iry. When live operators handle these inquiries over toll-free telephone lines, each call costs federal Express $ 7. One quickly sees that offloading any telephone traffic to the web site results in substantial savings. Files of frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) at SunSolve reduced the company’s support costs by $4 million. Lotus Development Corporation can manage six times the volume of calls with the web and the telephone staff as it could by telephone alone. There is no question is cost effective (Cameron 19). “In addition to cost savings, Web-based E-commerce provides companies with an expedient global reach that cannot be duplicated. In no other medium can a company globally market its products and, in only one month, receive orders around the world. While success depends on how well the site is promoted online, new vistas open up for small and large businesses alike, without physically placing offices in other countries or using other forms of localized advertising” (Cameron 20). At SGI, the Silicon Surf Web site daily receives 15,000 visitors from 60 countries. These visitors download 18 gigabytes of information from the site. Even if SGI could reach these visitors through another method, marketing representatives at the company estimate that it would cost them $100,000 to distribute the downloaded information in printed format. (Cameron 20)Because of differences in time zones, coordinating international business negotiations can be highly inconvenient. Providing support and service 24 hours per day, seven days per week is expensive. However, Web sites, unlike salespeople, are always online. Users can find the answers to their questions any day of the year and can E-mail inquiries if the Web site does not answer their questions. Also, allowing customers to transact business at their convenience can result in increased sales. An online store can afford to be open at all times of the day and...
