Volume Telemarketing Company

Description of Firm

Volume Telemarketing Company (VTC) is a major distributor of office copiers, supplies, paper and
toner. VTC’s customers are scattered over the western United States. Sale are made through direct
telephone contacts. The telemarketing department maintains an extensive database of potential
customers. The database is broken down geographically by city. It contains customer names,
addresses and phone numbers and information on purchasing agents and their clients’ buying
patterns. Sales contacts are made by telemarketing representatives who prospect the list for
potential customers. After making an initial phone contact, the representative places follow-up calls
to the purchasing agent. VTC has a great purchasing power so it is able to offer lower prices and
faster delivery than competitors. As a result, the company can bid successfully on major accounts.

System Overview

VTC’s phone prospecting and sales order operations are based upon a computer system with a
number of terminals attached. Each telemarketing representative’s desk is equipped with a
computer terminal and a telephone. The computer contains the database of potential customers
and VTC’s product mix including prices, quantity in stock and other data.

When a customer purchases goods, the representative enters ordering information into the
computer terminal. The system is described in the data flow diagram below:

Order Order Order Goods

Customer Customer
Processing Fulfillment

System System
Invoice

Inventory Billing
and Price System
File

Customer
Prospect
File

Order
File

Periodically all orders are transferred to VTC’s order fulfillment department where they are filled
and shipped. Billing, credit, collection and other services are provided by other departments in the
company using data from the telemarketing department’s computer system.

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A marketing representative will often concentrate on prospects in a given geographic area. This
requires displaying appropriate prospect data on the terminal’s display screen. During the phone
contact, the representative must refer to pricing and inventory information maintained in the
computer. After making a sale, the representative calls up an input screen format and enters the
relevant data. Telemarketing representative must be able to shift quickly between input screens.

Hands-on Application

In all the work products, be sure to include appropriate input verification and controls. The screen
should be properly laid-out applying the input design principles.

Work Product No. 1

Design a customer prospect screen. The screen should contain the prospect’s name, the purchasing
agent’s name and phone number and other pertinent data.

Work Product No. 2

Design the product/price inventory screen. The purpose of this screen is to provide a display of
VTC’s products, prices and inventory.

Work Product No. 3

Design a customer order screen. This screen will be used to enter order data once the customer has
agreed to purchase good. Include sufficient information on the display. Consider the needs of the
order fulfillment department and decide what information should be entered on the screen to
enable clerks to process order properly.

Source: Systems Analysis and Design

Silver and Silver