This past June, a mid-size wholesale company manager conducted his weekly walk-around to observe his staff as they worked. Common to many companies, the majority of his employees used a computer on a daily basis, and typical to previous walk-arounds, the majority of the employees who used these computers were on the Internet or answering email. Though within the company policies, it bothered this manager that the employees appeared to always be "surfing" the Web. He valued the Web, as it allowed his employees' access to vendor and customer information, but more and more often he observed the exorbitant amount on time his employees spent on the Web. On this particular walk, he decided to investigate the situation by talking to his employees.

He sat down next to one employee that he noticed was at the Google.com page, a commonly used search engine, and asked; "What are you searching for?" She explained that she had just spent 3 hours looking for a very common part by searching vendor sites, but she had yet to find the part. She continued, "I first tried Yahoo.com and now was on Google.com." By then another employee had wandered by to contribute to the conversation. He said; "I used to have the same problem, but now I use a Web page that can search many search engines at one time." By then, another employee joined the conversation and said, "It's called a meta-search."

The NEC Research Institute has found that individual search engines cover only a small portion of the available Web, and that their coverage provides a low percent of overlap. It is estimated that over 77 percent of Web users use multiple search sites to find information, according to NPD Online Research. The meta-search sites that Web users frequently visit offer a set selection of search engines to find answers with relative success.

But, now there is new alternative - FirstStop WebSearch™ - a "desktop" meta-search which leverages the power of the computer to simultaneously gather information from user selected sources at one time, with the ability to add any search source available. Thus, eliminating the need for jumping from site to site with a different interfaces and commands.

FirstStop WebSearch™ provides a familiar and intelligent interface for research and a powerful set of tools and functions for post processing and office integration. For example:

• the user can select from pre-set or user-defined categories of search engines to search from.
• the user can use a query wizard to conduct an advanced search without any knowledge of "Boolean" operators or complex database language.
• the user can customize the interface to their style and needs.

Bottom line, FirstStop WebSearch™ results fulfill a user search needs, faster and in a more comprehensive format. And, FirstStop WebSearch™ has features that cannot be found or performed on Web based search tools, for example:

• the ability to save searches in XML, DOC, or other formats.
• the ability to save searches for later use or modification.
• the ability to schedule and compare search results.

For less than $150, you may save many, many hours of employees' time, and open the window to information you never knew existed.