V. Product Description a. Technological Specifications i. Description of Hardware/Software My product will be the physical caskets I make as well as the software that allows you to make it. The software will allow customers to choose all the options they want and personalize their arrangements. The software will go step by step showing the available options for each category such as color, material, and size. There will be a list showing the cost of each option, what option was chosen and the total estimated cost based on what options were chosen. Then once all the options are chosen, the item will be paid for and the information will be stored with us and added to the customers will. The customer can then choose a payment plan or pay for it all at once. The material for the casket will be purchased and stored waiting to be assembled and shipped when they are needed. In order to assemble them I will need a metal pressing machine, plasma cutters and robotic riveters. Those machines will actually form the shape and put the product together and then the workers will be able to paint it and add details before it is moved to the final assembly line where it is inspected for defects and is shipped. ii. Web Connectivity My website will use Verizon FiOs as our internet service provider. We will use the 2nd fastest connection that has speeds of 35 megabytes per second both upload and download. This plan will work best because it is fast enough to stream live video, upload/download large files, and handle multiple transactions at once. I chose Verizon because they have a fiber optic system that is very reliable and faster than most other internet service providers. It will cost $95 a month to maintain but should be able to handle most of our needs. I will design my website with 1&1 website builder. I will pay one of their webmasters to design my website how I want it. They have very cheap websites with interactive tools, such as slide shows and sound with moving graphics. I want these tools on my site because I feel they are easy to use and grab people attention. It would only cost me $30 a month and it has more than enough space and can handle more people than I expect to have as of right now. For encryption I will use VeriSign’s best package, security pro, which will cost $2,700 for 2 years of service. I will use VeriSign’s service because they have higher brand recognition rates that MacAfee or other competitors. I will be able to have a green address bar, lock symbol, as well an animated V that will include a link to VeriSign’s page with my certificate on it. This way I can ensure that my customers feel safe when shopping online. Also, because most internet shoppers are tech savvy I will also use Google’s check out tool in order to create a safe and reliable way for people to buy things from my website. Google’s tool makes it very easy for repeat customers to buy from me, they simply sign in and click buy. This will make a quick, easy and even safer buying experience for my shoppers. In order to prevent Credit card fraud we will have software that will alert us of suspicious activity, such as large orders, or a strange combination of “normal” activity such as express delivery to an address that is different than the billing address and they don’t wan to sign for the package. The combination of these three things can trigger a red flag that this person may not be who they say they are. It is rare that a customer that it honest would do such a thing. Google’s checkout tool will also help protect my company from fraud as all orders submitted through Google are automatically and extensively checked for possible fraud. I will also require a phone number from customers in case a problem occurs with their order. For very large orders I will also require a signature at delivery confirming that they received the product and possibly phone confirmation that they really want that many and it was not a mistake or even a second phone number and credit card from someone that will pay for it if the original person cannot, like with cars. (assuming someone ever actually wanted to buy that much) b. Website Functionality The websites home page will have a description of what our company is and how we can help you. It will also have a large button that says “make an account.” The first thing a customer needs to do is make an account so we can store the product information for them as they select what they want. This will allow them to make several different designs over the course of more than one sitting and they do not need to finalize anything until final checkout. The top of all of my pages will have a “sign in” and “sign out” button as well as several tabs that will allow them navigate to their account page, go to the customization tool page, see estimated costs, and contact customer support.