Speaker: Dustin Gerstenfield, Business Analyst, MassBay Community College
Please introduce yourself.
Dustin Gerstenfield: Hello, my name is Dustin Gerstenfield and I'm a business analyst at MassBay Community College.
What challenges were you trying to solve by implementing Fireworks?
Dustin Gerstenfield: There were a few things that we were trying to solve with our Fireworks implementation. The first thing was to implement an admissions application that was easy for both our students and admissions staff to interact with. We needed something that provided versatility when our needs changed and a tool that was easy for our admissions staff to configure. The second thing we were also looking for was a tool to help us manage our event planning and all aspects of that from registration, reporting, confirmation, emails, and attendance. Extinguisher and Fireworks combined, provided solutions for those needs and many more.
What changed for you after you started using Fireworks?
Dustin Gerstenfield: The biggest change we saw after implementing Fireworks is that we significantly reduced the amount of processing time for our admissions application using the Extinguisher application, we were able to load directly into our SIS and combine that with some other functions to automate most of our admissions processing. This has allowed us to process quicker, respond to students faster and get them through the funnel in a swift and efficient manner. Our staff is now able to spend more time working with our prospective students and less time on administrative functions.
What is it like to work with Fire Engine RED Client Care?
Dustin Gerstenfield: The Fire Engine RED care team is amazing. They're friendly, passionate about their work and great to work with. They are so knowledgeable and have great recommendations on how to best use the tool and best practices that we can incorporate into our business practices. Dara and Deb who are our two client care team members have sat in our seats before, so they really understand the issues that we face on a day to day basis and all of the demands that that come our way, that context really helps us be productive in our conversations and arrive with a quick resolution to any question or a recommendation that we may ask for. They're really an extension of the MassBay family and while we may not see them or talk to them every day, they're always there when we need them.
What is your favorite feature in Fireworks?
Dustin Gerstenfield: Being the SIS data guy, I really like the logic and actions feature and Extinguisher. We use that tool extensively to manipulate data to send back to our SIS. This has made my job a lot easier when implementing the connection between Extinguisher and our SIS.
