Episode 3: Interview with Melissa Phillips (Transcript)
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Announcer: SyberWorks podacst. Learn any time, any place.
Mary Kay Lofurno: Welcome to the third edition of the SyberWorks LMS e-Learning Implementation Podcast Series where we take a look at actual learning management systems, LMS, implementations and e-learning program rollouts. My name is Mary Kay Lofurno and I'm the Director of Marketing here at SyberWorks and I'm your host today. In this edition, we are going to be talking with Melissa Phillips, Training and Development Manager at TOUSA, Incorporated about their use of the SyberWorks web-based learning management system to provide training for their employees and regional builders. Good afternoon, Melissa. Thanks for coming to talk with us today.
Melissa Phillips: It's my pleasure, Mary Kay.
Mary Kay: Tell me about your company.
Melissa: Technical Olympics USA, or TOUSA, is a national homebuilder and financial services company. TOUSA Homes operates in 14 geographical markets throughout the United States. Our financial service companies include Preferred Home Mortgage, Universal Land Title, and Alliance Insurance.
Mary Kay: Can you give me a brief overview of who is using this system?
Melissa: Yeah. Currently only a portion of our home building division is using the SyberWorks LMS which we have named TOUSA University.
Mary Kay: What are some of the key business and system requirements that are important for your company's online training program?
Melissa: Well, the most important requirement was that we needed an effective and efficient method for delivering training across our geographically dispersed home building division. We had tried several training approaches in the past such as Train the Trainer and Traveling Trainers but they really proved to be ineffective and immeasurable.
Mary Kay: Can you tell me about your builders' software and the e-learning courses you have developed to support the builders' software for regional builders to use?
Melissa: Yes. We have several internally developed applications as well as third-party apps. We recently purchased a CRM or Customer Relationship Management application for our sales associates and we've also purchased a construction scheduling application for our construction associates. Both of these new applications require large-scale implementation and we really needed a method of delivering really concentrated training to these groups so, as a result, we have been developing training content for these applications using Brief Presenter and Captivate. Then we publish those deliverables, which are mainly tutorials, on our brief server and then we make them accessible via TOUSA University or the SyberWorks Learning Management System. As our content library grows, we will allow other associates in the company to use TOUSA University. But, right now, we are mainly focusing on those two large-scale implementations because they really affect a large number of people in the organization.
Mary Kay: How does TOUSA's title mortgage company use the learning management system?
Melissa: Well, we set up three campuses in our SyberWorks LMS, one for our home building division, one for the title company, and one for the mortgage company as each of these companies support different applications. The title company is currently in the process of developing content and learning how to manage the administrative duties of the LMS. However, our mortgage company is in the process of implementing a new mortgage system. They have deferred using the LMS until second quarter of next year.
Mary Kay: Why did you choose the SyberWorks Learning Management System to manage your training?
Melissa: We had researched several learning management systems and we chose SyberWorks because we felt like we were getting more for our money. Because we had already developed a university concept where users would experience the admissions and registration process, viewing course and class catalogs, accessing a “My Learning” area that's specifically tailored for them, as well as a host of other student services. SyberWorks gave us that university like look and feel that we were looking for and that we had already conceptualized.
Mary Kay: Can you tell me about your customer experience with SyberWorks?
Melissa: It's been a pleasure working with each and every person that we came in contact with at SyberWorks, from the developers who branded and customized our site with every little nit-picky request that we had without complaint, to Mary Polley-Berte and Larinda Boyd who provided superior training and support services during our implementation, to our account manager John Donahue who worked with us every single step of the way. It's been a really great experience.
Mary Kay: Well, Melissa, that all sounds great. Thank you so much for joining us today here on the SyberWorks LMS E-learning Implementation Series.
Melissa: Thank you.
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