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Businesses and corporations are rapidly lumping on the Internet band wagon, setting up Web sites with the aim of giving customers more details of company products and services. In fact many companies are now investigating the potential of selling over the Worldwide Web, using electronic commerce to promote and sell their goods.

Companies you wouldn't expect are now branching out into this new domain, to offer greater information to an increasingly demanding consumer society. With such large amounts of money being invested in the development of an information age, promoting new Web sites to potential customers is of the up most importance. However, in the rush to get online it would appear that many companies have forgotten to inform their own staff of the new changes.

IT experts and corporations may be keen to tell us that society is on the brink of an information revolution, but in reality just how informed are we?

Internet Business Magazine decided to put companies to the test to see whether or not they were making the most of their Web site's potential.

Phoning a random cross section of businesses, researchers asked receptionist for their company's Web site address. In all, 100 companies were telephoned. The results revealed that at reception level only 31 per cent of businesses who had Web sites could inform us of their Web site address.

In fact at this level a staggering 38 per cent didn't know what a Web address was, often confusing Web addresses with e-mail addresses -interesting, since the reception is normally the first port of call for any prospective client.

Of the remaining 69 per cent of companies that didn't know their Web address, 60 per cent had to transfer the call to another department, which in most cases was either the IT or the marketing department. The remaining 9 per cent told us to ring back later when "the man who knows" would be back in the office.

These results suggest that internal communications within many companies are poor and in need of improving, as Iain McLeod, managing director of the multimedia production company, Easy says. "Your findings are not so much a reflection on the business world's lack of commitment to the Internet, as it is a reflection on bad internal communications within businesses. It's not the receptionists fault if they don't understand something they haven't been briefed about by the company they work for.

McLeod says that it is a management and marketing issue. [It’s] something which needs to be addressed quickly if businesses want to make the most out of the Web sites they have spent money implementing. At the moment companies don't seem to be thinking about allocating a budget for staff training sessions. It's ridiculous that they are prepared to spend thousands of pounds on Internet technology, but then don't think, or want, to put aside a little money to let staff know about these new systems."

Of course, not being able to give a Web site address could have the same implications as not being able to give a company phone number or mailing address. At the moment however, it appears that UK companies are not realising the full potential of the Web. Jo Cook, marketing officer at Web specialist firm, Corpex, compares the attitudes of UK businesses to that of their American counterparts. "The Internet on the whole hasn't taken off in the UK yet. And it certainly hasn't got to the stage that America is at, where every company is Internet focused. So far the Internet is not seen as a priority in many companies minds."

Cook says that many companies are jumping on the Internet bandwagon without taking the time to think about how it could improve their business. "At the moment companies are getting domain names because everyone else is and because if they don't have one it seems backwards. It will take time for people to start using the technology to its maximum."

This is a view echoed by Roger Willcocks, managing director of Intelligent Environments. He was not surprised at the results of the Internet Business survey. "Web sites are still a fairly new phenomenon, and as yet haven't been fully integrated into the corporate culture. Although, obviously, specific departments within companies would know about the Web site, as yet the Web is not universally perceived as a business and information tool that everyone within the company should know about. It is not enough that just the IT department knows the company Web address. As receptionists are the first line of contact that clients have with a company, they should be able to give out Web addresses just as they would give out the company fax number or postcode."

Although Willcocks is aware of the need for greater internal communications, he believes things will increase over time. "The integration of the Internet within companies will take time. It is a cumulative thing, but things will change eventually."

Although the responsibility for promoting Web sites ultimately falls on the shoulders of the company itself, Web design and consultancy firms surely have some part to play in the Web promotion process. Judy Perraton, communications director for Web construction and consultancy firm Denaploy Web Sites, believes that it is part of her job to advise businesses of the best ways to promote their Web site once it is up and running. If you've got it, flaunt it", she remarks.

Publicising Web presence off line is seen as just as important as online marketing. Promoting a Web site should not be done in isolation, but rather as one part of a whole company marketing strategy," Perraton says. "Marketing online by registering with search engines and directories is obviously important, but we also advise our customers to put their Web address on all their literature, on letter heads and business cards and on all corporate advertisements.

Commenting on the amount of calls that had to be transferred from reception to other departments, Cook at Corpex said that a Web address should be perceived as a company project, rather than a specific department's creation. It is only when the gap between departments is bridged that information will be easily accessible to the enquiring customer.

"Too often Web sites are seen to be the domain of one particular department. It is seen as the IT department's project, which they don't want to share, specifically if it's very new and they are still finding their feet a bit. Internal communications must improve, presence on the Internet needs to be accepted and seen as a priority before the medium can become accessible to all corporate staff.

Mark Kingsley.Williams of Digital Realty, an e-commerce Web design and consultancy firm, has similar views on the fundamental importance of a Web site marketing campaign. If companies won't organise a budget for promoting the Web site, then I would probably tell them it is not worth them having a site in the first place. There's no point having a Web site if you are not prepared to spend some money telling people it exists. The marketing campaign for a new Web site should concentrate on both online and off line environments and should not be done as a stand alone thing that is separate from the rest of the business. It should be integrated into the company and be as prominent a company detail as their fax or telephone number. Staff should be made aware of it and be able to refer to it whenever necessary.

Promoting a Web site is even more important for companies who are using the Internet to sell products or services. The Halifax, for instance, has just announced the launch of a new Web site devoted to selling travel insurance. Chris Sonne, a Halifax spokesman, says that the Halifax went about promoting the site in a number of different ways. It made sure all its brochures and leaflets were updated with the new Web address added, it sent out news releases to the press and informed all its business contacts within the personal finance world of the new method of doing business. The Halifax also has an internal marketing strategy, designed to inform all staff of the new Internet site.

In all Halifax offices and branches we have an internal communication system called Halifax TV news, which has up to date information on the Halifax to help educate our own staff about new systems and services," Sonne says. "A circular would also have been distributed to all staff, so hopefully staff throughout the company have been told about the Web site.

'There's no point having a Web site if you are not prepared to spend some money telling people it exists staff, so hopefully staff throughout the company have been told about the Web site, what it's there for and the Web address. The Halifax is only in its infancy in using the Internet but already we can see the opportunities, which more companies should be exploiting. The Halifax realised that it needed marketing support to help educate staff about the new system of doing business."

Companies that are prepared to spend money on internal as well and external marketing are clearly the ones that will succeed, as McLeod at Easy i explains. "Easy i has conducted a similar survey to the one carried out by Internet Business Magazine]. We found that reception staff at Marks and Spencers and John Lewis knew the company Web address. This is probably because both these companies have an excellent reputation for dedicating time and money to promoting internal communications by organising staff briefings and training sessions. These companies have succeeded in bridging the gap between the IT and Marketing departments and the rest of the corporate work force."

Another company that seems to have a strong internal communication system is The Body Shop. As yet it has not started selling products on line, but it has a Web site that The Body Shop believes is an add-on to its shops. Blair Palese, Head of PR at The Body Shop, believes that the reason many receptionists aren't informed about the company Web address, is because many companies see their Web presence as an add-on, rather than an essential element of their business program.

"Until electronic commerce really takes off a lot of businesses see the Web site as only an add-on information service for keen Web surfers." Palase says. "Until the Internet becomes the main way of doing business, companies will be transferring their calls to the specific departments who would have more information than the receptionists." Palase seems neither shocked nor concerned about the results of the Internet Business survey, and the sort of communication system that the results suggest companies have. This is probably because a sound corporate communications system is part of The Body Shop's philosophy.

"Although it is company policy to put the Web address on absolutely all customer materials, it is also company policy to keep staff as updated as possible on all our Internet activities." says Palase. "We have an internal bulletin board with details about The Body Shop, which is available to all office staff. We actively encourage our staff to surf the Net themselves, to look up things that interest them, so that they can get a better understanding of how the Internet works and what it can be used for. Throughout the organisation there are workstations, or what we call 'learning centres'. The learning centres have Internet access and are there for those (members of staff] who don't have a desktop PC of their own but want to know more about the Internet as an information medium."

Palese says that The Body Shop also arranges staff briefings in the form of cinema presentations for those who are interested. "We don't force staff to use any of these facilities but they are there for anyone who wants to learn more about Internet technology," she explains. However despite some companies valiant efforts to improve communications and promote their Web addresses, there are still a large amount, 69 per cent in fact, who, simply by failing to let the people at the front line of their businesses know the company URL, are failing to give their Web sites the coverage they deserve.

(This article was originally printed in the May issue of Internet Business Magazine)