Enjoy Year 2003!

MEGREETINGS.COM
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KHATER TRAVEL
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KADRI HOTEL
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PATCHI
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WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?
- IT'S BEEN ONE BUSY SUMMER...- AND A SUCCESSFUL END OF YEAR 2002...
Belated Happy New Year to all! It's been a while and here we are now - 2003! We had so much on our plate this year - some of which will share with you.
You'll notice that many, in fact all the sites we featured in this eNews are major leading corporations in their field. All of which took great attention and perseverance. Not to mention just the 2 major exhibitions we attended just last summer, partnerships formed with regional IT firms. Without much adieu, let's move straight into our Success Stories...

- NEW LOOK FOR A FRESH YEAR...
Fransabank's new portal site strikingly holds your attention from the onset of downloading the homepage. It is highly noticeable that a lot of time was put into the planning stages of the site, both from the side of the bank and that of Netways' Site Analysts.
The same rule of thumb applies to every web site multimedia design projects. Basic organization communicates a lot to potential customer. It not only shows you care about their needs, but that you'll process orders and manages inquiries promptly. This factor is positively proven by Fransabank's new portal. Fransabank presented content clearly, and that's why visitors want to stay awhile. With everything already clearly laid out in the site and the richness of materials available saves you time from personally having to go down to the bank and get the information you need. A very simple factor in web building - and the actual reason why you'd have a site in the first place, - but is often easily ignored.

By using the bank's recent marketing campaign made the portal an extension of its billboard cousins. What interested clients see throughout the country, they can get the details online.
The options are clearly labeled and unambiguous, in fact, users will find the site almost too friendly, as the entire navigation controls remains in the same position throughout the entire site. And if that isn't simple enough the sitemap, created in windows folder style layout, ought to do the job.

- "the number one ISP vendor in the Kingdom"...
Another dynamic website this month is AwalNet, a Saudi ISP. The brief was to grab and maintain the audience and position the company as "the number one ISP vendor in the Kingdom" while ensuring brand values were kept online with its offline marketing. Using OpenShare to manage the content, the site remains fresh, while Flash is also used to spice things up a little. There's plenty going on and it makes good use of colors. Dynamic web applications (as the techies like to call them) are an increasing feature on the Internet. Linking a website with database technology, however can be tricky, and occasionally expensive business. What our designers came up with is certainly cleaner, and meets AwalNet's brief, not giving everything away online, so encouraging customers to make contact directly. The site is built around a highly rigid design template that retains a sense of uniformity, but the layout is good. This entire project is ongoing and constantly being revamped, freshen up and keep it ahead of its competitors. Customer satisfaction is foremost concern for AwalNet and it is evident in what they are serving online.

- ONE HEART AT A TIME...
In preparation for its 125th year of service, planning for the site started 3 months prior to development. The Hospital wanted a site that gives a sense of community. A site where immediate resources are available, and can fulfill the hospital's mission and objectives - "committed to providing the cost effective healthcare services our community deserves". Thus, a forum section was incorporated; this gives users a chance to join discussions about various medical subjects. Fulfilling one of the site's main targets: to bring together the community. The volume of materials available is not only useful, but is a Godsend. A searchable database of the hospital's attending physicians, where you can search this section by physician name, specialty, subspecialty, with more information on the physicians' educational background, contact phone numbers and working hours at the Hospital. A monthly humanitarian program is set-up to encourage users/supporters to aid special case patients. [Currently featuring Firas Younes needing dialysis followed by renal transplant]. So if you're reading this, go on to this page: http://www.stgeorgehospital.org/ofthemonth.asp and click the link at the bottom of the page and grab your checkbook and jot down what your heart can afford.

Also a database of the Hospital's services will allow you to search the different hospital's services, including a brief description of each category of services, department, and a short profile of Heads and Chiefs of services. Allowing users to speedily know whom to contact during emergencies and for appointments.

- SUPPORTING FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) not only represents all the banks in Lebanon, it is making great strides in promoting them as well. With the launch of its new portal site, users have the capability to search through its huge database of banks' information, publications and books, financial research and studies and training programs. Just the library section contains about 1300 books and references in specialized fields of law, finance, and banking, in addition to over one hundred periodicals issued locally and abroad. All contents are available in all the 3 languages: English, French and Arabic. The Press archives goes back to 1990 when it was developed. It contains daily updates of scanned articles of press and periodicals (local and abroad), categorized in 58 topics like economic, monetary, financial and social well-fare, that are of interest to the Association of Banks in Lebanon, especially the Research and Statistics Department.

- CONNECTING LOCAL BUSINESSES WORLDWIDE
As the chairman's clearly wrote, "The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Beirut is pleased to place at the reach of the international business community this interactive presentation of its activities, services, and adherent enterprises. "

Through this portal site, the Chamber is seeking to promote all sectors and activities of the private economy in Lebanon. Clearly the plan had to be laid out, also making allowance for the integration of their present database application. A member's database includes business and contact information relating to enterprises registered with the CCIAB. The database is searchable by enterprise name and sector of activity. It offers enterprises an unmatched exposure to the international marketplace and facilitates direct B-to-B contact. Also a complete and comprehensive database of CCIAB publication includes detailed information relating to the content of more than 2000 publications that include books, periodicals, journals, magazines, reports, studies, CD-ROMs, etc. The documentation database is searchable by author, publisher, and keywords. Another one is a database maintain by the Euro Info Centre - Lebanon to promote business cooperation between Lebanon and the rest of the world. The database mainly aims at encouraging the creation of business partnerships and joint ventures between Lebanese and EU enterprises. The databases backbone is all supported by PHP technology. Overall the new CCIAB portal offers its members loads of helpful information and support.

- SLICK AND TRENDY
BBAC has an updated Web presence that matches its new corporate look. Catering for personal and business users, the site presents the necessary information without being staid. A design that could otherwise be dull is enlivened using colorful, amusing photos.

BBAC's new portal site is as slick as a bank's website will ever get. The portal is so cool looking, completely simple to navigate around, extremely smooth in its presentation of contents, in short its seamless. Using RedDot CMS Technology, the site can be remotely administered simply and easily in real-time. Navigation is via rectangular blocks of color that lead to categorize areas of the bank's services and products. It's a slick production, authored in Dreamweaver and Photoshop and slight touch of Flash. One particularly noticeable about BBAC site is how simple the navigation system is, customers are far more likely to return to you site if they find what they are looking for very quickly, rather than being subjected to functions designed to enhance stickiness. Overall, it's an appropriate and easily navigable site.

- PLEASURES FOREVER MORE...
Promotional site for Acropolis Hotel is a simple clean HTML effort. Contents wise, it offers press articles, news and chat rooms for members. Visually it makes good use of muted and rich color palettes and striking photos. The overall effect is subtle and mature. Developed in both Arabic and English, the intensiveness of this site is beyond any hotel's online representation. Background articles of the country, its history, local historical and tourist sites are covered from top to bottom, it also offers customers various valuable travel tips, dining and recreational facilities throughout the country and eventually a road to their online booking system. Overall, it is simple and effective. - Very accomplished it is too.

EXPERT ADVICE

B2Bi and Web Services
This article discusses the fundamentals of Business to Business Integration (B2Bi), the need for companies to integrate their systems, the challenges of B2Bi, the usefulness of Web Services in B2Bi, and limitations in the current state of Web Services for their usage in B2Bi. .  [ read more... ]