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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />?h- <br /> <br />areas. Some are specialized to locating people, similar to online telephone books, while others <br />provide infOl1I1lltion about addresses and maps. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Soon after the WWW became popular businesses and govennnents saw the benefit of using web <br />sites in the course of their business. Early sites were primarily informational and many were no <br />more than online brochures. But as businesses and govennnents became more sophicated, they <br />started to develop web sites that integrated into their core business practices. Customer and sales <br />support web sites are very useful. They cut the cost of doing business while at the same time they <br />provide infOl1I1lltion to the customer or constituent in useable format when the consumer wants it. <br /> <br />The productivity increases and reduced costs of online business to business and business to <br />customer transactions have helped many businesses stay competitive and responsive during recent <br />times of skilled manpower shortages. Customer Service is a popular application for a Web site. <br />Many sites include Frequently Asked Questions (F AQ's) so that customers can get assistance for <br />the most common questions and problems 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without the need <br />for an operator or customer support person to be standing by. <br /> <br />If the customer's question or problem is beyond the scope of the F AQ, a simple, easy-to-use web <br />based form can help frame the customer's question or problem into a standard format for <br />submission. The form output can be routed automatically based upon keywords selected by the <br />customer, thus saving time and handling costs. <br /> <br />Many govennnent web sites include commonly requested schedules, documents and forms on <br />their web sites. This allows their viewers to obtain these documents anytime of day or night. In <br />addition, it pushes the printing cost onto the viewer. The cost of supplying a document or form <br />via the WWW is the same for the web site owner whether it is provided 10 times, or ten thousand <br />times. Web sites, such as the IRS or the Minnesota Department of Revenue, distribute millions of <br />copies of schedules and fonns over the WWW, saving millions of dollars in printing costs. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Clearly, the use ofa World Wide Web site can save time and money, while providing for fuster, <br />better service to an organization's customers or constituents. But, like so many other things, a <br />web site has to exist to realize these benefits. <br /> <br />e <br />