|
|
NOAA 01-08
Contact: Patricia Viets, NOAA/NESDIS NOAA Team Member of the Month for October 2001Randie Powell Team Member of the Month
Randie Powell, manager of subscription services at Information Manufacturing Corporation in Rocket Center, West Virginia, has been named NOAA's team member of the month. Randie has established a customer-oriented subscription services center in Rocket Center that serves NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina. NCDC is part of NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. Randie has a unique blend of technical and people skills that have enabled her to bring together and streamline services that were performed by numerous offices of NCDC. The result is a high-tech, modernized subscription services center that serves customers efficiently, effectively, and quickly. Before the center was established, Information Manufacturing Corporation designed and implemented a new subscription database under the Climate Database Modernization Program. Climate data comes in various forms: coastal charts annotated in 19th-century script, satellite imagery from 40 years ago, Doppler radar images, and handwritten notes from cooperative observers. The Climate Database Modernization Program is designed to improve access to the data. The subscription database under this program contains 20,000 customer records and 60,000 subscription orders. In building the new subscription database, Randie and her staff undertook a massive address cleanup to revise addresses that did not conform to U.S. Postal Service standards. These efforts resulted in reduced costs to mail publications. To further reduce costs, Randie explored the use of filler pages, containing information on NCDC services, to qualify for bulk mail rates. "Using bulk mailing rates has saved $800 in postage for just two publications in the past two months," Randie said. "Over time, these rates will result in substantial savings in mailing costs." Publications mailed from the center include five premier climate publications produced by NCDC, meteorological handbooks, circulars, and products on CD-ROM. To set up the center, Randie and her team evaluated computer needs, ordered and set up computer workstations and other equipment needed for servicing customers. She also played a vital role in establishing a toll-free number dedicated solely to subscription services customers. Randie trained two employees to help respond to customer requests. This allowed the center to expand its operations to 12 hours per day, which has increased access to the data for West Coast customers. The center answers customer queries on subscriptions and products that are available via phone, fax, and e-mail. Randie and her staff also handle customer invoicing, establish new customer accounts, provide subscription renewals, and mail publications. Randie is working with a major bank to establish a payment processing system for subscription payments. This system allows customers the option of paying by credit card. Randie has been with Information Manufacturing Corporation for 16 months. She also served in the Air Force, and met her husband, Daniel, in the Netherlands when they were stationed there. Randie has held various positions during her career, gaining a wealth of experience that she now is providing to her company and to NOAA. She worked for the federal government as a contract administrator and quality assurance specialist in Cleveland, Ohio. She has also done customer service work in the field of transportation and in the corporate call center for Progressive Insurance. She also worked in the financial department of the law firm Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Cleveland. Randie has a B.A. in Logistics Management from Weber State College. On being named NOAA team member of the month, Randie said, "I was really surprised to receive this honor. It is very nice to be appreciated and recognized in this way. NCDC is a great place, and the people there are wonderful to work with." Randie's husband, Daniel, is currently retired from the Air Force and working for the federal government. Randie and Daniel live in Cumberland, Maryland. They have one daughter, Myrna, 23, who is an audiologist. Randie and her husband recently bought a house, and are currently working on a remodeling project. "Between working and remodeling the house, I have little spare time," Randie said. "But when I do have time, I enjoy reading and cross-stitch." To learn more about NCDC, visit: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
Problems or questions? Contact us.
Last modified: Wednesday, 19-Sep-2007 13:46:56 UTC
|