With growing demand for its CPA services, Couto, DeFranco & Magone (West Orange, N.J.) understood that one way to maximize productivity was to keep the workforce out of the office and in the field.

Businesses in the NY metro area and internationally had come to expect a high level of care from CD&M for consulting, tax, auditing and accounting services. But returning to the office to complete various client work was consuming time and effort when staff and partners could be spending more face time with the client and delivering valuable advice. For the remote access system envisioned by CD&M principal Nick Magone, security was a prime concern. The CPA firm turned to BDE Computer Services (Clifton, N.J.) for help, a 10-year veteran of the computer wars.

BDE equipped the 15-member workforce with Intel notebooks and set up a virtual office and Terminal Services on the accounting firm’s network to handle traffic from the field. Now the CPAs can securely log in from the client site, upload data directly to CD&M’s server, and run e-mail and all accounting applications remotely.

“They don’t have to bring all that paper back to the office. So that’s much more efficient, and it improves security since there’s no sensitive information sitting on their hard drives or in their briefcases,” explains Bill Rooney, president of BDE Computer Services. The notebooks include utilities to establish a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection to the CD&M network firewall, but otherwise are equipped with minimal software to keep costs down. The VPN allows the CPAs to work from cybercafés, from home, and wherever they can access the Internet.

“Our workforce spends more time with clients which builds relationships and allows us to focus our efforts on them without worrying about what’s going on in the office,” says Magone. It also gives the workforce greater time flexibility in dealing with other client demands while they’re out of the office. Magone says he typically responds to e-mails from European clients first thing in the morning right from home, providing feedback before the end of their day.

Magone was convinced from the start that a secure remote access network would be a boon to customer service and productivity. He says, “Clients have commented on how accessible our people are — and our profitability has increased.”

A biometric access system based on hand geometry may sound like a space-age luxury, but it can be well within reach when tied to a payroll system. Payback can be swift when the headcount is high and all advantages are taken into account. Beyond improved security, the time-and-attendance system eliminates unnecessary steps and data entry time, as well as costly errors and the time required to fix them. It informs workers of vacation and sick time — and shuts down those tempted to abuse the punch clock.

Actual implementation is more than just “plug and play,” especially when there are 25 locations, 875 full- and part-time employees, worker unions, and existing policies and procedures to consider. Integrating and validating a new system requires planning, patience and training, but it is worth the effort according to Sussex County, New Jersey, Director of Administration Ron Tappan.

BDE Computer Services (Clifton, N.J.) evaluated several hand-based systems for Sussex County before settling on one a cut above the rest — the Infinitime 7.0 from Inception Technologies (Glendale, AZ). An infrared beam on the hand reader translates key measurements on the back of the hand into a unique 9-byte password. The patented system is also unique.

Software provides the electronic interface with the door’s deadbolt to permit or deny entry, and compares the password to corresponding data in a powerful Oracle 10G database. The time-management software is based on exceptions. It assumes a schedule and monitors for variations. To validate time for payroll, supervisors need only review exceptions and tag time for sickness, holidays, vacations, etc.

BDE Computer estimates system payback in less than a year. Even a two percent annual savings on a $10 million payroll can be significant on a $10M payroll — and the savings can last for the life of the system.