More news
In typical fashion, the "chat with the girl in Operations" never quite came off. Initially, she'd got her calendar round the wrong way (how does that happen?) and it had to be the next week. Then she managed to lose her calendar to a computer crash and go out for lunch instead.
Meanwhile, the fabulousness that is "Unity" launched at Westpac. It's hard to explain the significance of this software to non-bankers, but I'll try.
It used to be that we would have to use all sorts of different programs to serve our customers. On a relatively simple call, for example, I might use TCS to identify the customer, IMS to verify their address and VisionPlus to check the details of a transaction on their statement. They might need some minor adjustments to their internet banking or to order a new statement, which would require Service Online, and while we're talking they may end up generating a sales opportunity which would be loaded in Relationship Builder. This is before we'd do anything overly complicated and bring out PC Account Opening for a term deposit, Decision Assist to check account histories and so on.
Thus, most of a call would consist of copying information from place to place and remembering the arcane codes to check how a Handycard is linked ("IMS73") for example. Make one system crash, and it would, and suddenly the call becomes immensely complicated.
Unity, on the other hand, brings all of those applications together and launches what we need when we need it. Moreover, rather than having to copy details around the place, it almost invariably generates "Customer-in-Context" - you want a cheque stopped, and it'll launch the three programs you need and open exactly the right pages, for example.
As a result, it speeds up the more complicated things we do, and makes the simple ones really easy, so things are done faster and better. Because it's new, everyone's terrified of it apart from me because it works the way I think. So lots of fun, in other words.
The really big news, though, has come courtesy of the most unexpected source. Donna told me vaguely that there was a 6-week secondment at Head Office in the city working on manuals and things and asked if I was interested. Of course I was, but I didn't think anything would come of it.
Well, Wednesday of last week I was told that something had most definitely come of it. I've got the secondment and start on the 4th of January. I believe it's a case of helping out with the manuals for Unity itself, so I intend to jump in with both feet on this one. There's every possibility that a good performance here will get me longer secondments and permanent positions in the future.
Meanwhile, the fabulousness that is "Unity" launched at Westpac. It's hard to explain the significance of this software to non-bankers, but I'll try.
It used to be that we would have to use all sorts of different programs to serve our customers. On a relatively simple call, for example, I might use TCS to identify the customer, IMS to verify their address and VisionPlus to check the details of a transaction on their statement. They might need some minor adjustments to their internet banking or to order a new statement, which would require Service Online, and while we're talking they may end up generating a sales opportunity which would be loaded in Relationship Builder. This is before we'd do anything overly complicated and bring out PC Account Opening for a term deposit, Decision Assist to check account histories and so on.
Thus, most of a call would consist of copying information from place to place and remembering the arcane codes to check how a Handycard is linked ("IMS73") for example. Make one system crash, and it would, and suddenly the call becomes immensely complicated.
Unity, on the other hand, brings all of those applications together and launches what we need when we need it. Moreover, rather than having to copy details around the place, it almost invariably generates "Customer-in-Context" - you want a cheque stopped, and it'll launch the three programs you need and open exactly the right pages, for example.
As a result, it speeds up the more complicated things we do, and makes the simple ones really easy, so things are done faster and better. Because it's new, everyone's terrified of it apart from me because it works the way I think. So lots of fun, in other words.
The really big news, though, has come courtesy of the most unexpected source. Donna told me vaguely that there was a 6-week secondment at Head Office in the city working on manuals and things and asked if I was interested. Of course I was, but I didn't think anything would come of it.
Well, Wednesday of last week I was told that something had most definitely come of it. I've got the secondment and start on the 4th of January. I believe it's a case of helping out with the manuals for Unity itself, so I intend to jump in with both feet on this one. There's every possibility that a good performance here will get me longer secondments and permanent positions in the future.