Team Support System - Web Application

Have you ever wondered, "Why hasn't anyone told me this before?" If you manage outsourcing services and/or sub-contractors, Team Support System will enhance your quality control, productivity and communication. And you will see these benefits fall directly to your bottom line. How much you would save simply by writing and enforcing service level agreements with all of your outsourcing contractors?

Explore our Web site (www.teamsupportsystem.com), try our demos and see how Team Support System will revolutionize your enterprise.

"TSS allows us to maintain a higher level of service at a lower cost. Plus, we can now enforce Service Level Agreements at all our locations."

- Dennis O´Brien, CSG

What is Team Support System?

Team Support System is a Web application that empowers management and workers at multiple locations to monitor service levels in real time.

Sophisticated audit tracking enables you to enforce Service Level Agreements with your outsourcing contractors, ensuring that you receive all applicable credits. In addition, Team Support System maintains a complete Service Audit Trail for compliance purposes.

Secure access to Team Support System is available worldwide 24/7/365. All you need is a computer with Internet access and your username and password will connect you instantly with your staff, your sub-contractors and your data.

You don't even need to be on the Internet in order to stay in touch. Any special request or drop in service levels automatically triggers alerts, which can be received on a pager, cell phone, etc. At their desks or on the road, everyone on the team is automatically alerted, empowering them to resolve small issues before they mushroom into major problems.

The secure, centralized database stores all data on outsourcing contracts, services levels, costs, credits, payments, work orders, schedules, floor plans and quality of work performed. The entire problem-to-resolution process is tracked in real-time and always available for management reporting.

Team Support System generates significant return on investment (ROI) through increased productivity, shortened problem-to-resolution times and substantial cost savings.

Play with our demos at www.TeamSupportSystem.com or call us at 978-525-9093 to arrange for a private tour of Team Support System. It will revolutionize your enterprise.

How Does Team Support System Work?

Team Support System stores all data in one secure, central location, including outsourcing contracts, services levels, audit history, costs, payments, work orders, schedules, floor plans and quality of work performed.

Using a browser connected to the Internet, the appropriate management, supervisors and contractors are each given secure, customized access to Team Support System. Site managers and area supervisors perform real-time audits and TSS automatically assigns a weighted score to each audit based on criteria defined by your service contract. Consolidated audit reporting ensures you receive all service credits according to the terms of your contract.

Automated alerts (emails, pages, etc.) are sent to everyone on the team when issues arise. For example, when a low scoring audit reveals that service levels are below par, Service Supervisors, District Managers and Senior Management are automatically alerted - and all communication among the team is stored in the central database. Management can monitor the problem-to-resolution process in real time and access a complete audit history anytime.

Specialized reports track open issues, upcoming events, audits, credits, extra charges, etc. Automated ticklers allow management to prepare the team for upcoming events and resolve small issues before they mushroom into serious problems. At your desk or on the road, Team Support System empowers you to monitor service levels anywhere on Earth.

For a thorough understanding of how Team Support System will revolutionize your enterprise, call us now at 978-525-9093 to schedule a private demonstration.

How Can Team Support System Benefit Me?

Team Support System (TSS) is not a Web site. TSS is a Rich Internet Application with a highly intuitive interface specialized for each type of user.
Senior management, regional and site managers, subcontractors and workers all see what they need when they need it.
Our revolutionary "Up-Front" design clearly puts the most relevant information at your fingertips with astounding speed. No more time wasted on slow, cumbersome, confusing systems.
TSS is so easy to learn and use that your entire team will be more productive in just a few days.

Track Service Audits and prove that you are in compliance with procedures.
Monitor your team's response to problems and instantly get them the support they need.
See all Open Issues with a single click.
Nothing escapes detection. TSS empowers your entire team to respond quickly when issues arise that demand attention.
Automated alerts and 24/7/365 Internet access enable you to monitor quality control anywhere on Earth.

Enforce Service Level Agreements, ensuring you receive all applicable credits.
Track all out of contract requests and costs.
Our highly intuitive user interface saves you training time and cost.
One secure source of information means you only enter data once. Overhead costs drop dramatically as users manage their own data under management's watchful eye. No duplicated effort - No transcription mistakes -No lost billing opportunities.
Team Support System generates significant return on investment.

Automated alerts keep everyone in the loop 24/7/365. From Senior Management to Service Supervisors, everyone knows instantly when issues arise that demand their attention. Small problems are resolved before they mushroom into serious concerns.
Your entire team always has instant access to information and each other.
Never again will you wonder, "Why hasn't anyone told me this before?"

At any time of the day or night, your username and password will connect you with Team Support System.
At your desk or on the road, you are always in touch with your information, your staff, your clients, your contractors and your company.
You don't even need to be connected to the Internet. Alerts can be received on a pager, cell phone or PDA.

The highly secure central database empowers you to control access based on the security level of each user.
Securely house information on services contracted, costs, credits, payments, work orders, schedules, floor plans and service levels.
Team Support System is hosted at one of the most secure sites in the world by the top hosting company in the United States according to TopHosts.Com, the leading authority on Web hosting.

The People Behind the Product

Team Support System was developed by Van Ness Group, Inc. in partnership with Managed Information Services, Inc. (GSA No. GS-35F-0391M). Both companies are headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA.

The partnership between these two companies has created a unique team of designers, programmers and business people who have brought a revolutionary new breed of Web application to life.

Van Ness Group, Inc.
Van Ness Group is a recognized leader in Web design, marketing and Web Applications Development. Since 1998, Van Ness Group has been helping companies and institutions embrace new media technology in order to build a more productive and profitable organization for the benefit of all their stakeholders.

In 2000, Van Ness Group set the standard for the first generation of exceptionally intuitive, financial services Web sites, complete with powerful calculators and modeling tools for myStockOptions.com (recently named by PCWorld.com in their elite group of "The Most Useful Sites Ever").

Today, the same team that pioneered on-line trading for employee stock options at StockPlan in the late 1990s, helps Van Ness Group clients, such as EquiServe, Fifth Third Bancorp, JPMorgan Private Bank and Wilmington Trust, harness the power of the Web to deliver exceptional value to their customers and employees.

Van Ness Group also develops sophisticated intranets, virtual private networks and XML data transfer systems with complex databases under multi-level security for Fortune 500 companies, including Cardinal Health and GE Aircraft Engines.

Music, video, sound and dynamic copy are expertly crafted by Van Ness Group into high-production-value Web experiences for their new-media savvy clients, such as Calypso Hurricane, DramaWorks, Facility Possibilities, Yankee Fleet. The creative team at Van Ness Group also designed and produced both high-production-value demos for Team Support System.

For many of their clients, Van Ness Group implements Strategic Web Marketing campaigns, all of which have produced spectacular results. While their competition is downsizing, Van Ness Group's clients are expanding, winning greater market share and becoming more profitable.

Visit www.vngroup.com for a more in depth experience of their unique synergy of artistic talent, technical expertise and business savvy.

Managed Information Services, Inc.
Since 1995, Managed Information Services (MIS) has been designing and building custom database systems for large corporations and government agencies. Selected clients include Axcelis Technologies, General Electric Aircraft Engines, Millipore Corporation, U.S. Seal Coat, Cape Ann Transportation Authority, Arrowstreet and NEWPRO.

In the late 1990s, MIS developed the Marco Polo Global Sales Forecaster, a worldwide-distributed database that enables large sales organization to track detailed sales and forecasting statistics. Using this technology, sales personnel stay connected, current, and centrally managed. Sales people work offline using laptops to collect and process data from their customers and prospects. At their convenience, each sales person can use any Internet connection to Synchronize with the central database.

Using up-to-the-minute data, manufacturing can produce accurate sales forecasts and anticipate the necessary tooling and personnel needs to meet demand. The service organization links to the sales process to track service metrics, providing a cohesive, accurate and integrated view of the business that enables quick responses to changing business patterns. Visit the www.managedinfo.com for a more information.

Senior Management
Peter W. Van Ness
President & CEO, Van Ness Group, Inc.
Van Ness Group is the third technology-related venture for entrepreneur Peter Van Ness. For 20 years, Peter has been helping people and organizations realize the benefits of information technology since he founded Personal Computer Solutions in 1983.

During the 1980s, Personal Computer Solutions built state-of-the-art database systems for a wide variety of corporations and institutions, including Benjamin Thompson and Associates, National Association of Social Workers (Van Ness Group built their first Web site 15 years later), Kenner Parker Toys and Kaiser Engineers (working on the Red and Orange Line extensions and the Ted Williams Tunnel project in Boston).

During the 1990s, Peter co-founded StockPlan, Inc. and grew it from a tiny software startup into the largest independent provider of stock plan management services worldwide. While at StockPlan, Peter and his team (many of whom currently work with Van Ness Group) discovered the power of the Web and built the first systems for employees to exercise and sell their stock options over the Internet. According to Rodger Mastako, inventor of OptionsLink (now part of E*Trade), "Peter invented financial services outsourcing."

In 1997, StockPlan was purchased by American Stock Transfer and Trust Company in New York City and Peter served as President of the newly formed AST StockPlan for one year. Salomon Smith Barney (a division of CitiGroup) purchased AST StockPlan in August 2000.

In 2000, Peter co-founded MyStockOptions.com, winner of numerous awards and the Web's most comprehensive, respected, and frequently visited resource on stock compensation for employees and executives.

An internationally recognized expert on new media, outsourcing and information management, Peter has spoken at conferences in the US and Europe. (See his paper presented at AoIR in Maastricht on 20 Oct 2003.) He is also a founding member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. In 1984 Peter was elected to the first Boston Computer Society Member Services Council and served on its steering committee for two years.

Vickie S. Van Ness
Chief Media Officer & CFO, Van Ness Group, Inc.
Vickie has been working in corporate finance for over 17 years, with a focus on integrating information technology into HR and Finance departments. At StockPlan in Silicon Valley, she pioneered the first web-based systems integrating stock trading with stock benefit plans. Working with E*Trade OptionsLink and NDB NetLink (now part of Ameritrade) Vickie managed two ground breaking projects that, for the first time, allowed employees to enroll electronically in employee stock purchase plans and exercise and sell employee stock options in a completely paperless environment.

As a senior, international client manager at StockPlan, Vickie served major industry leaders, such as Yahoo!, Dell, Amdahl, Business Objects, JD Edwards, Newport Corporation and The Hartford.

Vickie's expertise in developing powerful, flexible, user-friendly interfaces empowers Van Ness Group to create exceptionally intuitive systems, perfectly suited to the specific needs of our clients and their users.

Vickie is an internationally published author and speaker on User Interface Design and Women in Technology. (See her paper presented at AoIR in Maastricht on 20 Oct 2003.) Vickie leads Van Ness Group's role as a platinum sponor of the Women's leadership & Technology Consortium in Boston.

Joe Pappalardo
CEO, Managed Information Services, Inc.
A brilliant engineer with a BSEE from U. Mass and two patents for biomedical devices, Joe Pappalardo founded Advanced Access in 1995, which became Managed Information Services, Inc. in 1999. For over 15 years, Joe has been developing high-end database applications and teaching computer software and hardware courses in the Boston area.

Today Joe and his company focus on developing high-end, SQL Server databases that power Rich Internet Applications.

Design & Technology
Douglas R. Callum, Ph.D.
Senior Developer, Van Ness Group, Inc.
Van Ness Group's pony-tailed design guru, Dr. Callum originally hails from Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Callum left the academic world in the mid-1990's to pursue his passion for graphic design and animation. He worked for one of Scotland's leading design companies - Enrich Consulting - and participated in numerous international projects.

Dr. Callum joined Van Ness Group in March 2001 after emigrating to the US. He is principal designer of this Web site along with both Team Support System demos and several other high-production-value sites for Van Ness Group clients.

Steven J. Steinberg
Senior Database Developer, Van Ness Group, Inc.
Steven J. Steinberg began developing complex database systems and custom business software in 1973. Over the past 30 years, Steve's projects have paralleled the evolution of database design and development. In the early 1990s, Steve was principal architect of the StockPlan software, the premier system for managing employee stock benefit plans.

Today Steve specializes in building complex database back-ends for the Web with a focus on dynamic content publishing.

Robert Pappalardo
Senior Software Developer, Managed Information Services, Inc.
Robert Pappalardo received a bachelor's degree in engineering, magna cum laude, from Norwich University in May 1995. He has several years experience in a variety of fields, including environmental engineering, hydrogeological engineering, computer aided design, and database development.

Bob joined Managed Information Services, Inc (MIS) in August of 1999, where he has led several high-end software development projects.

Robert is a member in good standing of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE), the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA), and the Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society.

Sales & Marketing
Stephen H. Van Ness
Vice President Sales and Marketing, Van Ness Group, Inc.
Since the early 1980s, Stephen has been promoting, producing and managing events, from concerts and festivals to corporate conferences and product launches. He joined Van Ness Group in 2002 to lead the product launch of Team Support System.

Over the past 20 years, Steve's major public projects have included Concerts on the Common in Boston during the 1980s, Celebrate Brooklyn and World Fest in the 1990s and Taste of Hartford in 2000 and 2001.

Steve's company, Impact Arts Events Group has produced everything from charity sporting events to major corporate extravaganzas for companies such as Microsoft (product launch of Pocket PC in Grand Central Station), EDS (COMDEX 2001), Staples, Washington Mutual (New York City Entry Marketing) and Fidelity.

Stephen has also produced CDs for Sugar Hill Records and promoted international concert tours and festivals featuring artists from the US, Russia, India and the UK.

Molly M. Sherman
Director of Business Development, Van Ness Group, Inc.
Molly received her BA in Marketing from the Isenberg School of Management at U. Mass in 2000 and began working with Van Ness Group that October. Over the past 2½ years, she has developed several new lines of business for Van Ness Group.

Molly is principal designer of Van Ness Group's Strategic Web Marketing campaigns, which have produced spectacular results for several Van Ness Group clients.

Molly has recently developed a Dynamic Newsletter Service, which empowers companies who use The Publisher (Van Ness Group's Dynamic Content Publishing System) to publish regular, opt-in newsletters and manage their mailing lists on-line.

Molly is also the media contact for Team Support System.