The British Chamber of Commerce - a website administration system

The British Chamber of Commerce, which has more than 300 member organizations, has to intensively communicate with both its members and the public. Therefore, it needed a high-class, easy to use, and up to date website as an effective communications channel.

Needs

The British Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic's (BCCCR) activities include organizing various events (seminars, business, educational and cultural meetings), administrating information services and mailings, facilitating contacts, publishing its own magazine and its Membership Directory and other activities that help it towards its goals.

Therefore, the Chamber decided to use the Internet as the main communication channel for many of its activities. The website at the time could not meet this need. Therefore, the decision was made to re-work the site to utilize the advantages that the Internet offers, such as the speed and ease of publication of any information, the possibility for reactions and collection of information from members, and finally because of the low cost compared to traditional means of communication such as print and faxes.

The Solution

The proposed solution included both a new design and, more importantly, a new structure to the website. The administration system allows content to be updated easily by users who have only basic computing skills, secures the members area and adds additional applications. One of the important steps was to unify various member databases with the possibility of updating selected information about companies by the members themselves.

Functions demanded:

  • Publication of news and articles.
  • Publication of press releases and other documents with attachments.
  • Creation of photo galleries and an events calendar.

The administration system is set up so that it is possible to continue to alter and expand according to the client's needs. This has already been used in the members' database administration, automated distribution of newsletters and other functions.

Advantages

Employees of the British Chamber of Commerce now have a strong communication tool: a modern website that is completely under their control. This helps them to better present the Chamber and its mission as well as communicating with its members and the public more effectively. Visitors can also note the availability and understandability of information that the Chamber provides.

Bookmark: del.icio.us jagg.cz linkuj.cz twitter facebook print