Dexter + Chaney Wins Award For Spectrum's Online Help System
SEATTLE, February 12, 2008: When Dexter + Chaney (www.dexterchaney.com) refers to the online help system for its Spectrum™ Construction Software, it can now use the term “award-winning” to describe it. The company recently won a Merit Award for the product in the annual awards competition of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Society for Technical Communications (STC).
“We’re thrilled to win the award, because it validates our efforts to develop the best possible help system for our clients,” said John Chaney, Dexter + Chaney president. “We spend a lot of time making sure that our help files provide our clients with the level of service that they deserve. The award recognizes the time and effort we put into usability testing and ensuring that the product meets our clients’ needs.”
The help system in Spectrum’s Accounts Payable module won the award in the online category of the competition. Judges found that the product “consistently meets high standards and applies technical communication principles in a highly proficient manner.”
In its application for the award, Dexter + Chaney explained that the product gives users multiple means (table of contents, search, index) to find answers to their Accounts Payable (A/P) questions. The help system offers basic information (i.e., how to set up a vendor code for payment) and more advanced topics such as how to process invoices and credit memos, manage cash flow and use subcontracts.
Organizations and consultants throughout the Puget Sound region—including Microsoft, Boeing, the University of Washington and the City of Seattle—entered the competition. Award winners were chosen in three categories of technical communication: online, publication and art. Dexter + Chaney’s documentation manager, Joanne Harvey, and technical writers Meredith Olson and Jason Sherrett received the honor on behalf of the company at an STC awards banquet.
“Like other honors that our company has received over the years, we share this award with our clients,” Chaney said. “Many of the topics in our help system are a result of client suggestions, particularly from those who participate in usability testing at our annual users’ conference.”
ABOUT SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS (STC)
STC is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 14,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists and others whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.
ABOUT DEXTER + CHANEY
More than 1,000 construction companies throughout the United States use Dexter + Chaney’s Spectrum Construction Software. Spectrum includes 30 integrated modules that handle project management, construction accounting, equipment management, service management, human resources, document imaging, remote connectivity and data sharing tasks. Companies that use Spectrum report they have improved profitability and have grown their businesses more than 300 percent without adding accounting staff.
More than 7,500 total users make use of Spectrum’s Document Imaging software, which addresses a typically painful problem for construction contractors: giving management, office staff and project managers the fast, electronic access they need to important documents like contracts, change orders, timecards, invoices and others.
For more information about Dexter + Chaney or Spectrum, contact Brad Mathews, Vice President of Marketing, Dexter + Chaney, 9700 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-2347; phone: 800-875-1400 or 206-364-1400; fax: 206-367-9613; e-mail: info@dexterchaney.com; http://www.dexterchaney.com.
