Volunteer Training Shrinks From Three Days to One Hour with Help of Windows 7 Professional

1. Windows 7
Customer Solution Case Study
Volunteer Training Shrinks From Three Days to
One Hour with Help of New OS
Overview “Windows 7 Professional is so powerful and easy to
Country or Region: Canada
Industry: Non-profit
use that volunteers can now be trained and
productive in one hour versus three days. Wow, what
Customer Profile
St. Albert Senior Citizens’ Club, Alberta,
a wonderful solution to volunteer support!”
Canada, is a day center providing a variety Brian Timmins, Manager, St. Albert Senior Citizens’ Club
of activities and programs for 670
members. The non-profit has seven
employees and eight PCs.
Business Situation
The Club depends on a small staff and
many volunteers to run the organization. The St. Albert Senior Citizen’s Club, Alberta, Canada, is a bustling
However, retention and training of activity center for some 670 members. The non-profit relies on a
volunteers consume valuable resources.
small staff of dedicated professionals and a bevy of volunteers to
Solution run the organization. However, volunteer training and retention is a
Using Windows 7 features, the non-profit is
finding help with faster computer training constant challenge. Using the IT expertise of MPECS, a Microsoft®
and the self-help support built into the OS. Small Business Specialist, St. Albert is exploring the benefits of the
Navigation and finding features are
simplifying getting work done. new Windows® 7 Professional operating system. The initial results
indicate a very positive impact on the organization. Feature such as
Benefits
 Training Shrinks From Three Days to One
Federated Search, Problem Steps Recorder, Aero® desktop
Hour experience, and Taskbar Customization are making the computer
 Volunteers Find Files Faster
 Faster IT Solutions, Tutorials
easier to use and significantly reducing training time.
 Easier File Access for Volunteers
 Juggling Files Made Easier

2. Situation Solution
The beginnings of the St. Albert Senior St. Albert is discovering Windows 7
Citizens’ Club go back as far as 1973. The Professional features that are helping train
association was formed in response to a volunteers faster and increase productivity.
need for a permanent location for senior
socializing with easy access and storage Libraries
space. In 1974, at the recommendation of Libraries allow files to be assembled for easy
the Women’s Institute of St. Albert to the team reference in a single folder or library
Alberta-RCMP Century Project Committee, a regardless of where the original file is located
proposal for the club was submitted and on the network.
approved. The St Albert Senior Citizens’ Club
began providing a recreation centre for Federated Search
seniors of the area. This functionality enables St. Albert users on
the network to find information--including
A building, originally the Teen Centre and in pictures and videos on local computers, as
dire need of repairs and maintenance, was well as the local network and Internet. The
moved and renovated in part, with the search capabilities are deeper and more
$20,000 grant it received. The rest was comprehensive.
supplied by various service clubs and
organizations around town who offered Problem Steps Recorder
financial assistance, manpower or both. The Problem Step Recorder allows St. Albert staff
town of St. Albert provided the facility at a to precisely capture and communicate a
nominal fee. computer problem. It also enables staff to
document fixes, create tutorials or
In August 1975, the St. Albert Senior Citizens’ knowledge-based reference materials for
Club was incorporated. Today it provides customers.
seniors with a place to socialize and stay
active by participating in recreational Taskbar Customization
programs, other activities or by volunteering. Jump Lists allow St. Albert users to see the
The finances and day-to-day operations of the most recent files by right-clicking on the
Club are controlled by an elected board. taskbar.
Member-run committees develop and
organize projects and activities for the Club Aero desktop experience
as well. In Aero, the Snap feature positions windows
side-by-side view by dragging windows to
According to Brian Timmins, manager, St. borders, left and right. Grab and shake the
Albert Senior Citizens’ Club, “Our biggest foremost screen to make all other screen
problem is managing the costs associated behind disappear. The Peek feature is
with the training and retention of volunteers. invoked by clicking the lower right hand Show
Training typically takes three days and diverts Desktop rectangle. The desktop is
the resources of our core staff. immediately visible to view gadgets and other
desktop icons.
“A secondary issue is doing things efficiently
so we spend the non-profit monies very
carefully.”

3. Benefits
Training Shrinks From Three Days to One Easier File Access for Volunteers
Hour “Libraries hold great promise for us in terms
Volunteer training typically takes three days of more easily managing programs. I can pull
and turnover is high. The result is a huge, all of the files for the Meals on Wheels
reoccurring time commitment to get new program into a single folder that volunteers
people up to speed on the computer. can use. They don’t have to hunt for files
According to Timmins, Windows 7 seems to anymore. They’re all in one place,” said
be helping in a significant way. “Windows 7 is Timmins.
so powerful and easy to use that volunteers
can now be trained and productive in one “Because Windows 7 is so easy to use,
hour versus three days. Wow, what a volunteers can be trained and productive very
wonderful solution to volunteer support!” quickly. They can help us prepare grants so
we save twice--no-cost help to get operating
Volunteers Find Files Faster funds.”
Where files are saved is less of an issue with
the enhanced search capabilities of Windows Juggling Files Made Easier
7. “Federated Search eliminates the need to One of Timmin’s favorite set of Windows 7
train volunteers in how to find a number of features helps to navigate files in a much
documents,” noted Timmins. It also makes more efficient way. “The Aero desktop
where they store files less critical. We can experience and Taskbar features make
find practically any kind of file anywhere on juggling a lot of word, email and spreadsheet
local drives or network.” documents extremely easy. We can also pin
important documents so they are
Faster IT Solutions, Tutorials immediately available. They make us more
Problem Steps Recorder is providing two productive because we don’t have to hunt for
solutions in one for St. Albert as noted by the files.
Timmins. “Solving IT problems is faster
because of Problem Steps Recorder. We “I didn’t realize it until it happened, but when
don’t have to worry about trying to describe you shut down Windows 7 with files opened,
the issue in email or call. This feature it remembers where you left off. All of my
captures all screens and keystrokes to more same files are just as I left them. Very
precisely communicate the problem to our IT impressive!”
consultant.
“The other benefit of Problem Steps Recorder
is as a training tool. One of our main staff can
record the member entry process for quick
reference by any volunteer if they forget. This
kind of built-in help with Windows 7 is like
having a PC trainer on staff.”

4. For More Information Windows 7
For more information about Microsoft Faster and more reliable: Windows 7 will help
products and services, call the Microsoft your organization use information technology
Sales Information Center at (800) 426- to gain a competitive advantage in today’s
9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft new world of work. Your people will be able to
Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- be more productive. You will be able to
2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of- support your mobile work force with better
hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone access to shared data and collaboration
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in tools. And your IT staff will have better tools
the United States or (905) 568-9641 in and technologies to enhance corporate IT
Canada. Outside the 50 United States and security, data protection, and more efficient
Canada, please contact your local deployment and management.
Microsoft subsidiary. To access information
using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com For more information about Windows 7, go to:
www.microsoft.com/windows/business
For more information MPECS products and
services, call 780-458-2028 or visit the
Web site at: www.mpecsinc.ca
For more information about The St. Albert
Senior Citizens' Club products and services,
call 780-459-0433 or visit the Web site at:
www.stalbertseniorsclub.org
Software and Services Hardware
 Products  Lenovo
− Microsoft Windows 7 Professional  HP
− Microsoft Windows XP® Professional  Dell
− Microsoft Office® 2007 Professional
− Microsoft Small Business Server®
2003
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT
MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY.
Document published July 2009