Fannie Mae Cuts Costs With Courseware:
Finds PTS a customizable, friendly system
that fits the needs of a busy staff
Service News , January 15, 1995

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WASHINGTON, DC - When Mark Helme added up the cost of developing training manuals with in-house resources and hired consultants, he felt there had to be a better way. Helme, senior training analyst for mortgage broker Fanny Mae, needed a courseware package that would not only go easy on his training budget, but also give the company's 4,000 employees a customizable training and reference solution.

"Everyone used these desktop applications," says Helme, "so we began to realize it was a waste of time to develop this documentation in house." Helme found a number of companies that were diving into the courseware market, but decided to go with King of Prussia, PA-based PTS. "We found that PTS had the best title variety," says Helme. "They offer everything we use in house...plus the system has a modular, step-by-step design."

The PTS interface was another key feature, according to Helme. Using its proprietary document-compiling software, CustomDOC, trainers can customize title page and footer information, as well as design modules by pulling different sections together. After a lesson has been formatted, users first pick the title they want to learn-such as Microsoft Word-and then highlight the desired modules within the particular title. For example, a user can save time by jumping past the Introduction to Word module and go right to the Importing Graphics or Advanced module.

Among the technical, business, and corporate management training, there are about 12,000 students per year who go through training in our five different regions," says Helme. "Each region wants to customize its own modules and manuals for the specific work they're doing." Using CustomDOC, a trainer in the accounting division can take what's necessary information out of an Excel manual and drop in an exercise that tests the user's knowledge of a company-specific problem.

Reaction has been quite favorable ," says Helme. "The manuals are written so we can simply give them out to people who don't have time for training. They take them and go at their own pace." Since the move to PTS, he says more employees are asking for the manuals and more eager to run the disk exercises. "I think our manuals were too wordy, and the exercises weren't very organized."

According to Pat Roberts, president of performance product division at PTS, the training industry has been waiting for courseware that allows a user to pick and choose sections of a lesson to save time and money. "It used to be "just-in-time training," say Roberts, "but now it's 'just enough training.' People don't want to spend a day in the classroom if they only need a small chunk of learning."

As software companies continue to market bundled software, Roberts says, the ability for people to approach the learning process at different levels is paramount. "Historically, people could only work with a single product at a time. This has changed."

Since the implementation of PTS's system, Helme says he sees more users going about their work with fewer obstacles when he strolls the office floor. "To go with this sort of courseware is one of the best decisions I've made. We're saving a bundle, the end users are happy, and it makes me look good."

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