Answering Service for Directors recently noted a significant achievement when it implemented version update 10,000 to the company’s answering service system, which is known as StationMaster (SM). Marty Czachor Jr., vice president and co-owner, custom-designed ASD’s state-of the-art telephone answering computer system in the mid-1990s.

The system has proved highly adaptable and customizable, and ASD’s ability to continually refine SM has enabled the company to develop features and tools specifically for the funeral profession.

One of the most significant previous updates was the development of the ASD Mobile app, introduced in 2011. It integrated directly with SM, giving directors the ability to review all communications, update on-call instructions on their ASD accounts, send service details for ASD to relay to callers and set up automated communication methods, such as texting and push notifications.

In the most recent major update, ASD sought to expand the company’s remote capabilities. Long before the pandemic, the company began to explore how staff could work effectively from home during major weather events and, eventually, established an ultra-secure VoIP link that call specialists use to easily access SM from home computers. When COVID-19 hit, ASD was able to seamlessly transition to a work-from-home model. ASD’s in-house technology team spent the better half of 2020 upgrading computer hardware and software, and implementing custom improvements to handle COVID-19-related requests.

Said Kevin Czachor, ASD vice president and co-owner: “…What [my brother] Marty and his team have been able to achieve is truly remarkable. StationMaster is Marty’s creation – he began programming it more than 25 years ago and has never stopped looking for ways to make it better. …Innovation is such a huge part of ASD’s company DNA, and none of it would be possible without Marty creating that very first version of StationMaster.” myasd.com