Internet Chronicles Part I The Laundry Owner the Washer and the Web

This month, for a couple of pages at least, the News is becoming a computer magazine. Not that there aren''t enough of them available at your favorite newsstand already, but we thought our readers might be well served by taking a look at technology from a perspective unique to coin and card laundry operators. And, after all, we carry articles on taxes, leases and insurance, not because there is no one else to do it, but because these topics have an impact on the card and coin laundry business. And in today''s world, so too does technology. We have written in the past with some detail about a few of the wonderful tools that the silicon revolution has brought to the industry; remote viewing of your business from your PC or even your cell phone for example. For this article though, we would like to take a look at the World Wide Web; what is out there for the average laundry owner, and how to get the most out of it. While it''s fair to say that the Internet is now a fairly mature marketplace in general, but this might not be the case when it comes to our industry. Most business is still done between distributor and entrepreneur, face to face, by phone and by fax. That''s not necessarily a bad thing. When it comes to investing very large sums of your hard-earned money, having a personal relationship with your lender and your vendors is well worth the extra time needed for personal meetings. But there are many ways in which a web savvy coin or card laundry operator can utilize the Internet to their advantage. First off, literally all of the major equipment manufacturers maintain well thought out, professionally designed websites. These sights are a great source of preliminary information when you are thinking about new equipment or upgrades. For an example, a quick stop at a washer manufacturer''s website should be able to get you quick access to important data like water consumption, load capacity and energy efficiency. You should also be able to get the information necessary to contact your local distributor for that product line when you are ready. Finally, you should be able to get important information about any given machine''s physical dimensions, a critical factor when planning your equipment layout. Most of the manufacturer''s whose sites we have visited provide this information, and make it pretty easy to find. You can often find downloads of product images, data sheets and even service manuals at many of these sites. There are some vendors whose sites require you to register and login before you can access some of this information, and let''s be honest, this can be quite annoying. However, it is fair to look at this from the equipment maker''s standpoint as well. Just as you want to know who walks into your laundry, and perhaps even have video cameras in place that provide you with this information, so too do the manufacturing companies want to know who is knocking on their door. One of the things that you can do if you are concerned about your privacy, is you can go and get a free e-mail account from somewhere like Yahoo! Or MSN, and then use that e-mail address when you register at any web site that requires it. Not only do these services have pretty effective spam protection, but setting up one of these accounts allows you to keep your private e-mail address? A word of caution here: Never open an attachment that comes to you through one of these web based e-mail services. While it''s true that they do a pretty good job of filtering out junk, it is because they have become a magnet for it. In fact, I am sure most of our readers are aware that you should never open any attachment that comes to you from an unknown source. Also, on the subject of security, it may come as no surprise to you that the biggest hole in your own Internet security comes from MS Internet Explorer. Virtually every worm and virus that has caused enough havoc to make the evening news in the past several years has come through the Internet and onto unsuspecting computers through IE. There are some pretty good alternatives though. I know do all my web surfing through a free Internet browser called FireFox, available for download at www.mozilla.org. This is, of course not the only thing you should do to protect yourself out in cyberspace. Good anti virus software is a must unless you are a very experienced and advanced web surfer. The one drawback to such programs is that they slow down your computer some, but the difference is negligible when compared to the slowdown you are going to experience if you catch an Internet infection. One final safety suggestion would be that if you have installed in your laundry a sophisticated card system or other advanced, computer controlled equipment, it may be best to use a different computer, one not networked into that system, for your personal use and even your other business uses that are web related. Yes, that may mean buying another computer, but in the end the peace of mind you have knowing your critical business systems are safe from whatever threats may be out there is well worth it. Next month we will continue our discussion, and begin to focus on what other services are out there for the card and coin laundry operator. We look forward to exploring this with our readers further.