undercut their
potential. The most crucial skill is the ability to raise emotionally and politically risky issues with virtual
teammates in a candid but respectful way. Most every problem we identified in our study flowed
directly from failure to hold these types of crucial conversations.”
Grenny offers five tips for holding crucial conversations with remote colleagues:
1. Talk before problems start. Invest significant time up front talking about how you’ll work
together and establishing ground rules for airing future concerns.
2. Praise early wins. Take time early on to acknowledge small successes. Go the extra mile to
praise people publicly in a conference call or write a personal e?mail and cc their boss.
3. Never raise individual concerns publicly. The problem with long?distance crucial conversations
is that you’re visually impaired (you can’t read body language) and the other person is hearing
impaired (they easily hear villainy in your complaints). When bringing up concerns with a
colleague, always do so one?to?one.
4. Start by clarifying what you DON’T want to say. Always begin the long?distance crucial
conversation by pointing out any possible misinterpretations of what you want to discuss. For
example, “I’d like to talk about our mutual schedule commitments, but I’m worried you’ll hear
me as suggesting that the problem lies entirely in Japan. I know it doesn’t. I know Grand Rapids
is also contributing to the problem and I’d like to figure out how to solve problems on both our
ends.”
5. Gain allies before raising problems with a group. At times, you may need to raise a crucial issue
on a conference call. If so, always vet your concerns with remote teammates one?to?one
beforehand. Then ask for their help when you raise the issue—not by taking your “side” but by
candidly raising their opinions so the dialogue can be productive.
About VitalSmarts
An innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, VitalSmarts is home to awardwinning
training products that deliver powerful tools for enriching relationships and improving end
results. The company also has three New York Times bestselling books, Crucial Conversations, Crucial
Confrontations, and Influencer. VitalSmarts has been listed twice on the Inc. 500 list of fastest?growing
companies and has taught more than 2 million people worldwide. www.vitalsmarts.com
Note to editor: Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversations, is available for interview. Copies of
the book are also available upon request.
About the research: The study collected responses via an online survey tool from more than 500
individuals. Margin of error is approximately 3%. Full survey results are available upon request.
CONTACT: Brittney Maxfield of VitalSmarts, L.L.C. +1?801?724?6272, or bmaxfield@vitalsmarts.com.

Eddystone, PA (PRWEB) June 22, 2009 — Throughout the economic downturn, insurance companies have consistently focused on proven software initiatives that can deliver value quickly. That’s why more and more insurers are choosing InsPro Enterprise — a single life & health insurance administration platform that can be deployed in weeks for the industry’s fastest time-to-value. Further validating this market momentum, Celent’s 2009 Insurance Software Deal Trends report recently named InsPro Technologies a leading insurance core systems vendor.

Key Facts:

InsPro ranked #3 among core systems vendors covered in the study. InsPro was also included in Celent’s 2009 Traction Index at #18 overall, based on the company’s traction with insurance carriers in 2007 and 2008. The Traction Index is a composite measure that considers the type and size of deals, and the size of a vendor’s clients signed.

“Insurers’ budgets have been stretched thin over the past few years, and Celent’s Deal Trends report provides a customer-based perspective on which vendors can offer valuable, high-impact software investments,” said Robert Oakes, CEO of InsPro Technologies. “InsPro’s unmatched commitment to the life and health sector among the leading core systems vendors, combined with the innovative technology of InsPro Enterprise, really resonates with insurers that are seeking faster product launches, improved business performance and lower costs.”

InsPro’s momentum is expected to continue throughout 2009 with a robust pipeline of active evaluations and a number of successful go-lives at market-leading insurers and administrators across North America. The company’s flagship product, InsPro Enterprise, reaches the entire enterprise from marketing to operations, spans the entire product and policy lifecycle from development to claim, and offers integrated support for all channels, all policies and all users.

“We would like to extend our congratulations to InsPro Technologies for being named as a leading vendor,” says Craig Weber, senior vice president of the Celent insurance practice. “We believe that carriers value partners who know the insurance vertical well, and who demonstrate their commitment to it. InsPro’s success in insurance puts them in that category.”

About InsPro Technologies
InsPro Technologies offers the most comprehensive, flexible and innovative insurance management solutions in the industry. Designed specifically for Life & Health insurers, InsPro Enterprise manages the entire product and policy lifecycle in a single integrated platform. Using InsPro, companies can launch new products in half the time, lower IT support costs by up to 50%, increase customer retention and improve operational performance. Built on a proven and scalable web-based architecture and an insurance-fluent configuration engine, InsPro can be deployed in weeks for the industry’s fastest-time-to value. InsPro Technologies also offers hosting and application maintenance for complete support. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in suburban Philadelphia. For more information, please visit www.inspro.com.