Maybe you faxed an invoice that got lost or blurred on its way to the recipient. Or maybe you tried to order office supplies only to hear Barry Manilow croon on the telephone for 20 minutes. Or perhaps you needed to clarify a simple customer transaction but ended up playing a weeklong game of telephone tag.

Every working person has experienced annoying delays when attempting to exchange information with people in other organizations and companies. Most communications glitches are temporary botherations, but time is money, and your company pays a price every time you experience a communications disconnect.

Fortunately, many companies have found a way to eliminate such glitches and save considerable money in the process: by making intelligent use of the Internet.

Web sites that peddle books and music have generated so much recent hype that the hottest Internet trend has gone largely unnoticed: business-to-business commerce. A recent forecast by Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass. predicts that business-to-business E-commerce will total $2.7 trillion by 2004, far exceeding Web-based consumer transactions at sites like Amazon.com and eBay, all of which are expected to yield $185 billion by the same year.

Business-to-business Internet commerce is heating up for a lot of companies. Take Carrier Corp., the largest manufacturer in the Central New York area. This past year, Carrier established an interactive online catalog, a parts and order tracking system and a warranty claims system. Carrier's dealers can interact with these systems through an "extranet", a special Web-based communications network for trading partners.

An extranet is a secure company Web site that can be accessed by dealers, independent manufacturers agents, customers, suppliers, distributors, vendors and partners. Extranets are equipped with multiple barriers that prevent unauthorized users from entering the site. Extranets can convey information, deliver documents, allow customers to place orders, enable distributors to track sales figures, or do just about anything a company wants them to do. Extranets are the latest and greatest in E-commerce, and they ranked third in Gartner Group's list of The 10 Technologies to Watch.

John Hayes of Purplewire, the technology partner of the Carrier extranet projects, agrees that more and more manufacturers are turning to extranets: "An extranet allows a manufacturer to better serve its customers," said Hayes. "Consider a typical manufacturer's catalog versus an online catalog. By looking at a picture in a conventional parts catalog, a customer isn't able to determine whether an item is in stock, how much it will cost to have the item shipped, or how long a delivery will take. Usually the customer has to make repeated phone calls to obtain this type of information. With an extranet, the customer can calculate all of his costs, place his order, and track the shipment until the item arrives - all by executing a few mouse clicks."

Similarly, an extranet can benefit a remote sales force. "Let's say you're an auto dealer," said Hayes. "An auto dealer can access the manufacturer's extranet to order new cars or parts, track various shipments, compile sales figures, examine invoices, view the latest vehicle marketing material, read and print repair manuals, or make reservations for an upcoming dealers convention in Las Vegas. A well designed extranet provides a powerful communications link between a manufacturer and his network of brokers and distributors. An extranet can help the manufacturer cut costs, improve market efficiency, and strike a better balance between supply and demand."

Recent studies support Hayes's claims. According to an August '99 report from Forrester Research, Inc., manufacturers that have established an extranet have averaged a 32 percent reduction in support costs, and a 17 percent increase in sales.

However, it takes a great deal of planning to set up an effective extranet, and Hayes believes most companies benefit from outside help with the process. "The biggest mistake many companies make is to involve only their own people in the planning of an extranet," said Hayes. "Customers, dealers, independent manufacturers agents, distributors and suppliers must also be included in the planning process, because these are the people who will actually use the extranet. I strongly advise manufacturers to hire a third party to set up their extranet, for many reasons: A third party brings a fresh perspective to the project, and typically has much more experience with the unique technology and security considerations needed for successful deployment. An extranet developer can determine what's good for a company and its partners, and set up a network much faster than most manufacturers can on their own. Plus, it's usually much cheaper to outsource the work than to try and build an extranet yourself. "

The president of a $40M manufacturing firm agrees. This manufacturer set up an extranet targeted at its independent agents who market the company's industrial line of blowers, vacuum systems, waste-handling products and water filtration systems.

"The provider was very systematic in setting up our Reps-Net, but it didn't take them long" said the executive. "Now we have a user-friendly extranet that allows our manufacturers agents to enter sales and quotation activity quickly and painlessly, no matter where they are located. On our end, it's easy to compile and analyze the sales information that our agents enter remotely. Our network is password-controlled, and it's much more efficient than our previous system."

"The great thing about an extranet is that any person or business can be granted access if they have a computer with an Internet connection," said Hayes. "For a manufacturer it's very simple to grant access to new customers, new suppliers or small businesses that can't afford the software and monthly network fees that accompany Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)."

Hayes notes that extranets are especially useful to companies that need to stay in close contact with distributors, dealers and independent manufacturers agents. "Extranets are the perfect solution for companies that operate internationally," he added.

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