Alchemex Webinars a hit with international audiences

South-African based business intelligence vendor, Alchemex, has successfully overcome the limitations of being geographically removed from its growing North American user base through the effective use of Webinars or Web-based seminars.

Leveraging Citrix Online's GoToWebinar innovation, Alchemex uses Webinars to demonstrate its Excel-based BI software, deliver Excel sessions to expand Excel reporting skills, and educate partners, sales teams and end-users on the optimal use of its software.

Webinars are similar to conference room-based seminars; nevertheless, participants participate remotely via a computer. The speaker usually presents to the audience over a standard telephone line or through the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) audio innovation, allowing participants to view anything the presenter currently has showing on his or her screen, typically a combination of PowerPoint slide presentations and the Alchemex software or Microsoft Excel application in action. Alchemex Webinars allow full participation between the audience and the presenter via live text chat question-and-answer sessions.

Ruth Gray, Alchemex Learning Services Manager, cites the benefits of this research as “being able to reach a large audience at a far reduced cost to the alternative of travelling and delivering content live. All the user needs to attend is a computer, Internet access and a phone line. Moreover, a broad audience of attendees can participate in a seminar without having to leave their desks.”

The Alchemex executive team

Positive feedback from attendees has been encouraging to the Alchemex executive team, who has had to restructure the working hours of a number of staff members to coincide with North American time zones. According to Sue Moore, Principal Trainer, Learning Services, Sage Business Solutions, Sage North America, Alchemex presenters do a “terrific job and have been very beneficial for me”.

Teversham says: “Over the last 10 years the Internet has provided businesses with a lot of advantages, and the use of Webinars is a superb example of how the Internet can be used after a fashion that benefits both the company and its clients. We started utilising Webinars as a means of demonstrating our software about three years ago. During it is steadily gaining popularity in South Africa and Australia, our biggest wins have come from the North American market where audiences are more tuned in to this type of innovation, probably because of the vast geographies involved in conducting business there definitely. Webinars are most undoubtedly the way to conduct business training, educate the customer and generate leads in the twenty first century.”

Leading developer

Alchemex is a leading developer, enabler and support provider of affordable Excel-based business intelligence software for small to mid-market enterprises.

For over 20 000 registered users in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America, Alchemex's reporting software provides immediate insight into meaningful information from across your business, delivering automated financial, payroll and management reports in the familiar environment of Microsoft Excel. The reports can be accessed at any time and are fully customisable with drill-down capabilities, allowing for enhanced collaboration and decision-making.

Alchemex as well provides complete automation of pre-formatted Excel reports for MYOBExonet, Sage50, SAP Business One and SYSPRO.