by: Gil Lavi
Technology keeps churning out innovations that promise to change, improve, or make our life easier. One of these revolutionary and ambitious technologies pledges to change the way we write English, whether or not we’re native English speakers.
Since the first word possessors surfaced a few decades ago, developments in the field of English grammar software have taken up the ambitious challenge of transforming our English writing into correct and rich by using advanced Natural Language Processing.
How Does it Work?
Most professional grammar processing solutions rely on a smart English analyzing engine which is constantly fed with a massive quantity of accurate words, sentences, and phrases―simulating the human mind―and eventually rolling out an updated online grammar dictionary that compares the user's existing written text with the analyzed results, suggesting corrections.
Top Benefits
(1) Upgrades English writing - professional and accurate.
(2) Saves proofreading time and most importantly, embarrassing grammar or spelling errors.
(3) Improves overall English writing skills.
Choosing the Right English Grammar Software
Many English writing solutions are available today; however, several key issues must be carefully examined when choosing your solution. Make sure the solution you choose:
(1) Is based on a smart, auto-updated online grammar dictionary.
(2) Supports any text-based applications.
(3) Provides an intuitive user interface and includes the following features: proofreading, automatic punctuation check, online spell check, online synonyms dictionary and text enrichment.
(4) Provides you with ready-made templates for various purposes, such as business correspondence, thank you notes, and memos.
(5) Includes translation features that enable instantaneous translation of any given text.
Best Blogging Software
by: Miles Evans
The blogging platform wars are getting really interesting and much of the discussion I find myself in lately revolves around what is happening with various CMS systems. The market can essentially be defined into 3 major camps: remotely hosted, self hosted, and community based systems. I have used pretty much every blogging platform available and each of them has its ups and downs. In this article I will cover the best options for each area taking into account price, usability, market share and of course SEO potential.
All of these products are either open source, completely free or have a functional free version.
Remotely Hosted Blogging Software
(Note: I cannot really recommend any of these from an SEO stand point as optimizing a domain you do not own or control is obviously not a good marketing plan.)
Blogger
Blogger is completely free and currently owns the majority of the remotely hosted user base, but not by a land slide . Bought out by Google in 1999, Blogger essentially fired up the blogging trend we see today. It is by far the easiest overall solution to use and if you are a novice user looking to throw up some recipes or poetry, this is for you. Blogger is completely free and includes some great features like comments, photo blogging, and a basic community feel with user profiles. Because it is so dumbed down there are some features you may not find with Blogger that are only available through 3rd party add-ons. As a side note Blogger weblogs do quite well in the search engines and this was recently exploited with it being the first choice for spam blogs or splogs. A splog is a weblog used for the sole purpose of gaining inbound links or generating thousands of keyword stuffed pages with Adsense and the like. The recent Google Jagger update cleared a large portion of this up. Free.
Typepad
Released in 2003 Typepad is a product of Sixapart, the makers of Movable Type. it is largely based on MT but there are some major enhancements and differences. Your blog can accomodate one or more photo albums with auto thumbnail generation. You can easily add music, books, and other media to Typelists, which grab a thumbnail from Amazon and other retailers for easily displaying in your sidebar. Typepad is also a great deal more technical than Blogger so a bit of HTML know how is recommended. On that note editing your blog to look the way you want it also quite easy and Typepad blogs are known for being very eye pleasing, intuitive and easy to navigate. In Sixapart's business model Typepad is aimed at regular home and small business users while Movable Type is targeted at larger businesses or for internal intranets. Price: Basic, $4.95 a month; premium, $8.95 to $14.95 a month.
Xanga
These guys originated back in 1999 as a site for sharing book, music and movie reviews. Although it quickly morphed into a full blown blogging tool Xanga still maintains the ability to run a powerful review site. Xanga pulls data from several retailers like Amazon.com including thumbnails, pricing and a cover. The software also is very usable by novices with a powerful WYSIWYG editor allowing for easy HTML editing, adding smilies, links, and other symbols. By using Blog rings it is also easy to interface with Xanga's other 3 million users to share interests, ideas, and of course traffic. Xanga comes in a free and $25 flavor.
Mentions: Blogsome, Blogster, MindSay, Multiply,
Self Hosted Blogging Software
WordPress
WordPress originally began as a mod of an older open source package known as B2. WP is MT's biggest competition and is often the bain of endless Wordpress vs Movabletype style threads around the internet. Although launched just over a year or so ago WP has really taken the blogosphere by storm. And with good reason - Wordpress is completely free under GNU licensing and is packed with many featured you will not find anywhere else. It is also much easier to install and get blogging for novice users and has a very large and helpful community. WP runs on PHP/mySQL and is quite scalable judging from some of the very large and trafficked sites I see using it. It also sports utilities to import files from Movable Type, Textpattern, Greymatter, Blogger, and b2. Wordpress recently upped the ante when Yahoo recently included them on their hosting packages, in addition to MT. I have to admit I am finding myself more and more digging WP and will likely convert Profitpapers to WP as I get time (it can be a biznitch). Wordpress is free.
Movable Type
Aside from maybe Greymatter (the original open source blogging tool), Movabletype dominated the blogging market share in 2002-2004. Released in late 2001, Perl based Movable Type by Sixapart has maintained a large portion of the blogging market share, due mainly to the fact that there is a free version (supporting up to 3 weblogs) and that it is incredibly powerful, intuitive and easy to customize. Template driven Movable Type also sports one of the largest communities of developers and blogging enthusiasts around, meaning lots of support, idea sharing, and of course plugins. Movable Type can be configured to dynamically generate HTML, PHP or any other kind of pages you like, meaning it is incredibly scalable, fast, and loved by spiders. It is perhaps the most well known blogging software for SEO purposes and it what currently powers Profitpapers and several of my other projects. Moveabletype is either Free with 3 authors, 1 weblog, and no support or $69.95 with unlimited weblogs, authors and full support.
Textpattern
Textpattern is the brainchild of Dean Allen and was written to ease publishing of content for those not inclined to learn HTML. Like WP and MT Textpattern runs on PHP and mySQL for easy administration, backups, and power. What really sets textpattern apart from the others is the integration of Textile. Textile is a tool for easily formatting content for those who do not know HTML. WP & MT have modules for textile as well but it is native to the Textpattern system. Another bonus of the app is its superior handling of comment spam due to its smaller market share. On a blogs I maintain running WP and MT I often find myself clearing out spam every day, whereas on some very busy textpattern sites I receive only manual comment spam (not bot driven). TP is open source.
Mentions: Blosxom, LifeType, Serendipity.
Community based Blogging Software
Slash
Waaaaay back in 1997, Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda launched a website known as Chips & Dips, supplied via his student account at Hope College in Michigan. In 1999 Andover.net acquired Slashdot. Shortly after, the underlying code was released as open source software called Slash. Like Movable Type and Greymatter, Slash runs on Perl, but it also has established hooks into MySQL and a very strong track record of scaling to enormous traffic levels. To give you an idea, the term 'slashdotted' originated from acquiring a link on this now infamous and very popular tech news website – and consequently watching your servers melt. If you have never messed around with Slash, you really should as it is quite a powerful platform. Slash is open source.
Scoop
Another well known Perl based community blogging software is Scoop. Scoop is the software that powers Kuro5shin, DailyKos and many other busy community weblogs. Scoop took the Slashdot idea and expanded on it, making the discussion rather than the news the focus of the application. Where Slashdot entries tend to have a link with added commentary pointing readers off the site, Scoop points to stories written by members of the community keeping the reader within your own weblog. Scoop is also well known for handling large volumes of traffic and a large very technical community. Scoop is free .
Drupal
Drupal is a well known open source community blogging platform with a very large community of users and developers. Not only is Drupal free but it is damn powerful. Instead of Perl, which is quite hard to decode at times, even if you are a fluent coder, Drupal uses a PHP/mySQL platform. Drupal is also a very community focused application with a built in forum, download area, and hundreds of other home brewed mods and hacks. If you are looking for a lot of functionality give Drupal a check - the project has become quite mature. It is also much easier to use and customize than either Scoop or Slash. Drupal is also another open source project.
Mentions: LiveJournal, PHP Nuke.
The blogging platform wars are getting really interesting and much of the discussion I find myself in lately revolves around what is happening with various CMS systems. The market can essentially be defined into 3 major camps: remotely hosted, self hosted, and community based systems. I have used pretty much every blogging platform available and each of them has its ups and downs. In this article I will cover the best options for each area taking into account price, usability, market share and of course SEO potential.
All of these products are either open source, completely free or have a functional free version.
Remotely Hosted Blogging Software
(Note: I cannot really recommend any of these from an SEO stand point as optimizing a domain you do not own or control is obviously not a good marketing plan.)
Blogger
Blogger is completely free and currently owns the majority of the remotely hosted user base, but not by a land slide . Bought out by Google in 1999, Blogger essentially fired up the blogging trend we see today. It is by far the easiest overall solution to use and if you are a novice user looking to throw up some recipes or poetry, this is for you. Blogger is completely free and includes some great features like comments, photo blogging, and a basic community feel with user profiles. Because it is so dumbed down there are some features you may not find with Blogger that are only available through 3rd party add-ons. As a side note Blogger weblogs do quite well in the search engines and this was recently exploited with it being the first choice for spam blogs or splogs. A splog is a weblog used for the sole purpose of gaining inbound links or generating thousands of keyword stuffed pages with Adsense and the like. The recent Google Jagger update cleared a large portion of this up. Free.
Typepad
Released in 2003 Typepad is a product of Sixapart, the makers of Movable Type. it is largely based on MT but there are some major enhancements and differences. Your blog can accomodate one or more photo albums with auto thumbnail generation. You can easily add music, books, and other media to Typelists, which grab a thumbnail from Amazon and other retailers for easily displaying in your sidebar. Typepad is also a great deal more technical than Blogger so a bit of HTML know how is recommended. On that note editing your blog to look the way you want it also quite easy and Typepad blogs are known for being very eye pleasing, intuitive and easy to navigate. In Sixapart's business model Typepad is aimed at regular home and small business users while Movable Type is targeted at larger businesses or for internal intranets. Price: Basic, $4.95 a month; premium, $8.95 to $14.95 a month.
Xanga
These guys originated back in 1999 as a site for sharing book, music and movie reviews. Although it quickly morphed into a full blown blogging tool Xanga still maintains the ability to run a powerful review site. Xanga pulls data from several retailers like Amazon.com including thumbnails, pricing and a cover. The software also is very usable by novices with a powerful WYSIWYG editor allowing for easy HTML editing, adding smilies, links, and other symbols. By using Blog rings it is also easy to interface with Xanga's other 3 million users to share interests, ideas, and of course traffic. Xanga comes in a free and $25 flavor.
Mentions: Blogsome, Blogster, MindSay, Multiply,
Self Hosted Blogging Software
WordPress
WordPress originally began as a mod of an older open source package known as B2. WP is MT's biggest competition and is often the bain of endless Wordpress vs Movabletype style threads around the internet. Although launched just over a year or so ago WP has really taken the blogosphere by storm. And with good reason - Wordpress is completely free under GNU licensing and is packed with many featured you will not find anywhere else. It is also much easier to install and get blogging for novice users and has a very large and helpful community. WP runs on PHP/mySQL and is quite scalable judging from some of the very large and trafficked sites I see using it. It also sports utilities to import files from Movable Type, Textpattern, Greymatter, Blogger, and b2. Wordpress recently upped the ante when Yahoo recently included them on their hosting packages, in addition to MT. I have to admit I am finding myself more and more digging WP and will likely convert Profitpapers to WP as I get time (it can be a biznitch). Wordpress is free.
Movable Type
Aside from maybe Greymatter (the original open source blogging tool), Movabletype dominated the blogging market share in 2002-2004. Released in late 2001, Perl based Movable Type by Sixapart has maintained a large portion of the blogging market share, due mainly to the fact that there is a free version (supporting up to 3 weblogs) and that it is incredibly powerful, intuitive and easy to customize. Template driven Movable Type also sports one of the largest communities of developers and blogging enthusiasts around, meaning lots of support, idea sharing, and of course plugins. Movable Type can be configured to dynamically generate HTML, PHP or any other kind of pages you like, meaning it is incredibly scalable, fast, and loved by spiders. It is perhaps the most well known blogging software for SEO purposes and it what currently powers Profitpapers and several of my other projects. Moveabletype is either Free with 3 authors, 1 weblog, and no support or $69.95 with unlimited weblogs, authors and full support.
Textpattern
Textpattern is the brainchild of Dean Allen and was written to ease publishing of content for those not inclined to learn HTML. Like WP and MT Textpattern runs on PHP and mySQL for easy administration, backups, and power. What really sets textpattern apart from the others is the integration of Textile. Textile is a tool for easily formatting content for those who do not know HTML. WP & MT have modules for textile as well but it is native to the Textpattern system. Another bonus of the app is its superior handling of comment spam due to its smaller market share. On a blogs I maintain running WP and MT I often find myself clearing out spam every day, whereas on some very busy textpattern sites I receive only manual comment spam (not bot driven). TP is open source.
Mentions: Blosxom, LifeType, Serendipity.
Community based Blogging Software
Slash
Waaaaay back in 1997, Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda launched a website known as Chips & Dips, supplied via his student account at Hope College in Michigan. In 1999 Andover.net acquired Slashdot. Shortly after, the underlying code was released as open source software called Slash. Like Movable Type and Greymatter, Slash runs on Perl, but it also has established hooks into MySQL and a very strong track record of scaling to enormous traffic levels. To give you an idea, the term 'slashdotted' originated from acquiring a link on this now infamous and very popular tech news website – and consequently watching your servers melt. If you have never messed around with Slash, you really should as it is quite a powerful platform. Slash is open source.
Scoop
Another well known Perl based community blogging software is Scoop. Scoop is the software that powers Kuro5shin, DailyKos and many other busy community weblogs. Scoop took the Slashdot idea and expanded on it, making the discussion rather than the news the focus of the application. Where Slashdot entries tend to have a link with added commentary pointing readers off the site, Scoop points to stories written by members of the community keeping the reader within your own weblog. Scoop is also well known for handling large volumes of traffic and a large very technical community. Scoop is free .
Drupal
Drupal is a well known open source community blogging platform with a very large community of users and developers. Not only is Drupal free but it is damn powerful. Instead of Perl, which is quite hard to decode at times, even if you are a fluent coder, Drupal uses a PHP/mySQL platform. Drupal is also a very community focused application with a built in forum, download area, and hundreds of other home brewed mods and hacks. If you are looking for a lot of functionality give Drupal a check - the project has become quite mature. It is also much easier to use and customize than either Scoop or Slash. Drupal is also another open source project.
Mentions: LiveJournal, PHP Nuke.
General Ledger in Accounting Software
by: John Cantrell
Before we start on the specific elements of general ledger software, and where all the pieces fit, you need to understand the basics of financial statement and how you can read them.
There are two main parts to your business's financial statement -
The accounting software will produce a Profit and Loss, which shows your day to day income reflected against your expenses and therefore shows what your profit, or loss, is.
The accounting software will also produce a Balance Sheet, which shows your business assets against liabilities and the accumulated earnings of your business over the years.
Lets first look at how these reports are arrived at -
You must first understand, or accept the first main principle of double entry bookkeeping before we start and that is -
For every entry made there must be an equal and opposite entry made somewhere else and when you have finished making your entries they must all add up to zero. Don't worry most accounting software packages will make most of these day to day entries for you.
Sounds weird - not really. The whole principal is logical and goes back to the days when all books where done manually, because accounting software didn't exist, and by making all of the entries add up to zero we knew we had correctly entered our numbers. We may not have entered them into the right slot but at least we had created the basis of being on the right track. And even though your accounting software will, in most cases, make most of the entries for you, you must understand the principle behind it.
Even if you enter something in the wrong 'slot' it is nearly always a simple process to move it where it should be later on.
A Profit and Loss report has five main elements
Income
Cost of Sales
Gross Profit
Expenses
Net Profit (or loss) - sometimes called the Bottom Line
The Net Profit line is also known as The Bottom Line. You sometimes hear the expression that if we did this or that it would go straight to the bottom line. In plain talk what this expression means is that, say for example, we were able to do away with motor expenses in the above Profit and Loss report and incurred no other alternative expense in its place then the $3000.00 motor expenses would go straight to the bottom line and increase our net profit by $3000.00
A balance sheet, in very simplistic terms, has two main elements -
Assets
Liabilities
(please note that assets and liabilities are nearly always broken up into sub sections - typically those that are current - within 1 year - and those that are not current - longer than a year - we are not going into that depth - leave that to your accountant and worry about it when you have mastered everything else)
( Note - the trade debtors account is only money that is owed to us as a result of selling goods on account to customers of ours. Other monies owed to the business such as staff loans etc would be shown separately. The same with Trade Creditors. This is money that we owe to people that we purchase from on an ongoing basis for example - people that we buy goods for resale from, telephone account, petrol account and so on. People that we owe money to on a longer term basis i.e. a bank loan are shown separately)
Regarding the bank account - assuming that your bank account mostly has money in it, and, therefore, it falls under Assets (the money is an asset belonging to your business). If the account is mostly in overdraft then typically it would fall under the Liabilities section (the money is a loan from the bank and a business liability).
If it fluctuates between the two simply pick where it mostly is. It's not a major issue. Let's say for example you put it under assets and then it went into overdraft all that would happen is that it would be shown with brackets around it.
Things to regularly check -
(like at least once a month - more when you are starting out and going through the learning curve) -
Your customer's age trial balance (a list of how much your customers owe you from the receivables module) must always equal the Trade Debtors account in the Ledger.
Logical isn't it when you think about it. The Receivables module is telling us that the customers owe x amount of money. This amount must be the same as the Ledger is telling us that the customers owe.
Your suppliers age trial balance (a list of how much you owe your suppliers from the Payables module) must always equal the Trade Creditors account in the Ledger
Your Stock Value report from the Products module should always equal the Stock on Hand account in the Ledger
Your bank statement should regularly be reconciled back to the balance that the Bank account shows in the ledger.
Why should you check these balances regularly - because things can go wrong and if you only pick it up several months later you are only making it harder for yourself to find out why they don't balance. At least if you do it often you may remember if something unusual happened.
If you find something doesn't balance - find out why as soon as possible and fix it. If you need help get it - ask your accountant, software trainer or some other knowledgeable person
Before we start on the specific elements of general ledger software, and where all the pieces fit, you need to understand the basics of financial statement and how you can read them.
There are two main parts to your business's financial statement -
The accounting software will produce a Profit and Loss, which shows your day to day income reflected against your expenses and therefore shows what your profit, or loss, is.
The accounting software will also produce a Balance Sheet, which shows your business assets against liabilities and the accumulated earnings of your business over the years.
Lets first look at how these reports are arrived at -
You must first understand, or accept the first main principle of double entry bookkeeping before we start and that is -
For every entry made there must be an equal and opposite entry made somewhere else and when you have finished making your entries they must all add up to zero. Don't worry most accounting software packages will make most of these day to day entries for you.
Sounds weird - not really. The whole principal is logical and goes back to the days when all books where done manually, because accounting software didn't exist, and by making all of the entries add up to zero we knew we had correctly entered our numbers. We may not have entered them into the right slot but at least we had created the basis of being on the right track. And even though your accounting software will, in most cases, make most of the entries for you, you must understand the principle behind it.
Even if you enter something in the wrong 'slot' it is nearly always a simple process to move it where it should be later on.
A Profit and Loss report has five main elements
Income
Cost of Sales
Gross Profit
Expenses
Net Profit (or loss) - sometimes called the Bottom Line
The Net Profit line is also known as The Bottom Line. You sometimes hear the expression that if we did this or that it would go straight to the bottom line. In plain talk what this expression means is that, say for example, we were able to do away with motor expenses in the above Profit and Loss report and incurred no other alternative expense in its place then the $3000.00 motor expenses would go straight to the bottom line and increase our net profit by $3000.00
A balance sheet, in very simplistic terms, has two main elements -
Assets
Liabilities
(please note that assets and liabilities are nearly always broken up into sub sections - typically those that are current - within 1 year - and those that are not current - longer than a year - we are not going into that depth - leave that to your accountant and worry about it when you have mastered everything else)
( Note - the trade debtors account is only money that is owed to us as a result of selling goods on account to customers of ours. Other monies owed to the business such as staff loans etc would be shown separately. The same with Trade Creditors. This is money that we owe to people that we purchase from on an ongoing basis for example - people that we buy goods for resale from, telephone account, petrol account and so on. People that we owe money to on a longer term basis i.e. a bank loan are shown separately)
Regarding the bank account - assuming that your bank account mostly has money in it, and, therefore, it falls under Assets (the money is an asset belonging to your business). If the account is mostly in overdraft then typically it would fall under the Liabilities section (the money is a loan from the bank and a business liability).
If it fluctuates between the two simply pick where it mostly is. It's not a major issue. Let's say for example you put it under assets and then it went into overdraft all that would happen is that it would be shown with brackets around it.
Things to regularly check -
(like at least once a month - more when you are starting out and going through the learning curve) -
Your customer's age trial balance (a list of how much your customers owe you from the receivables module) must always equal the Trade Debtors account in the Ledger.
Logical isn't it when you think about it. The Receivables module is telling us that the customers owe x amount of money. This amount must be the same as the Ledger is telling us that the customers owe.
Your suppliers age trial balance (a list of how much you owe your suppliers from the Payables module) must always equal the Trade Creditors account in the Ledger
Your Stock Value report from the Products module should always equal the Stock on Hand account in the Ledger
Your bank statement should regularly be reconciled back to the balance that the Bank account shows in the ledger.
Why should you check these balances regularly - because things can go wrong and if you only pick it up several months later you are only making it harder for yourself to find out why they don't balance. At least if you do it often you may remember if something unusual happened.
If you find something doesn't balance - find out why as soon as possible and fix it. If you need help get it - ask your accountant, software trainer or some other knowledgeable person
How To Make Karaoke CDs
by: Nan Edemann
Karaoke is a growing past time and if you haven't tried it you really should. You'll quickly understand what the rage is! Why not begin by learning how to make your own karaoke CDs.
Most CD RW drives are not able to burn CD+G discs due to missing internal firmware. This firmware recognizes files that contain the graphic extensions of the Red Book. Some of the older CD RW drives that were able to write CD+G files are not compatible with the newer software so you might need to upgrade your drive.
Drives by Plextor are the only ones that seam to be working with the new burn software packages. Plextor drives support CD+G read write capabilities as well as the technology to prevent buffer overruns. They also have the capability of choosing optimum recording speed.
Not all discs are equal. Although Plextor drive can burn almost all brands but there are always a few brands that can give grief so test your discs. CDs used to burn Karaoke should be no more than 6x and 4x is actually best.
Now that we've got the hardware covered it's time to look at the software that's needed to make those karaoke CDs.
1. Video Karaoke Studio
It has all the tools you need to create a professional karaoke video. It's quick and easy to use. In fact it's never been easier. You can create your own video karaoke files using different multimedia sources. When you're done you can take your files from VKStudio to Video-CD, DVD and SVideo-CD. Synchronized lyrics, video, and picture files have never been easier.
2. Karaoke-to-Text
Can automate the process of extracting song text from karaoke files and then determine the right cords. It has Midi file processing and a key signature finder. It's convenient to use and helps with transpositions.
3. Dart Karaoke Studio CD+G 1.49 CDGP
Not only can you make your own Karaoke on your computer you can also play it. This software turns your computer into a player.
The CD recorder makes capturing both digital and analogue music easy. You can rip and burn CD+G tracks from playlists. The Dart DeVocalizer removes the vocals from commercial recordings during playback.
The Dart Karaoke Author is used to edit, import, and synchronize the lyrics to your music. Just flag the word or phrases you want to synchronize along the waveform.
The CD+G Track Generator lets you customize your graphics, choose your fonts, number your verses, work out your presentation style and so much more. The wizard has an onscreen guide that will walk you through the entire process.
The Karaoke Player is where you get to have some fun with that creation. You've made your Karaoke cd now you get to use it. Select your tack, use the controls and as the lyrics appear it's sing along time.
4. Karaoke Song List Creator 2005
Lets you sort by title, artist, track number, and even producer. The toolbar provides a quick and easy way to catalogue all of your Karaoke disks. You can create lists buttons and track all your songs. You can even print your songbook.
5. Power CD+G Pro
This is a software package that supports BIN, CDG, MP3+G file formats converting your PC into an easy to use karaoke machine. Make your disk using this easy to use software which includes key transposer so you can adjust the songs to your own voice, seekbar, and playlist management. Then play back in full screen mode.
After you've chosen your software you can search online to find many different sites that provide Karaoke tunes for you to download. Some are even free, others charge a nominal fee. Be sure to check them all out.
If you love music and you love karaoke making your own Karaoke CDs and have a great time with your friends.
Karaoke is a growing past time and if you haven't tried it you really should. You'll quickly understand what the rage is! Why not begin by learning how to make your own karaoke CDs.
Most CD RW drives are not able to burn CD+G discs due to missing internal firmware. This firmware recognizes files that contain the graphic extensions of the Red Book. Some of the older CD RW drives that were able to write CD+G files are not compatible with the newer software so you might need to upgrade your drive.
Drives by Plextor are the only ones that seam to be working with the new burn software packages. Plextor drives support CD+G read write capabilities as well as the technology to prevent buffer overruns. They also have the capability of choosing optimum recording speed.
Not all discs are equal. Although Plextor drive can burn almost all brands but there are always a few brands that can give grief so test your discs. CDs used to burn Karaoke should be no more than 6x and 4x is actually best.
Now that we've got the hardware covered it's time to look at the software that's needed to make those karaoke CDs.
1. Video Karaoke Studio
It has all the tools you need to create a professional karaoke video. It's quick and easy to use. In fact it's never been easier. You can create your own video karaoke files using different multimedia sources. When you're done you can take your files from VKStudio to Video-CD, DVD and SVideo-CD. Synchronized lyrics, video, and picture files have never been easier.
2. Karaoke-to-Text
Can automate the process of extracting song text from karaoke files and then determine the right cords. It has Midi file processing and a key signature finder. It's convenient to use and helps with transpositions.
3. Dart Karaoke Studio CD+G 1.49 CDGP
Not only can you make your own Karaoke on your computer you can also play it. This software turns your computer into a player.
The CD recorder makes capturing both digital and analogue music easy. You can rip and burn CD+G tracks from playlists. The Dart DeVocalizer removes the vocals from commercial recordings during playback.
The Dart Karaoke Author is used to edit, import, and synchronize the lyrics to your music. Just flag the word or phrases you want to synchronize along the waveform.
The CD+G Track Generator lets you customize your graphics, choose your fonts, number your verses, work out your presentation style and so much more. The wizard has an onscreen guide that will walk you through the entire process.
The Karaoke Player is where you get to have some fun with that creation. You've made your Karaoke cd now you get to use it. Select your tack, use the controls and as the lyrics appear it's sing along time.
4. Karaoke Song List Creator 2005
Lets you sort by title, artist, track number, and even producer. The toolbar provides a quick and easy way to catalogue all of your Karaoke disks. You can create lists buttons and track all your songs. You can even print your songbook.
5. Power CD+G Pro
This is a software package that supports BIN, CDG, MP3+G file formats converting your PC into an easy to use karaoke machine. Make your disk using this easy to use software which includes key transposer so you can adjust the songs to your own voice, seekbar, and playlist management. Then play back in full screen mode.
After you've chosen your software you can search online to find many different sites that provide Karaoke tunes for you to download. Some are even free, others charge a nominal fee. Be sure to check them all out.
If you love music and you love karaoke making your own Karaoke CDs and have a great time with your friends.
What CRM Software Can Do For Your Business
by: Dave Roth
For the salespeople who work at a business and the individuals who own that business, CRM software can be very helpful. However, a lot of people do not realize the importance of CRM software so they do not use it. Other people think that CRM software is too hard for them to use, so they choose to use a different method of keeping track of their clients. If it is too hard to use, people will avoid it, and they will find other ways of keeping track of customers. Other ideas for tracking customers may not be as effective as CRM software solutions, however. Still other individuals may be concerned that CRM software is too costly for them, so they decide it is not cost-effective for their business. Despite some concerns, CRM software is generally the right choice for most businesses, because it works extremely well at keeping track of clients and their information.
The most important thing that CRM software can do for a business is to keep it organized. One of the most vital parts of the life of a business is clients and the information which is collected about them. Even a small business must make sure that these clients are kept organized. These clients can get lost in the paperwork and other issues that a business must handle, and this causes them to be neglected and ignored. With CRM software, though, there is much less worry about the clients and their information. CRM software is also very good for keeping client information protected and safe. By doing this, the company is better protected from future problems. Also, many clients feel more comfortable in working with the company. Any sensitive information that is provided to the company will not be lost or compromised.
For the salesperson, CRM software is also a good tool. It helps to keep them prepared every day for what they must do. People who work in sales spend a lot of their day just preparing for the next day. They are also concerned about forgetting clients or forgetting appointments. By using CRM software, they reduce the chances of these kinds of problems taking place. Everything that the salesperson needs to know about the client and everything that has to be remembered can be easily stored. Having a salesperson who will not learn the system and use it is basically the only disadvantage to CRM software. This, however, would be the fault of the salesperson, not the fault of the software.
CRM software is one of the best ways to build business in many companies. Not all companies will use this software, but those that do find that their business has been improved. Those who need reassurance that they matter to the company can receive this, and salespeople can enjoy better interaction with the clients that they have. When they get that, they want to come back. They feel that they are valued, and they think that their opinions, ideas, and business are important to the company, as well.
For the salespeople who work at a business and the individuals who own that business, CRM software can be very helpful. However, a lot of people do not realize the importance of CRM software so they do not use it. Other people think that CRM software is too hard for them to use, so they choose to use a different method of keeping track of their clients. If it is too hard to use, people will avoid it, and they will find other ways of keeping track of customers. Other ideas for tracking customers may not be as effective as CRM software solutions, however. Still other individuals may be concerned that CRM software is too costly for them, so they decide it is not cost-effective for their business. Despite some concerns, CRM software is generally the right choice for most businesses, because it works extremely well at keeping track of clients and their information.
The most important thing that CRM software can do for a business is to keep it organized. One of the most vital parts of the life of a business is clients and the information which is collected about them. Even a small business must make sure that these clients are kept organized. These clients can get lost in the paperwork and other issues that a business must handle, and this causes them to be neglected and ignored. With CRM software, though, there is much less worry about the clients and their information. CRM software is also very good for keeping client information protected and safe. By doing this, the company is better protected from future problems. Also, many clients feel more comfortable in working with the company. Any sensitive information that is provided to the company will not be lost or compromised.
For the salesperson, CRM software is also a good tool. It helps to keep them prepared every day for what they must do. People who work in sales spend a lot of their day just preparing for the next day. They are also concerned about forgetting clients or forgetting appointments. By using CRM software, they reduce the chances of these kinds of problems taking place. Everything that the salesperson needs to know about the client and everything that has to be remembered can be easily stored. Having a salesperson who will not learn the system and use it is basically the only disadvantage to CRM software. This, however, would be the fault of the salesperson, not the fault of the software.
CRM software is one of the best ways to build business in many companies. Not all companies will use this software, but those that do find that their business has been improved. Those who need reassurance that they matter to the company can receive this, and salespeople can enjoy better interaction with the clients that they have. When they get that, they want to come back. They feel that they are valued, and they think that their opinions, ideas, and business are important to the company, as well.
How to Choose the Right Webcam Surveillance Software?
Many people want to have some kind of spy equipment for better home security. However, besides wireless spy cameras, VCR or DVR systems, there is also special software used to control those surveillance gadgets.
Large companies use professional security systems along with already built in (embedded digital video recorder or PC based DVR soft) spy camera control software. But what about smaller guys? Do you also have to spend thousands of dollars for professional spy security system and software to feel safe and secure in your house? And the answer is not necessarily.
Webcam for Spying Purposes
You have the ability to use your webcam (connected to your PC) as a surveillance tool. And to control it, all you need is inexpensive webcam surveillance software. As a matter of fact, such software allows you to connect more than one camera. It can display as much as 16 webcam views on your computer screen.
Moreover, webcam surveillance software even allows you to detect motion and start capturing an event within milliseconds. This means that you don´t have to keep your webcam surveillance software turned on all the time in order to secure the area. By using motion detection webcams, you can also save your computer´s HDD (hard drive) space.
You know, video takes a lot of hard drive space. Non stop recording for 24 hours can cost you 1GB of HDD space a day. Well, it depends on the chosen image quality. Lower quality images will require less bandwidth. Also, if you set lower FPS (frames per second), then you´ll save even more HDD space.
But if you have a large HDD (like 160GB or more), then there´s nothing to worry about.
What to Look for in Webcam Surveillance Software?
Before you decide to order webcam surveillance software, there are a couple of things to consider. Let´s take a look at some of the features of webcam software that you should seriously consider, ok.
* Audio Capturing - Does your webcam surveillance software have audio capturing option? If not, then you should consider that carefully. If you want to record a conversation, it´s crucial.
* Compressed Files - Does your webcam software compress video files? If not, then the space of your HDD might fill up quickly. Try to search for software that compresses the video without losing its quality.
* Remote Access - This is very important. If you leave your webcam to record the area, you should have the ability to access your webcam´s view via internet connection. This is very neat function that is absolutely must in webcam software.
* Motion Detection - We´ve already mentioned that. Motion detection is also extremely important. You don´t want to record the area when nothing´s going on, right. So make sure that motion sensing is enabled in your software.
* Alert Options - Does the webcam surveillance software have an alert option? Some webcam software alert when they detect something. They can alert via email or even dial a phone number. You should seek for this feature, because it´s very neat.
* Multiple Webcams - Can your surveillance software record a live view from multiple web cameras? 2, 4 or 16? If you want to connect more than one camera to your PC, then multiple webcam support is absolutely must in the software you choose.
* Stealth Mode - Does the webcam software run in stealth mode? Stealth mode means that nobody can see if the software is running or not. Not even if they Press "Ctr+Alt+Del" and look at Windows Task Manager!
Look for webcam surveillance software that allows you to do all or at least most of the functions mentioned above. If your software isn´t capable of detecting motion, doesn´t have alert option, doesn´t have audio recording options, then search for a better solution.
In Conclusion
Webcam software (for spying or home protection purposes) combined with a few inexpensive webcams, can definitely serve as a basic home security system. You can put your webcams in the most important places and have your PC to record each camera´s view. And if motion sensors detect something unusual, they can alert you via email or phone.
However, if you´re really looking for quality and all-in-one solution for professional home protection, then a more powerful DVR security system with multiple spy cameras could be your best shot. Such systems cost over thousand dollars, but they´re ideal for quality home or office protection.
Large companies use professional security systems along with already built in (embedded digital video recorder or PC based DVR soft) spy camera control software. But what about smaller guys? Do you also have to spend thousands of dollars for professional spy security system and software to feel safe and secure in your house? And the answer is not necessarily.
Webcam for Spying Purposes
You have the ability to use your webcam (connected to your PC) as a surveillance tool. And to control it, all you need is inexpensive webcam surveillance software. As a matter of fact, such software allows you to connect more than one camera. It can display as much as 16 webcam views on your computer screen.
Moreover, webcam surveillance software even allows you to detect motion and start capturing an event within milliseconds. This means that you don´t have to keep your webcam surveillance software turned on all the time in order to secure the area. By using motion detection webcams, you can also save your computer´s HDD (hard drive) space.
You know, video takes a lot of hard drive space. Non stop recording for 24 hours can cost you 1GB of HDD space a day. Well, it depends on the chosen image quality. Lower quality images will require less bandwidth. Also, if you set lower FPS (frames per second), then you´ll save even more HDD space.
But if you have a large HDD (like 160GB or more), then there´s nothing to worry about.
What to Look for in Webcam Surveillance Software?
Before you decide to order webcam surveillance software, there are a couple of things to consider. Let´s take a look at some of the features of webcam software that you should seriously consider, ok.
* Audio Capturing - Does your webcam surveillance software have audio capturing option? If not, then you should consider that carefully. If you want to record a conversation, it´s crucial.
* Compressed Files - Does your webcam software compress video files? If not, then the space of your HDD might fill up quickly. Try to search for software that compresses the video without losing its quality.
* Remote Access - This is very important. If you leave your webcam to record the area, you should have the ability to access your webcam´s view via internet connection. This is very neat function that is absolutely must in webcam software.
* Motion Detection - We´ve already mentioned that. Motion detection is also extremely important. You don´t want to record the area when nothing´s going on, right. So make sure that motion sensing is enabled in your software.
* Alert Options - Does the webcam surveillance software have an alert option? Some webcam software alert when they detect something. They can alert via email or even dial a phone number. You should seek for this feature, because it´s very neat.
* Multiple Webcams - Can your surveillance software record a live view from multiple web cameras? 2, 4 or 16? If you want to connect more than one camera to your PC, then multiple webcam support is absolutely must in the software you choose.
* Stealth Mode - Does the webcam software run in stealth mode? Stealth mode means that nobody can see if the software is running or not. Not even if they Press "Ctr+Alt+Del" and look at Windows Task Manager!
Look for webcam surveillance software that allows you to do all or at least most of the functions mentioned above. If your software isn´t capable of detecting motion, doesn´t have alert option, doesn´t have audio recording options, then search for a better solution.
In Conclusion
Webcam software (for spying or home protection purposes) combined with a few inexpensive webcams, can definitely serve as a basic home security system. You can put your webcams in the most important places and have your PC to record each camera´s view. And if motion sensors detect something unusual, they can alert you via email or phone.
However, if you´re really looking for quality and all-in-one solution for professional home protection, then a more powerful DVR security system with multiple spy cameras could be your best shot. Such systems cost over thousand dollars, but they´re ideal for quality home or office protection.
CRM Software Has Many Benefits
by: Dave Roth
CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.
There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, and important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.
Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.
Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.
There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, and important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.
Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.
Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
Custom Software Development Checklist
Custom database software development is facilitated by the use of a checklist of standard questions to be answered before a system is created, and before analysis begins. This checklist is provided to assist in the Analysis/Requirements phase of a new custom software development project.
If you are interested in having 21st Century Technologies, Inc. create a new system for you, then the following checklist and the associated answers will facilitate the analysis process. The answers can be e-mailed or faxed to us at the email address and fax number at the bottom of the page.
BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS
1. Desired delivery date or proposed project schedule.
2. Business reason for, and urgency of project.
3. What are the cost constraints?
4. Use cases - description of how each group of users will be using the system.
a. General business process - web user will buy a product, web user will add a customer, web user will add contact information, etc.
b. Input/Output - web users will enter data into forms, data will be imported, administrator must run many management reports, administrator needs to export to Excel and text, etc.
c. Frequency of activity - many times each day, once daily, weekly, etc.
d. Cycles of activity - weekly sales reports to all sales managers on Monday morning, close books at end of year, etc.
NATURE OF APPLICATION
1. Do you have a desired development tool or technology in mind? You may want to split the application into some parts that can be run on a Windows workstation computer, while other parts (like reports, or timecard entry screens) are accessed via a web browser on your local intranet. Web applications and reports can be viewed on all computer types and operating systems that are capable of viewing web pages. Some tools currently available to build the system are listed here:
a. C#/VB.NET
b. ASP.NET
c. Active Server Pages or Cold Fusion for robust database driven Web applications
d. ColdFusion
e. Visual Basic
f. SQL Server
g. MS Access
h. JavaScript - for cross browser compatibility,
i. VBScript - for server scripting, and client scripting if Internet Explorer is the only client browser
j. Dreamweaver - for higher ended client functionality
k. SQL Server Reporting Services
l. Crystal Reports - for Windows and Web based reports
m. ActiveReports
n. Excel
o. PowerPoint
p. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems - dial 1 for English, 2 for Spanish...
2. If other applications are involved (MS Word, MS Excel, QuickBooks, etc.), what version will be used?
3. Desired screen resolution (800x600, 1024x768, etc.),
4. Screen Size (15", 17", 19”, 21")
5. Preferred Font and size (Arial 10, Times New Roman 12, etc.)?
6. Target Windows version for each client computer in the system (98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003 Server, etc.),
7. Web Server – MS Internet Information Services (IIS), Apache, etc.
8. Target computer Operating System if not a Windows Platform - Apple, Unix, Linux, etc.
9. Target workstation hardware for all client stations,
a. Clock speed –1333, 1500, 2000, 3000, etc. MHz,
b. Hard drive space – 100, 200, 400, etc. Gbytes,
c. RAM – 128Mb, 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb, etc.
10. If a network application, which network and version? –Windows, Novell 3.1, Novell, etc.
11. What are the drive letters for the networked back end databases if a network application? F, G, H, etc.? This reduces the deployment effort by developing in the same environment as the target workstations.
12. If available and pertinent, please provide a network configuration diagram with paths to server (where database will reside) and all clients, security/user groups, etc.
13. Is 24x7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) uptime required? If so, please explain the business need. We will discuss this further. The cost goes up as more uptime is required. More resources are needed - various personnel on pagers, redundant computers or components like power supplies RAID or mirrored hard drives, etc.
14. Is Internet/Intranet data access desired?
a. For data entry?
b. For report reviewing only?
c. To disseminate existing documents?
d. To email notification of pre-determined business trigger events (project milestone met and approved, employee appraisal ready for approval, etc.)?
15. Is Security desired?
a. Extremely high network (Internet) security - firewall, proxy server, etc.
b. Database level security - MS Access has security, but SQL Server has a much tighter security model tied in with the Win 2000/NT operating system.
c. Application level security
d. Minimum (pseudo) security algorithm – low cost
e. Please specify User Groups that may have special Security needs requiring different levels of security:
i. Administrative Assistants
ii. Analysts
iii. Engineers
iv. Managers
v. Company Owners
vi. System Administrators
16. Are Backup Scenarios currently in place? Backups will be an integral component of the system. The importance of this cannot be over emphasized.
a. Daily, Weekly, Monthly onto tape
b. Daily, Weekly, Monthly onto CD or other optical drive
c. Onto another computer
d. Regular backups located at a remote site
17. Are Anti-Virus protection and policies in place? It is an important part of ensuring that a system stays up and running.
18. Will remote troubleshooting be desired? The addition of Error Processing and Logging software will facilitate remote support and troubleshooting.
19. Desired Documentation?
a. None
b. Installation
c. User
d. Administrator
e. Software
f. On-line help
g. Special
h. All of the above
20. What is the proficiency level of all users for the target tools and environments – Windows, Excel, etc.?
21. Will interfaces to other systems (accounting, payroll, another database, GIS, truck routing, etc.) be required? This will affect the data model and system configuration, so early planning for these interfaces is critical to their successful inclusion into the system.
22. Is an audit trail function desired for changes to existing data? What parts of the system will need to be audited?
23. Is government reporting or data security required – Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, etc.
24. Number of reports. A sample hardcopy or at least hand drawing of each will significantly help in determination of report prices and commonalties (company headers, formats, etc.). Important items are:
a. Number of sections including sort groups,
b. Definition of the source data for all fields in each section and their calculation method,
c. Summaries,
d. Desired output format:
i. Windows screen preview
ii. HTML
iii. E-Mail
iv. PDF
v. Delimited Text
vi. Excel spreadsheet
vii. Other outputs
25. Is an ad hoc user-defined reporting, data retrieval, or analysis (On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), Data Mining, etc.) capability desired?
26. Is an installation program needed for distribution of an application to many users?
27. Is an automated network or internet installation desired?
28. Are custom point to point communications needed? This may also include automated faxing.
29. Special Considerations:
a. Unique business rules, calculations, desired warnings, etc.
b. Significant text parsing
c. Known or possible issues and problems that may be alleviated with testing
d. Voice driven capability
e. Multiple databases (Access and SQL Server, Oracle, etc.)
DATA AND VOLUME
1. How many users are expected on the system in the near (first 6 months) and long (1 – 3 years and past) term?
2. How many users are expected to use the system at the same time during peak periods in the near and long term?
3. What type of data traffic will be on the network for the near and long term - numbers, text, images, video, multi-media, etc.?
4. What is the expected volume of traffic for the near and long term?
5. What is the estimated number of data records to be stored for the near and long term?
6. Do we need to import data from existing files or systems? Note that Characters like ‘ " # have special significance in data processing and conversion, and require special code handling. Names (D’Joy) and other data fields may contain these characters.
a. No. Example data will usually be provided in database, text, or spreadsheet format. This helps significantly in system testing and allows for error discovery and error trapping before the system is delivered.
b. Yes.
i. Is all or part of the existing data needed? What parts?
ii. Can use of the existing data be stopped while we convert the data into the new system?
iii. Is this a one time data conversion, or will we have to import data from existing systems regularly?
iv. Are some fields mostly blank?
v. Are some desired fields missing?
If you are interested in having 21st Century Technologies, Inc. create a new system for you, then the following checklist and the associated answers will facilitate the analysis process. The answers can be e-mailed or faxed to us at the email address and fax number at the bottom of the page.
BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS
1. Desired delivery date or proposed project schedule.
2. Business reason for, and urgency of project.
3. What are the cost constraints?
4. Use cases - description of how each group of users will be using the system.
a. General business process - web user will buy a product, web user will add a customer, web user will add contact information, etc.
b. Input/Output - web users will enter data into forms, data will be imported, administrator must run many management reports, administrator needs to export to Excel and text, etc.
c. Frequency of activity - many times each day, once daily, weekly, etc.
d. Cycles of activity - weekly sales reports to all sales managers on Monday morning, close books at end of year, etc.
NATURE OF APPLICATION
1. Do you have a desired development tool or technology in mind? You may want to split the application into some parts that can be run on a Windows workstation computer, while other parts (like reports, or timecard entry screens) are accessed via a web browser on your local intranet. Web applications and reports can be viewed on all computer types and operating systems that are capable of viewing web pages. Some tools currently available to build the system are listed here:
a. C#/VB.NET
b. ASP.NET
c. Active Server Pages or Cold Fusion for robust database driven Web applications
d. ColdFusion
e. Visual Basic
f. SQL Server
g. MS Access
h. JavaScript - for cross browser compatibility,
i. VBScript - for server scripting, and client scripting if Internet Explorer is the only client browser
j. Dreamweaver - for higher ended client functionality
k. SQL Server Reporting Services
l. Crystal Reports - for Windows and Web based reports
m. ActiveReports
n. Excel
o. PowerPoint
p. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems - dial 1 for English, 2 for Spanish...
2. If other applications are involved (MS Word, MS Excel, QuickBooks, etc.), what version will be used?
3. Desired screen resolution (800x600, 1024x768, etc.),
4. Screen Size (15", 17", 19”, 21")
5. Preferred Font and size (Arial 10, Times New Roman 12, etc.)?
6. Target Windows version for each client computer in the system (98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003 Server, etc.),
7. Web Server – MS Internet Information Services (IIS), Apache, etc.
8. Target computer Operating System if not a Windows Platform - Apple, Unix, Linux, etc.
9. Target workstation hardware for all client stations,
a. Clock speed –1333, 1500, 2000, 3000, etc. MHz,
b. Hard drive space – 100, 200, 400, etc. Gbytes,
c. RAM – 128Mb, 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb, etc.
10. If a network application, which network and version? –Windows, Novell 3.1, Novell, etc.
11. What are the drive letters for the networked back end databases if a network application? F, G, H, etc.? This reduces the deployment effort by developing in the same environment as the target workstations.
12. If available and pertinent, please provide a network configuration diagram with paths to server (where database will reside) and all clients, security/user groups, etc.
13. Is 24x7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) uptime required? If so, please explain the business need. We will discuss this further. The cost goes up as more uptime is required. More resources are needed - various personnel on pagers, redundant computers or components like power supplies RAID or mirrored hard drives, etc.
14. Is Internet/Intranet data access desired?
a. For data entry?
b. For report reviewing only?
c. To disseminate existing documents?
d. To email notification of pre-determined business trigger events (project milestone met and approved, employee appraisal ready for approval, etc.)?
15. Is Security desired?
a. Extremely high network (Internet) security - firewall, proxy server, etc.
b. Database level security - MS Access has security, but SQL Server has a much tighter security model tied in with the Win 2000/NT operating system.
c. Application level security
d. Minimum (pseudo) security algorithm – low cost
e. Please specify User Groups that may have special Security needs requiring different levels of security:
i. Administrative Assistants
ii. Analysts
iii. Engineers
iv. Managers
v. Company Owners
vi. System Administrators
16. Are Backup Scenarios currently in place? Backups will be an integral component of the system. The importance of this cannot be over emphasized.
a. Daily, Weekly, Monthly onto tape
b. Daily, Weekly, Monthly onto CD or other optical drive
c. Onto another computer
d. Regular backups located at a remote site
17. Are Anti-Virus protection and policies in place? It is an important part of ensuring that a system stays up and running.
18. Will remote troubleshooting be desired? The addition of Error Processing and Logging software will facilitate remote support and troubleshooting.
19. Desired Documentation?
a. None
b. Installation
c. User
d. Administrator
e. Software
f. On-line help
g. Special
h. All of the above
20. What is the proficiency level of all users for the target tools and environments – Windows, Excel, etc.?
21. Will interfaces to other systems (accounting, payroll, another database, GIS, truck routing, etc.) be required? This will affect the data model and system configuration, so early planning for these interfaces is critical to their successful inclusion into the system.
22. Is an audit trail function desired for changes to existing data? What parts of the system will need to be audited?
23. Is government reporting or data security required – Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, etc.
24. Number of reports. A sample hardcopy or at least hand drawing of each will significantly help in determination of report prices and commonalties (company headers, formats, etc.). Important items are:
a. Number of sections including sort groups,
b. Definition of the source data for all fields in each section and their calculation method,
c. Summaries,
d. Desired output format:
i. Windows screen preview
ii. HTML
iii. E-Mail
iv. PDF
v. Delimited Text
vi. Excel spreadsheet
vii. Other outputs
25. Is an ad hoc user-defined reporting, data retrieval, or analysis (On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), Data Mining, etc.) capability desired?
26. Is an installation program needed for distribution of an application to many users?
27. Is an automated network or internet installation desired?
28. Are custom point to point communications needed? This may also include automated faxing.
29. Special Considerations:
a. Unique business rules, calculations, desired warnings, etc.
b. Significant text parsing
c. Known or possible issues and problems that may be alleviated with testing
d. Voice driven capability
e. Multiple databases (Access and SQL Server, Oracle, etc.)
DATA AND VOLUME
1. How many users are expected on the system in the near (first 6 months) and long (1 – 3 years and past) term?
2. How many users are expected to use the system at the same time during peak periods in the near and long term?
3. What type of data traffic will be on the network for the near and long term - numbers, text, images, video, multi-media, etc.?
4. What is the expected volume of traffic for the near and long term?
5. What is the estimated number of data records to be stored for the near and long term?
6. Do we need to import data from existing files or systems? Note that Characters like ‘ " # have special significance in data processing and conversion, and require special code handling. Names (D’Joy) and other data fields may contain these characters.
a. No. Example data will usually be provided in database, text, or spreadsheet format. This helps significantly in system testing and allows for error discovery and error trapping before the system is delivered.
b. Yes.
i. Is all or part of the existing data needed? What parts?
ii. Can use of the existing data be stopped while we convert the data into the new system?
iii. Is this a one time data conversion, or will we have to import data from existing systems regularly?
iv. Are some fields mostly blank?
v. Are some desired fields missing?
Free Health Software For Windows
What Health Body Mass Index Calculator
Body mass index (BMI) is calculated to determine a persons weight status.
What Health currently offer a free BMI Calculator for Windows users.
Features include
- Easy to use interface
- Accepts both imperial and metric measurements
- Dropdown list provided for easy selection of height in feet/inches and weight in stone/pounds
- When body mass index is calculated, 'Weight Status' is highlighted
- Small download size
- No installation necessary
- Completely free health software
- Works on all modern versions of Windows (Win 95, 98, 2000, XP)
To find out more visit the What Health BMI Calc section.
Software Objective
QuikCheK is an evolving product that needs to change as the fitness industry changes. The industry goes through rapid changes that affect the way you run your business, and you need to keep pace with the industry's evolution.
Software is everywhere: it runs your car, ATM machines, the scanner at the grocery store, traffic lights, cell phones, it even tracks the statistics in our favorite sports. As Bill Gates said, "-- it's only just begun to be realized as we enter an era when software will fundamentally transform almost everything we do."
Your software must give you the tools to make running your business easier. It needs to be simple, so you can train your front desk staff in minimal time. It needs to save you time when performing repetitive daily routines.
Our goal here at Coral Springs Software is to provide you with the best product, and service, to give you peace of mind. We want to empower you to run your business efficiently, and to keep in touch with the health club industry as a whole. Your evolution is our evolution, your needs are our needs, your success is our success.
When you purchase QuikCheK software you become a partner in moving the product forward. All of our updates are made to satisfy our customer's needs. YOU are the user. YOU know what functionality you need. It's only with your suggestions and help that we can make the product better and more powerful.
We know choosing a software application to run your business is a difficult decision to make. We'll be glad to answer any questions you have regarding your needs, and we'll also be happy to give you advice in getting started. We appreciate your time, and interest in our product line, and hope you choose Coral Springs Software as your health club software provider.
Sincerely,
John E. Becker
President
Coral Springs Software
Bonnie Schmidt
Vice President
Coral Springs Software
Call (800) 827-2567 for information, and special introductory prices.
Software: Health
Healthy living made mobile
Count calories, log reps during a workout, plan meals, calculate nutritional values, check up on drug interactions, and more. Turn your Palm® device into a personal trainer, nutritionist, and medical advisor. Be high-tech and healthy.Top Software Connection Health Titles
Teaching With Preschool Software
Computers and their Benefits
Computers are becoming increasingly popular in homes, day care centers, preschools, and schools. In fact, current statistics show that more than 50% of all children have used a computer by the time they are four years old. That number jumps to over 80% when discussing children who have used the computer by the time they have entered Kindergarten. Using computer programs for educational purposes offers a host of benefits. Preschool software can be a great way to help children develop and reinforce many educational skills from literacy to science. Many parents may mistakenly believe that their preschooler is to young to benefit from computer software but this is a gross misconception. Preschoolers need to develop literary awareness and preschool software is a great way to expose children to concepts that will help them make the connection between words and their meanings. When it comes to learning, preschoolers need to learn in an atmosphere that is relaxed and fun. Many preschool software games incorporate graphics, audio files, and interesting voice patterns. This helps engage the child’s senses and stimulates learning. It is also important to ensure that the preschool software will help increase their logic, reasoning, and problem solving abilities. Since exploration, imaginative learning, and play are also critical to early childhood development, using preschool software can be an effective means for developing these areas as well.
One word of caution that is important to mention, is that preschoolers have a strong need for interaction with adults and other children. Therefore, the computer should never be used as a substitute for one-on- one or group learning. Consider the use of a preschool software program as an additional learning tool to enhance your curriculum- not to replace it. Some areas where you can find preschool software beneficial include:
•Oral Language Development- choose software that allows children to record and playback their voice. Also, look for software that has a narrator who children will interact and respond to.
•Increase Awareness in the Areas of Phonetics and Print- Preschool software can help children make the connection between print words and their meanings. It is also a valuable way to teach letter recognition, stories, rhymes, and letter sounds.
Using computers and preschool software can be advantageous for all children. It is important to ensure that each activity is connected to the other areas of learning currently being taught.
Computers are becoming increasingly popular in homes, day care centers, preschools, and schools. In fact, current statistics show that more than 50% of all children have used a computer by the time they are four years old. That number jumps to over 80% when discussing children who have used the computer by the time they have entered Kindergarten. Using computer programs for educational purposes offers a host of benefits. Preschool software can be a great way to help children develop and reinforce many educational skills from literacy to science. Many parents may mistakenly believe that their preschooler is to young to benefit from computer software but this is a gross misconception. Preschoolers need to develop literary awareness and preschool software is a great way to expose children to concepts that will help them make the connection between words and their meanings. When it comes to learning, preschoolers need to learn in an atmosphere that is relaxed and fun. Many preschool software games incorporate graphics, audio files, and interesting voice patterns. This helps engage the child’s senses and stimulates learning. It is also important to ensure that the preschool software will help increase their logic, reasoning, and problem solving abilities. Since exploration, imaginative learning, and play are also critical to early childhood development, using preschool software can be an effective means for developing these areas as well.
One word of caution that is important to mention, is that preschoolers have a strong need for interaction with adults and other children. Therefore, the computer should never be used as a substitute for one-on- one or group learning. Consider the use of a preschool software program as an additional learning tool to enhance your curriculum- not to replace it. Some areas where you can find preschool software beneficial include:
•Oral Language Development- choose software that allows children to record and playback their voice. Also, look for software that has a narrator who children will interact and respond to.
•Increase Awareness in the Areas of Phonetics and Print- Preschool software can help children make the connection between print words and their meanings. It is also a valuable way to teach letter recognition, stories, rhymes, and letter sounds.
Using computers and preschool software can be advantageous for all children. It is important to ensure that each activity is connected to the other areas of learning currently being taught.
Best Practices in Offshore Software Development
by: John Parker
A Software Model that emphasizes on global delivery of quality software build by talented pool of professionals at an economical cost from a development center that is located in a foreign land is Offshore Software Development.
The burgeoning competition to be branded as the Quality Offshore Software Development Company has signaled the requirement to implement the best of the resources and innovative strategies. After a jerk of the start-up phase, HyTech Professionals has implemented the approach that encompasses the minutest details, which had been or may have been easily overlooked by the nascent businesses to win the client interest. Clearly, the enticing feature of Outsourcing is cost savings without compromising on quality. To achieve this objective, the initiative should begin with the Best possible approach by the offshore client and the Software vendor.
Huge cost savings, time optimization and talented technocrats in a minimal risk environment are often accompanied by some challenges such as communication gaps, decreased visibility to project status, unexpected spikes in budget allocation and cultural hindrances.
The opening channel to venture in Software Offshore Development is the Smooth flow of communication between the offshore client and the vendor. A constructive dialogue between the two sides is not limited to verbal communication, but is aggressively pursued in writing, meetings and conferences.
Seamless communication can be reinforced by working on a global clock, which is accomplished by implementing work-schedules with a time overlap between the software offshore client and the vendor. Though, it may be expected that the offshore vendor works in accordance with the client suitability. Local presence of the offshore vendor can be of an added privilege to the client, as it guarantees direct and constant interfacing. The flexibility and ease to approach the offshore vendor strengthens the client confidence.
Another factor that should be taken care of is the Budget forecast for the project. The Technical and Business Analysts should take into consideration the following:
- The vendor Rates: what is more suitable to the project requirement. Should the accepted rates be “Per Project”, “per Hour”, “per Month” etc?
- The Risks involved in accomplishing the task
- Is the quality being compromised for an attractive price?
- See through any hidden costs. For example: Change or modification in the Client specification, Re-doing of any deliverable.
- The Offshore Vendor Resource matrix that cover the attributes required by the Client
Once the offshore client is confident that the terms of engagement are clear, both the Teams coordinate the efforts and work on the project. The Engagement Model may be transparent to win the client interest and hence the one that adds value to the relationship.
To foster the nascent relation between the offshore client and the software vendor, it is imperative that the offshore vendor architects the design such that which ensures an uninterrupted work-flow. Implementing a development environment that is a replication of the offshore client environment serves as a conduit to smooth accomplishment of tasks.
Apart from setting up an extension of the Client backdrop, the teams engaged from either side should delegate their tasks through a single point of contact to eliminate any ambiguities that could arise due to multiple interfacing channels. All the tasks relayed between the Offshore and the Domestic teams should be anchored on close communication and active follow up.
How much ever one decides to implement an error-free design, some issues or unpredictable lags can reap up and slow down the work-process. Such issues if handled with a mutual consensus and cooperation from both the parties can ramp up the process to successfully achieve the target.
In conclusion, a summary of the steps for the best practice in Offshore Software Development are:
- Implement a Transparent Model that is customer-centric
- Conduct a proper survey to shortlist the best suitable vendor for the project
- Finalize the contract that explicitly defines the Financial terms and states Service Level Agreement
- Fragment the Software Lifecycle in phases- from Inception to Delivery
- Develop and deploy the accomplished tasks in a close collaboration with the Offshore Client.
Source: http://www.hytechpro.com/best_practices_in_offshore_software_development.html
Integrated Medical Billing Software and Electronic Medical Records
medical practice management software
is a state-of-the-art, integrated medical billing software and medical appointment scheduling software designed for healthcare practices and providers, healthcare management groups and medical billing services. The MedStarmedical billing software
is available in versions designed to meet the needs of general practitioners, medical specialists, imaging centers (with our specialized Radiology Information System - RIS), anesthesiology practices and group practices. MedStar's EMRWorks is an electronic medical records software - EMR - designed to improve patient care by facilitating the creation and storage ofmedical
records and reports, providing easy access to patient history, simplifying the development of treatment plans and providing interfaces to pharmacy and laboratory providers.MedStar designed its
medical management software systems
on Microsoft's® Windows operating system and SQL database manager. This assures that our medical billing software and electronic medical record software are user-friendly and have unequaled information management capabilities. The user will improve medical billing functions, maximize revenues and create efficiencies in office administration.Contact us for a free demostration of our medical billing software and electronic medical records software or download demonstrations and presentations directly from out site. You can also browse our site for supplemental products and services provided by MedStar's Star Alliance partners, and read testimonials from satisfied customers.
Please contact us toll free at (866) 775-7779 to learn more about our medical billing and electronic medical records solutions.
Healthcare Management Software Directory
Designed specifically for Healthcare, and exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association, Halogen eAppraisal Healthcare simplifies and automates the entire employee evaluation process. Produce accurate and meaningful appraisals - on time. Streamline accreditation reporting for JCAHO and others. Align and track corporate goals, training and development plans and more. Part of our Talent management suite that includes e360, eCompensation and eSuccession.
NutriGenie's mission is to create quality nutrition software for better health
In addition to numerous top ratings from software reviewers, in 1995, we received the Home PC Editors' Choice: Top 100 Products of the Year Award. No other nutrition software company ever received comparable distinctions.
Our nutrition software products have been licensed by health organizations, universities, physicians and individual users throughout the world. With users in over 50 countries, NutriGenie is undisputedly the world's leading nutrition software publisher. While most competitive programs are limited to local distribution, NutriGenie software has been universally acclaimed as the best of its kind and translated into Italian, Croatian, Greek, Czech and German--with other international versions in development.
We publish software for general nutrition as well as for specific medical conditions such as diabetes, heart diseases, kidney diseases, obesity, hypertension, and for special diets such as ketogenic diet, carbohydrate-restricted diet (Atkins diet), zone diet, glycemic index diet, sugar busters, protein power, etc.
Some of the unique features of our nutrition software programs include their ability to automatically generate balanced menus based on calorie requirements and their graphic analysis of diet based on the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. Newer versions of our software, such as Optimal Nutrition, can evaluate your daily diet and give it a star rating making the task of preparing a healthy diet easy and enjoyable. The user interface has been carefully designed so that all important nutrition information is presented on one main screen and use of keyboard to enter food data is kept to the minimum.
Please browse through our product catalog and download sample software for evaluation.
Healthcare
Healthcare is one of today’s most dynamic and growing fields, with a wide range of opportunities and challenges. This Internet resource guide will assist you in exploring a career in the healthcare management field and provide you with information so that you can make a more informed career decision.
View video segments of successful 
healthcare executives, teachers and students discussing careers as leaders of hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
Whether you are a….
- High school student searching for information about a career in healthcare management
- Baccalaureate student interested in pursuing an undergraduate or a graduate degree in healthcare administration
- Mid-careerist wishing to transition into a healthcare management career
- Career counselor who guides students in making career decisions
…we hope that this Web site will give you a better understanding of the exciting profession of healthcare management.
Health Care
Hello all you wonderful people out there. If there is one subject that affects every one of us that is our
Let’s take a brief look at some of our options for taking care of our health.
Some people believe in preventative measures for taking care of their health. What exactly does this mean? Basically, it means eating a healthy diet, exercising properly, and living a healthy lifestyle. A yearly check-up is also a good way to know what shape you are in and to catch any developing illness.
An unpleasant factor in modern life is stress. It is a fact of life. Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with stress. Conventional medicine is one method - relaxation medication. Meditation is another method. In between there are such options as daily rest (even if for ten to twenty minutes), spending part of every day in a soothing physical environment, taking a break, a change of scenery, a vacation. A good laugh, whether at a funny joke or at a comical situation is highly recommended for keeping your mind and body in good shape.
None of us is infallible. We are all prone to illness. What are our options when we do become ill? Again there is conventional medicine. Medication for practically every illness under the sun is available.
Personally, when something out of the norm is detected on my blood test, I make a bee line to the dietician’s office. By eating those foods, those vitamins, required by the body, balance can be regained.
There is more than one way of doing things. You decide what makes you feel good and how you want to stay healthy. After all, health is wealth.
Find more valuable content about health on Health care info on TiGilet. Find more valuable info on http://www.tigilet.com
health
. What is the best way of taking care of our health?Let’s take a brief look at some of our options for taking care of our health.
Some people believe in preventative measures for taking care of their health. What exactly does this mean? Basically, it means eating a healthy diet, exercising properly, and living a healthy lifestyle. A yearly check-up is also a good way to know what shape you are in and to catch any developing illness.
An unpleasant factor in modern life is stress. It is a fact of life. Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with stress. Conventional medicine is one method - relaxation medication. Meditation is another method. In between there are such options as daily rest (even if for ten to twenty minutes), spending part of every day in a soothing physical environment, taking a break, a change of scenery, a vacation. A good laugh, whether at a funny joke or at a comical situation is highly recommended for keeping your mind and body in good shape.
None of us is infallible. We are all prone to illness. What are our options when we do become ill? Again there is conventional medicine. Medication for practically every illness under the sun is available.
Personally, when something out of the norm is detected on my blood test, I make a bee line to the dietician’s office. By eating those foods, those vitamins, required by the body, balance can be regained.
There is more than one way of doing things. You decide what makes you feel good and how you want to stay healthy. After all, health is wealth.
Find more valuable content about health on Health care info on TiGilet. Find more valuable info on http://www.tigilet.com
By Oliver Turner
Practice Management
AccuMed™ for Windows suite of Healthcare Medical Practice Management Software Solutions is a fully Windows-based collection of modular programs that address a broad spectrum of needs for the contemporary practice. AccuMed Medical Practice Management Software Solutions utilize the multitude of capabilities offered by Microsoft SQL Server database engine. This environment allows for interfacing with other state-of-the-art business solutions, including; pharmaceutical interfaces, laboratory, and Electronic Medical Record Software packages, G/L, as well as seamless connectivity to Microsoft products like Excel, Access, and Word.
The AccuMed Medical Practice Management Software Solutions provides medical practices with detailed patients demographic, and Electronic Claims Submission with HIPAA Medical Compliance Billing Software, the accepted electronic data interchange HL7 EDI Interface formats in addition to traditional paper form. The user-friendly Electronic Medical Billing Software / Accounts Receivables, designed to comply with General Accepted Accounting Principles ["GAAP"] allowing for easy payment posting and balances cross-overs to the next responsible payer. AccuMed offers hundreds of user-defined reports that address various business needs of every practice.
Available Editions
AccuMed Medical Practice Management Software Solutions are extremely versatile and scalable, beginning with the Standalone PC Edition for practices operating from a single user environment. For larger organizations seeking to link multiple computers at a single physical location, we offer the AccuMed Local Area Network ("LAN") Edition, where all network workstations can access the system.
By incorporating Internet Communication Protocols into the Enterprise Wide Area Network ("WAN") Edition, Accumedic users are enabled with full access and complete program functionality from any location equipped with an Internet connection or Virtual Private Network (VPN). The Wan Edition also supports Citrix servers.
AccuMed Medical Practice Management Software users benefit from 24/7 access to the Accumedic Support site, which contains new software versions, program updates, frequently asked questions ("FAQ's"), and more.Practice Partner Medical Billing
|
NueMD® Medical Billing System
Welcome to NueMD, your complete medical billing system. Our easy-to-use, affordable Internet-based application will help you better serve your clients by shortening their reimbursement cycles, increasing efficiencies within their practices, and providing them with detailed reports on revenue trends, collection aging, and payment status. Because NueMD is internet-based, all of your clients can have access to the system to handle their appointment scheduling. There are no added charges for multiple users.
Premier Medical Group
Sheila Johnson; Practice AdministratorRevenues are up and costs are down. I couldn't have asked for a better program.
Premier Medical Group
Third party medical billers love the NueMD system because it offers the following benefits:
- Access from anywhere, at any time
- Total security
- HIPAA compliance
- Highly detailed collections reporting
- Filtered batch posting by patient, insurance carrier or batch number
- Graphical analysis, i.e.- Insurance reimbursement trends by provider, time period, and transaction
- Financial reporting broken down to primary insurance, or secondary insurance payments
- Super-user capabilities, where billers can access their clients' accounts simultaneously.
Billing Medical Software
Billing software for the medical and health industry.
Billing medical software is used as a medical management system that can automate and track the process of submitting medical claims to insurance companies. It records the process from the first time a patient visits the doctor, through all the visits and diagnosis held from thereafter, till the end of the treatment. Plus it has several automatic processes and reports based on the information entered that can take much of the load experienced to run the medical process in a non-computerized environment.
Some of the features billing medical software has are:
1. appointment scheduling
2. electronic claims
3. flexible reporting
4. claim tracking
5. patient eligibility
6. ability to interact with other 3rd party software
Like other software applications, billing medical software needs to be easy to use and have the possibility to log the events that occur during the treatment. It needs to have a simple approach to the medical billing process as a whole, which normally, when done on paper, is a very time consuming process.
The advantages of billing medical software can be summarized as:
1. automatic billing computations for patients
2. auditable history of a treatment case at a glance
3. updated patient details availability
4. reduced time to process
Clients can benefit immensely from billing medical software. Some obvious benefits are:
1. confidentiality
2. eligibility verification
3. claims submission
Apart from offering the above advantages for both parties, billing medical software can automate the billing and collection process as well as offering simplified procedures for the main tasks needed as part of the medical and treatment process.
But who exactly can take advantage of billing medical software?
This software is normally designed for doctors, dentists, medical billing centres and other healthcare professionals who intend to send electronic claims. A good quality billing medical software allows users to work on different modules simultaneously and have the ability to be used in a multi-user network environment. Entering patient details, diagnosis, issuing reports and scheduling appointments are all functions that can be done and are allowed to be done from different users at the same time.
Billing medical software is a must for highly geared medical centres nowadays. Many advantages can be taken from a well written and efficient software. The reduced time to process the work and paper involved, and the total organization of the medical process are just the highlights on which a billing medical software can focus and excel.
Some of the features billing medical software has are:
1. appointment scheduling
2. electronic claims
3. flexible reporting
4. claim tracking
5. patient eligibility
6. ability to interact with other 3rd party software
Like other software applications, billing medical software needs to be easy to use and have the possibility to log the events that occur during the treatment. It needs to have a simple approach to the medical billing process as a whole, which normally, when done on paper, is a very time consuming process.
The advantages of billing medical software can be summarized as:
1. automatic billing computations for patients
2. auditable history of a treatment case at a glance
3. updated patient details availability
4. reduced time to process
Clients can benefit immensely from billing medical software. Some obvious benefits are:
1. confidentiality
2. eligibility verification
3. claims submission
Apart from offering the above advantages for both parties, billing medical software can automate the billing and collection process as well as offering simplified procedures for the main tasks needed as part of the medical and treatment process.
But who exactly can take advantage of billing medical software?
This software is normally designed for doctors, dentists, medical billing centres and other healthcare professionals who intend to send electronic claims. A good quality billing medical software allows users to work on different modules simultaneously and have the ability to be used in a multi-user network environment. Entering patient details, diagnosis, issuing reports and scheduling appointments are all functions that can be done and are allowed to be done from different users at the same time.
Billing medical software is a must for highly geared medical centres nowadays. Many advantages can be taken from a well written and efficient software. The reduced time to process the work and paper involved, and the total organization of the medical process are just the highlights on which a billing medical software can focus and excel.
By Sandro Azzopardi
Medical Health Insurance For Children and Students
Many parents overlook the provision of
health insurance
for their children, often assuming that the state provides cover while the children are young and that colleges and universities will pick up this responsibility for students. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In order to deal with a growing problem of children living in the United States without health insurance some 10 years ago Congress passed a plan entitled Title XXI, or the State Children's Health Insurance Program [SCHIP]. Under this state plan families whose income is insufficient to afford private medical health insurance and too high to apply for Medicaid can receive medical care for their children by paying a maximum of 5% of their gross annual income or, in many cases, by paying nothing at all.
Title XXI lays down minimum standards which must be met by each state, such as the provision of well-baby and well-child physical examinations, immunization programs and emergency services, but states are also given considerably freedom under Title XXI and programs vary from state to state.
It should be noted that this plan is designed to provide cover for children who do not have any form of medical insurance cover and that children who are already covered under a health insurance policy cannot also receive cover under the provisions of this plan.
Where children are not eligible for cover under this state plan and are ineligible for Medicare you will need to consider covering them under a private family plan or on their own individual plan. In this case it will normally, but not always, be cost-effective to provide cover under a family plan although, if you are looking to cover only one child, an individual plan for that child may prove the best option.
In the case of students the majority of colleges and universities operate their own health care clinics for the treatment of routine ailments such as colds, sore throats and minor sports injuries. Nevertheless, you should take out some form of medical health insurance to cover unexpected medical problems including more serious illnesses and surgery.
Wherever possible, you should look to cover children under your own individual or family plan and most plans will cover children even when they are away at school. There may however be some restrictions imposed under these circumstances and you should read through the details of your plan carefully.
Should your children need individual medical health insurance plans to cover them at college, then there are several insurance companies that cater specifically to the needs of students. This is an area which you should research carefully however to ensure your children are getting the cover they need.
Whatever else you do, you should not assume that the government will take responsibility for the care of your children at home and that colleges and universities will do the same once they become students. As parents, the responsibility for providing healthcare for your children falls squarely on your shoulders.
Medical Health Insurance Today.com provides information on all aspects of medical health insurance> including individual and family health insurance plans,health insurance for pre-existing conditions and much more.
Title XXI lays down minimum standards which must be met by each state, such as the provision of well-baby and well-child physical examinations, immunization programs and emergency services, but states are also given considerably freedom under Title XXI and programs vary from state to state.
It should be noted that this plan is designed to provide cover for children who do not have any form of medical insurance cover and that children who are already covered under a health insurance policy cannot also receive cover under the provisions of this plan.
Where children are not eligible for cover under this state plan and are ineligible for Medicare you will need to consider covering them under a private family plan or on their own individual plan. In this case it will normally, but not always, be cost-effective to provide cover under a family plan although, if you are looking to cover only one child, an individual plan for that child may prove the best option.
In the case of students the majority of colleges and universities operate their own health care clinics for the treatment of routine ailments such as colds, sore throats and minor sports injuries. Nevertheless, you should take out some form of medical health insurance to cover unexpected medical problems including more serious illnesses and surgery.
Wherever possible, you should look to cover children under your own individual or family plan and most plans will cover children even when they are away at school. There may however be some restrictions imposed under these circumstances and you should read through the details of your plan carefully.
Should your children need individual medical health insurance plans to cover them at college, then there are several insurance companies that cater specifically to the needs of students. This is an area which you should research carefully however to ensure your children are getting the cover they need.
Whatever else you do, you should not assume that the government will take responsibility for the care of your children at home and that colleges and universities will do the same once they become students. As parents, the responsibility for providing healthcare for your children falls squarely on your shoulders.
Medical Health Insurance Today.com provides information on all aspects of medical health insurance> including individual and family health insurance plans,health insurance for pre-existing conditions and much more.
By Donald Saunders
All About Bush as to health care
President Bush Participtes in Meeting on Health Savings Accounts
"I strongly believe that the United States Congress needs to strengthen health savings accounts, just like they need to make sure that the tax code treats every person in America fairly. And that's why I've suggested we change the tax code to enable the small business owner, the self-employed, or the individual worker to be able to have more affordable insurance. There's a lot we can do together to empower the individual in this country to be in charge of his or her health care decisions."-- President George W. Bush
April 2, 2007
President Bush Discusses Health Care Initiatives
"And the mission... of government is to make sure that the quality of health care received by our patients around this country remains the best in the world. Private medicine works. And we need to make sure that we put good policies in place to make sure private medicine is the norm, quality care is given to as many Americans as possible... Our job is to keep the economy growing as best we can so people are able to help themselves and get out of poverty and be able to afford health care... that's why I'm suggesting that Congress revisit the tax code to make it easier for citizens to be able to afford insurance."
-- President George W. Bush
February 21, 2007
Fact Sheet: Making Private Health Insurance More Affordable for Low-Income Americans
"This plan will help a lot of people afford [health insurance], like the uninsured, the working uninsured. … I want you to understand that the standard deduction can mean a lot to a fellow who's working and trying to be able to afford private health insurance."
- President George W. Bush, February 23, 2007
In His State Of The Union Address, The President Proposed Two Initiatives That Will Work Together To Help More Americans Afford Basic Private Health Insurance. The President's proposed standard deduction for health insurance will reform the tax code to make private health insurance more affordable and to level the playing field so those who buy health insurance on their own get the same tax advantage as those who get health insurance through their jobs. For those who remain unable to afford coverage, the President's Affordable Choices Initiative will help eligible States assist their low-income and hard-to-insure citizens in purchasing private health insurance.
A Standard Deduction For Health Insurance Will Help Low-Income Workers And Families Afford Coverage
The President Has Proposed Replacing Our Current Health Insurance Tax System With A Standard Deduction For Health Insurance. For the millions of Americans who have no health insurance, the standard deduction would help put a basic private health insurance plan within reach. Under the President's proposal, families purchasing health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $15,000 of income. Single Americans purchasing health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $7,500 of income.
Under The President's Proposal, There Are Significant Tax Benefits At The Lower End Of The Income Distribution. The President's proposal will lower taxes for those who purchase insurance on their own who get no benefit under the current tax code. In general, low-income people are less likely to get insurance through their jobs. The standard deduction for health insurance will level the playing field, giving these individuals the same tax break that people receive if they get insurance through their jobs. This will help individuals who purchase insurance on their own afford that coverage.
The President's Proposal Will Remove The Perverse Incentive To Purchase More Expensive Health Insurance That Is Driving Up Coverage Costs. Under the current tax code, the more expensive the health insurance plan people obtain through their employers, the more tax relief they get. This makes the insurance market less competitive and pushes up prices for everyone by encouraging many workers to choose more expensive health insurance than they would choose if the tax code were not dulling their incentive to determine which policy represents the highest value.
The President's Proposal Will Rein In Health Costs By Promoting High Value Coverage. By replacing the current unfair system with a standard deduction for health insurance, the President's proposal will give working families and individuals an incentive to purchase coverage – and the same tax advantages for purchasing that insurance – and encourage them to evaluate which health insurance policies represent the highest value for quality care.
The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Help Make Health Insurance Affordable For Those Most In Need
The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Support States' Efforts To Help Their Low-Income And Hard-To-Insure Citizens Purchase Basic Private Health Insurance. States that make basic private health insurance available to all their citizens would receive redirected institutional subsidies to help them provide this coverage to the poor and the sick. Under the Affordable Choices Initiative, existing Federal funds will be used to create Affordable Choices grants to assist States in helping provide private health insurance to those most in need without increasing Federal health spending.
- The Affordable Choices Initiative Is An Essential Component Of The President's Plan To Help More Americans Afford Private Health Insurance. President Bush has committed his Administration to working with Governors to make basic private health insurance more accessible to the poor and the sick.
- The Federal Government's Current System Of Paying For Health Care Results In Billions Of Dollars Being Spent Inefficiently, Through A Patchwork Of Subsidies And Payments For The Uninsured To Providers. Medicare and Medicaid payments to providers include indirect payments for uncompensated care.
- The Federal Government's Current System Of Paying For Health Care Results In Billions Of Dollars Being Spent Inefficiently, Through A Patchwork Of Subsidies And Payments For The Uninsured To Providers. Medicare and Medicaid payments to providers include indirect payments for uncompensated care.
- The Health Care System Could Operate More Efficiently If Some Portion Of Institutional Payments Instead Were Redirected To Help The Poor And The Sick Afford Health Insurance. The uninsured often use emergency rooms for primary care, which leads to suboptimal care and excessive spending. If this public spending were focused, in a budget-neutral manner, on helping the uninsured purchase private insurance, people would receive the care they need in more appropriate settings and at a more reasonable cost.
- The President Has Asked U.S. Health And Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt To Work With The Congress And The States On The Affordable Choices Initiative To Reform The Health Care Marketplace. The health care system needs to be transformed to emphasize upfront, affordable private health insurance options for both high-risk and low-income individuals.
- The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Encourage States To Innovate. State participation will be voluntary, and States will design their own programs, subject to Federal approval.
- States could offer direct premium assistance to low-income or hard-to-insure populations to purchase private health insurance.
- States could establish high-risk pools, or expand existing high-risk pools, for very sick individuals who are deemed uninsurable in the non-group market.
- States could help facilitate pooling of individuals and small businesses and organize their access to private health plans.
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Traditional Labor Law in a Non-Union Setting
Traditional Labor Law in a Nonunion Setting
I. Introduction
Employers who don’t have union employees amongst their ranks often do not realize a need to even consider the application of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “the Act”) on their employment decisions. However, despite the absence of a union, an employer may find itself before the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”), charged with what the Board deems a clear violation of the Act.
The Board and the courts have expanded the view of what, under the Act, constitutes protected behavior in the workplace. NLRA protections traditionally found applicable to union employees have been extended to nonunion employees. Nonunion employers must, therefore, develop a knowledge and understanding of traditional labor law concepts as they apply to employee-relation matters such as investigations, discipline and policies.
II. Defining Section 7 Rights under the NLRA
When discussing the rights and protections of nonunion employers under the federal labor laws one must first understand the source of these protections. Section 7 of the Act, which has historically been the source of nonunion employee protections under the NLRA states in relevant part that –
Employees shall have the right to . . . engage in . . . concerted activities for the purpose of . . . mutual aid or protection . . . .
See 29 U.S.C. § 157. As this section has been interpreted by the Board and the courts, an employee’s right to engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection in the workplace goes beyond their right to simply engage in union related activity. Section 7 of the Act guarantees employees the right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection and Section 8(a)(1) of the Act enforces this guarantee by making it unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights. These guarantees and protections have been afforded equally to nonunion employees and union employees and a collective bargaining agreement need not be in effect for the Act to apply. See NLRB v. McEver Engineering, Inc., 784 F.2d 634 (5th Cir. 1986), citing E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. v. NLRB, 707 F.2d 1076, 1078 (9th Cir. 1983); and NLRB v. Columbia University, 541 F.2d 922, 931 (2nd Cir. 1976). Employees' activities are protected by Section 7 if they might reasonably be expected to affect their terms or conditions of employment. Brown & Root, Inc. v. NLRB, 634 F.2d 816 (5th Cir. 1981). Thus, when an employer disciplines or terminates an employee for exercising his or her Section 7 rights, whether the activity is union related or not, it is deemed an unfair labor practice.
A. Concerted Behavior
In order to be covered by the protections of the Act, an employee’s actions must be both “concerted” and for “mutual aid and protection” as these items have been interpreted by the Board and the courts. Historically, employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, “union employees,” have found greater favor with the Board and the courts in the determination as to whether they have engaged in “concerted” behavior. This is justified primarily because an individual employee’s invocation of a right protected by a collective bargaining agreement is believed an integral part of the process that gave rise to the agreement, and thus, a concerted activity in a very real sense. See Meyers Industries, 281 NLRB 882, 884, 1986 WL 54414 (NLRB Sep 30, 1986). A second rationale is the individual’s assertion of a right under a collective bargaining agreement is assumed to affect the rights of all employees covered by the agreement. Id. at 885; see also Melissa K. Stull, Annotation, Spontaneous or Informal Activities of Employees as “Concerted Activities, Within Meaning of §7 of National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C.A. §157), 107 A.L.R. FED. 244, n.17 (1992).
In a nonunion setting, however, to find an employee’s actions to be “concerted” it is generally required that the employee be engaged in activity “with or on the authority of other employees, and not solely by and on behalf of the employee himself.” Meyers Industries, supra, 281 NLRB 882, 884, 1986 WL 54414 (NLRB Sep 30, 1986). To be protected as a concerted action under the NLRA, however, it is not necessary that an employee be appointed by fellow employees to represent their interests. The relevant inquiry is whether an individual employee acted with the purpose of furthering group goals. See NLRB v. Caval Tool Div., Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corp., 262 F.3d 184 (2nd Cir. 2001). Thus, while the conduct of a single employee can constitute concerted activity and such behavior may include actions by employees who initiate group activity or act as spokespersons for other employees on a matter of common concern, for nonunion employees to act in concert they must generally act as a group or for the benefit of the group. Even if job-related, individual gripes with an employer are not generally protected by Section 7 because this is not “concerted” activity. See Nancy J. King, Labor Law for Managers of Nonunion Employees in Traditional and Cyber Workplaces, 40 Am. Bus. L.J. 827 (2003). It is also important to note that concerted activity may involve organized employee protests, as well as, more spontaneous informal employee conduct. See Stull, supra, 107 A.L.R. FED. 244
B. Mutual Aid and Protection
Regardless of the concerted nature of employee activity, however, in order to find protection under the provisions of Section 7, the activity must be for “mutual aid and protection.” The Supreme Court in Eastex, Inc. v. NLRB concluded that the mutual aid and protection clause of Section 7 extended the Act’s protection beyond activities involving unions and collective bargaining. Eastex, Inc. v. NLRB, 98 S.Ct. 2505 (U.S.Tex. 1978). Thus, even if it is not union-related, Section 7 protects employees who engage in concerted activity for the “mutual aid and protection” of other employees. The court in Eastex went so far as to find that Section 7 extends to employee efforts “to improve terms and conditions of employment or otherwise improve their lot as employees through channels outside the immediate employee-employer relationship.” Thus, protection is even afforded employees who seek to improve their working conditions through “administrative and judicial forums” and through “appeals to legislators to protect their interests as employees.” Id.
C. Limitations on Protections for Certain Conduct
The courts have carved out exceptions to Section 7 protection for certain employee conduct. For instance, employees who falsely and publicly disparage their employer or its products and services will not enjoy the Act’s protections when engaging in such conduct. See St. Luke’s Episcopal-Presbyterian Hospital, Inc. v. NLRB, 268 F.3d 575 (8th Cir. 2001) [The employee, a nurse, appeared on a local television news broadcast and accused the employer hospital of jeopardizing the health of mothers and babies by altering the shift assignments and responsibilities of the registered nurse assistants in labor and delivery]. “[T]here is a point where [an employee’s] methods of engaging in [protected activity] would take them outside the protection of the Act.” Id. at 581, quoting NLRB v. Red Top, Inc., 455 F.2d 721, 726 (8th Cir. 1972). Thus, if an employee is terminated because he or she has made false and disparaging public statements regarding their employer, no refuge will be afforded them under the Act.
In Carleton College v. NLRB, 230 F.3d 1075, 1080-81 (8th Cir. 2000), the employee, an adjunct professor and organizer of a committee of adjunct professors, became sarcastic and vulgar during a meeting being held with the dean of the college to discuss the school’s professional expectations. The professor expressed a disloyalty to the school and refused to commit to abiding by the school’s professional expectations. As a result, the dean decided not to offer him a contract. While it was determined that the professor was engaged in concerted activity, on appeal the Eighth Circuit held that “misconduct that is ‘flagrant or render[s] the employee unfit for employment’ is unprotected.” Factors to be considered in this regard include “the nature of the misconduct, the nature of the workplace, and the effect of the misconduct on the employer’s authority.” Id. at 1081. Thus, employee conduct, though concerted, may not be protected if it is of such an extreme nature that it renders that employer’s authority to protect its own business interests void.
An additional area of concerted employee activity where an employee may find his conduct unprotected involves employee work stoppages. In cases where a group of employees refuse to work while on the employer’s premises, the Board and the courts will balance the employees’ rights under Section 7 with the employer’s property rights. The court generally will find a violation of Section 7 rights when an employer simply fires employees acting in concert because they will not return to work, however, an employer who fires employees because they will not leave the workplace after refusing to work may not violate Section 7 protections. Molon Motor and Coil Corp. v. NLRB, 965 F.2d 523, 526 (7th Cir. 1992).
In some cases, however, involving employee walk outs, the Board and the courts have considered the nature and specific circumstances of the walk outs to be the determining factors. In Vemco, Inc. v. NLRB, 79 F.3d 526 (6th Cir. 1996), involving a walk out by nonunion employees to protest the chaotic condition of the workplace after remodeling, the Sixth Circuit refused enforcement of a Board decision finding protected activity, emphasizing that the employees were not required to work in the specific location and had made no cognizable demand for any change in working conditions or employment terms. In Magic Finishing Co., 323 NLRB 234 (1997), however, the Board found that three employees engaged in protected concerted activity when they walked out in protest of their unbearably hot working conditions. The Board distinguished the court’s decision in Vemco on the basis that these three employees were required to work under oppressive conditions, which they protested by walking out. Id.; see also Patrick Hardin, The Developing Labor Law, 188 -89 (4th ed.)
III. Specific Areas of Concern
A. Weingarten Rights and the Path to IBM Corp.
In the case of NLRB v. J. Weingarten, 420 U.S. 251, 257 -58 (1975), a well settled rule was established that, pursuant to rights established by Section 7 of the Act, a union employee is entitled to have a union representative present in an investigatory interview with his or her employer when the employee may reasonably believe that the meeting may result in discipline. Seven years later in Materials Research Corp., 262 NLRB 1010 (1982), the Board extended this right to employees in a nonunion setting. In that case, the Board relied on the fact that Weingarten emphasized that the right to assistance of a representative is derived from the Section 7 protection afforded to concerted activity, rather than from a union’s right pursuant to Section 9 of the Act as the employee’s representative for collective bargaining. Thus, the Board in Materials Research Corp. determined that the ability to avail oneself of this protection does not depend on whether the employees are represented by a union. Id. at 677. The ruling in Materials Research Corp was short lived, however, as in Sears, Roebuck & Co., 274 NLRB 230 (1985), the Board overruled Materials Research Corp. and held that Weingarten principles do not apply in circumstances where there is no certified or recognized union. In the Sears case, the Board rejected the prior decisions reliance on the fact that Weingarten rights are based on Section 7, and focused on Section 9 rights pertaining to collective bargaining authority exclusive to unionized settings. The Board stated “[t]he Weingarten rule, in a unionized setting, is wholly consistent with established principles of labor management relations. Thus, pursuant to Section 9 and related provisions of our Act, a duly recognized or certified union is vested with the exclusive authority to represent unit employees and deal with the employer on all matters involving terms and conditions of employment, including wages, hours, benefits, and discipline. Accordingly, if an employer seeks to take an action that affects any of its employees’ terms and conditions of employment, it must recognize the union’s legitimate representational rights and, therefore, it is not free to deal with the employees on an individual basis over the employees’ objections. ... When no union is present, however, the imposition of Weingarten rights upon employee interviews wreak havoc with fundamental provisions of the Act.” Id. at 230-31.
Later in E.I. DuPont & Co., 289 NLRB 627 (1988) the Board maintained the position taken in Sears, but expanded its reasoning and analysis. The Board in DuPont stated that even in a union setting when employees engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection, such activity is not without limitations. The Board must balance the employer’s interests in maintaining “discipline in their establishments” against employees’ interests in engaging in the activities covered by the broad language of Section 7.” The Board went on to review the courts considerations in Weingarten when balancing the competing interests in that case. Id. at 629. The Board determined that in a nonunion setting, several of the Weingarten interests favoring recognition of the rights established therein are either not present or less compelling in a nonunion setting. The Board pointed to the following considerations in Weingarten: 1) A union representative present at an investigatory interview might be able to safeguard “not only the particular employee’s interest, but also the interests of the entire bargaining unit. 2) A knowledgeable union representative could assist the employer in eliciting favorable facts that an inarticulate employee lacking experience in such matters might be too fearful or unable to mention. 3) A union representative may save the employer time in the investigatory process and likewise act as a factor conducive to the avoidance of formal grievances through the medium of discussion and persuasion conducted at the threshold of an impending grievance. 4) Permitting a union representative at an investigatory interview is in full harmony with actual industrial practice, noting that such rights are often provided for in collective bargaining agreements. The Board found that these considerations in a nonunion setting are either much less likely to be achieved or are irrelevant. Id. at 629. Thus, the board affirmed the position held in Sears.
The Board’s position in Sears and DuPont lasted for the next 15 years when in the case of In Re Epilepsy Foundation of Northeast Ohio, 331 NLRB 676, 677 (NLRB 2000), the Board again reversed course, rejecting the rationale of Sears and DuPont, and finding renewed favor with the Materials Research analysis. The Board in Epilepsy Foundation stated that “the Board was correct in Materials Research to attach much significance to the fact that the court’s Weingarten decision found that the right was grounded in the language of Section 7 of the Act, specifically the right to engage in ‘concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.’” Id. at 678. Epilepsy Foundation found that the rationale of Materials Research is equally applicable in circumstances where employees are not represented by a union, for in these circumstances the right to have a coworker present at an investigatory interview also greatly enhances the employee’s opportunities to act in concert to address their concern ‘that the employer does not initiate or continue a practice of imposing punishment unjustly.’ Thus, affording Weingarten rights to employees in these circumstances effectuates the policy that ‘Section 7 rights are enjoyed by all employees and are in no wise dependant on union representation for their implementation.’” Id. at 678, quoting Glomac Plastics, Inc. 234 NLRB 1309, 1311 (1978). On appeal of Epilepsy Foundation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court agreed with the Board and found that “the presence of a coworker gives an employee a potential witness, advisor, and advocate in an adversarial situation, and ideally, militates against the imposition of unjust punishment by the employer. Epilepsy Foundation v. NLRB, 268 F.3d 1095, 1102 (D.C. Cir. 2001).
The Board’s ruling in Epilepsy Foundation, however, has recently found disfavor with the current Board, falling again to reasoning similar to that expressed in the DuPont case. On June 9, 2004, the Board in IBM Corporation and Kenneth Paul Schult, Robert William Bannon and Steven Parsley, 341 NLRB No. 148 (NLRB 2004), overturned Epilepsy Foundation. Thus, as before, in a nonunion environment, an employee’s request for a co-worker’s presence during an investigatory interview need not be honored regardless of the employee’s belief that disciplinary action may result.
Many would surmise that this latest change in the Board’s position, as hypothesized regarding changes in the past, is more a result of the change in political administrations, than anything else. The Board in IBM, however, predicated its ruling on many of the ideals expressed in DuPont, as well as, some additional concerns that had been raised in and since Epilepsy Foundation. After first finding that the Board’s position in both DuPont and Epilepsy Foundation with regard to Weingarten rights represent permissible interpretations of the Act, the Board stated that it has the discretion and the “duty to choose amongst permissible interpretations of the Act to best effectuate its overarching goals.” IBM, supra, quoting Slaughter v. NLRB, 794 F.2d 120 (1986).
With a rationale based in notions of a changed workplace environment and new security concerns raised by incidents of national and workplace violence, the Board stated that the “features of the contemporary workplace leads us to conclude that an employer must be allowed to conduct its required investigations in a thorough, sensitive, and confidential manner. This can best be accomplished by permitting an employer in a nonunion setting to investigate an employee without the presence of a coworker.” IBM, supra.
For some time, severe criticisms have been raised regarding the practical implications of Epilepsy Foundation’s mandate for representation in nonunion employee interviews. As Section 7 rights under Epilepsy Foundation also prohibited the employer from interfering in the employee’s choice of coworker representative, an employee could take advantage of his right to representation to collude with a coworker on a story to impede the employer’s investigation attempts. While an employer could forego the interview in such situation and give the employee the option of either going forward with the interview alone or not being interviewed at all, such a course of action could cost the employer its ability to conduct a complete investigation. In a sexual harassment context, this could have the effect of subjecting the employer to liability for failure to conduct a thorough investigation. Thus, during Epilepsy Foundation’s reign, an employer had to carefully consider its course of action in this regard. See Epilepsy Foundation, supra, at 695. But see Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 253 NLRB 1143, 1143-44 (1981) (An employee’s right to choose a representative was limited to the extent that the coworker was willing to be a representative and the coworker must be available. If the coworker was unavailable or unwilling to participate, under Epilepsy Foundation, the employee was required to choose another who was available and/or willing to participate. The employee could not delay the interview while waiting for a desired coworker representative). In IBM, the Board gave voice to these concerns, as well as, concern regarding the need for confidentiality in the investigation process. IBM, supra. The Board, in conclusion, found that, on balance, the right of an employee to a coworker’s presence in the absence of a union is outweighed by an employer’s right to conduct prompt, efficient, thorough, and confidential workplace investigations. Id.
B. Employee Handbooks Prohibitions
An area of Section 7 protection in the nonunion environment often overlooked by employers involves employer policies contained in handbooks and other employee literature which prohibit various types of employee conduct. Policies that prohibit employee conduct considered to be concerted protected activity will be found an unfair labor practice.
In Kinder-Care Learning Centers, Inc., 299 NLRB 1171 (1990), an employer maintained a policy within its employee handbook restricting employee communications to third parties and requiring that employees first bring their work-related complaints to the attention of the employer’s “center director” or process them through the employer provided complaint procedure. The policy also stated that an employee’s failure to follow this policy could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. The Board determined that although the rule did not on its face prohibit employees from approaching someone other than the employer concerning work-related complaints, it provided that the employee first report such issues to the employer or risk subjection to discipline. Thus, the employer’s rule did not merely state a preference that employees follow its policy, it required compliance and such a rule reasonably tended to inhibit employees from bringing work-related complaints to, and seeking redress from, entities other than the employer, and restrained the employees’ Section 7 rights to engage in concerted activities for collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Id. at 1172. the Board found this policy to be unlawful.
1. Confidentiality and Wage Secrecy Policies
In Phoenix Transit System, 337 NLRB No. 78 (2002), the Board held that employees have a Section 7 right to discuss sexual harassment complaints among themselves and that employer policies that restrict such discussions will violate the Act. In this case the rule was originally promulgated during an active investigation which ended in two weeks, but was applied and enforced as a result of separate events that occurred at a later date. The rule prohibited discussion even among the affected employees whom the respondent initially assembled at a meeting to solicit information concerning the complaint. Under these circumstances, the Board found that the employer, having failed to provide a sufficient justification for maintaining the rule, violated the Act.
Compare Phoenix Transit System, however, to Caesar’s Palace, 336 NLRB No. 19 (2001), where the Board found that the employer did not violate Section 8(a)(1) by maintaining and enforcing a confidentiality rule during an ongoing investigation of alleged illegal drug activity, where the confidentiality directive was given to each employee who was separately interviewed, the investigation involved allegations of a management cover-up and possible management retaliation, as well as threats of violence, and the confidentiality rule was intended to ensure that witnesses were not put in danger, evidence was not destroyed, and testimony was not fabricated. Clearly, upon circumstances where such rules are enforced during the period of an active investigation with sufficient justification, the Board may find the rule unlawful. Here again, the Board is engaging in a balancing of interests, determining whether the exercise of Section 7 rights by employees is outweighed by an employer’s legitimate business interests.
More recently in Double Eagle Hotel & Casino And International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 113, 341 NLRB No. 17 (2004), the employer’s handbook contained, among other things, a rule prohibiting the disclosure of confidential information to other employees. The types of information considered by the policy to be confidential included disciplinary information, grievance/complaint information, performance evaluations, salary information, salary grade, types of pay increases, and termination data for employees who have left the company. The policy further provided that any breach or violation of the policy would lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination. The Board stated that the appropriate inquiry is “whether the rules would reasonably tend to chill employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights. Where the rules are likely to have a chilling effect on Section 7 rights, the Board may conclude that their maintenance is an unfair labor practice, even absent evidence of enforcement.” Id., quoting Lafayette Park Hotel, 326 NLRB 824, 825 (1998). Considering the unambiguous statement in the policy of what items may not be discussed and the explicit warning of discipline, the Board found the handbook policies plainly infringed upon Section 7 rights and violated Section 8(a)(1). The policy’s plainly stated prohibition against the discussion of wages and work related issues between employees represented a clear violation of the Act of which any employer should be wary.
2. No-Solicitation/Distribution Policies
Employees have long been held to have rights pursuant to Section 7 to engage in union activity in the form of solicitation and distribution of material. See Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 US 793 (1945). This Section 7 right, as with others, will extend to a nonunion workplace when employees engage in concerted activity in the form of solicitation and/or distribution of materials for the purpose of mutual aid and protection. Employees are entitled to engage in solicitation in work and non-work areas when the activity occurs on non-working time. See Republic Aviation Corp., at 803. Employees are entitled to engage in distribution of literature regarding protected concerted activities on non-working time, but only in non-working areas. See Stoddard-Quirk Manufacturing Co. 138 NLRB 615, 616 (1962).
Applying the balancing of interests used by the Board in most Section 7 cases, the Board has generally determined that a no solicitation rule is unlawful if it unduly restricts the Section 7 activities of employees during periods and in places where these activities do not interfere with the employer’s operations. See Our Way, Inc., 268 NLRB 394 (1983), and Laidlaw Transit, Inc., 315 NLRB 79, 82 (1994). For example, rules which prohibit employees’ concerted activities, including solicitation to sign union authorization cards, on break-times or mealtimes are overly restrictive of employees’ Section 7 rights to self-organization, and are unlawful. Rules which require employees to get approval from the employer for solicitations are also overly restrictive of employee rights, and are unlawful. See In Re Adtranz, 331 NLRB 291 (2000), citing Opryland Hotel, 323 NLRB 723, 728 (1997), and Baldor Electric Co., 245 NLRB 614 (1979).
C. Prohibitions Against Electronic Communications
Policies that prohibit employees from accessing the Internet on company computer systems or that restrict the use of various email communications may violate the Act if such actions involve concerted activity for mutual aid and protection. Of course, the Board, here as in other areas of Section 7 protection, engages in a balancing of employee rights against an employer’s valid property rights. Thus, an employer’s implicit property rights, in many cases, will justify “business use only policies.”
In the case of In Re Adtranz, 331 NLRB 291 (2000), the employer’s policy provided that –
Employees may uses hardware/software and electronic corporate mail systems provided by the company for business use only. The company reserves the right to access and inspect file contents within the file storage and messaging systems to insure the systems are not being misused. Where required for business purposes, the company may access and inspect either the file storage systems or the message system and review, copy, or delete any files or messages and disclose the information in both systems to others.
In review of this policy, the Board first considered its prior decisions involving the use of company bulletin boards. “It is well established that there is no statutory right of an employee or union to use an employer’s bulletin board.” Id., citing Honeywell, Inc., 262 NLRB 1402 (1982); Container Corp., 244 NLRB 318 (1979). “An employer has a right to restrict the use of company bulletin boards. However, that right may not be exercised discriminatorily so as to restrict postings of union materials.” Id., citing J.C. Penny, Inc., 322 NLRB 238 (1996); Guardian Industries Corp., 313 NLRB 1275 (1994). Similarly, the Board has determined that there is no statutory right of an employee or a union to use an employer’s telephone for personal or non-business purposes. However, once an employer grants the privilege of occasional personal use of the telephone during work-time, it may not lawfully exclude union activities as a subject of discussion. Id., citing Union Carbide Corp., 259 NLRB 974 (1981); see also Guardian Industries Corp., 313 NLRB 1275 (1994). Considering its history, the Board in Adtranz analogously found that the employer could bar its computers and email system use consistent with the Board’s previous decisions, so long as not barred discriminatorily against Section 7 activity.
While the view expressed in Adtranz is the generally recognized position of the Board, it is not difficult to contemplate a situation in today’s electronically driven workplace environment where even if the policy is enforced in a nondiscriminatory way, if the policy has the effect of prohibiting Section 7 activity, it may still be found to violate the Act. Specifically, if the workplace is such that the only available form of employee communication is via the employer’s computer or email system, an employer’s business use only policy may restrict Section 7 solicitation to such a degree that the Board finds the policy unlawful. See Nancy J. King, Labor Law for Managers of Nonunion Employees in Traditional and Cyber Workplaces, 40 Am. Bus. L.J. 827 (2003).
by by: Terrence B. Robinson
I. Introduction
Employers who don’t have union employees amongst their ranks often do not realize a need to even consider the application of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “the Act”) on their employment decisions. However, despite the absence of a union, an employer may find itself before the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”), charged with what the Board deems a clear violation of the Act.
The Board and the courts have expanded the view of what, under the Act, constitutes protected behavior in the workplace. NLRA protections traditionally found applicable to union employees have been extended to nonunion employees. Nonunion employers must, therefore, develop a knowledge and understanding of traditional labor law concepts as they apply to employee-relation matters such as investigations, discipline and policies.
II. Defining Section 7 Rights under the NLRA
When discussing the rights and protections of nonunion employers under the federal labor laws one must first understand the source of these protections. Section 7 of the Act, which has historically been the source of nonunion employee protections under the NLRA states in relevant part that –
Employees shall have the right to . . . engage in . . . concerted activities for the purpose of . . . mutual aid or protection . . . .
See 29 U.S.C. § 157. As this section has been interpreted by the Board and the courts, an employee’s right to engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection in the workplace goes beyond their right to simply engage in union related activity. Section 7 of the Act guarantees employees the right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection and Section 8(a)(1) of the Act enforces this guarantee by making it unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights. These guarantees and protections have been afforded equally to nonunion employees and union employees and a collective bargaining agreement need not be in effect for the Act to apply. See NLRB v. McEver Engineering, Inc., 784 F.2d 634 (5th Cir. 1986), citing E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. v. NLRB, 707 F.2d 1076, 1078 (9th Cir. 1983); and NLRB v. Columbia University, 541 F.2d 922, 931 (2nd Cir. 1976). Employees' activities are protected by Section 7 if they might reasonably be expected to affect their terms or conditions of employment. Brown & Root, Inc. v. NLRB, 634 F.2d 816 (5th Cir. 1981). Thus, when an employer disciplines or terminates an employee for exercising his or her Section 7 rights, whether the activity is union related or not, it is deemed an unfair labor practice.
A. Concerted Behavior
In order to be covered by the protections of the Act, an employee’s actions must be both “concerted” and for “mutual aid and protection” as these items have been interpreted by the Board and the courts. Historically, employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, “union employees,” have found greater favor with the Board and the courts in the determination as to whether they have engaged in “concerted” behavior. This is justified primarily because an individual employee’s invocation of a right protected by a collective bargaining agreement is believed an integral part of the process that gave rise to the agreement, and thus, a concerted activity in a very real sense. See Meyers Industries, 281 NLRB 882, 884, 1986 WL 54414 (NLRB Sep 30, 1986). A second rationale is the individual’s assertion of a right under a collective bargaining agreement is assumed to affect the rights of all employees covered by the agreement. Id. at 885; see also Melissa K. Stull, Annotation, Spontaneous or Informal Activities of Employees as “Concerted Activities, Within Meaning of §7 of National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C.A. §157), 107 A.L.R. FED. 244, n.17 (1992).
In a nonunion setting, however, to find an employee’s actions to be “concerted” it is generally required that the employee be engaged in activity “with or on the authority of other employees, and not solely by and on behalf of the employee himself.” Meyers Industries, supra, 281 NLRB 882, 884, 1986 WL 54414 (NLRB Sep 30, 1986). To be protected as a concerted action under the NLRA, however, it is not necessary that an employee be appointed by fellow employees to represent their interests. The relevant inquiry is whether an individual employee acted with the purpose of furthering group goals. See NLRB v. Caval Tool Div., Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corp., 262 F.3d 184 (2nd Cir. 2001). Thus, while the conduct of a single employee can constitute concerted activity and such behavior may include actions by employees who initiate group activity or act as spokespersons for other employees on a matter of common concern, for nonunion employees to act in concert they must generally act as a group or for the benefit of the group. Even if job-related, individual gripes with an employer are not generally protected by Section 7 because this is not “concerted” activity. See Nancy J. King, Labor Law for Managers of Nonunion Employees in Traditional and Cyber Workplaces, 40 Am. Bus. L.J. 827 (2003). It is also important to note that concerted activity may involve organized employee protests, as well as, more spontaneous informal employee conduct. See Stull, supra, 107 A.L.R. FED. 244
B. Mutual Aid and Protection
Regardless of the concerted nature of employee activity, however, in order to find protection under the provisions of Section 7, the activity must be for “mutual aid and protection.” The Supreme Court in Eastex, Inc. v. NLRB concluded that the mutual aid and protection clause of Section 7 extended the Act’s protection beyond activities involving unions and collective bargaining. Eastex, Inc. v. NLRB, 98 S.Ct. 2505 (U.S.Tex. 1978). Thus, even if it is not union-related, Section 7 protects employees who engage in concerted activity for the “mutual aid and protection” of other employees. The court in Eastex went so far as to find that Section 7 extends to employee efforts “to improve terms and conditions of employment or otherwise improve their lot as employees through channels outside the immediate employee-employer relationship.” Thus, protection is even afforded employees who seek to improve their working conditions through “administrative and judicial forums” and through “appeals to legislators to protect their interests as employees.” Id.
C. Limitations on Protections for Certain Conduct
The courts have carved out exceptions to Section 7 protection for certain employee conduct. For instance, employees who falsely and publicly disparage their employer or its products and services will not enjoy the Act’s protections when engaging in such conduct. See St. Luke’s Episcopal-Presbyterian Hospital, Inc. v. NLRB, 268 F.3d 575 (8th Cir. 2001) [The employee, a nurse, appeared on a local television news broadcast and accused the employer hospital of jeopardizing the health of mothers and babies by altering the shift assignments and responsibilities of the registered nurse assistants in labor and delivery]. “[T]here is a point where [an employee’s] methods of engaging in [protected activity] would take them outside the protection of the Act.” Id. at 581, quoting NLRB v. Red Top, Inc., 455 F.2d 721, 726 (8th Cir. 1972). Thus, if an employee is terminated because he or she has made false and disparaging public statements regarding their employer, no refuge will be afforded them under the Act.
In Carleton College v. NLRB, 230 F.3d 1075, 1080-81 (8th Cir. 2000), the employee, an adjunct professor and organizer of a committee of adjunct professors, became sarcastic and vulgar during a meeting being held with the dean of the college to discuss the school’s professional expectations. The professor expressed a disloyalty to the school and refused to commit to abiding by the school’s professional expectations. As a result, the dean decided not to offer him a contract. While it was determined that the professor was engaged in concerted activity, on appeal the Eighth Circuit held that “misconduct that is ‘flagrant or render[s] the employee unfit for employment’ is unprotected.” Factors to be considered in this regard include “the nature of the misconduct, the nature of the workplace, and the effect of the misconduct on the employer’s authority.” Id. at 1081. Thus, employee conduct, though concerted, may not be protected if it is of such an extreme nature that it renders that employer’s authority to protect its own business interests void.
An additional area of concerted employee activity where an employee may find his conduct unprotected involves employee work stoppages. In cases where a group of employees refuse to work while on the employer’s premises, the Board and the courts will balance the employees’ rights under Section 7 with the employer’s property rights. The court generally will find a violation of Section 7 rights when an employer simply fires employees acting in concert because they will not return to work, however, an employer who fires employees because they will not leave the workplace after refusing to work may not violate Section 7 protections. Molon Motor and Coil Corp. v. NLRB, 965 F.2d 523, 526 (7th Cir. 1992).
In some cases, however, involving employee walk outs, the Board and the courts have considered the nature and specific circumstances of the walk outs to be the determining factors. In Vemco, Inc. v. NLRB, 79 F.3d 526 (6th Cir. 1996), involving a walk out by nonunion employees to protest the chaotic condition of the workplace after remodeling, the Sixth Circuit refused enforcement of a Board decision finding protected activity, emphasizing that the employees were not required to work in the specific location and had made no cognizable demand for any change in working conditions or employment terms. In Magic Finishing Co., 323 NLRB 234 (1997), however, the Board found that three employees engaged in protected concerted activity when they walked out in protest of their unbearably hot working conditions. The Board distinguished the court’s decision in Vemco on the basis that these three employees were required to work under oppressive conditions, which they protested by walking out. Id.; see also Patrick Hardin, The Developing Labor Law, 188 -89 (4th ed.)
III. Specific Areas of Concern
A. Weingarten Rights and the Path to IBM Corp.
In the case of NLRB v. J. Weingarten, 420 U.S. 251, 257 -58 (1975), a well settled rule was established that, pursuant to rights established by Section 7 of the Act, a union employee is entitled to have a union representative present in an investigatory interview with his or her employer when the employee may reasonably believe that the meeting may result in discipline. Seven years later in Materials Research Corp., 262 NLRB 1010 (1982), the Board extended this right to employees in a nonunion setting. In that case, the Board relied on the fact that Weingarten emphasized that the right to assistance of a representative is derived from the Section 7 protection afforded to concerted activity, rather than from a union’s right pursuant to Section 9 of the Act as the employee’s representative for collective bargaining. Thus, the Board in Materials Research Corp. determined that the ability to avail oneself of this protection does not depend on whether the employees are represented by a union. Id. at 677. The ruling in Materials Research Corp was short lived, however, as in Sears, Roebuck & Co., 274 NLRB 230 (1985), the Board overruled Materials Research Corp. and held that Weingarten principles do not apply in circumstances where there is no certified or recognized union. In the Sears case, the Board rejected the prior decisions reliance on the fact that Weingarten rights are based on Section 7, and focused on Section 9 rights pertaining to collective bargaining authority exclusive to unionized settings. The Board stated “[t]he Weingarten rule, in a unionized setting, is wholly consistent with established principles of labor management relations. Thus, pursuant to Section 9 and related provisions of our Act, a duly recognized or certified union is vested with the exclusive authority to represent unit employees and deal with the employer on all matters involving terms and conditions of employment, including wages, hours, benefits, and discipline. Accordingly, if an employer seeks to take an action that affects any of its employees’ terms and conditions of employment, it must recognize the union’s legitimate representational rights and, therefore, it is not free to deal with the employees on an individual basis over the employees’ objections. ... When no union is present, however, the imposition of Weingarten rights upon employee interviews wreak havoc with fundamental provisions of the Act.” Id. at 230-31.
Later in E.I. DuPont & Co., 289 NLRB 627 (1988) the Board maintained the position taken in Sears, but expanded its reasoning and analysis. The Board in DuPont stated that even in a union setting when employees engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection, such activity is not without limitations. The Board must balance the employer’s interests in maintaining “discipline in their establishments” against employees’ interests in engaging in the activities covered by the broad language of Section 7.” The Board went on to review the courts considerations in Weingarten when balancing the competing interests in that case. Id. at 629. The Board determined that in a nonunion setting, several of the Weingarten interests favoring recognition of the rights established therein are either not present or less compelling in a nonunion setting. The Board pointed to the following considerations in Weingarten: 1) A union representative present at an investigatory interview might be able to safeguard “not only the particular employee’s interest, but also the interests of the entire bargaining unit. 2) A knowledgeable union representative could assist the employer in eliciting favorable facts that an inarticulate employee lacking experience in such matters might be too fearful or unable to mention. 3) A union representative may save the employer time in the investigatory process and likewise act as a factor conducive to the avoidance of formal grievances through the medium of discussion and persuasion conducted at the threshold of an impending grievance. 4) Permitting a union representative at an investigatory interview is in full harmony with actual industrial practice, noting that such rights are often provided for in collective bargaining agreements. The Board found that these considerations in a nonunion setting are either much less likely to be achieved or are irrelevant. Id. at 629. Thus, the board affirmed the position held in Sears.
The Board’s position in Sears and DuPont lasted for the next 15 years when in the case of In Re Epilepsy Foundation of Northeast Ohio, 331 NLRB 676, 677 (NLRB 2000), the Board again reversed course, rejecting the rationale of Sears and DuPont, and finding renewed favor with the Materials Research analysis. The Board in Epilepsy Foundation stated that “the Board was correct in Materials Research to attach much significance to the fact that the court’s Weingarten decision found that the right was grounded in the language of Section 7 of the Act, specifically the right to engage in ‘concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.’” Id. at 678. Epilepsy Foundation found that the rationale of Materials Research is equally applicable in circumstances where employees are not represented by a union, for in these circumstances the right to have a coworker present at an investigatory interview also greatly enhances the employee’s opportunities to act in concert to address their concern ‘that the employer does not initiate or continue a practice of imposing punishment unjustly.’ Thus, affording Weingarten rights to employees in these circumstances effectuates the policy that ‘Section 7 rights are enjoyed by all employees and are in no wise dependant on union representation for their implementation.’” Id. at 678, quoting Glomac Plastics, Inc. 234 NLRB 1309, 1311 (1978). On appeal of Epilepsy Foundation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court agreed with the Board and found that “the presence of a coworker gives an employee a potential witness, advisor, and advocate in an adversarial situation, and ideally, militates against the imposition of unjust punishment by the employer. Epilepsy Foundation v. NLRB, 268 F.3d 1095, 1102 (D.C. Cir. 2001).
The Board’s ruling in Epilepsy Foundation, however, has recently found disfavor with the current Board, falling again to reasoning similar to that expressed in the DuPont case. On June 9, 2004, the Board in IBM Corporation and Kenneth Paul Schult, Robert William Bannon and Steven Parsley, 341 NLRB No. 148 (NLRB 2004), overturned Epilepsy Foundation. Thus, as before, in a nonunion environment, an employee’s request for a co-worker’s presence during an investigatory interview need not be honored regardless of the employee’s belief that disciplinary action may result.
Many would surmise that this latest change in the Board’s position, as hypothesized regarding changes in the past, is more a result of the change in political administrations, than anything else. The Board in IBM, however, predicated its ruling on many of the ideals expressed in DuPont, as well as, some additional concerns that had been raised in and since Epilepsy Foundation. After first finding that the Board’s position in both DuPont and Epilepsy Foundation with regard to Weingarten rights represent permissible interpretations of the Act, the Board stated that it has the discretion and the “duty to choose amongst permissible interpretations of the Act to best effectuate its overarching goals.” IBM, supra, quoting Slaughter v. NLRB, 794 F.2d 120 (1986).
With a rationale based in notions of a changed workplace environment and new security concerns raised by incidents of national and workplace violence, the Board stated that the “features of the contemporary workplace leads us to conclude that an employer must be allowed to conduct its required investigations in a thorough, sensitive, and confidential manner. This can best be accomplished by permitting an employer in a nonunion setting to investigate an employee without the presence of a coworker.” IBM, supra.
For some time, severe criticisms have been raised regarding the practical implications of Epilepsy Foundation’s mandate for representation in nonunion employee interviews. As Section 7 rights under Epilepsy Foundation also prohibited the employer from interfering in the employee’s choice of coworker representative, an employee could take advantage of his right to representation to collude with a coworker on a story to impede the employer’s investigation attempts. While an employer could forego the interview in such situation and give the employee the option of either going forward with the interview alone or not being interviewed at all, such a course of action could cost the employer its ability to conduct a complete investigation. In a sexual harassment context, this could have the effect of subjecting the employer to liability for failure to conduct a thorough investigation. Thus, during Epilepsy Foundation’s reign, an employer had to carefully consider its course of action in this regard. See Epilepsy Foundation, supra, at 695. But see Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 253 NLRB 1143, 1143-44 (1981) (An employee’s right to choose a representative was limited to the extent that the coworker was willing to be a representative and the coworker must be available. If the coworker was unavailable or unwilling to participate, under Epilepsy Foundation, the employee was required to choose another who was available and/or willing to participate. The employee could not delay the interview while waiting for a desired coworker representative). In IBM, the Board gave voice to these concerns, as well as, concern regarding the need for confidentiality in the investigation process. IBM, supra. The Board, in conclusion, found that, on balance, the right of an employee to a coworker’s presence in the absence of a union is outweighed by an employer’s right to conduct prompt, efficient, thorough, and confidential workplace investigations. Id.
B. Employee Handbooks Prohibitions
An area of Section 7 protection in the nonunion environment often overlooked by employers involves employer policies contained in handbooks and other employee literature which prohibit various types of employee conduct. Policies that prohibit employee conduct considered to be concerted protected activity will be found an unfair labor practice.
In Kinder-Care Learning Centers, Inc., 299 NLRB 1171 (1990), an employer maintained a policy within its employee handbook restricting employee communications to third parties and requiring that employees first bring their work-related complaints to the attention of the employer’s “center director” or process them through the employer provided complaint procedure. The policy also stated that an employee’s failure to follow this policy could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. The Board determined that although the rule did not on its face prohibit employees from approaching someone other than the employer concerning work-related complaints, it provided that the employee first report such issues to the employer or risk subjection to discipline. Thus, the employer’s rule did not merely state a preference that employees follow its policy, it required compliance and such a rule reasonably tended to inhibit employees from bringing work-related complaints to, and seeking redress from, entities other than the employer, and restrained the employees’ Section 7 rights to engage in concerted activities for collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Id. at 1172. the Board found this policy to be unlawful.
1. Confidentiality and Wage Secrecy Policies
In Phoenix Transit System, 337 NLRB No. 78 (2002), the Board held that employees have a Section 7 right to discuss sexual harassment complaints among themselves and that employer policies that restrict such discussions will violate the Act. In this case the rule was originally promulgated during an active investigation which ended in two weeks, but was applied and enforced as a result of separate events that occurred at a later date. The rule prohibited discussion even among the affected employees whom the respondent initially assembled at a meeting to solicit information concerning the complaint. Under these circumstances, the Board found that the employer, having failed to provide a sufficient justification for maintaining the rule, violated the Act.
Compare Phoenix Transit System, however, to Caesar’s Palace, 336 NLRB No. 19 (2001), where the Board found that the employer did not violate Section 8(a)(1) by maintaining and enforcing a confidentiality rule during an ongoing investigation of alleged illegal drug activity, where the confidentiality directive was given to each employee who was separately interviewed, the investigation involved allegations of a management cover-up and possible management retaliation, as well as threats of violence, and the confidentiality rule was intended to ensure that witnesses were not put in danger, evidence was not destroyed, and testimony was not fabricated. Clearly, upon circumstances where such rules are enforced during the period of an active investigation with sufficient justification, the Board may find the rule unlawful. Here again, the Board is engaging in a balancing of interests, determining whether the exercise of Section 7 rights by employees is outweighed by an employer’s legitimate business interests.
More recently in Double Eagle Hotel & Casino And International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 113, 341 NLRB No. 17 (2004), the employer’s handbook contained, among other things, a rule prohibiting the disclosure of confidential information to other employees. The types of information considered by the policy to be confidential included disciplinary information, grievance/complaint information, performance evaluations, salary information, salary grade, types of pay increases, and termination data for employees who have left the company. The policy further provided that any breach or violation of the policy would lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination. The Board stated that the appropriate inquiry is “whether the rules would reasonably tend to chill employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights. Where the rules are likely to have a chilling effect on Section 7 rights, the Board may conclude that their maintenance is an unfair labor practice, even absent evidence of enforcement.” Id., quoting Lafayette Park Hotel, 326 NLRB 824, 825 (1998). Considering the unambiguous statement in the policy of what items may not be discussed and the explicit warning of discipline, the Board found the handbook policies plainly infringed upon Section 7 rights and violated Section 8(a)(1). The policy’s plainly stated prohibition against the discussion of wages and work related issues between employees represented a clear violation of the Act of which any employer should be wary.
2. No-Solicitation/Distribution Policies
Employees have long been held to have rights pursuant to Section 7 to engage in union activity in the form of solicitation and distribution of material. See Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 US 793 (1945). This Section 7 right, as with others, will extend to a nonunion workplace when employees engage in concerted activity in the form of solicitation and/or distribution of materials for the purpose of mutual aid and protection. Employees are entitled to engage in solicitation in work and non-work areas when the activity occurs on non-working time. See Republic Aviation Corp., at 803. Employees are entitled to engage in distribution of literature regarding protected concerted activities on non-working time, but only in non-working areas. See Stoddard-Quirk Manufacturing Co. 138 NLRB 615, 616 (1962).
Applying the balancing of interests used by the Board in most Section 7 cases, the Board has generally determined that a no solicitation rule is unlawful if it unduly restricts the Section 7 activities of employees during periods and in places where these activities do not interfere with the employer’s operations. See Our Way, Inc., 268 NLRB 394 (1983), and Laidlaw Transit, Inc., 315 NLRB 79, 82 (1994). For example, rules which prohibit employees’ concerted activities, including solicitation to sign union authorization cards, on break-times or mealtimes are overly restrictive of employees’ Section 7 rights to self-organization, and are unlawful. Rules which require employees to get approval from the employer for solicitations are also overly restrictive of employee rights, and are unlawful. See In Re Adtranz, 331 NLRB 291 (2000), citing Opryland Hotel, 323 NLRB 723, 728 (1997), and Baldor Electric Co., 245 NLRB 614 (1979).
C. Prohibitions Against Electronic Communications
Policies that prohibit employees from accessing the Internet on company computer systems or that restrict the use of various email communications may violate the Act if such actions involve concerted activity for mutual aid and protection. Of course, the Board, here as in other areas of Section 7 protection, engages in a balancing of employee rights against an employer’s valid property rights. Thus, an employer’s implicit property rights, in many cases, will justify “business use only policies.”
In the case of In Re Adtranz, 331 NLRB 291 (2000), the employer’s policy provided that –
Employees may uses hardware/software and electronic corporate mail systems provided by the company for business use only. The company reserves the right to access and inspect file contents within the file storage and messaging systems to insure the systems are not being misused. Where required for business purposes, the company may access and inspect either the file storage systems or the message system and review, copy, or delete any files or messages and disclose the information in both systems to others.
In review of this policy, the Board first considered its prior decisions involving the use of company bulletin boards. “It is well established that there is no statutory right of an employee or union to use an employer’s bulletin board.” Id., citing Honeywell, Inc., 262 NLRB 1402 (1982); Container Corp., 244 NLRB 318 (1979). “An employer has a right to restrict the use of company bulletin boards. However, that right may not be exercised discriminatorily so as to restrict postings of union materials.” Id., citing J.C. Penny, Inc., 322 NLRB 238 (1996); Guardian Industries Corp., 313 NLRB 1275 (1994). Similarly, the Board has determined that there is no statutory right of an employee or a union to use an employer’s telephone for personal or non-business purposes. However, once an employer grants the privilege of occasional personal use of the telephone during work-time, it may not lawfully exclude union activities as a subject of discussion. Id., citing Union Carbide Corp., 259 NLRB 974 (1981); see also Guardian Industries Corp., 313 NLRB 1275 (1994). Considering its history, the Board in Adtranz analogously found that the employer could bar its computers and email system use consistent with the Board’s previous decisions, so long as not barred discriminatorily against Section 7 activity.
While the view expressed in Adtranz is the generally recognized position of the Board, it is not difficult to contemplate a situation in today’s electronically driven workplace environment where even if the policy is enforced in a nondiscriminatory way, if the policy has the effect of prohibiting Section 7 activity, it may still be found to violate the Act. Specifically, if the workplace is such that the only available form of employee communication is via the employer’s computer or email system, an employer’s business use only policy may restrict Section 7 solicitation to such a degree that the Board finds the policy unlawful. See Nancy J. King, Labor Law for Managers of Nonunion Employees in Traditional and Cyber Workplaces, 40 Am. Bus. L.J. 827 (2003).
by by: Terrence B. Robinson
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