Interview with a Fraud Examiner: Ted Carlson

In tough economic times, it is often easy to forget the needs and wants of small busi­nesses, inad­vertently allowing them to drift towards our peri­phery. With atten­tion being moved toward complex finan­cial markets and invest­ment manage­ment, there is a tendency to forget that Main Street, not Wall Street, is what builds a healthy economy. Saying this, small busi­nesses can only grow and flou­rish if they are managed effi­ci­ently and with a firm grip on compli­ance. If there’s anyone who under­stands that, it’s Ted Carlson.

Ted Carlson is a certi­fied Fraud Examiner specia­li­zing in worker’s compen­sa­tion compli­ance. For the past 9 years, Ted has been working hard to teach small busi­nesses how to deal with worker’s compen­sa­tion claims and avoid being audited. He also works to make sure there is accu­rate and up to date worker’s compen­sa­tion infor­ma­tion and reports for employers and insurance compa­nies. To top it all off, Ted gets all this done and more using Mikogo. Naturally.

While sear­ching for an inex­pen­sive and contract free screen sharing program on the Internet, Ted stumbled across Mikogo by chance and never looked back. “Other online meeting solu­tions were intimi­da­ting to our clients,” Ted explains. “Mikogo could be used on the web and required no down­load,” says Ted. This Mikogo feature, among others, appealed to both Ted and his clientele.

Recently, Ted got behind a project to create a bundle of SaaS (Soft­ware as a Service) Apps that guide employers on how to create workers compen­sa­tion reports for employees, contrac­tors, state, as well as insurance agen­cies. The cloud based compli­ance apps have a robust list of capa­bi­li­ties inclu­ding: calcu­la­ting workers compen­sa­tion premiums, keeping track of contractor data, crea­ting reports that you can email yourself and employers, and more.

“It [Mikogo] is quick to send to new clients on the fly because they want answers NOW. Taxes are very punis­hing right now in America and the small busi­nesses need us while they are doing these reports in a live envi­ron­ment,” says Ted. That’s where Mikogo comes in.

Ted has used Mikogo in the midst of panicky clients who are using his SaaS programs to finish their workers compen­sa­tion reports. And the best part is that Mikogo is easy for ever­yone. “Mikogo is simple to use for the less Internet savvy folks who are not computer oriented people,” explains Ted. But the soft­ware also includes many detailed features so users know they are getting the most out of their online meetings.

As for Ted’s future with Mikogo? “As we grow our profes­sional presence natio­nally, we can expand to the Pro model to conduct group sessions. I have seen nothing that compares for its flexible use.”

Discus­sion: Are you someone who has recently laun­ched a product that is being used to help small busi­ness or even just someone with an idea for one? Has Mikogo assisted in getting your message out? Let us know about it by leaving a comment below.