When Williams & Fudge began, there was only one computer (an IBM 286), aka “Grandma”. Accounts were worked manually, with all of the information on #10 envelopes. They were filed alphabetically but were often difficult to locate. The company moved to Northlake I in 1988 and computerized all collections in 1989.
The 1990’s were the days of the 31/4” and 5” floppy discs. There was no IT department. Re-booting the PC’s (purchased used) provided everyone with a built-in coffee break before they would be ready! Updating interest and current month billing amounts or re-calculating borrower paid fees required a calculator at one’s desk to compute the amount; manually entering that information onto an account was the responsibility of collectors. Although collectors could update a debtor’s record with the address change, a form was completed manually by the collector and mailed to the client and/or billing servicer.
In 2001 high speed Internet for most folks meant a 56K modem. Most computers were still running Windows 95 or 98 on 486 computers, but the new state-of-the-art Pentium Processor was being released. There were only two servers at the time: A SCO Unix mainframe that hosted CRS, and a Pentium 1ghz server that hosted Novell for data storage. All the PC's on the floor were huge boxes with older 486 or maybe some AMD processors and they ran with 128meg of memory. Fifteen-inch glass CRT monitors were everywhere. And the network – well, it was colorful!!
Bob and Gary had run all the wiring and put on all the ends, and it worked; but they didn't know what the color standards were, so it was always a challenge trying to figure it out when cables had to be fixed or moved!
Now, in 2011, Williams & Fudge continues to be on the leading edge in technology. Virtualization of servers and PC's has been a major focus for the last two years, as has Disaster Recovery. The investment the company is making now should put W&F in a good place to go forward with technology at least for a year or so!
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