CATI User Meeting CATI Development Priorities Set Our Ci3 CATI users and our Sawtooth Technologies staff met for two days in november to share ideas and information. The program included product training sessions, information sessions, and formal and informal user meetings. In sessions devoted to product development plans, users reported their experiences with WinCati and helped us set enhancement priorities for both WinCati and Ci3 CATI for DOS. Training sessions focused on using WinCati. In information sessions, our users learned more about complementary software products such as CATIHelp and VNC (interviewer monitoring freeware). Other sessions offered opportunities for sharing ideas about facility management, CATI operations, and general business issues. Our product development planning session was perhaps the most mutually valuable session. The input from engaged Ci3 CATI users will help guide our designs for systems that best suit their needs. This user feedback was significant in the refinement of our development plans, and it helps in our efforts to make Sawtooth Technologies increasingly resonsive to our users' changing needs. The meeting informed users about our development "roadmap;" some plan highlights follow. Roadmap Overview The primary focus of our development efforts remains WinCati, but we will continue to enhance Ci3 CATI for DOS as well. A low-cost predictive dialer will be added to WinCati and we'll offer a choice of questionnaire authoring systems. We'll continue to work with selected third-party software developers who create products useful to Ci3 CATI users. Future CATI and web versions of our Sensus Q&A questionnaire authoring system will give users seamlessly integrated software capable of creating CAPI, CATI and web surveys. Following are details for some of the planned enhancements. Ci3 CATI DOS A sufficient number of Ci3 CATI users continue to use the DOS version, and we will support and enhance the system until DOS users have had ample opportunity to make Windows system software and hardware upgrades. New features will be added, within the limits imposed by DOS. (See related article.) CATIHelp We will continue to work with I/H/R Research group as they develop new modules for their CATIHelp facilities management system and make CATIHelp compatible with WinCati. Two recent CATIHelp modules are the Space Map module visual tool for CATI facility management (see related article) and the Sentinel module that monitors key performance parameters in real time and alerts supervisors to any deviations that might negatively affect operations. WinCati Our main development activities this year will focus on WinCati. We have three major enhancements scheduled for the first half of 1999: Client-Server Technology WinCati will change from a file-based application to a client-server application. This change improves the excellent sample management that WinCati already provides. It also lets WinCati support larger numbers of interviewing stations and control multiple interviewing sites through wide area networks (WANs). CATIHelp CATIHelp facility management software will be available for WinCati (see related article). Improved Questionnaire Power Among the many Ci3 questionnaire software enhancements are a more powerful script editor and more efficient arithmetic and logic capabilities. Additional features scheduled for the first half of 1999 include: quicker and more powerful database searches, a "never call" list, extended refusal conversion and reporting capabilities, suport for 5-digit international area codes, and report export capabilities for applications such as Excel. Later in 1999, we'll add low-cost predictive dialer capabilities. And, also planned for later in the year, for any given study, users will have a choice of questionnaire authoring systems: Ci3 and Sensus Q&A. Product Distribution and Documentation Starting this spring, our software will be shipped on CD and also be available for download via our web site. Software manuals will continue to be available in hard copy (and through on-line help). Users at our November meeting told us that they strongly prefer three-ring binders to bound manuals, so future printed manuals will be packaged in binders and slipcases. Training and Support We will continue to offer both on-site and Chicago-area training classes for both DOS and Windows CATI versions. In February, we're offering an advanced training class for supervisors who use Ci3 CATI for DOS (see the related articles on on-site training and the DOS Supervisors Training). Our Internet and web site suport efforts will be expanded. We'll enlarge our web site's support area and add new features, including a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. We plan to further survey users about their preferences for a suggested Ci3 CATI Internet newsgroup to replace the current e-mail user group, which is a user forum for discussing CATI-related issues. Communications We'll make more use of e-mail communications. More frequent mailings will alert decision-makers to new products, services, and meetings. Mailings to technical staff will include information about important technical issues and software updates. Back to Sawtooth News Index