Funeral Blog: The official blog for the funeral and cremation professions.

Baby Boom or Bust; the Last Stand of Funeral Service

2011-06-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

I have just finished reading a very interesting article about where the future of the funeral industry is headed. Please read and post your thoughts. -- Matt Frazer, President at Frazer Consultants

Baby Boom or Bust; the Last Stand of Funeral Service
By Karl E. Jennings, CEO
Healing Farewell Center of America & Borek Jennings Funeral Homes

What could modern funeral service in 2011 and a battle fought at the Alamo 175 years ago possibly have in common? Frankly, not much, except for the facts that for both there came a time when a line had to be drawn, commitments had to be made and destinies were forever forged.

On March 6, 1836, Colonel William B. Travis and his soldiers were faced with a crushing number of Mexican soldiers led by General Santa Anna. The odds were overwhelmingly against them. As hope was quickly fading; Colonel Travis called his soldiers together and then drew a line in the dirt. He then asked any man willing to stay and fight to step across the line and join him on the other side … only one declined.

Colonel Travis required those committing to move forward. Why didn't he simply ask those unwilling to fight to step back? Remember these words from Dale Carnegie, "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Colonial Travis and the soldiers at the Alamo knew what they believed in and were willing to pay the ultimate price to defend it.

As with the overwhelming forces closing in on Colonel Travis, so to the funeral industry has slowly been surrounded by forces, both scattered and organized, that are eroding the necessity and relevancy of our profession. The time has come for funeral directors to draw a line in the dirt, take a hard look in the mirror and choose what hill they are willing to die on. If you don't choose, it likely will be chosen for you. In the next 10 years even the gains made by the emerging baby boomer market won't be enough to keep us professionally relevant or financially viable.

Our industry has been in a passive and seemingly defenseless position as we've faced a relentless pounding of negative media for almost 40 years. In response to this, many in our industry seem to be hostile and, at a minimum, detached from clients who more and more frequently reject their current service/merchandise offerings. While some are attempting to respond to this development by expanding their services to include catering and pet disposition services; most are still just attempting to survive. For both, I pose two questions:

1. Do you really think families would reject your services if they believed you could actually help them?

2. Do you really think families believe buying any kind of merchandise item -- casket, urn, vault or keepsake -- will help them begin healing?

Given the way the vast majority of funeral homes present their services and merchandise, it shouldn't be surprising that their clients don't see the value. This disconnect was institutionalized by the FTC Rule. Nowhere in the FTC requirements will you find anything that mentions what benefit clients receive for what they pay. The fundamental question the modern consumer asks when spending their money is, “What's in it for me?” It is the failure to connect our services and merchandise fees with a value or benefit to the purchaser that has our profession on the brink.

If you really believe the funeral is for the living, what are you doing for the living besides being kind, compassionate and caring? Today, you don't get much credit for being kind and very often it barely earns you a seat at the table. Candidly, the more I step back and view our industry from the outside, the more I realize how insulated we've become; surrendering our profession to indifference, cynics, fads and fluff.

This was never more obvious to me than when I attended a convention, for the first time in 20 years, and was saddened to find that so little had changed. To no surprise, I found row after row of casket, vault, urn and monument companies desperately trying to put new lipstick on an old pig. The fads and fluff were different 20 years ago … but no less out of touch. No matter how you personalize metal, wood, granite or plastic, it is a commodity that cannot guide the wounded, educate the lost, support the needy and empower the helpless. Remember this, if a casket-vault-cremation merchandise supplier is your primary source of innovation and marketing, you've surrendered your professional identity to someone who is selling to you … not your customer. How has that worked for you over the past 25 years?

The dominance of the retail-based approach to providing products to our clients is what has led them to conclude that we have betrayed their best interest. Some of you may be put off by the word betrayal. The betrayal of a client occurs if you act in a way that you know you shouldn't, or you don't act in a way that you know you should; whether you act intentionally or not. Ask yourself: At the most difficult moment of your life, would you really want to sit across from someone who has disguised a good, better and best merchandising approach beneath the veneer of compassionate care for your most emotionally vulnerable needs?

Our clients think merchandise offerings of all kinds are a necessary evil. I thought this back in mortuary school 30 years ago and still believe it today. Every time you sell something other than experiences that will help your family heal, they think you are a salesperson they must protect themselves from, not a professional that they can trust.

If this is the hill you've chosen to die on, the bugler will shortly be playing taps.

A Three Fold Initiative to Transform the Funeral Industry

I. Establish a new Body of Knowledge, Professional Language and Universal Narrative
A new body of knowledge must be established that encompasses the ten-day period following a death. We call this the Acute Loss Period and apply an intentional plan using our Acute Loss Management System to educate and deliver value to every family. The acute loss period begins the first moment we hear the news that someone has died and continues to the beginning of a healthy grief experience. There are essential steps each family must go through to begin a healthy grief cycle. Healing language is therapeutic, interactive and educational and provides the client with a clear answer to their most poignant needs at the time of loss.

This new language describes experiences that overtly help families attend to their emotional, relational and spiritual needs regardless of the type of disposition a family chooses. In this model we are no longer funeral directors, but guides and teachers of the Acute Loss Period. We join the healing professions and have an intentional plan to provide palliative care to the surviving in the days immediately following loss. Those who embrace the idea of healing must educate themselves on the Acute Loss Period and the language of healing. Those who have mastered the knowledge and language must transform their service offerings to include healing support services that aid every generation of the bereaved.

We all know that we don't have funerals for the dead. We have funerals to help the living begin healing. Knowing this is true and having an intentional plan to teach, guide and consistently deliver these experiences enables the client to see “the invisible” value of what we can do to help them. Today's client wants to know what's in it for them. During the arrangement process the presentation of the healing narrative must drip with truth, integrity and authenticity. It must provide a map of the experience of loss that enables the client to foresee things they haven't considered, and be empowered as a collaborative partner in caring for their family. It is the only way to gain a hearing from a skeptical audience, establish expertise and recapture the confidence of today's consumer.

The human experience with loss is one of the most profound experiences any human being will have. Although, we won't be in this position forever, as of right now, only funeral directors are in a position to provide the education, guidance and support most families need during the first ten days following a loss. Failure to assume these roles reduces the funeral director to a data-taker, logistics planner, merchandise retailer, options presenter and compassionate provider of remains processing. These roles are not the generous neutral activity of a professional, but the detached minimalist behavior of the inadequate.

I've heard the voices of countless kind, caring and committed funeral directors bemoaning my assessment of their arrangement styles and responsibilities. I would advise each to be careful not to confuse your personal traits with the ability to educate, guide and support a family with an intentional plan to nurture their healing. One of the biggest obstacles to achieving a universal language and narrative is that so many are willing to be rejected professionally as long as the family appears to like and/or appreciate them personally. Imagine the oncologist who sought personal acceptance over professional relevance. Would it lead her to tell her patients that they could choose or make up any cure they wanted for the cancer that was killing them? If she did this, her patients may love her for the moment, but not much longer than that.

II. Educate: Defending the Healing Narrative
After five years of working with funeral homes from one side of the country to the other. There is one problem that is universal and was best expressed by a receptionist at a funeral home we work with. She stated, “I get so frustrated, because I see the value of what we do every day, but don't know how to explain it to someone else.”

Sadly, it's approaching 50 years since Jessica Mitford fired a shot into the hull of our industry's ship, and we still are stalled in harbor; analyzing damage and unable to offer a coherent rebuttal. We've been taking on water as one NFDA president after another, one mortuary school after another, one convention after another, and one receptionist after another, continues to accurately identify the problem, but fails to offer solutions.

The Healing narrative involves a thorough understanding of the emotional, relational and spiritual needs and experiences of those who have suffered loss and the seven phases of the Acute Loss Period. We must offer, as part of our Basic Services, experiences that present a therapeutic, interactive and educational value to each generation of the families we are privileged to serve.

The Healing narrative and language will provide the industry with a universal message and rebuttal that is necessary to establish educational talking points. These talking points can be formatted into every form of media available in individual markets. Additionally, each funeral home must execute a deep grass roots educational campaign that spans three years and touches every organization in communities that have funeral homes. Our numbers, position and influence still allow us the opportunity to aggressively re-educate our clients before the baby-boom market emerges. Make no mistake -- this is the line that is drawn in the dirt -- for the funeral business it will be baby boom or bust.

III. Execute: Delivering the Healing Narrative
Providing experiences and support services that nurture the human experience during the Acute Loss Period and attending to the emotional, relational and spiritual needs of the surviving are the delivery components of the Acute Loss Management System. The death of a loved one is a life-changing experience. We don't have to create the opportunity, it is being handed to us to nurture. To do this we have an intentional plan to help the surviving to begin healing during this life-changing experience; this is the last and best chance for funeral service to evolve. Do not mistake this for grief counseling. That is still an essential service following the Acute Loss Period.

We must teach each family that funerals help to begin a healthy grieving experience for the living. The family planner(s) must learn the seven essential phases their family must successfully navigate to nurture their emotional, relational and spiritual needs. This presentation will help the client recognize that successful navigation of these phases requires a plan for every generation in their family. Additionally, every funeral home should have a plan that assists a family in navigating the Acute Loss Period regardless of disposition.

Good education-based questions will help the family determine that this is a process they cannot avoid. The family must consider how their choices will engage their extended family and friends. The family needs to consider what support they will provide for children and have, thereunto, interactive activities for each generation in their family. The plan should explain to the family that failure to have a plan to deal with the emotional, relational and spiritual needs of the surviving may cause unresolved grief. When complete, the plan needs to become the new definition of Basic Services of funeral director and staff. If this body of knowledge and points of engagement, education and execution become the mainstay of dialogue of every funeral director and staff person, we could transform the view of funeral services within 10 years.

Retraining an industry to help a family understand and assess their emotional, relational and spiritual needs, without sounding like or attaching merchandise sales to the presentation, is the most obvious and intimidating path forward. The Healing Farewell Center of America has made it our mission to bring healing farewells to one family, one funeral home and one community at a time. We have the body of knowledge, the professional language and healing narrative to transform our industry. We ask you to consider joining our cause. Make no mistake, it is also our Alamo moment. The line is drawn, become part of the healing professions or perish. Cross the line, you will enter the battle. There still is time. Fail to cross and you have surrendered already.

Funeral Webcasting Brings Families Together

2011-01-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

Funeral webcasting is becoming increasingly popular in small towns, big cities and around the world. Thanks to new funeral software, it's now possible to attend a funeral from anywhere in the world.

Often families would receive that fateful call that a relative or friend has passed away. From that moment on, life gets turned upside down. Nothing but questions come to mind and all efforts focus on arrangements that need to be made. Out of town relatives and friends feel they need to drop what they're doing, and find a way to attend the funeral and to be there for the family. Unfortunately, that's not always possible. Sometimes illness, financial constraints, family or work responsibilities prevent the bereaved from attend a funeral.

In my case, I received a call from my college friend letting me know that her mother had passed away. I was leaving for a business trip to Colorado the next morning for a meeting that was months in the making. There was no way I could miss it. Yet, at the same time I was heartbroken for my friend and her family. I wanted to be there for her and at the funeral in New York. But, it just wasn't possible. My meeting was in Denver on Tuesday morning, her mother's funeral was in Long Island that same afternoon. I went to my meeting. My friend went to her mother's funeral. I sent flowers and a card. I felt awful. Now, visiting my friend, even years later, when her Mom is mentioned, I still feel a twang of guilt that I wasn't at her funeral.

Today, the internet is bringing people closer together and connecting friends, relatives and business associates in ways some never thought possible. Because of the push for new technology, software and other online applications, even the way people attend a funeral is now changing too. One particular type of funeral software even makes it possible to practically be in two places at once.

If a friend or relative can't attend a funeral in person, for whatever reason, this great technology called funeral webcasting can allow the person to attend the service anyway. With funeral webcasting, no matter where in the world you are, you can attend a funeral service from the comfort of your own home via the internet.
Mourners will be given the website address, a user id and password. Once they log on, they'll have the ability to view the funeral webcast live, streamed over the internet. But, that's not all. Should they not be available at the time of the actual funeral, they can still view the funeral webcast later.

Any funeral home can provide funeral webcasting. All they need is a simple set up with a video camera, a computer and funeral webcasting software. In minutes they'll be able to provide a service that, trust me, will be remembered for years to come. No longer will families miss their loved ones funerals because of the high cost of travel, poor health or other personal or work constraints.

The best place on the internet to learn more about funeral webcasting software is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. For more information, please Frazer Consultants website or call 866-372-9372.

What You Need from Your Funeral Webcasting Provider

2011-01-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Thinking about offering funeral webcasting? As with any new product or service your funeral home may offer, selecting a funeral webcasting software company should be researched thoroughly before implementing. Nothing is more frustrating than partnering with a company or purchasing a product and then finding out the sales person left out a few important details. Or, that features you thought were included haven't even been added to that model or addition. Often not knowing what to ask or what to look for in the product or service is the problem.

To help get you up to speed on the latest in funeral webcasting, here are a few points you should consider when selecting a funeral webcasting provider:

1) Webcasting Equipment
Let's face it, not everyone was born with the technology gene. Few could decide one day to implement funeral webcasting, go out and buy the right equipment and software, get it all hooked up and be ready to use during a service later that day. Having said that, not only should you be sure the funeral technology company you're considering provides you a detailed list of what funeral webcasting equipment is needed to get started, but also that they can give you specific instructions on how to set it up too.

2) Software Support
No matter how comprehensive an instruction pamphlet may be or how detailed the menus on a software program are, until you've sat down in front of it and tried it out, you never know what kind of questions you may have. Therefore, partnering with a company that lets you preview the software and one that also has twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week support is important. What happens when you have an early morning funeral and have a funeral webcasting question? Submitting a help ticket just isn't going to cut it at that point.

3) New Versions or Discontinued Technology
Currently, there are over ten funeral webcasting providers within the profession. Did you know that nine out of ten use the same outdated backend technology? They use the old windows media encoder that is scheduled to be discontinued fairly soon and is not even available for download on Microsoft’s website anymore. Be sure to find out what kind of technology your provider is using so there are no surprises later. Look for a company using the newest Microsoft expression encoder.

4) Comprehensive Editing Features
Finding a funeral webcasting authority that offers features that no other company offers will help ensure you have selected the most innovative software. For example: editing capabilities that allow you to crop the beginning or the end of the video and add captions to the funeral webcast are not standard features in most funeral webcasting software programs. In fact, only one company offers these two important benefits.

5) Top Notch Distribution
Another major component to successful funeral webcasting is the backend server technology that a provider might use. Currently, to our knowledge, there is only one company that uses a tier one content delivery network. That means worldwide global distribution at unbelievable speeds.

Keeping up with technology can be challenging, but following these simple guidelines should help you breeze through selecting a funeral technology provider to implement funeral webcasting -- no matter what your technical abilities.

The industries leader in funeral webcasting is Frazer Consultants. As the only provider using the newest Microsoft expression encoder, a tier one content delivery network and the most complete, top of the line editing features, and the most personalized online player that creates an unbelievable experience for your families, Frazer Consultants stands apart from the crowd. Shouldn't your funeral webcasts do the same?

For more information about funeral webcasting, visit the premier place on the web Frazer Consultants.

Producing Video Tributes In-House, Versus Outsourcing

2011-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

As a funeral home, you have two choices on how you want to produce your video tributes. Do them yourself in-house, or hire an outside provider. Ten years ago, hiring your video tributes to an outside provider was probably more common than it is today. As technology has progressed and companies like Frazer Consultants have appeared with an all-in-one-suite that makes the DVD production so easy, it doesn’t really make sense to outsource anymore.

There are several factors on why it makes more sense to produce your video tributes in-house, verses outsourcing. I’ll step through each and every one.

1. Cost: Most outsourced providers charge between $100-$200 dollars and limit the size of the video to 20-30 photos. If you go above and beyond the standard number of photos, they charge you an additional per photo charge. If you produce your video tributes in-house, you might be looking at a cost of around $15-20 and you can do as many photos as you wish. Not to mention, you can also produce as many additional copies as you want at no additional charge.

2. Time and Convenience: Do you think it is really more convenient to outsource your video tributes? Not exactly. Think about it, most out sourcing companies require you to scan in all the photos, email the photos, download the completed video, and then burn the disk. If you are going to complete all those steps, why not just put together rest of the video yourself? Matter a fact, I’d argue with anyone that putting the video tribute together is the easy part. The hard part is meeting with the family, collecting the photos and scanning the photos. Also, what happens if the family brings the photos in at last minute? There is no way possible an outsourced solution provider is going to be able to create a tribute video in time.

3. Quality: This is a big one. Over the past couple weeks I have posted a few other blog posts about tribute videos. I had two separate out sourced solution providers comment that funeral homes are not capable of producing the same kind of quality. My reply was, post an example of your tribute video and let’s compare. Out of the two solution providers, guess how many of them posted an example? Zero!

The truth is, the list could go on and on about why you should do your own tribute videos in-house. But I’ll rest with the top three main points above. If you’re looking for the ultimate tribute video software that creates the highest quality video tribute, in short amount of time, and at an affordable cost, look no further then Frazer Consultants all-in-one-suite the Tribute Center.

Printing Funeral Stationery on Demand

2011-01-09T02:14:00.000-08:00

Creating personalized funeral stationery on demand is what leading funeral homes are doing. Shouldn't your funeral home keep up with the times as well?

Pre-printed funeral stationery is a thing of the past. As times change, new opportunities to enhance a life celebration are created. Providing client families with the next generation of personalized funeral stationery is one great option. Thankfully, with new technology, all things are possible and they're easy too!

With print-on-demand funeral register books and funeral stationery, you get the best of everything. Personalization has never been easier. Cutting edge funeral software programs provide death care professionals with over 450 themes to offer. Because of this, funeral stationery can be easily personalized to any interest, hobby, occupation, or religious background. Using simple to use, menu driven software templates, just a simple stack of blank perforated stock and a printer, in minutes you can create register books, prayer cards, thank you cards, funeral programs, bookmarks, funeral candles and more.

Client families will be extremely pleased at the selection, quality and keepsakes created. So, not only is this a win for the funeral home and the office staff, but it’s a win for the families you serve as well.

Still on the fence? If your funeral home has been thinking about changing from traditional pre-printed stationery for the new, blank stock print-on-demand system, here's why you're headed in the right direction:

1) With pre-printed stationery, you're truly limited in choice and options for true personalization.

2) Pre-printed stock is an inventory nightmare. Funeral homes are constantly running out of one theme or another and need to rush orders to get in time for the funeral.

3) Families want more. There's a reason the buzz word for death care professionals in 2011 is personalization -- it's what families want.
With the new year unfolding, now is the time to say good-bye to your old, outdated funeral stationery, and get started enhancing the level of personalization you provide.

With Frazer Consultants new Tribute Center software, makes printing-on-demand so simple, your families will thank you time and time again. For more information about the ultimate in funeral stationery and the latest generation funeral software, visit Frazer Consultants.

The Future of the Funeral Tribute Video

2011-01-08T02:32:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago displaying photos on a picture board was the standard for a funeral. However, in today’s world, if that is all you are still doing, you are being left behind. For the last several years we have seen what I call the first generation of funeral tribute videos. But I think just around the corner we are going to start seeing second generation tribute videos.

The first generation tribute video consisted of photos, music, intros / endings, scenic video clips, and personalized captions. However, the second generation tribute video is going to a whole new level. With the number of cell phones hitting over 4.6 billion in 2010, and 19% of those are what we call “smart phones”, which are photo and video enabled, I think you see where all this is headed. The second generation tribute video is getting ready to be a whole lot more personal with short 30-60 second live video clips of the loved one. Extending this theory is one of the hottest items for the 2010 Christmas season, “The Flip” video camera. It’s a small flip style video camera that can be stored in your pocket or purse with ease. With products like this, you can see that we are not far off from the second generation tribute video.

Another big factor pushing the second generation tribute video is Facebook. The problem in the past with all this digital content is that it was extremely hard to keep organized. Imagine when someone passes away, trying to find all those photos and videos in a very short amount of time. Well, we are now at a point, you can just log into the loved ones Facebook account and save the digital media to create the ultimate tribute video.

With all the above in mind, does your current Tribute Video Software allow short video clips of the loved one to be imported? If the answer is no, you should highly consider looking at the Tribute Center by Frazer Consultants. Frazer Consultants does not only think about the tribute videos of today, but are working hard to keep you ahead of the curve tomorrow.

Frazer Consultants Tribute Center is an all-in-one-suite that allows you to complete tribute DVD’s, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral webcasting.

The Power of a Funeral Tribute Video

2011-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

When looking at ways to personalize the funeral or memorial service, the one thing you should not forget is the funeral tribute video. In my opinion, the funeral tribute video is one of the most powerful healing tools for all friends and family who are involved. When the tribute video is done right, with photos spanning the loved one’s life and perfectly synced to music to make the photos come alive, you can create an unbelievable memorable experience for everyone involved.

To make the most powerful tribute videos, it all starts with the software. Frazer Consultants all-in-one-suite is called the Tribute Center. It allows you to create tribute DVD’s, funeral stationery, and funeral webcasting, at a click of a button. The power of this funeral software is unbelievable.

The Tribute DVD module will allow your funeral home to create the most amazing tribute videos you have ever imagined. Starting with Tribute Center’s Hollywood style intros that can take you through the clouds, over the top of a mountain, alongside a white sand beach, or on a serene journey through the forest. You set the healing experience that you want to take the family on right from the beginning.

The next step is to help the family select the most meaningful photos to include in the tribute video. Encourage the family to select photos that span the loved one’s life. All the way back to the most innocent and cute baby pictures, to the goofy and sometimes downright funny college photos. All you have to remember is this, there is really no right or wrong photo, whatever the family thinks will tell the life story the best.

Once the photos are selected, now it’s your job to bring the photos to life with the most perfect motion effects. This means panning the photos from top to bottom, from left to right, and zooming in or zooming out. When adding motion effects, remember that less motion is always better then more motion. You want to keep it soft and subtle. Only add motion where it makes sense and don’t overdo it.

When choosing music for the tribute video, choose a song that best reflects the loved one’s life. In most cases, the family will already have a few choices they have been thinking about. However, below I have compiled a list of most popular funeral tribute songs for your review:

Name of Song	Artist
Heaven Was Needing a Hero	Joe Dee Messena
My Heart Will Go On	Celine Dion
Wind Beneath My Wings	Bette Midler
Bridge Over Troubled Water	Simon and Garfunkel
Smile	Chris Rice
I Know You by Heart	Eva Cassidy
Have I Told You Lately That I Love you	Rod Stewart
Last Time by Moonlight	Enya
You Raise Me Up	Josh Groban
To Where You Are	Josh Groban
Remember Me	Josh Groban
You’re Still You	Josh Groban
For Always	Josh Groban
Smile	Josh Groban
In the Arms of The Angel	Josh Groban and Sarah McLachlan
Vincent	Josh Groban
When I Get Where I’m Going	Brad Paisley
You Can Let Go	Crystal Shawanda
Thank You	Jonny Reid
Until We’re Together Again	Tiffany Coburn
Mama	il Divo
Somewhere Over the Rainbow	Leona Lewis
Somewhere Over the Rainbow	Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s Version
A Living Prayer	Alison Krauss
At Last	Etta James
I Miss You	Avril Lavigne
So Far Away	Carole King
Yesterday	The Beatles
Time	Alan Parsons Project
I’ll Stand by You	Carrie Underwood
I Believe	Diamond Rio
One More Day	Diamond Rio
I Don’t wanna Miss a Thing	Aersmith
Livin’ Without You	TmobileTerrorist
Saying Goodbye to You	Karina Long
I Want You to Live	George Canyon
If I’d Have Known	Dillon J. Woods
Without You	Mariah Carey
Memory	Barry Manilow
The Twelfth of Never	Johnny Mathis
All Things Must Pass	George Harrison
If Tomorrow Never Comes	arry Manilow
If I Should Love Again	Barry Manilow
Together Forever	Barry Manilow
Answer	Sarah McLachlan
I’ll Find you	Katie Giguere
Holes in the Floor of Heaven	Billy Kirsch and Steve Wariner
The Dance	Garth Brooks
The Living Years	Mike and the Mechanics
Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)	Billy Joel
I’ll Be seeing You	Jimmy Durante

The last step of creating a tribute video is putting it on a medium that can be shared and remembered for years to come. The Tribute Center software allows you to burn the DVD at one click of a button. Also, you are able to share it on your website with another click of a button. This allows friends and family to come to your website to watch the tribute video at any time.

Frazer Consultants Tribute Center is the leading funeral software for tribute DVD’s, funeral stationery, and funeral webcasting. For more information about funeral tribute video software, please visit the website or call 866-372-9372.

Funeral Webcasting: Is there really a difference between all the providers?

2011-01-05T02:30:00.000-08:00

The short answer to that question is, ABSOLUTELY 100% YES! Currently, there are over ten funeral webcasting providers within the profession. Did you know that nine out of ten use the same outdated backend technology? They use the old windows media encoder that is scheduled to be discontinued fairly soon and is not even available for download on Microsoft’s website anymore. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Encoder

So, when you start funeral webcasting, do you want to start with old technology or start with a company that is already on the latest and greatest? There is only one company that is currently using the newest Microsoft expression encoder, and that is Frazer Consultants.

Frazer Consultants is offering features that no one is. Currently, they are the only company that offers editing capabilities that allow you to crop the beginning or the end of the video. They are the only company that allows you to add captions. Frazer Consultants even allows you to personalize the online player to over 450 different themes that match any interest, hobby, occupation, or religious background.

Another major component to successful funeral webcasting is the backend server technology that a provider might use. Currently, to our knowledge, Frazer Consultants is the only company that uses a tier one content delivery network. That means worldwide global distribution at unbelievable speeds.

For more information about funeral webcasting, visit the premier place on the web at http://www.frazerconsultants.com/WebcastingSoftware.aspx for more information.

Funeral Stationery: Print-on-Demand

2011-01-04T02:26:00.000-08:00

If your funeral home has been thinking about changing from traditional pre-printed funeral stationery for the new, blank stock print-on-demand system, here is why you are headed in the right direction. First, if you offer pre-printed stationery, you are already limited in choice and options for your family in order to offer true personalization. Second, if you have a lot of pre-printed stock at the funeral home, you already know what an inventory nightmare it is. You are constantly running out of one theme or another, trying to rush orders to get in time for the funeral. Say good bye to the old, and let’s get moving with the new.

Say hello to print-on-demand funeral register books and stationery. You get the best of everything! Over 450 themes to choose from so that you can personalize to any interest, hobby, occupation, or religious background. You no longer have will have an inventory nightmare, just a simple stack of blank perforated stock. Not only is this a win for the funeral home and the office staff, but it’s a win for the families you serve as well.

Let’s face it, you’ve heard it a million times, personalization, personalization, personalization. You can truly do it now with ease. With Frazer Consultants new Tribute Center software, it makes print-on-demand so simple, you’ll be sitting around the office wondering what to do with all that time (ok, I could be stretching it a bit, but compared to the old system, you will definitely save a lot of time and frustration). Your families will thank you for the level of personalization that you can provide.

For more information about the ultimate in funeral technology and funeral software, visit Frazer Consultants.

Funeral Register Books and Stationery Packaging

2011-01-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

Today, many funeral homes have some sort of funeral stationery package that they offer their client families. The most common funeral stationery package consists of one register book, one hundred memorial folders, fifty thank you cards, and four keepsake bookmarks. Some funeral homes decide to also package in other items such as a tribute video or funeral candle as an additional keepsake for the family.

The first thing we need to look at is how do we offer funeral stationery packages to the family? One of the biggest funeral stationery companies in the profession (I won’t name names) thinks the best way to package and sell is by the good, better, best scenario.

What this means, is that you will create three levels of stationery packages and display those packages on the wall in accordance to those levels. Typically, the only thing that is different in the three levels is the quality of the register book. For example, one might have three books in the “good” package, three books in the “better” package, and three books in the “best” package. In theory, 90% of your families will pick out the “better” package. The only reason you have the “best” package, is to help move the family up one level from the lowest package to the “better” package. Sounds good, right? Not exactly, let me explain…

In a normal retail environment this “scheme” is used daily. Most of the time, it works like a charm. However, in the funeral profession, I’d say stay away from it. Not only stay away from it, but I’d run from it as fast you can. I think the goal of the funeral home is to try and simplify the arrangement process, not make it more confusing and cumbersome. By offering a good, better, best selection, you are no doubt making things more confusing. You are having the family make one more price decision where it isn’t necessary.

Let’s look at the real reason why a funeral stationery company might want to sell the funeral home on a good, better, best solution. The reason why, is because then the funeral stationery supplier can justify selling you the higher end funeral register book at a very high cost. For example, the low end book might cost you $15, the middle book $30, and the high end book $60. Imagine if that salesman can talk all his clients into buying the $60 book 10% of the time. Huge margins for him / her, while in return the funeral home suffers.

So in the end, what does a good, better, best funeral stationery package offer your funeral home? Nothing, just the opposite, it brings in another pricing decision for your families, it creates more unnecessary choices, and it confuses everyone.

Offer simplified funeral register book and stationery packages:
If 90% of your families are choosing the middle package to begin with, why not offer simplified pricing? Put three to five books on the wall and tell your family to pick which one they want. Tell them each book cost the same, it doesn’t matter which one you pick.

Where does the real value come from in a funeral register book?
Do you think the value of the book really has anything to do with the “outside cover”? The answer to that is, no. If you want to add real value to the book, look at how you create the inside of the book. Start adding more of the life story by adding more photos, family history, favorite recipes, etc. Start theming the register book to the loved ones favorite interest, hobby, occupation, or religious background. Do all those things and families will not only find more value, but they will buy additional books from you.

Choose Frazer Consultants for the most cutting edge funeral technology, their new Tribute Center will make producing the most personalized funeral register books and stationery easier then you have ever imagined. Don’t believe me? Check out this training video.

To take your funeral home to the next level with funeral register books and stationery, look no further than the leading funeral personalization and technology provider in the funeral industry, Frazer Consultants. Join the revolution, surpass your competitors, and impress your families by creating lasting memories that will never be forgotten.

Easily Create Professional DVD Tribute Videos for Client Families

2010-12-31T02:51:00.000-08:00

Technology is now available to allow death care professionals to create world class tribute videos for client families. These DVD video tributes are a wonderful way to honor a loved one and to celebrate their life.

Every day, tribute videos are produced in over 4,500 funeral homes across the country using Frazer Consultant's Tribute Center application. This robust funeral software is unmatched by any other tribute video software allowing death care professionals to assemble world class tribute videos with music, motion and other special effects in an affordable way. Plus, it's smart technology allows even first time users to quickly and easily create a high quality, professional DVD video tribute. And, if you ever need help, no matter what your user level is, Frazer Consultants is available to assist you every step of the way, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty five days a year.

When selecting a DVD tribute video software program, consider what Frazer Consultant's Tribute Center can do for you and your funeral home:

It's Affordable
With some of the most advanced features of any tribute video software currently available, the Tribute Center is also extremely affordable. With no long term contracts, no upfront costs, no equipment to buy and no support fees, this DVD tribute video application is something you can't afford to overlook.

It's Easy
Creating DVD tribute videos with the Tribute Center software is exceptionally easy. A simple three step process is all it takes to produce a world class video. Just import, edit, burn and you're done.

It's Advanced
Now death care professionals have the ability to share projects between multiple computers thanks to the technology of the Tribute Center - the first and only networkable video tribute software program. Additionally, the Tribute Center software is capable of automatically setting transitions, sync music, and create a stunning DVD menu at the click of a button.

It's Quick
Importing pictures can be a tedious process, but not with the Tribute Center DVD video tribute software. Frazer Consultants high speed scan technology allows your funeral home to scan one photo every two seconds.

It's Professional

From the highest quality burned DVD, to the most professional online tribute player, Frazer Consultant's Tribute Center is unmatched by anyone. Professional motion effects can be easily added to each photo in seconds, bringing life to every image. Furthermore, Frazer Consultants offers a complete music library with exclusively licensed music to help create a DVD tribute video that will amaze you and your client families.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

The Progression of DVD Video Tributes

2010-12-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

DVD video tributes are not the simple slide shows of yesteryear. Gone are the days of a slide projector and dull images silently flashing on screen at a funeral or memorial service. Client families are looking for professional quality tribute videos and they're looking for their funeral director to provide them.

Thankfully funeral software has been evolving. What's better is that the technology is so advanced, there's no need to learn how to use some high tech editing program.

Innovative software has turned the DVD tribute video process into a simple three step process that may sound complex, but is ultra easy due to advanced funeral technology. With as many or as few pictures the family would like to use, a funeral professional can quickly scan the photos, add some special effects like music, transitions, or picture touch up and then burn the tribute video onto a DVD.

The professional motion and other effects can be easily added to each photo in seconds, bringing life to every image. Furthermore, using a complete music library with exclusively licensed music will produce a DVD tribute video that will amaze you and your client families.

This type of robust funeral software practically creates the DVD tribute videos on its own with minimal input from the funeral professional. Using these menu driven applications, professional tribute videos are being created in-house by funeral directors across the country. Making these personalized tribute videos is so easy that anyone, no matter how pressed for time, can do it using DVD tribute video software.

Ask About Funeral Homes Website Design

Death care professionals can also offer to place the tribute video on their website so that it can also be shared online. By simply uploading the tribute video to the web and linking it to the funeral home's website, client families can view the video tribute from the comfort of their own home.

DVD Video Tributes are a special way to honor and celebrate a loved ones life. They are a wonderful opportunity to help client families remember their loved one who has passed away and an excellent opportunity for a funeral director to provide an outstanding service.

The best place on the web to learn more about tribute videos is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. They also have a beautiful selection keepsakes and the technology to create personalized funeral stationery and funeral candles. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Tribute Videos Tell a Life's Story

2010-12-29T02:04:00.000-08:00

Tribute videos are an important part of a funeral or a memorial service. They can even be a fitting keepsake to tell a loved ones life story and capture memories forever.

A tribute video is an amazing way to honor a loved one and to celebrate their life. Nothing can replace the precious moments shared with family and friends; however, creating a DVD video tribute with a collage of photos set to music and blended with special effects can capture those memories forever. Once compiled, these moving DVD tribute videos provide not only a visual reminder of a beloved one after the memorial or funeral service but they can also be played during the service as well.

Funeral homes can now create DVD video tributes in house using photos that the deceased family and friends provide. Advanced funeral technology and software makes this once time consuming task a quick and easy process with world class results. Now importing pictures for the DVD tribute video can be completed at a rate of one photo every two seconds. Additionally, professional motion effects, moving video clips and beautiful music can be easily added to create a personal memorial video that can tell a life's story, over and over, just by clicking the play button.

The key to creating a top notch tribute video for a client family is to find software that is one-hundred percent dependable. Other features like full network capabilities, live preview, fast compiling and burn time, and professional effects will be items that death care professional will be sure to look for in their software as well. Additionally, the tribute video software should be capable of automatically setting transitions, sync music, and create a stunning DVD menu at the click of a button. Furthermore, a software that offers no long term contracts, no upfront costs, no equipment to buy and no support fees, would be one that most funeral professionals would be interested in finding.

Because ease of use is possibly the most important aspect, a software that can capture all of these features in an application that's easy to use, will be the clear winner. Tribute video software should be so robust that it practically creates the video tribute by itself. Using an application with a simple, menu driven and a user friendly interface, yet one that is advanced enough to give the flexibility of high end special effects is optimal. Find this software and the death care professional will be able to import, edit, burn and be done.

However, the best part of being able to provide loved ones with a DVD tribute video is the lasting effect it will have. Client families will be amazed with their tribute videos and remember that their funeral director was able to provide them with a keepsake that they can treasure forever.

The best place on the web to learn more about tribute videos is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. They also have a beautiful selection keepsakes and the technology to create personalized funeral stationery and funeral candles. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Funeral Webcasting Equipment Guide

2010-12-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

More and more funeral homes are starting to provide funeral webcasting for good reason. However, a lot of funeral homes that have never offered funeral webcasting don’t know where to begin. We typically see the biggest barrier to funeral webcasting is the setup of equipment. Funeral homes simply do not know what to do or where to start.

Today, we are going to teach you the main funeral webcasting equipment that is needed for a fixed camera system that would mount to the ceiling of the chapel. First, we will start with the list of equipment, and then explain what each piece of equipment does and how it connects to each other.

Our Suggested Funeral Webcasting Equipment List:
• Camera: Axis 214 Day / Night PTZ Network Camera
• Decoder: Axis P7701 Video Decoder
• Midspan and Splitter: Axis T8123 Midspan and Axis T8126 Splitter
• USB Capture Device: Kworld USB Video Capture Device
• Cable: Cat5 network cable (standard network cable)
• Laptop Computer
• Software (my favorite: Tribute Center)

Axis 214 PTZ Network Camera:
Let’s first start with the Axis 214 camera and talk about why we choose this particular camera over all the others. First, the name says it all, “Axis”, Axis seems to be the clear leader in the IP Camera industry and from a software providers perspective has the best drivers to work with.

Second, the Axis 214 camera can zoom in from over 150 feet and does not lose any quality. On top of that, it is one of the best IP cameras we have seen in low light conditions. There are several places on the internet you can buy this camera, the going price seems to be around $1,300. So as you can imagine, when you install the Axis 214 camera into your funeral chapel for funeral webcasting, the two main things that stick out the most is the distance the camera can zoom and the quality the camera can perform in bad light conditions. Not to mention the camera is a PTZ Camera (pan / tilt / zoom), that means you can control the camera with your computer mouse. What is really neat, is that you can create presets on the camera that allows you to zoom into specific spots within the chapel. For example, the most popular presets would be a close up of the podium, a wide angle view of the entire funeral chapel, and also a more close up view of the casket.

Axis P7701 Video Decoder:
The Axis Communications AXIS P7701 Video Decoder allows for live video feeds received from the IP Camera over a network to be displayed on analog equipment (your computer monitor). Really, the only important thing to know about the Axis Video Decoder box is that the network cable plugs into it from the camera.

Axis T8123 Midspan and Axis T8126 Splitter:
The Axis midspan and splitter I think is one of the coolest technologies. This allows the funeral home to not have to wire a power source right at the camera. Basically, the midspan injects power into the network cable, and then the splitter splits out the power and data at the camera. This really helps a lot of funeral homes so that they don’t have to hire an electrician to come in and wire an additional power source at the camera.

USB Capture Device:

The Kworld USB Capture device is what you plug into your USB port in your computer. This is what allows us to pull the video and audio signal from the decoder box then insert it into the pc and have it all make sense. Allow we use the kworld usb capture device for most funeral webcasting setups, there are several others to choose from as well.

Network Cable:
You will need to purchase a fairly long network cable depending how far your camera is from your computer where you will be using the software. Most funeral homes typically will buy a 50ft or 100 ft cat5 network cable.

Laptop Computer:
Most funeral homes have decided to buy a laptop that is dedicated to funeral home webcasting. Typically, the laptop will be setup in the “media room”, where the sound system is located for the chapel. The advantage of setting the laptop up in the media room is that we can then also tie your existing sound system into the funeral webcast. Generally, you only need to run a simple audio cord from your sound system to your usb capture device. If you are in the market to buy a new laptop, I might recommend the following for minimum system requirements:

-Brand Name: Dell or HP (just my personal preference)
-Windows 7
-Minimum of 6 Gigs of RAM
-Firewire and HDMI ports

Funeral Webcasting Software:
The Tribute Center is an all-in-one-suite that can not only do funeral webcasting, but also tribute DVD’s and personalized printing. By bringing together all three technologies, it really makes the funeral home more efficient and simplifies personalization for the entire staff.

The reason why the Tribute Center funeral webcasting software is on top of every other solution in the funeral industry is as follows: the only funeral webcasting software that allows for basic video editing right from the application; the only funeral webcasting software that has a personalized online player with over 450 themes to choose from; the only funeral webcasting software that uses the latest media encoder from Microsoft; the only funeral webcasting software that allows you to use multi camera setups; and last but not least, the only funeral webcasting software that is using a tier one content delivery network that has global distribution.

Now that we have given you a general overview of the equipment and software needed, we will now show a small diagram on how the equipment is connected inline:

Camera | Splitter | Network Cable | Midspan | Decoder | USB Video Capture Device

The above is an example of how the equipment is setup starting with the IP Camera. I know for most people that are looking at this for the first time, they probably feel pretty overwhelmed. However, let me tell you, it’s really not as bad as it may look. Once you get this hooked up for the first time, you really never have to mess with it again. Frazer Consultants will be here every step of the way to make sure you funeral webcasting system is setup properly and becomes a huge success.

Personalized Funeral Candles from Frazer Consultants

2010-12-24T02:34:00.000-08:00

Funeral candles are evolving thanks to Frazer Consultants. Their new Life Journey Celebration Candle allows for endless personalization possibilities many funeral homes and families have been requesting.

With the Life Journey Candle, all personalization, including that of the background scene, is performed in-house by the funeral director. This means no more worries about the need to inventory multiple scenes and yet the personalization is so easy that anyone, no matter how pressed for time, can do it using the provided software.

With just a few keystrokes by the funeral professional, the creation of these personalized funeral keepsake candles can be completed on demand. Innovative software has turned the funeral candle personalization process into a simple one step process. Using nothing more than a computer, a standard ink-jet or laser printer, and specially formatted perforated sheets, their creation is simple. The robust funeral software practically creates the the printed sheets on its own with minimal input from the funeral professional.

The Life Journey Celebration Candle itself is hand-made of beveled glass and has a beautiful wood base with a cherry finish. Each is filled with 100% all-natural wax that is friendly to our environment and will burn for over one hundred hours. Once personalized, the funeral candle will contain the deceased's photo, name, dates and any other versus or poems requested by the family.

Frazer Consultants personalized funeral candle keepsake is extremely flexible too. With over 450 themes to choose from and the ability to use one or multiple photos, the Life Journey Celebration Candle is the most unique funeral candle on the market today.

Do something so that families will remember you. Frazer Consultants can provide you with the expertise and products to make this happen.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Funeral Candles Fill a Void

2010-12-23T02:26:00.000-08:00

Funeral candles are an important part of any funeral or memorial service. But, the days of plain, white candles with a simple ribbon are a thing of the past. Families want more out of their tribute candles.

When a loved one passes away an emptiness can linger for months, even years. Gone forever are the casual conversations and the chance for new memory creation. The bereaved long for personal items, keepsakes, photos and other treasures to display which remind them of their loved one who has passed. They wish to feel their presence, see their face. A personalized funeral candle is an ideal memento to fill that void.

Mourners desire to more completely honor and remember their loved ones has lead funeral technology experts to respond with software designed with personalization in mind. Creating the highest level of personalized keepsakes like funeral candles provides client families with the most individually unique, tangible reminders of their loved one.

Coordinated with other funeral stationery, the keepsake funeral candle pulls the whole theme of the funeral stationery together into one complete celebration package of keepsake items. When paired with matching prayer cards and funeral programs, color coordinated thank you notes, memorial folders and even keepsake bookmarks, death care professionals are able to go above and beyond client families expectations and include a personalized funeral candle as well.

What sets these personal keepsake funeral candles apart from any other tribute candle is the fact that the candle contains the deceased's photo, name, dates and any other versus or poems requested by the family. In essence, the family can design their own keepsake with a funeral directors help. But, these keepsakes won't hinder the funeral director in their creation. Thanks to innovative software funeral professionals are able to craft them easily and quickly in-house. Using nothing more than a computer, a standard ink-jet or laser printer, and specially formatted perforated sheets, their creation is simple. Their affect, immense.

Frazer Consultants

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

How Funeral Candles Have Evolved

2010-12-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

The flame of a funeral candle burning in a chapel draws mourners in to it's glow. The comforting flicker, it's symbolism of a warm embrace and the light itself inspires hope for the future. To some, the memorial candle even becomes a representation of the spirit of the person who has passed away. Obviously, funeral candles are a powerful part of any funeral or memorial service.

Historically, funeral candles were nothing more than ordinary candles perhaps with a ribbon attached or placed in an elaborate candelabra in a prominent place for the ceremony. However, mourners desire to more completely celebrate their loved ones life has pushed the funeral industry to move to create more personal keepsakes. The days of plain, white candles with a simple ribbon are a thing of the past. Families want more out of their tribute candles.

The challenge to meet or exceed client families wishes lies within the hands of the funeral director. Caught between helping a family craft their loved ones life celebration into everything that they imagined while controlling time and cost constraints, funeral directors need help. Using top notch funeral technology to assist them in performing tedious tasks, is an excellent solution. Instead of personalized keepsake candles becoming a dreadful chore, it's an opportunity to make a lasting impression on a family.

The creation of these personalized funeral keepsake candles is easier than you might think. There's no need to place an order with another provider and wait for your personalized items, hoping they come in on time and with no mistakes. The keepsake candles can be easily created in-house with just a few keystrokes.

Innovative software has turned the funeral candle personalization process into a very simple process. Using nothing more than a computer, a standard ink-jet or laser printer, and specially formatted perforated sheets, their creation is simple. The robust funeral software practically creates the printed sheets on its own with minimal input from the funeral professional. The resulting funeral candle is personalized with the deceased's photo, name, dates and any other versus or poems requested by the family.

These cherished keepsake funeral candles will help client families grieve their loved one who has passed and remember their funeral director was the one who helped them create a special, personal candle in their time of need.

The best place on the web to learn more about personalized funeral candles and funeral stationery is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. They also have a beautiful selection of holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please call 866-372-9372.

Funeral Stationery Thank You Notes

2010-12-18T02:36:00.000-08:00

Funeral stationery and ancillary items like thank you notes are an important part of a life celebration.

Sending thank you notes following a funeral or memorial service is a time honored tradition. Thanking the people who came to the service, sent condolence cards and funeral flowers can also be part of the healing process. Thank you notes give the bereaved a chance to once again share their memories of the deceased with others and remember them in a special way.

To honor the deceased in an extraordinary way, each piece of funeral stationery can mirror the individual qualities that made that person distinct. Each prayer card, funeral register book and even the thank you notes can be reflective of the life that was lived. Creating personalized funeral stationery that matches the interests, hobbies, occupation, or religious background is now possible.

While many thank you notes are standard from funeral home to funeral home because of the limitation of pre-printed funeral stationery, creating thank you notes from blank stock is much less constraining and the results are astronomically better.

Thank you notes and other funeral stationery can now be created using hundreds of different pre-designed and pre-formatted templates. Utilizing blank stock, a laser printer and some easy to use print-on demand software, death care professionals are able to create personalized keepsake items that tell a life story.

Everything needed for a personalized service from start to finish can be printed in-house with no need to inventory the generic, pre-printed stock of the golden days of funeral stationery. With the latest funeral technology you can print what you want, when you need it, directly onto blank stock -- quickly and easily.
What makes an individual unique should be part of their life celebration. There's no more fitting tribute than personalized thank you notes and other unique funeral stationery.

For the highest quality funeral stationery and largest selection of thank you notes, funeral register books, memorial folders, prayer cards, book marks and funeral candles, all available at affordable, fixed cost per page printing on-demand, call Frazer Consultants, 866-372-9372.

Personalized Prayer Cards and Funeral Stationery

2010-12-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

Creating personalized prayer cards and funeral stationery is easy with the latest funeral technology.

Unique and personal funeral stationery, including prayer cards, can now be created in funeral homes around the world. With the advances in technology and software programs developed specifically for the funeral industry, funeral stationery is forever changed.

Now, death care professionals are able to use pre-designed and pre-formatted templates. It's an ideal situation that gives client families access to the largest selection of styles and designs. The bereaved can make their choice from a variety of themes, hundreds in fact. No matter the denomination or interest, these new prayer cards will reflect the true essence of a beloved ones life.

The prayer card templates allow funeral professionals to print eight per sheet, creating almost one hundred prayer cards requires only a dozen sheets of paper. What makes the prayer cards unique is that they are printed from completely blank stock. No matter if you are looking to create a traditional style prayer card with catholic imagery, or one that has various scenes to represent the persons life, our funeral software can accomplish it all.

Using a standard laser printer or office color copier, the designs are not limited in any manner. There are many different themes, images and backgrounds that come pre-designed so that the entire prayer card is unique, not pre-printed. While many prayer cards are standard from funeral home to funeral home because of the limitation of pre-printed funeral stationery, creating prayer cards from blank stock is much less constraining and the results are astronomically better.

Creating special, keepsake prayer cards is not as difficult as you may think. Funeral software templates make the process much less time consuming. All you need to do is select a template and click a few buttons. Technology driven programs can help funeral homes with many tasks. Making personalized and unique funeral prayer cards and other funeral stationery is no exception.

Using advanced funeral stationery software, complete with prayer card templates, will take just minutes, but the keepsakes created will be cherished by client families forever. Everyone who attends a funeral or memorial service will want one and mourners will hold onto these distinctive prayer cards for years.

The best place on the web to learn more about personalized funeral stationery and prayers cards is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. They also have a beautiful selection of funeral keepsakes including funeral candles and holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please call 866-372-9372.

Unique Funeral Programs and Stationery

2010-12-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

Funeral programs and stationery should be reflective of the deceased's life. Death care professionals should recognize that client families no longer will accept limited, generic and pre-printed options.

Funeral programs and personalized funeral stationery are a wonderful addition to any funeral or memorial service. Providing client families with the option to choose from hundreds of themes can set not only the funeral program apart, but your funeral home as well.

A family mourning the loss of a loved one strives to create a service filled with memories and fitting tributes to honor and remember the deceased. Client families are looking to create funeral programs, keepsakes and other funeral stationery that visually speaks to them about their loved ones life. If Dad was a nature buff or Mom was into photography or worked with computers, families want ways to be able to express those qualities graphically in their funeral programs. Including the exact things that made their loved one special makes for a truly memorable life celebration.

Having generic stationery and funeral programs in this day and age is unacceptable. Pre-printed funeral stationery definitely cannot offer the options and reflect the individuals unique qualities. Thankfully funeral software and funeral stationery is progressing along with client families needs and wishes.

Funeral programs and other funeral stationery can now be created using hundreds of different pre-designed and pre-formatted templates. Taking blank stock, a laser printer and some easy to use print-on demand software, death care professionals are able to create a funeral program that reflects the interests, hobbies, occupation or religious affiliation of the deceased.

Using the most robust funeral software program that allows death care professionals to provide not only affordable and easy to create options, but also imaginative funeral programs is an ideal solution. Plus, when other funeral stationery such as funeral register books, memorial folders, prayer cards, book marks, dvd packaging and funeral candles are created using this same software, the overall finished presentation of keepsake items is remarkable. Each life can be celebrated for the specific qualities that made them special using unique, personalized funeral stationery.

Client families want options. Shouldn't you be prepared to provide what they want?

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral candles, funeral keepsakes, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please call 866-372-9372.

Funeral Web Design

2010-12-03T03:51:00.000-08:00

Creating a funeral home website design that is simple, intuitive, and interactive will set you apart from the competitor down the street.

Partnering with a professional company that has experience with funeral home websites is key to creating a website design that is sharp in appearance, yet easy for client families to navigate. Using an industry specific company that solely concentrates on the funeral industry can provide a high quality product that has been tested by hundreds of others.

The basic components that are a must in every funeral home website are:

• Obituaries
• Online Video Tributes
• Online Pre-Arrangement Form
• Online Guest Book
• Contact Page
• Resource Page
• Social Media Integration

Enhancing a website with other interactive options such as memorial, visitation, service and cemetery information is also a good idea. The more online information a funeral home can provide to families and friends of the deceased, the better.

Other features some funeral homes are selecting are:
• Single or Album Photo Upload
• Pre-Planning Module
• Obituary Notification System
• Virtual Showroom
• Online Guest Book
• Pre-Planning Information
• Content Management System
• Community Events Calendar
• Map and Directions
• Contact Form

Selecting the most fitting modules for your website will greatly impact the overall design of the funeral homes website; however, it's extremely important to find a total solutions provider. Not only should a funeral home website design company create a great website, but they should also be able to register a domain, set up email, ensure search engine submission and optimization and provide statistical reports.

For a funeral home website design solution that empowers the funeral professional and delivers an interactive experience to the families they serve, contact Frazer Consultants. Their funeral home website designs can help set your funeral home apart from the competitor down the street.

Funeral Home Website Design and Beyond

2010-12-02T03:45:00.000-08:00

A funeral home website design company should be able to not only create a great website but also be a total solution provider.

If you are looking to enhance your funeral home website, its important to find not just a good designer, but a total solutions provider. While selecting the most fitting layout and content for your website will greatly impact the overall experience for client families, finding a company that can do more for your funeral homes site is an ideal solution.

A funeral home website design company should not only create a great website, but they should also be able to understand the industry and what vital components each website should contain. The partner company should also be able to register a domain should a funeral home not already have one and provide hosting services if necessary. They should also be capable of setting up email and ensuring search engine submission and optimization.

An essential part of the equation some funeral home website design companies fail to include in a funeral home website is the ability to track the statistics on the site. Knowing how many visitors "hit" the funeral home website, what pages they visited and how long they stayed is valuable data to collect if a funeral home should wish to do some web marketing.

Once up and running, a funeral home has the ability to turn a funeral home website into a revenue generator selling advertising, affiliate programs and/or creating an online gift shop. The possibilities are endless.

However, finding a total solutions partner for your funeral home website design is key to putting this plan into motion. By partnering with a professional company that has experience with funeral home website designs and all the other vital components can help set your funeral home apart from the competitor down the street.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, funeral register books, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

How Does Your Funeral Home Website Design Rate?

2010-12-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

A funeral home website can be the first interaction with a client family. How does your website design rate?

Having an internet presence is extremely important in today's day and age. At the same time, having a website that is modern, interactive, social media connected, easily communicates your messages and presents your products and services to client families is even more important. If your website is more than a few years old or non- existent, your funeral home is missing many opportunities.

Some funeral home website designs are not including even the most basic components. Does your website contain obituaries, online video tributes, an online pre-arrangement form, online guest books, a contact page, map and directions, a good resource page, and automatically connects to your face book page?

Imagine yourself as a visitor to your website. Isn't this the type of information you'd want to find? Ask yourself, "What's missing?"

Enhancing a website with other interactive options such as memorial, visitation, service and cemetery information is also a good idea. Additional features, including photos of the deceased or the ability upload an entire album of photos for the family with their loved ones online tribute is also a popular choice. The more online information and access to the products and services a funeral home can provide to families and friends of the deceased, the better.

Once up and running, a well designed funeral home website has the ability to turn into a revenue generator by selling advertising, through affiliate programs, pre-planning, and creating an online gift shop or virtual showroom. The possibilities are endless.

The bottom line is that a funeral home website should create a simple, intuitive, and interactive experience for client families. Partnering with a professional company that has experience with funeral home website designs can enhance the way your client families interact with you. But, recognizing that your website needs help is the first step.

For a funeral home website design solution that empowers the funeral professional and delivers an interactive experience to the families they serve, contact Frazer Consultants. Their funeral home website designs can help set your funeral home apart from the competitor down the street.

How Technology is Changing Funeral Register Books

2010-11-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

Families are looking for unique funeral stationery including funeral register books, prayer cards and memorial folders, personalized funeral candles, dvd tribute videos and funeral webcasting.

Specifically, a unique funeral register book and other personalized stationery honors a loved one and speaks to mourners in a meaningful way. Creating custom-made funeral register books for client families help them tell their loved ones story. It reminds mourners, at a glance, what made their loved one special.

Whereas a generic funeral register book misses an opportunity to help survivors, a personalized register book can provide a real opportunity to celebrate life and cherish the unique and individual spirit of their loved one. Furthermore, funeral homes that are still creating generic, simple and standard register books are now completing with a fast growing sector of technology smart funeral homes that provide these personalization options.

As a funeral professional, you have encountered some of life's most challenging situations - from comforting a grieving widow to consoling the parents of a child who has passed away. Your ability to remain calm and collected is insurmountable. But yet, each of us has our Achilles heal. Is technology yours?

In order to be able to offer your client families the best options for funeral register books and other funeral stationery, change is inevitable. The good news is that new technologies exist today that are easy to use and very cost effective.

Being afraid of technology and change is a common problem amongst all people. Learning any new process or developing any new skill takes time. Just ask the five year old learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. But, those who overcome their fear of learning new skills and technologies advance in the world and are rewarded.

Don't be afraid of technology, your families will thank you.

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral candles, funeral keepsakes, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Say Good-Bye to Generic Funeral Register Books

2010-11-26T03:31:00.000-08:00

A unique funeral register book and other personalized stationery honors a loved one and speaks to mourners in a meaningful way.

Creating custom-made funeral register books for client families help them tell their loved ones story. It reminds mourners, at a glance, what made their loved one special.

Whereas a generic funeral register book misses an opportunity to help survivors, a personalized register book can provide a real opportunity to celebrate life and cherish the unique and individual spirit of their loved one. Furthermore, funeral homes that are still creating generic, simple and standard register books are now completing with a fast growing sector of technology smart funeral homes that provide these personalization options.

Why Partner with Frazer Consultants?
Unlike any other funeral stationery, Frazer Consultants' Life Journey Stationery funeral register books are of the industries highest quality, the largest variety and are the easiest, most cost effective register books to produce.

With over 450 professionally designed themes for every interest, hobby, occupation, and religious background, Life Journey register books aren't the tired funeral stationery of yester-year. Printing on-demand, from blank stock instead of pre-printed paper, Life Journey Stationery provides a truly personalized funeral register book at a low, fixed cost per page rate. Additionally, Frazer Consultants robust, world renowned software is integrated with leading funeral management software systems that allow for one time data entry.

Generic funerals are a thing of the past. No two lives are alike, and no two funeral register books should be either. Learn more about what Frazer Consultants can do for you and your client families.

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral candles, funeral keepsakes, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Funeral Professionals! Don't Be Afraid of Technology

2010-11-25T03:27:00.000-08:00

As a funeral professional, you have encountered some of life's most challenging situations - from comforting a grieving widow to consoling the parents of a child who has passed away. Your ability to remain calm and collected is insurmountable. But yet, each of us has our Achilles heal. Is technology yours?

Fear. It can change your life if you let it.

Being afraid of technology and change is a common problem amongst all people. Learning any new process or developing any new skill takes time. Just ask the five year old learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. But, those who overcome their fear of learning new skills and technologies advance in the world and are rewarded.

Thankfully, death care professionals have Frazer Consultants. Every step of the way, Frazer Consultants will be there to hold the seat of the bike as you navigate and embrace their new technology that is revolutionizing the funeral industry.

What Families Want

Today, families are looking for new ways to personalize their loved ones funeral and memorial services. Life is all about options, and families believe that even a funeral, in fact, especially for a funeral, they should have options to create a memorable and meaningful celebration. Families are looking for unique funeral stationery including funeral register books, prayer cards and memorial folders, personalized funeral candles, dvd tribute videos and funeral webcasting.

Providing these personalization options requires advanced technology, but what it doesn't require is a long, arduous learning curve. Having technology that is so advanced, with the ability to truly personalize a funeral or memorial service yet one that is truly easy to use, is what Frazer Consultants can deliver. With access to over 450 professionally designed themes and software that is so robust it's integrated with leading funeral home management software systems that allow for one time data entry -- it's the only solution that you'll ever need.

Taking Off the Training Wheels - 24/7 Support
Frazer Consultants can help you step into the future of funeral technology. No matter what your user level is, Frazer Consultants will be there to assist you every step of the way.

Don't be afraid of technology, your families will thank you.

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral candles, funeral keepsakes, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Enhances Funeral Register Books

2010-11-24T04:21:00.000-08:00

Frazer Consultants offers the industries most enhanced funeral register books complete with one time data entry due to integration with leading funeral management software companies.

Waunakee, WI., November 24, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession recently announced several new enhancements of its Tribute Center Software suite part of which funeral homes use to create funeral register books.

Today, families and friends are looking for new ways to personalize their loved ones funeral and memorial services. A unique funeral register book, complete with professionally produced themes and the most advanced printing options, Frazer Consultants Life Journey Stationery offers total personalization to client families. More importantly, this technology is now so advanced, it is integrated with leading funeral home management software companies allowing for true one time data entry.

Due to recent technology developments and partnerships, any of Frazer Consultants 450 pre-formatted, personalized templates can be used to create a professional quality funeral register book at the click of a button. No duplicate entry of data is required. Once the data is housed in the funeral management software, at a click of a button the data can be imported into the Tribute Center and auto fills yours register book for a quick and easy method of creating the ultimate personalized register book. “No other company in the industry can offer this kind of ease” said Matt Frazer of Frazer Consultants.

"It’s our goal to help families and friends celebrate the life of their loved one, and to find comfort in a meaningful funeral register book,” said Frazer. “The Tribute Center Software makes it simple for funeral professionals to quickly and easily design a funeral register book because our software is integrated with the leading funeral management software systems."

When your trying to decide who you are going to partner with for your personalized register book options, the first question you should ask is “does your system integrate with my funeral home management software?”, if the answer is “no”, then keep looking!

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral candles, funeral keepsakes, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Partners with Coats Funeral Home of Michigan

2010-11-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

Coats Funeral Home of Waterford, Michigan joins Frazer Consultants family of death care customers to offer client families world renowned personalization products including tribute videos, personalized printing, and memorial webcasting.

Waunakee, WI., November 23, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession announces its recent partnership agreement with Coats Funeral Home of Waterford, Michigan. This new agreement enables Coats Funeral Home client families' access to the industries most exceptional personalization products.

Coats Funeral Home has been offering memorial webcasting for over two years to every single family that they serve. To increase the quality of their webcasts with reliable service, Coats was looking to find a superior solution. Frazer Consultants filled that need and exceeded expectations.

“Frazer Consultants has been great to work with! Their service and support is by far one of the best I have had the pleasure to work with,” said Pam Fagan from Coats Funeral Home. “Our funeral home has been committed to meeting the needs of families and thinking outside of the box. Frazer Consultants has helped us to stay on that cutting edge in our community.”

Frazer Consultants Tribute Center Software offers the most innovative, cutting-edge technology to honor the life of a loved one. Giving the funeral professional the ability to create high-end personalized funeral stationery, amazing DVD tribute videos and world class quality live or delayed funeral webcasting -- all in one suite.

“We are pleased that Coats Funeral Home entrusts Frazer Consultants as a personalization and technology partner," said Matt Frazer of Frazer Consultants. "It’s customers like them who are willing to adapt to an ever-so-changing market that will thrive and bring new value to their families and this industry as a whole.”

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, funeral candles, remembrance ornaments and funeral keepsakes. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Push the Easy Button with Frazer Consultants Register Books

2010-11-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

To be able to personalize a funeral service means everything to a family. They are celebrating the life of their loved one. To think that cookie cutter register books would be good enough, is old school thinking. Survivors are looking to embrace their loved ones unique personalities and show the world what made this person special.

With new technology comes new opportunities.

The growing desire to truly personalize a funeral right down to the register book, affords deathcare professionals an opportunity to provide client families with the ultimate solution. Finding a software program that is easy to use, is affordable and can create professional, personalized funeral register books can mean the difference between a fantastic end result and another time consuming task to complete.

By partnering with Frazer Consultants, the leading personalization and technology company in the industry, funeral homes can create fully customized funeral register books with unsurpassed ease and the finest results. Thanks to Frazer Consultants Tribute Center Software, deathcare professionals have access to state-of-the-art technology and personalization options for which their client families are asking.

Here's what set's Frazer Consultants' register books apart from the crowd:

1. The Ultimate in Personalization
Frazer Consultant's Life Journey Celebration Stationery has over 450 coordinating themes to assist client families full personalization of their life celebration. Other companies offer just one standard template. Additionally, Frazer Consultants offers a selection of eight different register book covers with materials and colors appropriate for men, women and children.

2. True One Time Data Entry
Re-entering data is a time consuming, senseless task. Frazer Consultants is the only company to connect their register book software with funeral home management software companies. For a real easy solution, connection to funeral management systems is a must. There's no duplicate entry, no wasted time - just push a button and your done.

3. Options Galore
Providing deathcare professionals with the most robust software solution that's ten times better than the competition, Frazer Consultants software is the leading choice. Frazer's software gives users full control with a "design mode" which allows the funeral home to set each page's default. Once set, all future tributes are auto populated with the correct data. The book essentially creates itself.

For the only company offering a complete register book solution featuring true one time data entry, total design and personalization control, select Frazer Consultants. Help your client families tell a life story.

Funeral Webcasting

2010-11-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

The loss of a loved one or friend is a difficult and stressful time. A funeral service allows a mourner a sense of closure and it enables them to honor and celebrate the deceased's life. It is a special and sacred event for all survivors. Unfortunately, many bereaved are not able to attend a funeral or memorial service due to health issues, the shear distance from the funeral service, or the high cost of travel.

Today, the latest funeral technology offers friends and family members access to these special events regardless of their circumstances or their location. Through funeral webcasting, the bereaved can view a memorial at anytime, anywhere in the world, in the privacy of their own home.

Funeral webcasting enables family and friends to take part in their loved one's funeral or memorial service despite illness, finances, or distance. It gives mourners who can't travel the opportunity to watch the service live, just like they were there or watch it later at their convenience.

Recently improved technologies, less expensive broadband, and deployments of the military to Afghanistan and Iraq have all lead to an increase in the use of webcasting. Now survivors who cannot attend a service in person are not just limited to sending sympathy cards and funeral flowers, they too can have closure.

Frazer Consultants' world-renowned Tribute Center software enables funeral homes to offer funeral webcasting using a simple video package including, HD camera, tripod, wireless microphone and USB video capture device. With no long term contract, no upfront costs, no equipment to buy, and no support fees, Frazer Consultants pay-as-you-go system is an ideal solution.

Frazer Consultants Funeral Webcasting Revolutionizes Industry

2010-11-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

Frazer Consultants newly released, innovative webcasting software enables mourners to view a live or delayed funeral or memorial service from anywhere in the world, from the comfort of their own home.

Waunakee, WI., November 17, 2010 - A funeral service allows a mourner a sense of closure and enables them to honor and celebrate their loved ones life. Unfortunately, many bereaved are not able to attend a funeral or memorial service due to health issues, the shear distance from the service, or the high cost of travel.

Today, the latest funeral technology, funeral webcasting, offers friends and family members access to these special events regardless of their circumstances or their location. Through funeral webcasting, the bereaved can view a service at anytime, anywhere in the world, in the privacy of their own home.

Frazer Consultants funeral webcasting software makes this all possible with their robust, integrated software suite. This newly launched, revolutionary software features an easy to use, pay-as-you-go solution for funeral homes wanting to offer funeral webcasting.

Included in the software suite are also complete capabilities to create dvd tributes, funeral stationery and digital signs as well. These additional features make it the most streamlined, convenient software available today.

"The Tribute Center Software makes creating each product easy and affordable. With just the click of a mouse you can create a completely personalized service, said Matt Frazer, Consultant with Frazer Consultants. "Because you have complete control to create the products in-house, you'll have what you want when you need it."

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Personalized Candles - a Special Funeral Keepsake

2010-11-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

Funeral keepsakes are an important part of the grieving process. They can provide comfort to family and friends following loss. When a loved one passes away it's natural to want a special memento to remember them. These precious and priceless reminders can include a variety of items from prayer cards, to bookmarks, holiday remembrance ornaments, and even personalized candles.

Candle mementos provide not only a cherished reminder of a beloved one after the memorial or funeral service but they can also be used during the service as well. Many find the soothing effect of seeing the candle burn a real comfort. In fact, a recent study concluded that over 40% of funeral homes use some sort of personalized candle at every service.

Frazer Consultants offers funeral homes the ability to create an endless possibility of personalized funeral keepsake candles. With the Life Journey Celebration Candle, the creation requires using nothing more than a computer, a standard ink-jet or laser printer and Frazer Consultants' robust software. Over 450 design themes are pre-programmed to allow funeral homes to create the most personalized mementos quickly and easily.

The flexibility of the four-sided funeral keepsake allows the funeral home to offer both themed candles as well as candles with one or four different photographs. They can be created also to include a special poem, bible text, and/or other sentimental text.

A funeral keepsake is a wonderful way to honor a loved one and to celebrate their life. The Life Journey Celebration Candle, is an ideal choice to provide family and friends with lasting memories of those that have departed.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

How Funeral Stationery Has Changed

2010-11-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

New funeral technology affords relief to deathcare professional allowing them to offer a high level of personalization with easy to use software and a low cost print on-demand program.

Funeral stationery is evolving. With new technology advances, personalized funeral stationery has made huge strides. Deathcare professionals now have the ability to offer client families almost an unlimited selection for a truly personalized and complete set of funeral stationery. This new technology has eased the worries of cost, inventory concerns, difficulty of production and timeliness for funeral homes as well.

Traditionally, a funeral home would purchase pre-printed paper for the stationery. A funeral home may have only had a few options for families to choose because of the cost to stock and inventory each design and each individual item. Re-orders had to be managed and timed perfectly so as not to run out of a particular item. To add to the issue, suppliers required minimum orders, which meant large, expensive outlays. Managing the inventory, repetitively inputting the deceased's information for each piece of stationery, and controlling costs consumed large blocks of time.

The pre-historic days of funeral stationery are gone for good. Today, funeral stationery can be quickly and easily printed on-demand from blank, perforated stock using software driven templates. Now, client families are able to choose from a wide variety of personalization options and funeral homes no longer need to inventory pre-printed stock. Everything needed from register book pages, memorial folders, prayer cards, acknowledgements, bookmarks, signs, dvd packaging, and even candles can all be printed in this manner.

Not only does the new funeral software include over 450 predesigned and preformatted design layouts, the software is also compatible with certain funeral home management software, such as SRS Computing. Therefore, funeral home client families' receive a high level of personalization with templates for virtually every interest, hobby, occupation, and religious background included. Funeral homes are able to input the deceased's information one time and the stationery software does the rest.

Using the funeral homes own printing equipment, or a fixed low cost-per-page program, this print-on-demand stationery, is specifically an attractive feature not locking a funeral home into printing a particular sum if it isn't necessary. With this type of specialized software, a funeral home can print only what's needed, when it's needed and know the result will be the most professional, low cost, and fully customized funeral printing available.

Funeral stationery, has always been an important facet of the funeral service. The stationery not only serves as a keepsake for those who were present at the service, it also allows funeral home client families' to better honor, celebrate, remember, and tell the life story. To have a solution that can quickly, easily and cost effectively create the most personalized funeral stationery is to be able to offer the best possible keepsake for client families.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Fast and Easy Funeral Stationery

2010-11-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Funeral stationery, no matter what form it is in, is an important facet of the funeral service. The stationery not only serves as a keepsake for those who were present at the service, it also allows funeral home client families' to better honor, celebrate, remember, and tell the life story.

Funeral stationery is not what it used to be. Traditionally, a funeral home would purchase pre-printed paper for the stationery which meant stocking inventory of each design and each individual item. In many instances, to control costs or because of a supplier policy, deathcare professionals would need to order a minimum number of each item. The expense to house and maintain this inventory meant the number of selections were limited. A funeral home may have only had two or three options from which families could choose.

Today, because of technology advances, deathcare professionals and client families not only have a vast assortment of personalization options to choose from, but there's also no need to inventory pre-printed stock. Funeral stationery can now be printed on demand from blank, perforated stock using software driven layouts. Everything needed from register book pages, memorial folders, prayer cards, acknowledgements, bookmarks, signs, dvd packaging, and even candles can all be printed in this manner.

More deathcare professionals are choosing to use the faster and easier way of creating high quality, personalized funeral stationery through the use of these design layouts. Doing so makes perfect sense in the funeral industry because funeral planning is such a time sensitive event. The majority of families do not have a lot of time to devote to the creation of personalized funeral stationery. Yet, they certainly want to create a special keepsake for family, friends, and attendees at their loved one's final life celebration.

Frazer Consultants offers a complete, fast and easy solution to personalized stationery. With access to over 450 predesigned and preformatted design layouts, Frazer offers a high level of personalization to funeral home client families'. Templates for virtually every interest, hobby, occupation, and religious background are included in the Tribute Center software.

Using the funeral homes own printing equipment, or a fixed low cost-per-page program, Frazer Consultants print-on-demand stationery, is specifically an attractive feature not locking a funeral home into printing a particular sum if it isn't necessary. With Frazer's Tribute Center software, a funeral home can print only what's needed, when it's needed and know the result will be the most professional, low cost, and fully customized funeral printing available.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. Visit the website for more information regarding personalized funeral stationery or call 866-372-9372.

New Tribute Center Now Compatible with SRS Computing Funeral Home Management Software

2010-10-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Frazer Consultants new all-in-one suite funeral personalization software for tribute videos, personalized printing and live or delayed webcasts is now compatible with SRS Computing funeral home management software.

Waunakee, WI., October 28, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession has announced that their new Tribute Center All-in-One Suite funeral personalization software has been made compatible with SRS Computing funeral home management software.

This compatibility enhancement allows death care professionals to import data from their management system directly into the Tribute Center.

"For all mutual customers using SRS and the Tribute Center, they now have true one time data entry," said Matt Frazer, consultant with Frazer Consultants.

Streamlining personalization products ease of use even further, the Tribute Centers new compatibility with SRS ensures the customer will not have to retype any data. At the click of a button, death care professionals are able to import all case data to auto fill the required fields in the Tribute Project, which produces tribute videos, personalized funeral stationery, and live or delayed webcasts.

“Frazer Consultants is excited to have worked with Scott Simons from SRS to make this integration possible,” said Frazer. "SRS is a great company and has a true dedication to the funeral industry. We are extremely pleased with their cooperation. This integration is a win-win-win for SRS, Frazer Consultants, and the mutual funeral home client.”

Frazer Consultants is in the process of making their software compatible with several other funeral home management companies.

SRS Computing
Since 1999, SRS Computing has been setting the industry standard in custom software applications designed exclusively for management of the funeral home, crematory, and cemetery industries. More information can be found at www.srscomputing.com or call 800-797-4861.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information, please call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Launches Online Training Video for New Software

2010-10-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

Death care professionals can now view an online training video demonstrating Frazer Consultants new all-in-one suite funeral personalization software for tribute videos, personalized printing and live or delayed webcasts.

Waunakee, WI., October 25, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession has created a step-by-step and convenient training video to demonstrate their new Tribute Center All-in-One Suite funeral personalization software.

Providing back office technology that is easy and affordable, the Tribute Center enables death care professionals the ability to create high quality tribute memorial videos, personalized printed materials and perform simple high tech webcasts with a few keystrokes.

"Our new software, coupled with the training video provides our customers with the ability to easily and consistently create the most complete, high quality, personalized memorial products," said Matt Frazer, consultant with Frazer Consultants.

Watch the Training Video Now!

The newly launched training video, which can be watched at the customers convenience, starts with a brief overview of the Tribute Center. The viewer is then guided through the system module by module. Each module provides tips for easy point-and-click use and highlights the benefits of the particular personalization component.

"We encourage every customer that utilizes our software to watch the training video," said Frazer. "It's a great tool for staff training and is very convenient because they can watch it whenever they want."

The training video includes easy to follow instructions so that once the user finishes the training they will be able to quickly and easily create tribute videos, personalized funeral stationery, live or delayed webcasts, and personalized keepsakes.

"Frazer Consultants vision is to help each and every funeral home offer more personalized services through the use of our highly user friendly tools and technologies," said Frazer. "Our new Tribute Center All-in-One-Suite turns this vision into reality."

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Funeral Personalization Software Webinar a Success

2010-10-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, Frazer Consultants held a webinar to present their brand new all-in-one suite, the Tribute Center. Funeral Home participants declared the webinar a success and praised the software as being powerful and affordable.

Waunakee, WI., October 21, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession conducted a widely successful webinar on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 to demonstrate their new funeral personalization software.

Webinar attendees learned how to create stunning video tributes, amazing personalized print items, and offer live or delayed funeral webcasts.

"I can't believe how the webcasting system worked. The ease of use and features are unmatched by another other webcasting provider in the industry," said Mark Cournoyer, of Cournoyer Funeral Home in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

With more than 170 funeral homes logged in to participate in the webinar, attendees declared the presentation a success and indicated that the software is amazing.

"The week before the webinar, we unveiled the All-in-One Personalization Software at the NFDA convention in New Orleans" said Matt Frazer, consultant at Frazer Consultants. "The response at the convention and from the webinar has been truly remarkable. Our customers cannot believe how easy to use and affordable we have made this system -- opting for either the pay as you go plan or the monthly unlimited plan."

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information please call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Partners with Oki Data Americas to Provide Affordable Printing for Funeral Homes

2010-10-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Frazer Consultants entered into a partnership agreement with Oki Printing Solutions to provide funeral homes fixed cost per page printing.

Waunakee, WI., October 20, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession announced its recent partnership agreement with Oki Printing Solutions to provide affordable color printing to funeral homes. This partnership agreement is a key piece to their print-on-demand funeral stationery system.

Frazer Consultants print-on-demand system for funeral stationery utilizes blank-stock to provide client families with over 450 personalized stationery designs from which to choose. Each theme includes a layout for a register book, memorial folder, prayer card, acknowledgement, book mark, sign, dvd packaging, and a candle.

"Pairing our print-on-demand personalization software with an Oki laser printer, funeral homes will have a total personalized print solution available for almost one-third of the cost of standard printing," said Matt Frazer, a consultant with Frazer Consultants.

With two packages to choose from, Oki will provide a color laser duplex printer for easy, cost-efficient two-sided printing. Functioning like a leasing program, the printer is provided for a set monthly amount. It is networked so that Oki can detect when toner is low and automatically dispatch a replacement cartridge direct to the funeral home so there is no down time.

"Our objective was to provide a print-on-demand system that offers ultimate personalized funeral stationery at an affordable price," said Frazer. "The Tribute Center all-in-one-suite is a dream come true for funeral home clients across North America. You can now get rid of all your pre-printed stock (inventory) and only inventory blank-stock and print on demand what you need, when you need it. This not only makes your life easier with less inventory, but increases the value of your services to your client families through ultimate personalized funeral stationery packages. All completed in-house and with no extra effort. This new agreement with Oki is truly ground breaking and the solution to affordability - enabling our funeral home partners to print at a fixed cost per page and offer their families unlimited personalization options."

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information, please call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Holds Webinar Demo for Funeral Personalization Software

2010-10-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Waunakee, WI., October 15, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession is conducting a webinar on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 at 2:00 PM Central Daylight Time to demonstrate their new funeral personalization software.

Frazer Consultants recently unveiled their new All-in-One Personalization Software at the National Funeral Directors Convention in New Orleans. For those who may have missed the opportunity to enjoy a personal demo during the NFDA convention, Frazer Consultants would like to extend an invitation to attend this free webinar.

During Wednesday's webinar, Frazer Consultants will guide attendees through a demonstration of their new All-in-One Personalization Software which includes:

• World Class Video Tributes
• Low Cost, Customized Printing
• Cutting Edge Technology Webcasts.

A knowledgeable consultant will review the features and benefits and be available to answer any questions about this powerful and cost effective funeral industry personalization software.

"Funeral personalization is important to both customer satisfaction and finding profit in each arrangement," said Matt Frazer, consultant from Frazer Consultants, LLC. "We are extremely excited to bring to you an industry changing event that gives you a solution that finally makes personalization EASY."

Space for this webinar is limited.

Reserve your webinar seat now.

After registering, a confirmation email will be sent containing information about joining the webinar.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information, call 866-372-9372.

NFDA Show Ends on High Note for Frazer Consultants

2010-10-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Waunakee, WI., October 14, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession recently attended the National Funeral Director's Associations International Convention to unveil their new funeral personalization software. The new software was met with great, positive response.

Attendees of the convention, held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA were treated to a demonstration of Frazer Consultants new All-in-One Personalization Software, which includes: World Class Video Tributes, Low Cost, Customized Printing, and Cutting Edge Technology Webcasts.

"The feedback regarding our personalization software that we received from the show was tremendous," said Matt Frazer, consultant from Frazer Consultants, LLC. "It solidifies our belief that funeral personalization is so very important in the industry today."

"We're pleased that we had the opportunity during the NFDA convention to have shown so many industry professionals how easily and inexpensively our cutting edge personalization technology can be integrated into their services," said Frazer. "We look forward to seeing everyone again in Chicago at next years NFDA conference, October 23rd, 2011 through the 26th."

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Supports the NFDA as a Gold Sponsor

2010-10-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

As a proud supporter of the NFDA and its initiatives, Frazer Consultants becomes a Gold sponsor.

Waunakee, WI., October 11, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession supports the NFDA and it's initiatives by becoming a Gold sponsor through the Associations' Marketing Partnership Program.

As a Gold sponsor, Frazer Consultants have made a commitment to the NFDA to be an integral part of its Marketing Partnership Program.

"We will do anything possible to support the funeral industry and its leading association", said Matt Frazer, Consultant with Frazer Consultants. "We look forward to many more years of partnership."

Frazer Consultants sponsorship level commitment exceeded other leading companies in the funeral industry.

Frazer Consultants

Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants Offers Death Care Professionals Personalized Remembrance Ornaments

2010-10-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Frazer Consultants personalization software gives death care professionals the ability to create in-house, quickly and easily, a personalized holiday remembrance ornament.

Waunakee, WI., October 9, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession has expanded it's personalization options to include a unique holiday remembrance ornament for funeral homes and hospice care providers.

"Our remembrance ornaments serve many purposes," said Matt Frazer, Consultant from Frazer Consultants, LLC. "They can be given to client families to serve as a simple token of appreciation for choosing your funeral home or hospice. These holiday ornaments can also be given in connection with funeral pre-planning or aftercare services or presented during a holiday remembrance program."

The delicate ornaments are hand-blown and tipped with 22k gold. Each remembrance ornament can be quickly and easily personalized in-house with the name and dates of the deceased or any other text required.

Using Frazer Consultants Word-based software template, adhesive decals, and a laser printer, death care professionals can create a special memorial keepsake for their client families. Once personalized, each ornament can be placed in it's individual gift box, which is included, for presentation to the family and safe keeping.

"We currently have three different ornaments from which to choose," said Frazer. "Each ornament is beautifully handmade with care and attention to detail like no other."

Frazer Consultants provides unlimited technical support, free of charge, with every ornament order. Call Frazer Consultants for a free sample and a price list.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information, or to request a sample ornament, or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants To Attend NFDA International Convention

2010-10-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

During the NFDA Convention, Frazer Consultants will be demonstrating their new All-in-One Suite funeral personalization software.

Waunakee, WI., October 6, 2010 - Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession has announced they will be attending the National Funeral Director's Associations International Convention to unveil their new funeral personalization software.

Being held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA from October 10th through the 13th, 2010, the convention promises to offer attendees the best place to 'renew yourself and your business'.

Frazer Consultants will be in booth 1727 demonstrating their new All-in-One Personalization Software, which includes:

• World Class Video Tributes

• Low Cost, Customized Printing

• Cutting Edge Technology Webcasts.

"Funeral personalization is important to both customer satisfaction and finding profit in each arrangement," said Matt Frazer, consultant from Frazer Consultants, LLC. "Our All-in-One Personalization Software easily and inexpensively accomplishes both."

Frazer Consultants invites all convention attendees to visit their booth during the show for a complimentary demonstration and to answer any questions about their powerful and cost effective funeral industry personalization software.

Frazer Consultants
Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, personalized funeral stationery, and funeral keepsakes including the award winning Life Journey Candle and Holiday Remembrance Ornaments. For more information please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

Frazer Consultants is featured on the cover of Funeral Business Advisor!

2010-09-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't already seen the cover of September/October's Funeral Business Advisor, Frazer Consultants is the feature story!

To introduce our new All-In-One Suite specifically designed with funeral directors in mind, this article details all the great features of the All-In-One Suite.

Please read the featured article for more information on:

DVD Video Tributes
Life Journey Stationery - personalized funeral home stationery
Webcasting

Funeral Business Advisor Digital Issue

Start planning for your 2010 Holiday Remembrance Program!

2010-08-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Did you know that we are only92 business days from Christmas?

Hand Blown Glass Angel Ornament
Personalized In-house!

Our ornaments can serve as a simple token of appreciation for choosing your funeral home or hospice, be given in connection with pre-planning or aftercare services or presented during a holiday remembrance program.

The ornaments are hand blown glass and tipped with 22k gold. Each ornament is easily and quickly personalized in-house with the name and dates of the deceased or any other text you wish to include using our software template and adhesive decals.

The software template, labels, decals, and unlimited technical support are provided free of charge with every ornament order. In addition, each ornament comes in an individual gift box for presentation to the family and safe keeping.

ORNAMENT PRICING: 48 per case
1 case: $10.95 per ornament
5 cases: $10.75 per ornament
10 cases: $10.45 per ornament
20+ cases: $10.25 per ornament

To request a free sample, click here

New Tribute Center Update Coming

2010-07-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce another new update for the Tribute Center that is coming out September 1, 2010! We have been working extremely hard to turn the Tribute Center from a DVD software to an all-in-one suite. The new suite will include the ability to do dvds, printing, and webcasting! There have also been several small updates to the DVD portion of the software. More details coming soon...

Funeral Webcasting Press Release

2010-02-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Frazer Consultants Offers Affordable, Convenient Webcasting Solution

Integrated software allows funeral homes to bring families spread out
around the world together for a loved-one’s final tribute

Contact: Matt Frazer
866-372-9372

Waunakee, Wis. – As technology continues to advance and enhance the number of services available to families, Frazer Consultants has cleared two obstacles for funeral homes that would like to offer funeral webcasting as an option, but until now have been afraid of the added cost or the degree of difficulty to implement such a service.

With the introduction of its integrated DVD Tribute software with webcasting, Frazer offers a program that is easy-to-use; technologically reliable and priced to make sense for the funeral home and the families they serve.

The how-to process couldn’t be easier. After using the Tribute Center software to create a personalized video for the family, you can broadcast a service live, record it and later burn both to the same disc. “In the same software that allows a funeral home to create a DVD Tribute video is a webcasting application,” said Matt Frazer, president of Frazer Consultants. The obvious benefit is that a funeral director will only have to know how to use one software program, which is as easy to operate as point and click. All you need to go live is a video camera, laptop computer and a tripod. And making sure you have access to the web from any location is as easy as calling your cell phone provider.

If the family does not want a live webcast but still wants the service recorded, no problem. When the final version of the webcast is uploaded, it can be available online for viewing for 45 days at no extra charge. All the traffic will go through the funeral home’s web site and not to a secondary location.

An editing feature allows superfluous footage to be excised from the finished product, as well as allowing for the possibility of transitional edits between areas of the service. Also, the software offers the capability of superimposing titles or captions. “If the service is a multiple location, you put the live video on hold while you travel to the cemetery,” Frazer said. “You can insert a prepared slide that might say that ‘the webcast will resume at 1 p.m., we are currently en route to the cemetery.’” All these tools are available so it will be just point and click for the user. (Note: No matter what your user level we will be there to assist you every step of the way.)

“A lot of funeral homes think this is harder than it really is because they never had anyone show them how to do it,” Frazer said. “Once you actually see how this works, they will be confident that they can take the camera, set it up at the funeral home or in church and hit record. When the service is over, hit stop. It is that easy.”

Frazer has contracted with a state-of-the-art server company to ensure optimal quality and reliability from virtually any point around the world. “Let’s say that there is military personnel in Afghanistan or Iraq who wants to watch a service back in the states,” Frazer said. They will be able to log in, and since they offer hundreds of servers spread across the globe, they will connect with the server closest to their location and receive a high quality stream of the web cast.

“We’re built on a platform or a backend technology that will allow more than a million people to log on and view a service simultaneously,” Frazer said. “It was important to align ourselves with the best technology that is out there and that is what we did.”

Frazer added that the key to the service is affordable pricing that won’t drive up the funeral bill, nor does the service lock in the funeral home to a punitive contract. “We offer the service to funeral homes in two ways that makes the most sense,” he said. For funeral homes anticipating a high volume of webcasts per month, a $145 per month fee offers unlimited service on a month-to-month basis. For those not sure how many families will opt for this service, Frazer offers a pay-as-you-go model for $40 per service with no contract or minimums.

This program offers value on many levels. First, it connects a group of family and friends together to share in a solemn event no matter where they may be. Second, the end product for the family will be one disc that includes the video tribute and the recorded funeral. “What I think it does for the family and for the funeral home, it provides a lot more value on one disc for the family,” Frazer said. “And I think that funeral directors will see their order rate for the duplicates skyrocket.”

For more information please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com/WebcastingSoftware.aspx

Uniting Families Around the World for a Final Tribute Really Is As Easy as Point and Click

2010-02-19T15:01:00.000-08:00

By Matt Frazer

Today’s increasingly transient society is making it more difficult to bring family and friends together for scheduled events. And for unscheduled events, like the death of a relative or dear friend, it is often more difficult. Job commitments, travel considerations, finding sitters to watch small children and many other obstacles can make getting away to attend a funeral a logistical nightmare. There comes a point when a person realizes that despite their best efforts, it just isn’t going to happen.

However, even though families and friends spread out around the world, in some ways, the world is becoming smaller. Thanks to social networking sites, long-lost friends have now been found. And with video chat capabilities on the home computer, “seeing” old friends is even easier. But for those events that are truly once in a lifetime, technology can get you there.

The technology has existed for some time now. Video conferencing has allowed executives to “attend” meetings while still being able to tend to the home office. More recently, the technology has been used for some of life’s most solemn and poignant moments. As war raged on around the world, soldiers have been able to witness the services of a fallen comrade through an Internet connection at their base.

More frequently the general public has been asking their funeral directors about webcasting in order to allow relatives and friends to share in a tribute for a deceased loved one, no matter where they are. Funeral homes too have been exploring this technology to accommodate these wishes.

The reason why many funeral directors have been reluctant to embrace webcasting is a kind of a phobia about it, which calls into question the reliability of the technology. After all, the last thing a funeral director wants to tell a family is that there has been technical difficulties beyond his or her control. There is also the fear that maybe the funeral director might feel webcasting may be a little advanced, which would require an IT person being retained on staff. Further, both the funeral director and the family need to be wary of the costs involved to pull off such an event.

These are all valid concerns and before my company decided to introduce our new funeral webcasting solution, I made sure to address all of these concerns to win the confidence of both the family who wants this service and the funeral home that will provide it. The technology exists; it is just a matter of finding the right solution.

First, I researched a number of server companies to ensure optimal quality and reliability from virtually any point around the world. After all, once the service is started, keeping the video streaming is out of the funeral director’s hands. Tribute Center webcasting is built on a platform, or a backend technology, that will allow more than a million people to log on and view a service simultaneously. To accomplish this, it was important to align ourselves with the best technology that is out there and that is exactly what we did.

Let’s say that there are troops in Afghanistan or Iraq who want to watch a service back in the states. They will be able to log in, and since our streaming server company offers literally hundreds of servers spread across the globe, they will connect with the server closest to their location and receive the highest quality stream possible of the web cast.

Next, we specifically had the funeral home in mind. The Tribute Center software is the same software that allows a funeral home to create a DVD tribute video in the funeral home. But now in the same software program it has an application for webcasting so it is an integrated solution. The huge benefit for the funeral home is that it only has to know how to use one software program. If you can make a Tribute DVD you will be able to make a web cast with point and click. All you need to go live is a video camera, laptop computer and a tripod. And making sure you have access to the web from any location is as easy as calling your cell phone provider for wireless Internet service.

Before the service, the software will allow the funeral director to create a unique, personal video tribute for the family. Then, after they finish, the staff can prepare the service for the webcast. The hardest part of the preparation will be where to set up the camera and tripod to get the best vantage point of what will take place.

Later, whether the service is broadcast live and/or recorded, it can be burned onto one disc with the video tribute. It’s a convenient memento for the family, and it is easy for the funeral home to produce and run off as many additional copies as the family requests. If the family doesn’t choose a live webcast, the service can be recorded and uploaded later. There is always a substantial number of people who want to see the service live, but others will only be able to watch it when time permits. When the final version of the webcast is uploaded, it can be available online for viewing for 45 days at no extra charge. All the online traffic will go through the funeral home’s own web site and not to a secondary location.

I think a lot of funeral directors have shied away from offering webcasting for so long because they assume that it is harder than it really is, and because they never had anyone show them how to do it. Once they actually see how this works, they will be confident that they can take the camera, set it up at the funeral home or in church and hit record. When the service is over, hit stop. It is that easy.

Just as easy are some editing tools built into the software that allow you to create a more professional presentation. What if there is a delay before the start of the service? Any superfluous footage can easily be edited out. Or what if the family only wants to use just a portion of the whole webcast, that’s easy to do too. The software also allows for titles or captions to be added to the video. If they are moving location, if you start at the funeral home to do the visitation and you put the video on hold while you travel to the cemetery, you can insert slides with the funeral home’s logo that might say, “The webcast will resume at 1 p.m., we are currently en route to the cemetery.” These tools are available so it will be just point and click for the user.

Finally, we look at the cost to do this. As I said, the funeral home does not have to invest in a lot of equipment since many probably already have what they need — a video camera, tripod, laptop and connecting cable. Plus, we offer some convenient terms that are based on how well the program works within your community. If it is very popular, a funeral home might want to consider a monthly charge of $145 for unlimited usage. For those who would like to try it out, and see how popular it is within the community, we offer a pay-as-you-go rate of $40 per service. And there is never any contract, and the funeral home pays for only what they use.

The many funerals of celebrities that were broadcast in 2009 helped many in the general public grieve and heal. By offering webcasting to your families you give them the option to say goodbye to all the important people in their lives — let everyone, both near and far, deal with his or her own grieving process and allow them to move toward healing.

Tribute Video a Healing Tool for Those Who Grieve

2010-02-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

Sorting, selecting and viewing photos of loved ones a cathartic way to begin the healing process, says developer of funeral home memorial DVD software.
WAUNAKEE, WI – (Feb. 12, 2010) Loss automatically triggers memory. So when someone loses someone close to them, a common scene would be the survivors picking up the photo album or pulling out an old home movie or video.

The funeral industry has been challenged by consumers to make memorial services more personal and reflective of the essence of the individual. With the help of Frazer Consultants, a funeral home can deliver to a family the personal experience they are asking for.

“Tribute videos, picture collages and online memorials are an integral part of 21st century bereavement ritual,” said Matt Frazer, a funeral consultant from Frazer Consultants, LLC. “Face it. Images are a powerful facet of our culture. Just look at the visuals on CNN coming from Haiti, the photos in magazines after 9/11, the pictures in tabloids and the popularity of Facebook, YouTube and digital cameras. They’re all image-based. That phenomenon has carried over to the funeral industry, too.”

Frazer’s Wisconsin-based funeral consulting firm has recognized these societal changes and has responded. Its Tribute Center offers varied technical services and products, including its newly launched video tribute software.

“I think a video tribute is one of the most compelling tools a funeral home can use to help their families in the grieving process. The combination of music and images helps evoke emotion that offers healing. The process of going home to gather, sort and select photos one by one can play an integral part in the healing process. It comforts the living, and honors the memory of the person who has passed,” said Frazer.

However, cautioned Frazer, relying on companies not in the funeral business is always a little risky.

“Delayed delivery and mistakes are a constant worry, and it’s expensive to use those second-tier services,” he said. “Trying to do a memorial video yourself under pressure isn’t such a good idea either. Outdated, off-the-shelf video tools can be frustrating and stressful, and there’s no technical help available if you run into glitches. That’s why my company decided to do something about this problem. Our software has been six years in the making, but we think we’ve got a winner!”

A funeral home using Frazer Consultants video tribute software can offer a grieving family:

• A video for the visitation hours and funeral service

• Unlimited selection of pictures to honor loved one

• Automatic photograph touch-up

• Access to large library of video clips

• Option to download songs or use music library

• Varied backgrounds and Life Journey themes

• Automatic transition and music sync features

• Professional motion effects for still photos

• Ability to post tribute video on Internet

• Memorial DVDs for family and friends

Frazer Consultants currently is offering a complimentary trial demo. For more information, go to http://www.frazerconsultants.com/ or call 866-372-9372.

Ride the Technology Wave to Improved Quality, Service

2010-02-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

By Matt Frazer

The best thing about today’s new technology is you can do so much more than was thought possible 10, or even 5 years ago. But also, what you can do today is so easy that you don’t need a degree from M.I.T. to use it.

You hardly hear anyone digging up that old expression, “he can’t even program a VCR.” I guess when the technology becomes obsolete so do the expressions. “He can’t even program a DVR” just doesn’t sound right. And besides, who can’t program a DVR? The old family VCR has joined items once thought of as household staples in the technology museum. I think the VCR is on display right along side of the fax machine. Does anyone use a fax machine any more? Really?

Twenty years ago, those households that had home computers used them pretty much super word processors. A 40-kilobite hard drive and 3 megabytes of RAM was all we were going to need, right? Now the home computer is the home entertainment center — a sound system, a TV, video player, video recorder, etc.

But technology is often boiled down into “bells and whistles” except when it answers the question, “how does this help me?”

As funeral directors, every firm’s mission revolves around providing the best possible service to families who are seeking a unique, personalized tribute to a loved one. Is there anything more disappointing to a family than going home after saying goodbye, thinking back at the service and concluding that funeral could have been for almost anyone — so rote, so generic.

Technology has provided the tools in the funeral director’s tool belt to allow him or her to rise to the challenge and creating a meaningful memorial. And the personalized service should start the minute the family walks through the door of the funeral home.

One of the most tangible areas where technology has intersected with personalization is in the area of the memorial products a funeral home can provide a family for a service. Usually the first thing a visitor will do upon entering the funeral home is sign his or her name to the register book, or select a memorial card. If you think about the memorial cards you might have taken from past visitations, should any two be alike? I don’t think so.

Sure there are a lot people who share the same hobbies or occupation. That’s not making something personal. At best, a funeral home that has some broadly themed stationery is just putting a family’s loved one into a fairly general subgroup.

The way to do personalization properly is to start with a blank piece of paper. Then shared memories are turned into words, and photographs are selected to create an iconic image that is personal, unique and specific. Recently, Frazer Consultants has introduced Life Journey Celebration Stationery, which leaves the generic behind and allows a funeral home to work with a family to commemorate a loved one’s life well lived — all from that same blank piece of paper.

The two technological components behind the Life Journey Celebration stationery include easy-to-use software and a printer that can handle your volume. The inspiration behind the Life Journey Celebration model is print-on-demand capabilities. The benefits are threefold. One, it reduces the need for a wide variety of preprinted inventory in your funeral home; two, you are not sweating out a delivery from a third party when a visitation is about to begin; and three, the funeral home will realize a significant savings on printing costs. Plus, no one will go home empty-handed because restocking supply is as easy as clicking “print.”
As I said earlier, not only is technology more comprehensive but also it is easy to use. The starting point for the Life Journey Celebration program is an easy-to-use software package that offers more than 450 themes available to capture a loved one’s interests, hobbies or occupation. Each theme includes a layout for a register book, memorial folder, prayer card, acknowledgement, bookmark, sign and DVD packaging to allow funeral directors to provide their families with personalized stationery that matches any interest, hobby, occupation or religious background.

The 450 themes offer quite an inventory, but it doesn’t end there. These themes merely act as a frame to allow a funeral home and a family to take the process a step further and incorporate personal family photos, which create a truly unique expression that reflects a wide range of personal memories of a loved one. Think about the “wow-factor” in the family’s eyes because the package allows for endless design possibilities.
Think of the bond forming between you and your families. You are engaged in personal conversations with a family, talking about their personal memories and sharing family photos. Think of how you can use this information in other aspects of your service.

To create the final product, a funeral home has the option to use its own printing equipment, or subscribe to one of Frazer’s three printing solution packages. Not every funeral home is going to want a high-end printer in their business office and I can’t blame them because the price to keep some these thirsty printers in toner can be prohibitive.

We spent two years researching the printing side of this equation and as a result we partner with two equipment manufacturers, with whom we have developed an equipment-leasing program where a funeral home can sign up for a fixed cost per page program. Each package is based on a per click charge that requires the funeral home only pay per page printed, which helps reduce expenses.

Per month, the funeral home would have to pay for the lease of the equipment (which is a standard 36-month term), anywhere from 6 to 8 cents per color print and 1 to 1.5 cents for a black and white print. Let’s say at the end of the month if they run 1,000 color prints, lets say they are set up at 6 cents a print, their costs are $60 for those color prints. Those same 1,000 prints would probably go through a full set of toners, which might cost about $600.

In a challenging economy, businesses that have more control over their costs enjoy a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

When you talk about personalization, how can a funeral home be happy if they only have seven or eight themed stationery packages? That’s a pretty narrow spectrum when you think about all the different interests, hobbies, occupations or religious backgrounds. What we’ve developed is a way for funeral homes to get rid of all of their preprinted stock. The only thing they have to inventory with us is blank, perforated stock.
For the family, they don’t have to be confined to a memorial template to create a personal tribute to a loved one, Life Journey Celebration Stationery lets every family create their own.

The response has been tremendous.

“I have never seen a more personal, professional product that generates more public awareness than the Frazer line,” says Marty Mitchell, owner of the Mitchell Family Funeral Home, Marshalltown, Iowa. “We find that the memorial folders are being kept, people who normally don't notice, do notice and we have the chance to be proactive on this product in the community.”

In time, a family member or friend will be going through a scrapbook or prayer book and they will see this memento created with the Life Journey Celebration package. You know what, not for a second will they wonder from whose funeral did that card come from. It could be from only one.

For more information, please visit our website.

Life Journey Celebration Stationery Video

2010-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT1oeMBfEXA

Personalized Funeral Stationery

2010-02-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

Frazer Consultants Riding the New Wave
in Funeral Home Stationery

Life Journey Celebration Stationery Offers Endless Creative Possibilities
And Cost Savings for the Funeral Home

Waunakee, Wis. – The way to do personalization properly is to start with a blank piece of paper. Then shared memories are turned into words, and photographs are selected to create an iconic image that is personal, unique and specific. Frazer Consultant’s new Life Journey Celebration Stationery leaves the generic behind and allows a funeral home to work with a family to commemorate a loved one’s life well lived — all from that same blank piece of paper.

“The current state of printing technology and our own research has created a perfect storm that could revolutionize the funeral home stationery process,” says Matt Frazer, president of Frazer Consultants. The company’s print-on-demand concept reduces the need for a wide variety of inventory and the funeral home will realize a savings on printing costs.

The starting point for the Life Journey Celebration program is an easy-to-use software package that offers more than 450 themes available to capture a loved one’s interests, hobbies or occupation. Each theme includes a layout for a register book, memorial folder, prayer card, acknowledgement, bookmark, sign and DVD packaging to allow funeral directors to provide their families with personalized stationery that matches any interest, hobby, occupation or religious background.

These themes act as a frame to allow a funeral home and a family to take the process a step further and incorporate personal family photos to create a truly unique expression that reflects personal memories of a loved one. The possibilities are endless.

To create the final product, a funeral home has the option to use its own printing equipment, or subscribe to one of Frazer’s three printing solution packages. “We have fixed low cost-per-page programs,” Frazer says. “Each package is based on a per click charge that requires the funeral home only pay per page printed, which helps reduce expenses. In a challenging economy, businesses that have more control over their costs enjoy a competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

The Life Journey Celebration program delivers the “wow-factor” for the family because the package allows for endless design possibilities. “When you talk about personalization, how can a funeral home be happy if they only have seven or eight themed packages? That’s a pretty narrow spectrum when you think about all the different interests, hobbies, occupations or religious backgrounds,” Frazer says. “What we’ve developed is a way for funeral homes to get rid of all of their preprinted stock. The only thing they have to inventory with us is blank, perforated stock.”
For the family, they don’t have to be confined to a memorial template to create a personal tribute to a loved one, Life Journey Celebration Stationery lets every family create their own.

For more information, visit our web site at www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372. For questions, comments, or interviews, please contact Matt Frazer at 608-467-1494.

New 8.5 x 14 Tri-fold Programs!

2009-11-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a way to take your Funeral Stationery to the next level, you might want to consider our new Life Journey Tri-fold programs. With over 450 themes available, this is our most premium offering available.

For more information, please visit our website here.

50 New Life Journey Themes!

2009-11-24T13:44:00.001-08:00

Frazer Consultants now has over 450 Life Journey themes available! We have a theme for every single interest, hobby, occupation, and religious background. For more information about our Life Journey Celebration Stationery, please visit our website by clicking here.

To view all of our over 450 themes click here.

New Tribute Center Video Software!

2009-11-24T13:38:00.000-08:00

Frazer Consultants is proud to announce the release of our brand new Tribute Center dvd software! With over six years of development, we have released the premiere software solution that allows funeral home clients to create world class tribute videos in-house, in minutes!

For more information visit our Tribute Center page here.