Batesville’s MIS Professional Provides All-in-One Solution for Managing a Funeral Home

Integrated business management solution solves challenges faced by today’s funeral professionals

Batesville, the leading provider of technology solutions to the death care industry, is making it easier for funeral homes to gain efficiencies and improve their operations with MIS Professional, a comprehensive business management solution that seamlessly ties everything together – case management, arranger planning, product selection, and more. Built by experts with a deep understanding of funeral home operations and a vision for where the industry is going, Batesville is bringing a new generation of technology to the market.

In a competitive environment, technology is an important asset that can help increase revenues and lower costs, but the rapid pace of change makes it difficult for business owners, including funeral homes, to keep up. Yet the status quo is not acceptable.

“Many funeral homes owners find themselves working with a web of disparate solutions that were never designed to work together,” explains Mike Bryan, general manager of Technology Solutions for Batesville. “Even when connected, these applications lack the performance advantages and efficiencies that are possible today.” MIS Professional is powerful enough to replace the tangled web of stand-alone systems, yet designed for ease of use.

Batesville has undertaken a careful and intentional path in the development of new technology solutions for independent funeral homes. Bryan points out that this journey was never about the software itself – it was about creating an end-to-end business solution that can help funeral homes manage their business more effectively.

Designed with purpose

The company started with an extensive discovery process, looking closely at the challenges funeral homes face and how the systems used today are either meeting – or NOT meeting those needs. Batesville’s research revealed some surprising statistics that validated the need for a better, more intelligent solution.

For example, while 80% of funeral professionals believe technology is critical to their success, only 50% report actually using it to run their business. Even more alarming, just 15% rated their current system as ‘good’ or better. Some of the key deficiencies noted include:

Complexity of the system and user interface
The inability to detect errors or missing information
Not being able to use with families in the arrangement process
Lack of real-time business metrics, scheduling and operations data
Disconnected systems

“When we talked to funeral professionals about what they really want and need, two things rose to the top: a desire to manage their businesses more effectively, and to be more profitable,” said Bryan. “By defining the gap up front, we were able to focus our development in the areas that had the most impact.”

Focused on results

MIS Professional uses the latest technological advances to help solve the common challenges of managing a funeral home. Designed to support a wide range of funeral home requirements right out of the box, there is no need for expensive customization or a dedicated team of professionals to get the system up and running. This allows funeral homes to reap the benefits of the new system right away. Although it is a new offering, MIS Professional is built on a proven foundation that has been used by some of the most complex organizations in the industry over the past two decades.

Key features include:

An intuitive, easy-to-use web interface that provides secure access to business and customer data from anywhere, on any device, allowing staff and systems to operate at peak efficiency, regardless of location.
A single database that integrates case management, planning, product selection, obituaries, memorial stationery, and more.
The ability for users to enter data once and seamlessly move it through the system, minimizing the risk of errors, avoiding time-consuming duplication and ensuring consistency.
Access to real-time data, schedules and a history of activities, giving managers the insights they need to make adjustments in their business.
An online dashboard that makes it easy to monitor the status of day-to-day tasks, and detailed reports that provide a snapshot of performance and productivity.

In addition, MIS Professional affords funeral homes the advantages of a hosted, web-based solution. There is no additional hardware required, and new versions and updates of the software are included with ongoing maintenance, avoiding the expenses associates with the purchase of equipment.

Keeping customers at the center

“Throughout the development process, we constantly challenged ourselves by asking how each feature or function will benefit a funeral home,” explains Bryan. By keeping its customers in mind, Batesville delivered a solution that supports financial growth, time savings and enhanced family satisfaction.

For more information on MIS Professional or other Batesville technology offerings, contact a Technology Consultant at 877.287.8661 or visit www.BatesvilleTechnology.com. Or you can stop by and visit with Batesville at the 2015 ICCFA Annual Convention and Exposition, April 8 – 10, in San Antonio for a demonstration.

ABOUT BATESVILLE

Batesville (www.Batesville.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI), is the leader in the North American death care industry, offering a comprehensive portfolio of Burial Solutions, Cremation Options, Memorial Solutions and Technology Solutions. For more than 125 years, Batesville has been dedicated to helping families honor the lives of those they love.^® Batesville’s innovation has changed the face of funeral service, from advancements in manufacturing and quality to patented features and memorialization offerings, technology and web-based solutions, and profit-enhancing merchandising systems. Our history of manufacturing excellence, product innovation, superior customer service, and reliable delivery has helped Batesville become – and remain – a market leader.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Teresa M. Gyulafia

Director – Brand & Marketing Communications

Teresa.Gyulafia@batesville.com

Phone: 812.931.5084