McCoy Myers Training and Conversion
In the over twenty-year history of McCoy Myers, the company has completed more than two hundred conversions. McM takes pride in and bases its reputation on the fact that it has never backed out of a conversion or missed a conversion date.
McCoy Myers wants your transition to our banking system to be as seamless as possible. We pride ourselves on pleasing our customers. Our job of planning your conversion begins the day that you sign a contract with our company. We normally like to have four to six months from the date of contract signing to the date of conversion.
Pre-Conversion Meeting
Shortly after contract signing, McM will send representatives to your bank for a pre-conversion meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to complete a pre-conversion workbook that aids in gathering necessary information and understanding how your current system functions; the meeting also gives your bank an idea of what information we need from you. This meeting also helps to identify significant differences between the two systems and allows us to explore options that might exist. A PERT chart showing a "Conversion Timeline List" will also be provided that outlines all the tasks that need to be accomplished. This chart will designate responsibility for each task by placing either a bank or McM employee's name by each task. There will also be dates specifying when each task is to be finished.
McM representatives will also hold a detailed discussion related to your bank's current products. Detailed information regarding your bank's CDs, Loans, DDA/Savings accounts, G/L, and ancillary products (such as ATM, report archival, internet, voice, other interfaces, etc.) will help our staff begin the migration to Meridian . Our conversion team and programming staff will use this information to help implement a banking system that will meet your bank's core processing needs.
File Conversion
McM will typically ask the bank to obtain and deliver a complete set of test files and file layouts from your current vendor within two weeks after contract signing. These files are used by the programmers to write conversion programs that take information from your current system and put it over into the proper fields of the Meridian software.
McM will also request specific baseline reports to accompany the test files and again for the final set of conversion files. We use these reports to get control totals to balance back to as well as to verify the converted data once it is successfully moved over to the McM system.
Management Meeting
In this step, we ask your bank's management to attend a two-day meeting at the corporate offices in Amarillo . During this time, we will define and set the following system parameters:
- NSF and OD Rates and Charges
- DDA Statement Cycle Information
- Service Charges
- Interest Calculations
- Float Table Parameters
- Notice Parameters
- Safe Deposit Box Rates and Sizes
- Loan Prime Keys
- Past Due Loan Report and Notice Parameters
- Loan Collateral Codes
- CD Classes, Rates, and Penalties
- General Ledger Account Structure
- ACH & Cash Letter Settlement
- Teller # Cash In/Out Setup
These are just a few of the many parameters that will be considered and set in order to have your system function properly with regard to the specifications of your bank. The bank is encouraged to bring whomever they want to help with this task, but someone with decision-making authority is required to attend.
Computer Equipment Installation
McM will typically install the computer equipment one week prior to the date of your application training classes. We will also work with you or your network company to train someone on how to install the Meridian software client on each of your bank's PC's so that you can run the Meridian banking software. A copy of your bank's test files, as converted up to that point, will be put on the new computer system so that your staff can train on them during the upcoming application classes. If you are going onto a data center bank, we ask that you have your communications line in and ready by this time as well.
Application Training Classes (On-Site Training)
Approximately two weeks before the conversion date, McM will hold a week-long training class at your bank. Over the years, we have found that banks are typically not able to have most of their staff away from the bank to attend training classes, so we have started taking the classes to the bank. We have a standard training schedule that can be customized to best fit your bank employees' schedules. The person at your bank in charge of the conversion coordination will typically work closely with the McM person in charge of your conversion to establish the course layout of these classes. We do ask that your bank provide us with a boardroom or some similar facility in which we can hold training classes. If the bank has no such place, then the option of your bank employees coming to our location for training is always available.
If you have multiple branches, we highly encourage you to include these people in the application training rotation because we do not send personnel out to the various branch locations at training or conversion. This method of training has proven to allow us to train more of your employees with less cost and interruption incurred by the bank.
We typically bring in a network of four laptops and a projector that can be set up and used as a portable training environment; we will conduct the training on them. If your bank has or can set up a training facility, we will gladly work with you to coordinate and utilize that facility for training. We also ask for the bank's cooperation in allowing us to have uninterrupted time with your people while holding these classes so that we can make the most of the training time while we are there.
Proof /Imaging Equipment Installation and Training
Your proof and imaging equipment is typically installed the week of your conversion. Installation of the new proof capture system usually begins on the Thursday prior to the conversion. Hands-on training begins Friday morning so that we can help you capture live work, prepare the outgoing cash letter, and have Friday's work ready to process when the conversion team arrives on the following Sunday. We also have someone there to continue to provide hands-on training with you during the week of conversion.
Final Day on Existing Core System
The final day on your existing core system is typically on a Thursday night. On Thursday evening, you will have requested your current vendor to drop all of your DDA and Savings Statements (paying all accrued interest on these DDA/Savings accounts), produce all necessary de-conversion reports, prepare de-conversion files to be sent to McM (via secure e-mail or FTP site, CD-ROM, or tape), and print any other specific reports required by your bank. The bank will be responsible for seeing that the de-conversion files are delivered to McM's Amarillo office as early as is possible the following Friday morning so we can begin the conversion process. If physical media is being delivered, it is requested that two copies be sent in the event that one cannot be read. The earlier the de-conversion files arrive, the better. Once the files arrive, McM will begin to process them through the conversion programs. In the meantime, we ask that the bank send us a copy of how they balanced each application back to the general ledger for Thursday's update as well as the ending teller, vault, and ATM cash balances for Thursday night. McM will then balance each of the converted applications back to the control totals derived from the conversion reports and review the converted data for accuracy.
Conversion/Installation Team
The Conversion/Installation team will arrive at your bank at a predetermined time Sunday afternoon following your conversion Friday. They will copy down the converted information and begin the processing of Friday's work. Sunday afternoon and evening will be spent with the installation team evaluating information they may need while inputting and processing Friday's work. This will normally take four to six hours for banks with assets of $100 million and less. The time could vary somewhat for larger institutions or banks with significant volume. Note this is not a training day--it is intended to get Friday's work posted and get the bank updated and ready for business on Monday. You are typically asked to have someone from each department of the bank present and someone who can help with any decisions that might need to be made. If you wish to have others there, you may, but the entire bank is not needed on this day.
Going "Live" on McM's Meridian Software
Your bank will begin work Monday morning using McM's Meridian banking software. There are typically four to five installation team members available to help assist in the various areas of bookkeeping, loans, new accounts, teller line, etc. Our team is there to provide hands-on training and immediate answers to your staff and customers. The installation team will be on-site to assist with the training of your staff throughout the remainder of the week. The training provided prior to conversion gives your employees a solid familiarity with the system so that they are able to get around in the system when the live conversion happens. The on-site training provided during the week of conversion resembles the immersion learning approach; where your employees learn to do their specific jobs in their own environment with McM support personnel on site to assist. McM typically leaves the bank at noon on Friday of that week; at which time the bank is instructed to begin obtaining help from our award-wining customer service department at our toll-free phone support number.
Follow Up Visit
Approximately six months after the conversion, a follow-up visit is made by one or two of the installers. It is our experience that this length of time allows the bank's employees to work through the initial training curve and develop a good basic foundation of how to use the system to accomplish their tasks. This length of time before the follow-up visit allows the employees to develop a list of quality questions with regard to how certain aspects of the system work and in what areas they truly need more guidance. The follow-up visit can then be used to answer these questions and focus attention on those specific areas of need or interest. Of course, our phone support is always available from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. McM also has support personnel on duty Monday through Friday until 10 pm for assistance with end-of-day updates and statement rendering.
Continuing Education
McM offers continuing education classes that are available throughout the year. These classes can be used for new employees or those desiring a better understanding of specific applications, or to help with a basic understanding of the system in the event of employee turnover.