Swann and Partners

Swann and Partners is a Dallas-based boutique firm specializing in advertising for retail automotive, with a mix of other clients in North Carolina, Georgia, California and elsewhere in Texas. The partners all work out of home offices and travel 3 to 4 days a week.

When the partners first formed the firm, they needed a quick and easy way to collaborate with each other and their clients online. “I literally came across WebEx WebOffice in a Web search and what a terrific find! Now I look like a genius to my business partners,” says Dan Acree, Partner.

Swann and Partners uses WebEx WebOffice as its collaboration platform. In 4 days, the firm posted all of its files onto the WebOffice site and had a fully functional collaboration suite connecting the new company from coast to coast.

"WebEx WebOffice gave our business a really quick start. We were a new advertising agency — two weeks old — with 4 partners all working out of home offices, five independent contractors, and clients in North Carolina, Georgia, California and Texas. Our biggest challenge was how to collaborate with each other. WebOffice provides the solution."

- Dan Acree, Partner, at Swann and Partners

Acree says he and his partners, who all came from a larger advertising agency, are experiencing “vast benefits from WebEx WebOffice. This product is absolutely awesome.”

“WebEx WebOffice gave us a quick start, maximum flexibility, and customization. It’s amazing. If I had to pick the single most important ongoing benefit of WebEx WebOffice, it’s access from wherever we are — on the road or at home. And it doesn’t make any difference whether we are on a PC or a Mac — and the agency is Mac-based. WebEx WebOffice is so great. It’s so easy. Just get on your laptop and you’re in business.”

The firm uses the WebOffice Online Calendar, Database Manager, Task Manager, Expense Reports, and notification functions. “I’d describe these as excellent all the way down the line. I’m about as satisfied as I can be. I’m a raving fan!” says Acree.

Swann and Partners maintains production orders, advertising copy, status approvals, print ad PDF files, etc. — all using the WebOffice Database Manager. The firm even uses one field in the database for writers to copy and paste radio and TV scripts. “You don’t need extensive knowledge to set up a database like this. The process is easy. WebEx WebOffice is so flexible; we can literally edit the structure of our database on the fly.”

“At my last company, we hired a consultant and spent 9 months and about $35,000 to create essentially the same kind of service that WebEx WebOffice provides us now, at a dramatically low monthly price.”

The partners had anticipated that keeping track of expenses on the road would be one of their biggest hassles, but, with the WebEx WebOffice Expense Reports system, it’s easy.

Swann and Partners also likes the security of WebEx WebOffice. The firm bought the SSL Data Encryption Option. That level of security is important, because they have all their sales tracking information online.

“I was also really impressed with WebEx WebOffice’s tech support, which is first class. So is the online Help. I don’t think I’ve ever had better tech support.”

“WebEx WebOffice has solved a lot of problems for us and all our contractors are really delighted. Maybe none of these things sound like a big deal to a company that has an IT department, that already has existing databases and existing infrastructure but it’s a big deal for any small company. Smaller businesses can’t afford their own proprietary intranet system. The WebEx WebOffice service is about as well-organized and well-thought-out as anything I’ve ever used on the Web.”