Money seems to flow faster out of an organization than into an organization. As organizations encounter budget limitations or freezes, beneficial projects are suspended or cancelled. Unless new financing sources are located, these projects never happen. See my previous blog, "ICT Grants for Non-Profit Organizations" on the types of grants and the grant sources for healthcare, education and state and local governments.Looking at government, business and foundation funding for grants can open up opportunities that were never before considered. So what would be the benefit of these funding sources to the organization besides acquiring money?
* Improve operations and productivity--Investing in IT and communications technologies can reduce wasted time, improve access and reach mobile workers more efficiently. Unified Communications mobilizes your staff, providing them seamless communications and enhancing information sharing.
* Restart delayed projects--Organizations need to periodically update and modernize their IT and communications infrastructures to meet its growing business needs while optimizing infrastructure investments. External funding can be used to initiate stalled projects that are postponed because of the lack of financial resources.
* Accelerate existing projects--Many projects are stretched out over multiple years because not enough financial support is available in the initial year. External funding sources can accelerate the project, thereby gaining the benefits far sooner.
* Reduce cash flow--External funds can offset late arriving revenues that would be depended upon to finance projects. The organization can therefore initiate projects that would be delayed due to delayed cash flow.
* Reduce financial risk--The external funding can spread the financial risks of projects beyond the organization.
* Retain employees/no layoffs--Every organization has to finance capital costs and pay expenses. By accessing external funding sources, organizations can allocate more money to expenses, such as salaries and benefits, thereby retaining existing staff and avoiding layoffs. The external funds can help to boost the capital budget which will allow more of the organization's money to be allocated for staff.
* Energy savings--When new IT and communications systems and equipment are acquired, the new hardware can reduce the cost of electrical energy by 25%+ according to the report "EPA Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency.".
* Improve safety--Safety for schools, emergency response units, healthcare groups can all be improved with better communications networks both wired and wireless through more efficient and rapidly responding call centers and mobile access. Messaging and notification systems can be used for alerts and notifications over multiple media. Rapid and accurate communications is the goal for response coordination.
* Improve citizen outreach and support--Tough economic times have intensified citizen demands for government assistance. To improve access to these services and meet growing demands, public sector entities are looking for funding assistance to upgrade and modernize their call centers, to augment self service access and to add messaging systems to increase their overall productivity and allow the organization to respond and serve more citizens, students, patients, staff....
Here are some application examples of ICT that would produce the benefits:
* IP communications products that would provide the underlying infrastructure and connectivity for school modernization, construction, classrooms, labs, state wide data networks and healthcare networks.
* Enhance student outcomes by allowing staff and faculty to be more available to students, parents and the community no matter where they are located.
* Support for roaming connectivity for doctors, healthcare workers, and emergency services personnel.
* Support for roaming connectivity for the DOT, first responders, mobile staff, public safety workers, field workers, and welfare workers.
* Deliver or enhance audio and video conferencing for education delivery, distance learning, telehealth, remote planning, distributed teams, and group meetings.
* Enhance public safety outcomes by closing first responder communication gaps to enhance response coordination
* Modernize and support expansion of enrollment and eligibility verification services.
* Improve efficiency of government agency hotlines, 9-1-1 emergency services and help desk operations.
* Deliver self service communications to citizens, patients, staff/employees and vendors.
* Provide Unified Messaging services across multiple independent organizations for planning, operations and during emergencies.
* Integrate multiple decentralized communications platforms to improve productivity, reduce cost and lower energy consumption.
