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Launch of the "Beta" version of the U.S. Business Advisor

Vice President Gore launched what was intended to be the "beta" version of the Business Advisor in February 1996 at a conference of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the new customer-improved U.S. Business Advisor.

Now, as I show you what it can do, I will tell you about some of the surprises our customers had for us. Page 1 of our first version looked like this. We thought that looked pretty neat, and the president loved it. Page 2 was even better. It had a big, high-resolution color picture of moi.

But our customers, a good many of whom apparently are Republican business owners, didn't want to wait with the meter running while our big, beautiful pictures downloaded. So the new version looks like this. And, in fact, you see the customer can even select text only and get the plain, pipe-rack version. That's for those in a hurry, or those running text browsers like Links (phonetic). The system will also automatically sense and respond if the user is coming through a version 2.0 browser, like America Online, or it will automatically switch to give the full treatment to users on Netscape or other HTML 3.0 browsers.

The customer user groups said they wanted the Adviser to do five things. Those things are embodied in the five function buttons shown here and on all pages. They want to go straight to commonly-asked questions. They want to find out how to do things. They were emphatic. They didn't just want more information--they're up to their ears in information. They wanted to be able to quickly find out how to do things, and then--imagine the temerity--they wanted to go ahead and actually do the things. Like, file their taxes. Report wage and withholding data. Apply for permits and licenses. So this new version sets up a structure to do that and makes a start along that line. And there will be plenty more to come.

Our customers want to search in plain English for specific things they seek. Sometimes they want to browse to see what we have got. And they want news, the latest news. Under "Common Questions" we put answers to common business tax questions, Postal Service questions, and other questions. This is a basic structure that can easily accept the common questions from other agencies. We set up this flexible structure to accept additions in all parts of the Adviser.

In the "How-To" section, businesses told us they wanted how-to information, compliance assistance tools, and other step-by-step guides. Here, you will find advice from the Small Business Administration on how to start a business. You can also get forms and publications from the IRS to assist you during tax time. OSHA has a neat tool called the Asbestos Adviser, which helps you determine if your building is asbestos-safe. If it's not, it prints a customized guide to assist you in making your building match the asbestos rules.

For searches, we are giving business several options. For example, they can search a host of databases from the Government Printing Office, like economic indicators or the Federal Register, or--and this is my favorite--customers can use a simple English query to search through 106,000 federal government web pages in seconds. Imagine, you are looking for information on exporting auto parts to Asia. Well, you don't have to imagine. You can do it simply by typing it in. Here's what the Business Adviser gives you after you type it in. The title of the document, the source of the information, and the best passage from within the document so you know whether this is what you are looking for.

Some people wanted to browse. So we have arranged the Browse Section of the Business Adviser like a library. Simply click on the section you're interested in, say, "Doing Business with the Government," and you can look through the content relevant to that subject area, just like examining books on a shelf.

The last section of the Business Adviser is news. Here, the business community will have access to late-breaking information and press releases from the agencies that work with them.

Source: "Vice President Al Gore's Address to The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Conference, February 13, 1996"
http://www.npr.gov/library/speeches/2702.html

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