Frequently Asked Questions About ErgoSuite
QUESTION: What Are Some of ErgoSuite's Key Features for Employees?
ANSWER: ErgoSuite provides digital ergonomics tools that help employees improve workstation setup, reduce discomfort, and prevent musculoskeletal strain and digital fatigue. These employee tools are available in 20 languages.
Some of the key employee features include:
Office Ergonomics Training
ErgoSuite provides web-based (Cloud or OnPrem) automated, action-based training for office, hybrid, and remote employees. The training integrates learning with real workstation adjustments, so employees immediately apply what they learn, and teaches them how to:
• Properly set up an existing or new ergonomic workstation
• Evaluate their own workstation and how they use it (behaviors)
• Identify ergonomic risk factors and self-correct them while taking the course
Ergonomic Self-Assessments
Employees can complete web-based (Cloud or OnPrem) guided self-assessments that evaluate their workstation setup. Assessment models are highly customizable and can be configured for different job roles and environments. These assessments help employees:
• Identify and self-correct ergonomic risks during the self-assessment
• Improve workstation positioning of equipment and furniture
• Receive a personalized report and action list of ergonomic best practice recommendations, if needed
Break Reminders and Behavioral Coaching
ErgoSuite provides intelligent activity-based break reminders and sit-stand coaching that help reduce physical and cognitive fatigue. This coaching system, designed for Windows and Mac, is based on ergonomic best practices refined over 25+ years of research and development in partnership with clients. The system:
• Suggests micro-breaks only at the times when needed to effectively reduce muscle strain and digital fatigue
• Develops automatic best practice behaviors in employees through intelligent coaching
• Built on 100 years of Applied Behavioral Analysis and Positive Reinforcement
HD Stretching Video Library
ErgoSuite includes high-definition stretching videos designed by orthopedic specialists. The videos help employees reduce muscle tension and maintain healthy posture during the workday. These videos:
• Demonstrate safe, gentle workplace stretches
• Are led by culturally diverse live coaches in business and casual attire
• Can be followed easily at an office or home workstation
Question: What Are Some of ErgoSuite's Key Features for ESH Professionals?
ANSWER: ErgoSuite also provides enterprise-grade tools that help ESH professionals, ergonomists, and safety teams manage workplace ergonomics programs at scale. These tools are available web-based (Cloud, or OnPrem deployments).
Some of the ESH and ergonomics management features include:
Professional Ergonomic Assessment Tools
ErgoSuite provides advanced assessment tools that support comprehensive ergonomic evaluations across an organization. These tools:
• Guide evaluators through structured assessments
• Learn from previous evaluations to streamline future assessments
• Support highly customizable ergonomic assessment models
• Helps ergonomists standardize assessments while maintaining flexibility
Case Management for Ergonomic Interventions
ErgoSuite includes centralized case management tools for managing ergonomic issues and employee requests. Employee satisfaction surveys, user feedback requests and automated follow-ups can reopen or close cases based on responses. This allows EHS teams to:
• Track employee ergonomic cases
• Record interventions and recommendations
• Collaborate with other professionals
• Schedule automated follow-ups and action items
Enterprise Risk Management and Ergonomic Analytics
ErgoSuite provides enterprise analytics that help organizations track ergonomic risk and employee discomfort across the workforce. The system enables teams to:
• Monitor ergonomic risk trends in real time
• Analyze workplace discomfort, training results, self-assessment results and over 400 risk metrics
• Generate automated reports, dashboards and insight-generating analyses
• Deliver scheduled or event-triggered reports which can be exported to formats including Excel, PDF, CSV, and TIFF.
Automated Employee Invitations and Communication Tools
ErgoSuite includes automated communication tools that help organizations engage employees in ergonomic programs. Administrators can:
• Send automated program invitations
• Customize email templates with rich text content
• Include images, links, and branding
• Track all communications for compliance and recordkeeping
Question: What do we need technically to use ErgoSuite?
ANSWER: ErgoSuite’s web-based tools are designed for Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari. ErgoSuite’s Desktop Tools are designed for Windows and MacOS.
ErgoSuite can be powered through our Secure Cloud, with SOC-2 Datacenters, or OnPrem in your own Private Cloud. OnPrem installation uses pure Microsoft Best Practices and takes 30 minutes one time.
Question: Is this very expensive?
ANSWER: Absolutely not. You can protect all of your computer users forever with ErgoSuite for less than the cost of one disabling injury. Every single one of our clients had no budget for ErgoSuite when they first discovered us – although they had budget for paying for injuries. As they started to explore and actually use the platform, they did the math and confirmed that they really would have a positive ROI very quickly, as measured by themselves. Thereafter, strong ROI, being measurable and sustainable, is the norm.
Question: We already have a service or some tools. Why should we switch to ErgoSuite?
ANSWER: We have many clients who, before upgrading to ErgoSuite, were using some type of service or tools and were either unsatisfied and/or suspected that they were paying way too much. We do not recommend switching unless you are looking for far more value, service and capability – at a far lower cost. Every week, we regularly help new clients switch over. Find out how much more value you will have and how much lower the cost will be. You’ll be quite surprised as you unlock significant new room in your budgets for other things.
Question: Is this a major project?
ANSWER: Hardly. With minimal effort, you can protect and empower employees with elegantly simple-to-use tools to self-determine and resolve many issues directly and, when needed, request further professional assistance. You shape and fully control the model. You can share the responsibility with your employees in a true partnership which will yield lower injury rates/costs, lower healthcare utilization and higher output and quality.
Question: Are you claiming some type of panacea?
ANSWER: Of course not. This is the very best of mainstream office ergonomics with a very effective and powerful edge since it’s mainstream ergonomics positively reinforced in real-time with employees. When we step back from the trees and look at the forest, the entire objective with training and workstation adjustment is to foster new behaviors in employees to work in neutral postures, provide recovery time during work and break up static postures. Almost 100 years of Applied Behavioral Analysis clearly shows that without Operant Conditioning it’s extremely unlikely for anyone to change their behavior since reinforcement is the most important principle of behavior and a key element of successful behavior change programs.
Question: What if we already have an office ergonomics program in place?
ANSWER: About half of our clients had excellent world-class office ergonomics programs in place (although that’s not required for ErgoSuite) long before using ErgoSuite yet they still experienced injuries. They discovered ErgoSuite to be a critical and effective positive reinforcement tool as well as an early warning system which helps them in their efforts to reduce office ergonomic injuries to zero. That is their goal. As a partner, we help clients set up this automated system which you control and which operates based on your business rules.
Question: We have very little in place. Do we need any prerequisites before we can begin?
ANSWER: A number of our clients have had almost nothing in place or had fragmented efforts in place around the organization. You do not need to have anything in place to begin. The right strategy and technology can take you from static infrastructure silos to an automated, high-density cohesive effort that transforms office ergonomics risk management. SmartErgo has the solutions you need to evolve with confidence.
Question: Won’t we just be chasing pennies?
ANSWER: Not one of our clients has the time to chase pennies. Beyond regulatory compliance, reducing risk, reducing injuries, reducing Workers Comp premiums, reducing healthcare utilization – productivity is significantly and sustainably increased when you reduce knowledge-worker fatigue. It’s working smarter. “You” will objectively measure and easily report on this within your own environment.
Question: Wait, we had tried another product and it didn't work. Can you help us overcome that?
ANSWER: You’re not alone. First, kudos for realizing that “proactive” is far more evolved than “reactive” in organizational management. We’re regularly approached by employers who’ve had a similar experience. While piloting ErgoSuite they quickly confirmed ErgoSuite’s effectiveness, unique flexibility, ease-of-use and engagement of employees. For these employers, transitioning to ErgoSuite is simply a matter of continuous improvement. Clients often report ErgoSuite is both the most effective and most inexpensive method to finally solve the problems and effectively help their employees.
Question: Is this going to be very complicated?
ANSWER: Respectfully, this is not the Hammurabi Code of ancient Babylonia. Big picture: 40 years of research, best practices and regulations developed, Fortune 100 holistic enterprise-wide long term continued use… Risk? Validation has been conducted over 25+ years. You can walk in the footsteps of giants, sleep comfortably and measure the rewards of your efforts.
Question: Will this take a lot of my time?
ANSWER: No. You’ll easily deploy ErgoSuite automatically from a central location. Choose from our many successful and customizable implementation models. To gain the benefits you simply plan your usage model, provide ErgoSuite, announce it to employees and begin.
Question: We're curious about the behavioral coaching tool. Does this tell people what to do?
ANSWER: Absolutely not. ErgoSuite knows your employees are not children. ErgoSuite treats your employees as adults and gently empowers them with easy-to-understand information and uniquely personalized biofeedback so “they” can manage their time on the computer. Over more than 25 years, clients have found this to be the only way for employees to genuinely accept their role in sharing in the responsibility for comfortable healthful behaviors while working on their computers.
Question: Can I get a discount?
ANSWER: Yes, contact us today and ask about our special programs making it affordable, easy and cost-effective for any employer to help and care for their office and remote employees.
Question: Is the platform customizable?
ANSWER: Certainly, all aspects of ErgoSuite can be tailored to our individual clients’ needs. From branding and logos to proprietary ergonomic content. Employees will see ErgoSuite as a solution provided by you. Many clients use ErgoSuite out-of-the-box as a plug-and-play solution, however, whatever you wish to adjust or change can be easily done. SmartErgo will help you with a solution specific to your needs.
Question: How can I get started?
ANSWER: It’s simple. Click on the “Contact” link at the top of this page and request an ErgoSuite demo. One of our experts will reach out to you in email to schedule a web conference. You’ll have an opportunity to see ErgoSuite in action and, if you wish, we can set you up with a no-obligation ErgoSuite Free Trial afterwards. You’ll have full access to a Production platform where you and your colleagues can explore and experience ErgoSuite first-hand.
Again, it’s quite simple. You can plan on that we will exceed your expectations. Conducting a pilot or trial of our solutions is easy.
We believe there should be no constraints placed on serious professionals exploring ErgoSuite and so your trial will be complete, full-featured, in production, and unconstrained.
During your trial, you will be provided full training and support as if you were already a client – all without limitation.
Our goals include providing you with whatever tools, information, training and support you need to be 100% comfortable with the platform within your own environment and culture. There is no substitute.