A pager that allowed me out of the funeral home. . . .telephone transfers that allowed death calls to be “transfered” to one’s home phones.  That’s about the extent of technology when I started in the funeral business. . . Oh, I suppose you also could consider electric typewriters and better carbon to type obituaries in triplicate that were also an improvement.  To some of you those tools sound almost ancient like the pyramids. . . . however, it was in the 1980’s.

 

Still working off my friend Rolf Gutknecht of LA Ads – A Marketing Agency and his “Insights” on the recent ICCFA Convention in Tampa, I decided to delve into his revelation that there were lots of products at the convention for “Cemetery Software Management”.  And while I don’t doubt Rolf because it was, essentially started as a cemetery convention, I’m guessing that there is lots of software applications available for the funeral side of the business too.

 

Technology and learning to use my mobile phone for so many things has been a slow process for me.  However, I now use it for lots of things and the convenience combined with what I “need to know” at my fingertips makes it an essential tool for my life.  I can even use it to edit a Funeral Director Daily story if I’m not at home in the office and that needs to be done. . . . I wish I would have had it available when I was working at funerals for simple things such as the order of service or family survivors names that I could retrieve in a simple glance.

 

Technology has so many offerings for funeral services today. . . . the information doesn’t just have to be kept on a “whiteboard” in the arrangers offices anymore.  The technology available makes it and lots more vital information available on your mobile device at the end of your fingertips.

 

In Rolf’s “Insights” e-mail he mentioned one company that he believes does cemetery management extremely well, and since Rolf has let Funeral Director Daily somewhat piggyback off his convention experiences, we want to make sure that we mention that company.  It is Axiom and can be found by clicking here.

 

We also want to point out a company that caters to all of Death Care as they mention that their company, “Funeral365 is a revolutionary cloud-based all-in-one management solution . . and caters to the funeral, cemetery, and crematory industry”.  Funeral365 extolls that they are cost-effective, resourceful, and provides an ease of use.  From my observation Funeral365 can implement planning, execution, staff and vendor information, and all at-need and pre-need information into a single program that can be accessed from multiple devices.

 

To learn more about Funeral365 click here.  They have recently became a sponsor of Funeral Director Daily.

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  I’ve noticed how young funeral directors and, quite frankly, young people in any profession really rely on their mobile devices in today’s world.  It only makes sense that when hiring young professionals an employer makes their job as simple and convenient as possible for them.  Not too many years ago that meant providing cellular mobile phones to the employee.

 

Today, however, it is much more. . . .and one of those convenience items to young employees is “ease of operations” from wherever they may be via “connection” through mobile devices.  I think it is imperative that funeral homes invest in technology not only to keep the families they serve happy, but possibly more importantly to keep those valued professional staff members happy as well.

 

One of my Mobile Device “Secrets” — Rivaling Starbucks in Minnesota we have our chain called “Caribou Coffee”.  There are three in my community and they have drive-through servers of course in addition to dine-in and pick-up.  So, some mornings I will see that the drive-through line is up to ten cars deep.  That means probably a 10-12 minute wait time.

 

So, I will pull up to the front door, pull out my mobile device and order and pay for “carry-out”. . . . More than likely, in less than about three minutes my coffee will be out on their “carry-out” table for pick up. . . . As I depart the parking lot with my coffee in hand, I can see where I would have been in line at the drive-through only up to about #7 in line!!

 

In that situation, mobile saves me time. . . . and I’m guessing it will do so for your funeral directors as well.

 

By the way — If you want to learn more about Rolf Gutknecht and his marketing company LA Ads, click here.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Chinese going online for tomb sweeping.  Women of China (China)
• Inside Charlotte’s private cadaver lab.  North Carolina Health News (NC)
• Woman’s tragic loss inspires her to become funeral director.  The Winchester Star (VA)
• Attkisson:  FDA not interested in reports of unusual blood clots in cadavers around the world since pandemic.  Real Clear Politics
• The first steps after a loss:  The comforting role of funeral directors during difficult times.  My Local Lincolnshire (Great Britain)

 

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