From the MASSAGE Magazine article, “Software to Build Your Practice,” by Danielle Murphy, in the February 2009 issue. Article summary: Software specific to running a massage business assists therapists in scheduling, billing and other key practice-management functions.
Throughout the past decade, the massage therapy industry has undoubtedly seen many advancements. One of these is how massage therapy professionals can benefit from using software as a service in their practices.
The software-as-a-service model has grown to become a widely accepted way of delivering business software services and tools. Software-as-a-service providers offer their products as a service via the Internet rather than the traditional way of installing the software on a computer or server. This provides the user the flexibility to access the software from anywhere in the world.
Many software-as-a-service providers also allow mobile access to their software from such devices as the BlackBerry or iPhone. In lieu of paying higher up-front licensing costs as with traditional software, software-as-a-service customers pay a reoccurring monthly charge, which in many cases includes ongoing feature updates. Many software-as-a-service providers now provide complete practice software management systems to include online appointment scheduling, customer relationship management, gift certificate sales and staff management tools.
Regardless if you choose the more traditional way of using software or the many benefits of utilizing a software-as-a-service provider, incorporating software into your practice can help you more easily manage your business processes along with helping you grow your practice.
Jeffrey Noe is president of My Receptionist (www.myreceptionist.com). He has a degree and background in computer science. For the past six years, he has been involved with helping massage therapy professionals develop their practices by utilizing My Receptionist’s user-friendly Jeffrey Noe technology. My Receptionist is a massage-oriented professional receptionist service that leverages a Jeffrey Noe platform.