Archive for September, 2006

ServiceU Achieves Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance as Level 1 Service Provider

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
SERVICEU ACHIEVES PAYMENT CARD INDUSTRY (PCI) COMPLIANCE AS LEVEL 1 SERVICE PROVIDER

ServiceU is First Provider of Online Ticketing, Online Event Registrations, and Online Donations to be on Visa’s List of Compliant Service Providers

Memphis, TN — September 26, 2006 — ServiceU Corporation today announced that it has been recognized as a Level 1 Service Provider by Visa U.S.A., making ServiceU the first provider of online ticketing, online event registrations, and online donations to appear on the List of Compliant Service Providers published by Visa U.S.A. The list is published on Visa U.S.A.’s List of Compliant Service Providers, the definitive source for locating service providers that have attained compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard and the Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP).

The PCI Data Security Standard, established by an industry coalition led by Visa and MasterCard, mandates rigorous requirements for protecting cardholder information and requires compliance for any organization that stores, processes or transmits cardholder data. Furthermore, any company that handles cardholder data as part of a payment transaction is defined to be a Level 1 Service Provider and is required to have its compliance validated by a Qualified Security Assessor and an Approved Scanning Vendor.

K3DES LLC, a PCI Qualified Security Assessor based in Houston, Texas, performed the PCI Security Audit and validated ServiceU as a Level 1 Service Provider, the highest level of compliance, allowing ServiceU to perform an unlimited number of transactions. Jim Richardson, president of K3DES, states, “At K3DES our mission is to help companies like ServiceU implement proven security measures that mitigate the proliferation of data theft. We are very pleased to work with an innovative company like ServiceU that raises the bar for an entire industry.”

ServiceU selected ScanAlert, Inc., based in Napa, CA, as its PCI Approved Scanning Vendor. “It is a pleasure to work with a company that takes data security so seriously, and we congratulate ServiceU for achieving Level 1 compliance,” says Ken Leonard, Chief Executive Officer of ScanAlert. “Although ServiceU is only required to have quarterly scans, we actually scan its network daily.”

“I am extremely proud of our team for being the first in our industry to offer the highest level of payment security available,” comments Tim Whitehorn, CEO of ServiceU Corporation.

For more information on ServiceU Corporation, please email info@ServiceU.com, or call 1-888-638-7439.

Schools Use ServiceU for Event Management and Online Event Registation

Friday, September 8th, 2006

Use less space, make more time for church schools

by Church Central 08 Aug 2006

Because “back-to-school” means back to sharing space for many churches around the country that share facilities and/or administrative tasks with a school, flexible solutions that save space and time are getting a gold star from administrators and congregations.

For more and more congregations this flexibility comes with both modular furniture and walls, as well as technology that makes record keeping simpler.

For example, before moving to a Web-based solution, Calvary Christian Academy’s school registration process was all processed on paper, according to Dianne Kleckner, controller for the school and sponsoring church, Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“It was difficult to rectify data coming into the school and monitor accounting details,” Kleckner says. “Synchronizing numbers of children who had registered and who had paid was incredibly challenging.”

Opting for a Web-based program simplified all the information. It gave access to anyone working in the office to numbers that are always current.

“It makes all of our lives easier,” Kleckner says.

Using the same software, Calvary is also able to post a calendar of events online. Kleckner says this brings peace of mind: “We know that it is always up-to-date.”

One of the leading companies in providing this technology is ServiceU Corporation, which provides the most complete on-demand event management software designed specifically for churches. More than 30 percent of the fastest growing churches in the United States are ServiceU clients.

Smaller classes

With studies continuing to point to the positive relationship between smaller class size and improved student learning, traditional classroom settings and furniture may be in for an overhaul in the future.

New trends in school equipment indicate a future move towards modular, flexible furniture, according to experts at the National School Supply and Equipment Association that sponsored the 2006 School Equipment Show this spring to highlight future classroom designs. A look into the future reveals the benefits of reduced class size and classroom furniture redesign to fit this scaled-back space.

“The educational and industrial furniture industry is continuing to adapt to meet the changing needs of today’s classrooms and students,” says Jack Rayher, CEO of Adirondack Direct, a leading supplier of educational furniture to schools nationwide.

“By helping schools to construct modular furniture designs for the changing face of classrooms today, our goal as suppliers in the education industry is to provide schools with the equipment they need to not only fill their classrooms, but which enhance learning.”

Modular furniture, specifically pieces that are adaptable, also enhances school budgets. Tables and chairs with leg extenders, which “grow” with students, provide options for cash-strapped institutions. Moveable furniture can also change with space that is used differently for weekend worship than during the school day.

Other advances in school furniture include products that more effectively resist wear and tear, such as wood-grain desks with vacuum-formed, hard-plastic tops. And new-style FruiTables, which showcase the fun side of institutional furniture. These adjustable-height activity tables come in the shapes and colors of five different fruits. Adirondack introduced them this year as part of a growing selection of school, office, church and institutional furniture options. With these colorful tops, it’s a short leap to a teaching on the fruit of the Spirit.

Streamlining a school’s cyberspace

Making the best use of space also includes the vastly uncharted territory of cyberspace. Because churches and educational institutions are continually looking for ways to cut costs while increasing productivity, Web technology has become an answer. The Internet can greatly improve the way some schools handle the day-to-day responsibilities of taking tuition, accepting donations, registering for events and handling ticket sales to events.

ServiceU Corporation has developed Web-based, on-demand technology tools and services that make all these tasks possible online through a school’s interactive Web site.

“For schools and universities, there is more pressure than ever on the staff to do more with less,” comments Tim Whitehorn, founder and CEO of ServiceU. “Often, their current processes take up valuable staff time that would be much better spent somewhere else.”

In addition to saving time by streamlining processes such as paying tuition and accepting donations, this software can help simplify registration for events. With TicketU, the company’s online ticketing software, organizations can use the Web to sell tickets, reserve seats, allow patrons to print their own tickets and more.

Replacing an outdated system that is cumbersome and ineffective may free staff and volunteers to spend more time reaching out than sitting in an office. That adds up to make ministry cents—and sense.