BASS (Benefits Administrative Support System) Part 1

Brad and Bert’s Excellent Adventure Season 2

I hope you are enjoying the Moses meet Mozart biweekly Bible readings with accompanying classical music soundtrack. These posts will continue through Thanksgiving. September and October will also feature Season 2 of Brad and Bert’s Excellent Adventure. If you missed Season 1 you can binge on all nine episodes by clicking  Brad and Bert’s Excellent Adventure S1:E1 . Our annual Christmas program will begin Thanksgiving day.

“Sirius“ is a 1982 song by the British rock band The Alan Parsons Project from the album Eye in the Sky. It is a 1:54 minute instrumental piece that segues into “Eye in the Sky” on the original recording. From the 1990s onward, “Sirius” has become a staple of many big-time college and professional sporting arenas throughout North America.

Eye in the Sky is the sixth studio album by the British rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released in June 1982 by Arista label. It was recorded in London’s Abbey Road Studios.

Album: The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky
Source: End 0f an Ear – Austin, TX
Price: $2.00

In 1981, I received my first promotion at Southwestern Bell. Moving to the Employee Benefits organization I was tasked with determining how to use newly acquired computer technology. They had just purchased a brand new IBM PC. It came fully loaded with an astounding 384K memory, 10 megabyte hard drive, and color monitor. Three pieces of software, Lotus 123, Crosstalk and WordStar completed the configuration. A separate dial up modem was purchased to communicate with other computers.

This PC communicated with others via a dial up modem. Tethered to a landline phone jack, I entered another computer’s 10-digit phone number into Crosstalk, pressed enter, and waiting for the magic to happen. This was considered a high-speed modem because it ran 1200 megabits per second (roughly 250 characters per second). It was novel to watch the information load on the screen, character by character, as the data was received. My job was to figure out what to do with this new computer.

I started using WordStar to create letters. The software allowed me to create a document that could be printed using a daisy wheel printer. Additionally, I could save a draft and come back to work on it later. It wasn’t long before others saw this new tool’s potential. I had to create a time sheet so people could sign-up to use WordStar on my computer. This became a popular choice for employees to create a draft, print, and make their own edits without having to wait for the steno pool. It was a great solution for informal communications.

Shortly after beginning my new assignment I attended a seminar on Advanced Office Systems. Conceptually an AOS improves organizational efficiency by giving employees computers. They consist of three key components: 1) electronic mail, 2) word processing, and 3) voice mail. In 1982 this was a radical concept. Implementing such a system requires substantial capital investment. Voice mail was being implemented company wide but departments were on their own for investigating electronic mail.

Our organization tasked me with visiting vendors, putting together a cost analysis and making a recommendation for the purchase of a new computer system. I researched systems at IBM, Wang, Data General, Digital DEC, and HP. Each company’s offerings had their own strengths and weaknesses. In the end, we chose the HP 3000, whose terminals were hardwired to the computer. The system required a special air conditioned room and backups required  a reel to reel tape drive. A system administrator had to start the system each morning, make sure backups took place everyday, and deal with the occasional system crash. Using a Lotus 123 spreadsheet package to present my cost justification, I convinced the powers that be to move into the new age of communication.

It was probably 1984 by the time the new BASS (Benefits Administrative Support System) was cost justified and rolled out. Our technology group did the presentation. We reserved a large room on the 4^th floor of One Bell Center for the occasion. “Sirius” was the theme song we used to drum up anticipation and excitement.