The Client
KolbeCo is a full-service Marketing and Communications firm focusing on small and medium-sized business in a variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing, health care, and professional services. In 2006 and 2007, KolbeCo was named one of the top PR firms in St. Louis by the St. Louis Business Journal. KolbeCo provides strategic planning, advertising, graphic design, direct mail, web design, special events, and a full range of public relations services. For more information, call Lauren or Scott Kolbe at 636-379-3895, or visit KolbeCo online at www.kolbeco.net.

The Client's Need
When you're in the business of communicating on behalf of your clients, it's essential that the technology needs of your business are met without fail. When Lauren and Scott Kolbe relocated their business from St. Charles to Dardenne Prairie, MO, they knew they wanted CTO-level advice and expertise to ensure all their systems were running properly and in perfect harmony. According to co-owner Lauren Kolbe, the company's ability to have total system access, including email, 24/7 is paramount. "When you're in the business of working with news media and advertisers, it's essential that systems communicate effectively, accurately and on a timely basis," she said. "In our business, we can't afford even the smallest outage as it could mean the difference between landing a story in the Wall Street Journal, or not." KolbeCo turned to Straightline Technology Group to ensure all the technological needs of their business were being met.

How Straightline Helped
Doug Kropp and his team at Straightline made the following recommendations to KolbeCo to ensure that KolbeCo's technology worked for them, not the other way around.

• Consistent Operating System across all workstations
• Shared Network Group Printer
• Router with Firewall Capabilities
• Remote Desktop

"We knew going into our relationship with the Kolbe's that an all-inclusive technology package would best fit their budgetary needs," said Doug Kropp, Chief Technology Officer. "We handle all the technological needs of their business, including hardware, software, network support and staff training. This is our ideal situation given that the Kolbe's allow us to manage every facet; which gives us the opportunity to provide efficiencies and economy of scale while at the same time ensuring all of their systems run in tandem, in synch with each other."

The Results

• Time Savings: Employees now have the ability to log in to the network remotely and work on days when life or mother nature makes it more difficult to get to the office. This allows for both employer and employee to benefit and also saves time.
• Cost Savings: By upgrading to a consistent operating system and training the employees they are much more productive now and because time=money, they have more of both.
• Accountability: Straightline has implemented a backup process that removes the fear that KolbeCo traditionally had when it came to this aspect of their technology. "We are responsible for their disaster and recovery plan and because we have implemented a solid solution they can remove the extra stress of not knowing if their backups are working"

"In addition," concluded Kolbe, "we've been impressed that Straightline has been able to tailor its approach, its solutions based on the needs and skill levels of our staff members, especially in the area of computer training. We selected them in the first place due to their immediate responsiveness to our initial inquiry for support and advice. Today we continue to be pleased with their services given that the Straightline team is only a phone call away anytime we have a technology need. Suffice it to say we don't make any changes to our technological framework without Doug and his staff at the helm."

Straightline Technology Group is a full-service computer technology company. Headquartered in O'Fallon, Mo., Straightline provides a full complement of services, including network planning and implementation, web hosting, web structure development, and web-based applications. The company also offers total coverage for computer sales, service and support. Under the auspices of CTO Doug Kropp, Straightline has built a reputation based on its superior approach to customer service. For more information, call (636) 978-5400 or visit online at www.sltechgroup.com.