Teltech is a computer consulting company based in Minneapolis with offices in six states and two foreign countries. It provides Information Technology consulting and staffing services to many industries including banking, insurance, manufacturing, transportation, and utilities. Teltech provides its services to more than half of the 500 largest firms in the United States. Teltech was founded in 1984 by Joe Shuster, an engineer looking to aid in the distribution of technical information to technology oriented firms. Teltech provides technical answers to questions using its extensive database of information. Teltech has access to over 1600 databases which are maintained and searched by a staff of more than 400 staff. Staff librarians are extensively trained and retrained to keep up to date. Many librarians have advanced degrees in science or engineering as well as MLS degrees. Over 3,000 consultants under contract with Teltech provide answers to difficult questions within 24 hours. Many consultants are university researchers or retired industry experts.
Teltech also provides services to companies seeking information on specific products. If a new type of product has just come to market Teltech will provide information regarding the supplier and specifications of the product. It will even call the supplier to verify the launch of a product. This attention to detail impeccable service made Teltech one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States in 1993.
Is Teltech's service actually worth what it costs? One study of 20 Teltech clients found that profit from the service was approximately 16 times greater than the cost. cost includes a $200 to $500/month subscription fee and a per call fee. The typical annual cost to a firm using the service varies, but is around one tenth the cost of an engineer. Another study was conducted among small Minnesota based businesses whose subscription to the service was subsidized by the state government. Again profits attributed to the service were many times that of the costs.
A new service of Teltech is to provide an easy to use interactive database containing biographical information on each Teltech consultant. This modem link service allows customers to pick the expert that is best suited to answer their questions. While the customer is viewing the database, a Teltech associate is on the phone with client assisting with the search. After an expert is located the client can call them directly. Teltech's consultants are under contract to provide an answer within 24 hours. Teltech then follows up with a customer satisfaction survey to make sure an appropriate response was received.
Teltech is interersting for several reasons. First is Teltech's innovative information management strategy. It has built an impressive collection of databases. These databases are searched by professional staff librarians. This eliminates the need for Teltech clients to learn all of the arcane commands to navigate through the various systems. Teltech's employees are well educated and experienced in technical fields. However, Teltech also provides an easy-to-use interface rarely found in technical fields. Teltech's innovative software allows users to connect to a consultant's screen and see what they see. This makes the client feel more involved in the searching process and teaches them how to best formulate searches so that they may search on their own in the future. Teltech also provides access to an expert in the field of interest if the database searching has proved to ambiguous or unsuccessful. The client also has the ability to pick an expert and view their backgrounds before making a call.
Teltech offers a new approach to information management. It has successfully combined a technical information database with a human information database. This allows customers to pick a hybrid of service that balances the need for technical information with the easy-to-use interaction of a human being. Thus Teltech has added the all important human touch and feel to the problem of information overload. You can visit their website at http://www.teltech.com.