Ashton Financial
Ashton Financial Finds Software Keeps Employees “On Task”

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The Setting

Ashton Financial bills itself as a “technology-based Mortgage Bank”, specializing in a range of mortgage lending services.

Chuck Benedon, a senior executive with the organization and also the de facto Network Administrator, describes the Brookfield, Wisconsin office atmosphere as “friendly, semi-casual in attitude with a focus on production.” Benedon manages a single-server, 25-user network running Windows 2000. His involvement with PC and PC network technology spans 20 years.

The Challenge

Sometimes wayward employees are downright debilitating to a business. Just ask Benedon … he’s been down that road before. Some years ago he was caught off guard by an embezzling bookkeeper, and he’s become a proponent of the “what you don’t know CAN hurt you” philosophy because of the incident.

“Certain employees, when they think they are not being watched, will engage in very inappropriate business behavior. This is especially true when they are on the Internet,” said Benedon. “As a boss, you are naïve if you believe that nothing bad is happening just because you don’t know about it.”

Benedon wishes he had operated with a bit more of that jaundiced eye -- and a good copy of activity monitoring software -- when he thinks back on his experience with the embezzler. Yes, the guilty party eventually was caught and paid restitution, but today Benedon is certain such a situation wouldn’t go that far.

“If I had today’s technology at the time, things would have been different,” said Benedon. “You can prevent a lot of problems, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. What you want to do is keep it from happening in the first place or stop it in its tracks before it has a chance to get out of control.”

Benedon believes a sharp lookout is the first line of defense in effectively minding the store.

“Just watch. You can tell a lot about what is going on with your employees from simple observation of behaviors,” said Benedon. “If people are going to be larcenous, they are sneaky. There’s collusion. Or when people are getting ready to leave, they often spend a lot of time at the copier, duplicating company-sensitive documents.”

At Ashton Financial, Benedon said watching and noticing variations in employee habits indicated a problem … enough so to warrant an investigation, complete with PC and Internet activity monitoring software.

“Among other actions, we started to see an individual staying after hours when they hadn’t been doing that,” said Benedon. “One thing we didn’t want to do was wait until it was too late.”

Search for a Solution

Benedon’s search for a PC and Internet activity monitoring solution at Ashton Financial was short and sweet. By paying close attention to the PC networking world, Benedon knew comprehensive monitoring software existed. So did a friend in the business, and that contact recommended Spector CNE (Corporate Network Edition). After a round of due diligence, Benedon was convinced the SpectorSoft product would do the job.

“When we had suspicions, we decided not to wait until the damage was done, and bought Spector CNE to help,” said Benedon.

Given Benedon’s experience, it might not be too much of a stretch to suggest he’s now a believer in an additional philosophy: To chance upon a thief, keep your eyes open. To catch a thief, get Spector CNE.

Discoveries

	“When we got the software we had an investigation going on,” said Benedon. “The very first day, using Spector CNE snapshots, I watched someone producing documents that were an obvious major liability to the company. “I went to our VP with a printout of a screen shot. He showed it to the employee and asked her for the corresponding file. All she could say was ‘where did you get that?’ That was the beginning of the ‘stuff’ hitting the fan. The findings reverberated throughout the office. Once they saw all the capabilities of the software, even their facial expressions changed. “Think about it … on the first day we were able to discover problem activity. The boss said it was worth every penny we paid, and it wasn’t even 24 hours old yet.”
	“One employee was getting ready to leave and was transferring files via email,” said Benedon. “This was important data, like the customer list. We caught her dead. It’s against the law. It’s company property, not the employee’s.”
	“If people are not working they’re costing you money,” said Benedon. “They’re stealing out of your pocket. The program is worth every penny, every dollar.”
	“I guarantee your production will increase,” said Benedon. “There’s no more porn surfing … all surfing is down. What we have seen … this place is ON TASK. Having this software is like insurance.”

Awareness

When Ashton Financial purchased Spector CNE, management was only interested in what the specifications said the program could do. “Once we got it, beyond the powerful features, we figured out the rest … the psychological aspects … which are powerful on their own,” said Benedon. “Spector CNE is a great deterrent.”

	“Just the threat of it keeps some of them off the Internet,” said Benedon. “Them just knowing that we can see what they’re doing … it’s amazing the effect it can have on the atmosphere.”
	“If PC users get a message on their screen saying Ashton Financial Does Not Permit Access, they know NOT to come to me about it,” said Benedon.

Working With Employees

	“With Spector CNE, we changed our computer use policy,” said Benedon. “We added a clause that said employees understand we monitor PC activity.”
	In the Ashton Financial employee manual, a section covers actions that are cause for dismissal. The process permits two reprimands … at the third strike, however, you’re out. “At the point of second infraction, we have a meeting … like an intervention,” said Benedon. “We let them know that if they don’t change their behavior … if they are involved in the same purposeful act … they’ll be let go. With Spector CNE, we have proof of inappropriate activity and that makes the process a whole lot cleaner.”

Spector CNE: The Software of Choice

	“It’s a good product … no bugs … no issues … plug it in, turn it on, and it works,” said Benedon. “I especially like the silent install. Overall, the install was easy. Time to install: negligible. Time to learn: fairly fast and easy. Upkeep: nonexistent.”
	“With $1,000 spent, you potentially save tens … even hundreds of thousands,” said Benedon. “I mean how much is your company worth? Just think what it’s worth if you catch the right guy doing the wrong thing. Up front we didn’t really consider the investment versus the savings. It was a matter of employee compliance, and obtaining a way of keeping the employees on task.”
	“With Spector CNE, you can learn a lot,” said Benedon. “It’s very easy to use, easy to see the information recorded … JUST RUN THE MOVIE!”
	“It’s empowerment,” said Benedon. “To be able to control your business with that software … to know what is going on … that’s powerful. How much would you pay a consultant to come in and try to evaluate and improve productivity? How much would you pay to have a computer forensics expert come in and find data? With Spector CNE, you don’t need consultants or forensics or anything. You’ve got the data right there in your face.”

In addition to his financial, real estate, and computer expertise, Benedon has studied law as a hobby for 20 years. The following commentary is, then, high praise for Spector CNE:

“The threat of being caught red-handed is powerful,” said Benedon. “That is what the law does. And to some degree, this software lays down the law.”

For more information about Spector CNE, please visit www.spectorcne.com … or for more information about SpectorSoft and its other dependable, full-featured PC and Internet Activity Monitoring Software products, please visit www.spectorsoft.com.

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