These eight tech innovations may save your business thousands each year.

IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS SAVE TIME--
a letter can arrive in seconds instead of days, and word processing software allows documents to be edited and updated without starting from square one. For many businesspeople, however, technology does more than save time--it saves money. Here are eight ways that technology can help boost your company’s bottom line:

avatar systems

For e-tailers, the key to converting Web site visitors to buyers is a pleasant and personalized experience. Many Web-based businesses have turned to avatar systems that provide an animated virtual host to welcome or walk visitors through the site. That’s what Goldfish Software did when it launched in January 2005. CEO Judy Fornell wanted a user-friendly Web site that matched the user-friendly productivity software her company sells, and she needed to create an online experience that none of her competitors could match. She turned to SitePal (sitepal.com), a company that charges $9.95 a month and up to create avatars like “Katie,” the brunette with a hip hairstyle who greets customers on Goldfish’s homepage. What makes SitePal work for Fornell is how easy it is to use: Fornell can record Katie’s message through a toll-free number, or use text-to-speech, and SitePal automatically updates the avatar’s script. This allows Fornell to change what Katie says as often as Fornell likes, based on sales or other promotions. Goldfish is hooked on Katie. “SitePal’s avatar helped Goldfish Software provide buyers with a positive customer experience, which translates into repeat customers,” says Fornell, whose company is based in Washington, D.C. “This has enabled us to save or divert funds originally budgeted for new customer acquisition.”

remote document access

Since you can’t always be at your desk when you have to deal with documents, businesses are turning to Web-based data and file management programs like Live Cargo (livecargo.com), which allows clients and employees to log in and access their files from anywhere. Leapfrog Marketing in Greensboro, N.C., began using Live Cargo in 2005 for a couple of simple reasons: It was easier to work with clients on documents using a Web-based program than deal with buggy FTP sites, and it was cheaper than sending documents overnight for next-day approval. “We estimate that we saved over $240 a month by using Live Cargo, just in costs associated with overnight services and labor to prepare materials,” says Leapfrog president Justo Nunez. “We save at least five times that amount in gained productivity.” Susan Sutton, owner of Bayside Title Insurance, uses Log Me In, also a Web-based document service, because “It enables me to work from virtually anywhere,” says Sutton, based in Tampa, Fla. “When the need arises and I am out of the office, I can do figures and help with preparing documents and working on closings.”

electronic timesheets

Any business that uses time clocks knows about “buddy punching”-when employees clock in for absent colleagues. To do away with the related time and financial losses of this common fraud technique, companies are adopting computerized timesheets. One such program, from Count Me In (countmeinllc.com), a Mount Prospect, Ill., developer, uses fingerprint identification for accuracy. If it isn’t your fingerprint, you don’t go on the clock. Another benefit of Count Me In is that it automatically transfers timesheet information to the accounting systems used by payroll, which cuts down on data entry time and mistakes.

desktop postage machines

Using software to print postage in your office is nothing new-if you own a PC. But Mac users haven’t had any options except schlepping to the post office to wait in line, or trying to guesstimate postage and potentially wasting money. Finally, offices with Apple computers can print postage quickly and accurately, as well as avoid post office lines altogether, with the DYMO Stamps program (dymo.com/stamps) and its LabelWriter 400. Better yet, unlike with traditional postage meters, users don’t pay a monthly service fee. You have a one-time cost in purchasing the printer ($129.99) only. Signing up for DYMO is free.

free conference calling systems

Paul Banco, president of CiBan, which designs and supports network infrastructures, hated spending money on third-party systems for the three or so conference calls he needs to conduct each week. Then he signed up with FreeConferenceCall.com, which offers conference calling without a reservation or a fee. Once registered, Banco received a regular toll-free number that everyone could call, and all he paid was long-distance charges. “In this day and age, long distance is three cents a minute,” says Banco, based in Marlboro, N.J. This change has allowed CiBan to save about $9,000 a year.

portable printers and scanners

Next time you need to print or scan something when you’re on the road, don’t pay for an airport business center. Instead, bring along a mobile printer that can fit in your laptop bag, such as the HP Deskjet 460 mobile printer (hp.com). It weighs less than five pounds, runs on battery power and includes Wi-Fi settings, so you can print anywhere you can find wireless Internet service. Likewise, you’ll never miss out on business deductions come tax time, so long as you can keep all of your receipts in an organized fashion. Savvy businesspeople have started scanning receipts and other information to avoid having to save tons of tiny pieces of paper. You can do this on the road with portable scanners, like the NeatReceipts Scanner (neatreceipts.com), which weighs less than 11 ounces and lets you turn all your receipts into PDF documents.

phones that do more than make calls

These days, you can use your phone to work on word processing documents-that is, if you have a smartphone with Quickoffice (quickoffice.com). This software turns your phone into a virtual computer by allowing you to download and open Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, then edit, save and send the files along. In addition, your phone can ensure you don’t get lost when you’re on the road, thanks to downloadable GPS systems, such as the Rand McNally Mobile Navigator (randmcnally.com), which enables your phone to become a portable GPS system. This could save you from spending thousands on an in-car GPS system that you can’t take along in a rental.

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Leah Ingram is a freelance writer based in Pennsylvania.Email Leahat editor@executivetravelmag.com.