Many corporations, both big and small, strive to be as green as possible. They feature the recycling symbol on their websites, stationery, direct mail pieces, and newsletters. Of course, I am all in favor of being green. At TASC we’ve been recycling paper, cans and plastic for as long as I can remember. But I believe really being green goes far beyond recycling.
We continue to reduce the amount of paper we use. Less than a decade ago, the use of paper was the norm in this industry. Reimbursement requests were paper, and the corresponding reimbursement checks were paper, mailed in paper envelopes. We were one of the first administrators to move toward a paperless reimbursement system, and today our online Reimbursement Wizard is more popular than ever. Participants enter their reimbursement requests right from our secure website, with no paper requests to complete and mail or fax. Our direct deposit option for reimbursements has further reduced the need for paper checks, and our TASC Card’s innovative MyCash account gives Participants yet another way to receive reimbursement. Thanks to these innovations, we print fewer reimbursement checks each month and send less paper mail each month.
All of the ways we offer for customer interaction, like our Interactive Voice Response System (IVR), email and text notification services, and MyTASC Mobile App ensure customers many options for obtaining account information. Thanks to these innovations, we’ve been able to reduce the demands on our Customer Care Center. Reduced demand means we’re able to manage with less staff, which in turn means less impact on the environment.
Even our decentralized work force represents our aim to protect the environment. For some time now we’ve implemented technology to permit a significant segment of our staff to work remotely from home offices. This is green in a couple of ways. First, as with the last point I made, this reduces our use of energy, because we can circumvent the need for larger offices and larger parking lots. Second, our remote workers represent fewer commuters, which means less fuel consumption, less pollution, and less wear and tear on our roads.
Less paper. Fewer resources. Faster reimbursements. Being truly green involves a lot more than recycling.
TASC CEO Blog 