85% of the website traffic is generated by the search engines alone and 90% of the people do not go beyond the first three search pages.
My teenage son and his friends will not go beyond the first page "It is not relevant" thus it is imperative for marketers to be on the first page if not top 3 if targeting the teen market
They love Kijiji but don't use Craigslist. It is because Kijiji is always linked with EBay and offers better visuals.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
4+1 Excellent iPad apps for Presentations
4+1 Excellent iPad apps for Presentations
In the business world, meetings and presentations is what marketing and sales professionals do all the time. However, lugging around 50 lbs. of equipment is very tiring and yes there is a better way. What you need is an Apple iPad and a 3M pocket projector or a small lightweight Panasonic LCD D projector.
So all a busy professional needs is a simple app that allows the creation and transmission of PowerPoint’s and PDF presentations to an audience.
Here are several apps that I am using and have found to be very useful in my day to day activities.
Power Presenter
This app allows the display of a PowerPoint that s been converted to a PDF file. What’s cool about it is that you can mark on the slides with a pen or eraser, email the slides to your audience, or use the whiteboard function. Really $1.99 for an app that can help put a $1000 commission check in your pocket? Gotta love the world we live in today
2Screens Presentation Expert
This app like many others allows presenting, web browsing and whiteboard capabilities. What makes it unique is if you have an iPhone then you can use the 2Screens remote app to use your phone as a remote control. I am a RIM smartphone user so this isn’t of interest to me but my wife’s eyes lit “Hey can you get that for me?”
Sadun’s Whiteboard
Sadun is my new friend and he has a simple whiteboard app that allows different pens and colours to be drawn and projected onto a TV or projection screen. I love how he has the ability to add Text or photos into the slides and the useful undo and erase. Yes you can save and email to clients. The $2.99 is less than a Latte at Starbucks, have the latte anyways Starbucks needs the money to give you free Wi-Fi, just don’t buy a cookie.
Corkulous
I am blessed with 3 wonderful teenagers and they all have varying degrees of “visualness” in their genes. This gives the gift of being able to instantly visualize an idea and take it action. They all have asked for Cork Boards in their bedrooms. Corkulous is a powerful app that gives you an electronic corkboard where you can place photos, post notes, to do lists and info bits. It is really an idea board and the coolness is it can be emailed. Bring your lunch from home one day and save the $5 Subway Sandwich and get this app instead.
Penultimate
This app allows you to take notes and make drawings with your finger pen but I find a capacitive pen to be better. Take your notes and email them to a file. Save paper and save the planet but its going cost you $1.99
Presentation Clock
I may have to do a presentation in front of 3000 people. Sure its scary but I am worried about running out of time. Ever present 46 slides in 20 minutes? Boom Boom Boom your dead. The 7 slide rule is the king of all presentations. This app has a simple countdown timer that keeps you in check. If Moses Znaimer can drop $10k on a timer for his super wonderful IdeaCity conferences, I can be super simple and spend less than a New York Times Thursday newspaper (Hint it’s the food issue).
So for the busy executive or professional business person, you just spent over $700 bucks for a tablet and now you need to prove that is really useful and not just being used as a super 10” iPod for listening to the Best of Yes on the train into work.
Cheers…………… but don’t forget the $50 HDMI cable
In the business world, meetings and presentations is what marketing and sales professionals do all the time. However, lugging around 50 lbs. of equipment is very tiring and yes there is a better way. What you need is an Apple iPad and a 3M pocket projector or a small lightweight Panasonic LCD D projector.
So all a busy professional needs is a simple app that allows the creation and transmission of PowerPoint’s and PDF presentations to an audience.
Here are several apps that I am using and have found to be very useful in my day to day activities.
Power Presenter
This app allows the display of a PowerPoint that s been converted to a PDF file. What’s cool about it is that you can mark on the slides with a pen or eraser, email the slides to your audience, or use the whiteboard function. Really $1.99 for an app that can help put a $1000 commission check in your pocket? Gotta love the world we live in today
2Screens Presentation Expert
This app like many others allows presenting, web browsing and whiteboard capabilities. What makes it unique is if you have an iPhone then you can use the 2Screens remote app to use your phone as a remote control. I am a RIM smartphone user so this isn’t of interest to me but my wife’s eyes lit “Hey can you get that for me?”
Sadun’s Whiteboard
Sadun is my new friend and he has a simple whiteboard app that allows different pens and colours to be drawn and projected onto a TV or projection screen. I love how he has the ability to add Text or photos into the slides and the useful undo and erase. Yes you can save and email to clients. The $2.99 is less than a Latte at Starbucks, have the latte anyways Starbucks needs the money to give you free Wi-Fi, just don’t buy a cookie.
Corkulous
I am blessed with 3 wonderful teenagers and they all have varying degrees of “visualness” in their genes. This gives the gift of being able to instantly visualize an idea and take it action. They all have asked for Cork Boards in their bedrooms. Corkulous is a powerful app that gives you an electronic corkboard where you can place photos, post notes, to do lists and info bits. It is really an idea board and the coolness is it can be emailed. Bring your lunch from home one day and save the $5 Subway Sandwich and get this app instead.
Penultimate
This app allows you to take notes and make drawings with your finger pen but I find a capacitive pen to be better. Take your notes and email them to a file. Save paper and save the planet but its going cost you $1.99
Presentation Clock
I may have to do a presentation in front of 3000 people. Sure its scary but I am worried about running out of time. Ever present 46 slides in 20 minutes? Boom Boom Boom your dead. The 7 slide rule is the king of all presentations. This app has a simple countdown timer that keeps you in check. If Moses Znaimer can drop $10k on a timer for his super wonderful IdeaCity conferences, I can be super simple and spend less than a New York Times Thursday newspaper (Hint it’s the food issue).
So for the busy executive or professional business person, you just spent over $700 bucks for a tablet and now you need to prove that is really useful and not just being used as a super 10” iPod for listening to the Best of Yes on the train into work.
Cheers…………… but don’t forget the $50 HDMI cable
Cisco Networkers - Toronto May 19 2011 Recap
Cisco Networkers - Toronto May 19 2011 Recap
The annual pilgrimage out to the Congress Center for a day of learning, sharing and collaboration was here once again. This was the busiest conference ever with lots of customers and vendors in attendance. The Cisco keynote speaker was Dr. Guido Jouret who provided insights into where Cisco is heading especially in the video and cloud network/computing space. The star draw was Mike Holmes of The HGTV show Holmes on Homes who brought a different spin on things. I was sure he was talking about the Human-Powered Deck being IP ready at one point.
The day is all about learning from the 25 speakers. I enjoyed the SIP Trunking where an excellent presentation was put forth with scenarios in a centralized, distributed and hybrid configuration. Thanks to Daryl Sladden for a copy of his Cisco Press book on the subject. MTS Allstream being a leading SIP Trunking provider for the past 8 years with many customers shows we couldn't care less about cannibalizing PRI rates or Centrex contracts. SIP is here to stay with some new announcements to be made soon. SIP offers cost savings and lends itself to cloud infrastructure very easily.
The other sessions I needed to attend included "Enterprise Cloud Computing" which is the entire buzz word these days and the Wi-Fi 3G offload solution overview. 3G operations was very relevant as many of my retail customers are looking for 3G backup in case of DSL line failure and it can use the new series 8xx routers.
This year Cisco ran an interesting iPhone and Blackberry app for the event called simply “Cisco Events”. I got a chance to try it and it was amazingly a lot of fun. It gave you program highlights, reference materials and a host of social networking apps. I was able to Twitter out comments throughout the day, post up onto the Facebook event site, and share with other users. You loaded it by simply doing a QR code scan with your iPhone.
Conference users were able to use their smartphones to "check in "their attendance at partner booths and Cisco demos to earn badges for a chance to win a Blackberry Playbook. What I found very interesting was they put the QR code at the beginning of the conference guidebook initiating an easy download onto their device and had users up and tweeting in no time. The app included a QR reader for getting more information at booths displaying their symbols. However, I know for sure most booths weren’t QR friendly but this feature is starting to catch on. This will be the new way to use the conference apps going forward and many others will use it and it makes a lot of sense. As an example, those in attendance at Blackberry World all got Playbooks with the RIM Conference app preloaded.
So at the end of a long day of attending the business and technical sessions you come to the realization that it definitely was a day well spent.
The annual pilgrimage out to the Congress Center for a day of learning, sharing and collaboration was here once again. This was the busiest conference ever with lots of customers and vendors in attendance. The Cisco keynote speaker was Dr. Guido Jouret who provided insights into where Cisco is heading especially in the video and cloud network/computing space. The star draw was Mike Holmes of The HGTV show Holmes on Homes who brought a different spin on things. I was sure he was talking about the Human-Powered Deck being IP ready at one point.
The day is all about learning from the 25 speakers. I enjoyed the SIP Trunking where an excellent presentation was put forth with scenarios in a centralized, distributed and hybrid configuration. Thanks to Daryl Sladden for a copy of his Cisco Press book on the subject. MTS Allstream being a leading SIP Trunking provider for the past 8 years with many customers shows we couldn't care less about cannibalizing PRI rates or Centrex contracts. SIP is here to stay with some new announcements to be made soon. SIP offers cost savings and lends itself to cloud infrastructure very easily.
The other sessions I needed to attend included "Enterprise Cloud Computing" which is the entire buzz word these days and the Wi-Fi 3G offload solution overview. 3G operations was very relevant as many of my retail customers are looking for 3G backup in case of DSL line failure and it can use the new series 8xx routers.
This year Cisco ran an interesting iPhone and Blackberry app for the event called simply “Cisco Events”. I got a chance to try it and it was amazingly a lot of fun. It gave you program highlights, reference materials and a host of social networking apps. I was able to Twitter out comments throughout the day, post up onto the Facebook event site, and share with other users. You loaded it by simply doing a QR code scan with your iPhone.
Conference users were able to use their smartphones to "check in "their attendance at partner booths and Cisco demos to earn badges for a chance to win a Blackberry Playbook. What I found very interesting was they put the QR code at the beginning of the conference guidebook initiating an easy download onto their device and had users up and tweeting in no time. The app included a QR reader for getting more information at booths displaying their symbols. However, I know for sure most booths weren’t QR friendly but this feature is starting to catch on. This will be the new way to use the conference apps going forward and many others will use it and it makes a lot of sense. As an example, those in attendance at Blackberry World all got Playbooks with the RIM Conference app preloaded.
So at the end of a long day of attending the business and technical sessions you come to the realization that it definitely was a day well spent.
Powerful, Portable Playbook Review - First Comments
Powerful, Portable Playbook Review - First Comments
Well I am the proud owner of a Playbook. We all enjoy the Box Opening experience and I found the opening of the box a bit more exciting than the iPad as I already had a preconception of the Apple experience. The wow factor was that it came with a nice sleeve with a cool blue interior colour. No manual whatsoever except for a simple card. I am sure many buyers will go through a sense of frustration with the lack of information to truly get started.
First off the swiping is confusing but once you get the hang of swiping left to right the menu walks you through the steps and Blackberry Desktop software is not needed. You could probably drop by Staples and pick this baby up and get it activated at the nearby Wi-Fi enabled Starbucks.
It updated the software to current 1.03 build 1868 which was 300MB in size. This build includes BBM through the Bridge and Video Chat. The swiping is a bit different than the iPad as it also uses the area around the screen as well. My teens who are Blackberry smartphone bigots but iPad evangelists (having dumped their Asus netbooks) but once they saw the BBM and Video Chat app their eyes lit up. “This is Sick!”. There you go; the teens love the BBM tribe functionality with a kick of video to boot with a host of social networking apps could make this a sleeper product in that market segment. Documents to Go is of no interest to them.
Next step was to load the Bridge app and pair it with Curve OS5. The pairing uses a QR code generated by the Playbook (for a highy secure connection) so your Blackberry needs a QR reader. Fairly easy and once authenticated the mail and BBM apps are a joy on a 7 inch screen. This is a killer feature as it takes full advantage of the multi-tasking capabilities of the excellent QNX OS.
Ok, getting the hang of the swiping is a chore as it is different than the Apple and i keep looking to touch the button to change apps like on the iPad. In fact, I get more confused when I try to use my Kindle and I keep forgetting it has no touch screen.
After digging into the appworld , it doesn’t take long to realize there is no LinkedIn, eBay, WebEx, PayPal or Angry Birds apps. In fact the app list is small but I am sure it will grow. Apple started off with a short list over a year ago, so RIM will catch up. I couldn’t find any mention of how to load any android apps.
The tablet is very solid and not that heavy but my Kindle is so superlight you can read for hours with little fatigue. The Playbook fits in a trench coat and a women’s Coach bag very easily
RIM has done a great job with Bing, Kobo and some business apps right out of the box to make it useful so one can’t complain too much. My wife’s first comments on the iPad was “How come I can’t see the videos John” “Honey send an email to Steve Jobs and complain. So my wife’s first comments were “Does it do Flash?”…YES it does.
The ability to be bridged to my Blackberry means my Playbook can use the existing data plan for data access. This means I can read a book on the train or work on some documents and enjoy unfettered email and BBM all on one device in a true multitasking environment. I don’t know of anyone with the cellular enabled iPad so I cannot comment on how it would work with Apple, but I love my Blackberry keyboard and BBM capabilities and can easily type with two hands. The iPad and Playbook still seem to favour the hunt and peck method and I wrote the Cisco Networkers post on the Playbook and am writing this on the iPad. Why? Well it seems I needed to recharge it and somehow I didn’t think I got 10 hours out of it. I will try a few charge cycles to form the battery to see if it improves but the iPad is a true 10 hours. The Kindle is 2 weeks’ worth of battery life. Battery life is a becoming a big factor in mobile electronics.
So the Playbook has gained some maturity since initial release, the Bridge BBM and Video Chat is a huge offering with the new update and really shows the commitment that RIM has for the product.
Of course they were in a rush to release it and maybe it was a bit lacking at the start but they have really come through with a lot of support and R&D commitment.
So all in all I am somewhat pleased but fully expect RIM to deliver the updates this product needs quickly. I do not want to be recreating the misery and the disappointing Palm Lifedrive and Compaq Ipaq personal organizer experience 5 years ago.
Well I am the proud owner of a Playbook. We all enjoy the Box Opening experience and I found the opening of the box a bit more exciting than the iPad as I already had a preconception of the Apple experience. The wow factor was that it came with a nice sleeve with a cool blue interior colour. No manual whatsoever except for a simple card. I am sure many buyers will go through a sense of frustration with the lack of information to truly get started.
First off the swiping is confusing but once you get the hang of swiping left to right the menu walks you through the steps and Blackberry Desktop software is not needed. You could probably drop by Staples and pick this baby up and get it activated at the nearby Wi-Fi enabled Starbucks.
It updated the software to current 1.03 build 1868 which was 300MB in size. This build includes BBM through the Bridge and Video Chat. The swiping is a bit different than the iPad as it also uses the area around the screen as well. My teens who are Blackberry smartphone bigots but iPad evangelists (having dumped their Asus netbooks) but once they saw the BBM and Video Chat app their eyes lit up. “This is Sick!”. There you go; the teens love the BBM tribe functionality with a kick of video to boot with a host of social networking apps could make this a sleeper product in that market segment. Documents to Go is of no interest to them.
Next step was to load the Bridge app and pair it with Curve OS5. The pairing uses a QR code generated by the Playbook (for a highy secure connection) so your Blackberry needs a QR reader. Fairly easy and once authenticated the mail and BBM apps are a joy on a 7 inch screen. This is a killer feature as it takes full advantage of the multi-tasking capabilities of the excellent QNX OS.
Ok, getting the hang of the swiping is a chore as it is different than the Apple and i keep looking to touch the button to change apps like on the iPad. In fact, I get more confused when I try to use my Kindle and I keep forgetting it has no touch screen.
After digging into the appworld , it doesn’t take long to realize there is no LinkedIn, eBay, WebEx, PayPal or Angry Birds apps. In fact the app list is small but I am sure it will grow. Apple started off with a short list over a year ago, so RIM will catch up. I couldn’t find any mention of how to load any android apps.
The tablet is very solid and not that heavy but my Kindle is so superlight you can read for hours with little fatigue. The Playbook fits in a trench coat and a women’s Coach bag very easily
RIM has done a great job with Bing, Kobo and some business apps right out of the box to make it useful so one can’t complain too much. My wife’s first comments on the iPad was “How come I can’t see the videos John” “Honey send an email to Steve Jobs and complain. So my wife’s first comments were “Does it do Flash?”…YES it does.
The ability to be bridged to my Blackberry means my Playbook can use the existing data plan for data access. This means I can read a book on the train or work on some documents and enjoy unfettered email and BBM all on one device in a true multitasking environment. I don’t know of anyone with the cellular enabled iPad so I cannot comment on how it would work with Apple, but I love my Blackberry keyboard and BBM capabilities and can easily type with two hands. The iPad and Playbook still seem to favour the hunt and peck method and I wrote the Cisco Networkers post on the Playbook and am writing this on the iPad. Why? Well it seems I needed to recharge it and somehow I didn’t think I got 10 hours out of it. I will try a few charge cycles to form the battery to see if it improves but the iPad is a true 10 hours. The Kindle is 2 weeks’ worth of battery life. Battery life is a becoming a big factor in mobile electronics.
So the Playbook has gained some maturity since initial release, the Bridge BBM and Video Chat is a huge offering with the new update and really shows the commitment that RIM has for the product.
Of course they were in a rush to release it and maybe it was a bit lacking at the start but they have really come through with a lot of support and R&D commitment.
So all in all I am somewhat pleased but fully expect RIM to deliver the updates this product needs quickly. I do not want to be recreating the misery and the disappointing Palm Lifedrive and Compaq Ipaq personal organizer experience 5 years ago.
Do not compare RIM to Palm please and it’s not because we are proud Canadians.
Do not compare RIM to Palm please and it’s not because we are proud Canadians.
HaHa my friend who was surprised to get a BBM from my Playbook had commented that he thought that RIM was going to end up as the new Palm. I don’t think so.
I was the first to get the Palm Pilot 1000 personal digital assistant in 1996 and was faithful to the end with memory upgrades, the excellent clip on 300 baud modem and the fold up keyboard. I used to do WAP in those days and paired it with a cable with my GSM Nokia 6190. It was kludged but I did get to POP3 into my magic.ca account. Worst mistake was the PalmOne Lifedrive at $800 bucks it had a 4GB hard drive and it was very buggy. Palm was really the mobile pioneer (even though I loved my Apple Newton the product did get discontinued) but they had a bunch of spin offs, restructuring and never mated the PDA to a cellphone until it was too late. Palm never really made any money so it was hard to keep it afloat. Now with HP buying the leftovers of Palm I think they have a good shot with the WebOS and the PRE was a multitasking device that had some neat features. Oh I forgot the Handspring TREO which was a very good start and got picked up by corporate America for enterprise use. It sure made RIM work a bit harder at innovation.
RIM knocked out a home run in 1999 with the Blackberry and sales took off from there. The term crackberry gained a lot of press. I think RIM has sold over 60 million of these devices and is a global leader and the Playbook has already sold over 250,000 units. So how can RIM end up in the trash like Palm?
RIM has had great growth the past few years with revenues of $20 Billion a year and since they are an enterprise communication company and not selling musical players and laptops their revenue is going to be different than Apple which did $65 Billion in 2010.
Well how can they? They have over 2 Billion in cash, no debt, spend money on R&D and are very healthy as a company. They also have a lot of enterprise customers with their BES servers and their new MVS (Mobile Voice System) platform is making headway quickly. ShoreTel has also released a MVS application for its mobility client supporting the features and is now able to offer Fixed Mobile Convergence so manufacturers are taking notice. Do you think Steve Jobs would ever do this?
The strength that RIM brings to the enterprise market is their years of experience in that space. The acquisition of the multi-tasking QNX operating system is a smart play and will be the required platform for future applications. They also bar none, have the best mobile security application which includes Certicom Crypto (using Elliptic Curve Cryptography which BTW I had on my Palm Pilot) classes. RIM has a very high security level and is the standard for all others to follow.
The Apple and Androids do not have secure mobile security and recently these devices had hidden location based security flaws. In the enterprise, security is a huge concern and will continue to be so. Also the Blackberry Enterprise Server allows management and control functionality that right now is not offered by anyone else.
With Cloud computing and social networking being more prevalent on mobile devices it’s going to be a safe bet that your data and President Obama’s data will be secure for some time.
So let’s not bash RIM or compare it to Palm, who really started this whole business segment, but take a few moments to praise both of their accomplishments. I think the innovators in Waterloo have more to show us in the years to come and surely HP will pull something off with the release of their new TouchPad (Beat Technology promises better sound).
HaHa my friend who was surprised to get a BBM from my Playbook had commented that he thought that RIM was going to end up as the new Palm. I don’t think so.
I was the first to get the Palm Pilot 1000 personal digital assistant in 1996 and was faithful to the end with memory upgrades, the excellent clip on 300 baud modem and the fold up keyboard. I used to do WAP in those days and paired it with a cable with my GSM Nokia 6190. It was kludged but I did get to POP3 into my magic.ca account. Worst mistake was the PalmOne Lifedrive at $800 bucks it had a 4GB hard drive and it was very buggy. Palm was really the mobile pioneer (even though I loved my Apple Newton the product did get discontinued) but they had a bunch of spin offs, restructuring and never mated the PDA to a cellphone until it was too late. Palm never really made any money so it was hard to keep it afloat. Now with HP buying the leftovers of Palm I think they have a good shot with the WebOS and the PRE was a multitasking device that had some neat features. Oh I forgot the Handspring TREO which was a very good start and got picked up by corporate America for enterprise use. It sure made RIM work a bit harder at innovation.
RIM knocked out a home run in 1999 with the Blackberry and sales took off from there. The term crackberry gained a lot of press. I think RIM has sold over 60 million of these devices and is a global leader and the Playbook has already sold over 250,000 units. So how can RIM end up in the trash like Palm?
RIM has had great growth the past few years with revenues of $20 Billion a year and since they are an enterprise communication company and not selling musical players and laptops their revenue is going to be different than Apple which did $65 Billion in 2010.
Well how can they? They have over 2 Billion in cash, no debt, spend money on R&D and are very healthy as a company. They also have a lot of enterprise customers with their BES servers and their new MVS (Mobile Voice System) platform is making headway quickly. ShoreTel has also released a MVS application for its mobility client supporting the features and is now able to offer Fixed Mobile Convergence so manufacturers are taking notice. Do you think Steve Jobs would ever do this?
The strength that RIM brings to the enterprise market is their years of experience in that space. The acquisition of the multi-tasking QNX operating system is a smart play and will be the required platform for future applications. They also bar none, have the best mobile security application which includes Certicom Crypto (using Elliptic Curve Cryptography which BTW I had on my Palm Pilot) classes. RIM has a very high security level and is the standard for all others to follow.
The Apple and Androids do not have secure mobile security and recently these devices had hidden location based security flaws. In the enterprise, security is a huge concern and will continue to be so. Also the Blackberry Enterprise Server allows management and control functionality that right now is not offered by anyone else.
With Cloud computing and social networking being more prevalent on mobile devices it’s going to be a safe bet that your data and President Obama’s data will be secure for some time.
So let’s not bash RIM or compare it to Palm, who really started this whole business segment, but take a few moments to praise both of their accomplishments. I think the innovators in Waterloo have more to show us in the years to come and surely HP will pull something off with the release of their new TouchPad (Beat Technology promises better sound).
Internet Bandwidth and Capped limits – What does it mean?
Internet Bandwidth and Capped limits – What does it mean?
Canadians have to feel the pinch of broadband download limits or face the wrath of excess charges at $3 a GB. Naturally the Telcos and Cablecos are trying to protect themselves from the new entrants in the marketplace but at the consumer’s expense of higher and higher monthly fees.
I am a Rogers customer so if they feel threatened by Netflix and AppleTV then they need to offer a better or similar service or enhance their offerings. With the proliferation of HDTV OTA antennas sprouting up on rooftops and Satellite FTA dishes, I can see how shareholders are getting worried about the share price. The past few months Rogers has worked hard to improve their cable and HDTV offering.
So if you have a 90GB plan what does this all mean to the average user?
• One hour of a standard definition movie from Netflix is about 1GB…so 3 hours of Netflix a day for one month
• The average song downloaded is about 5Mb and I seem to get a fair amount of large attachments so that’s 18000 songs a month
• One hour of CBC news at high definition on Apple TV is 1.6GB so that’s 56 news casts or 1.8 shows per night for a month
So if you have traffic that exceeds the 90GB limit then you may be in for a shock when an extra $30, $40 or even $60 shows up on your next bill.
One also needs to be concerned about download speeds to ensure a clear and jitter free or pixelated screen so it’s important your connection support at least a 5MB download speed with the higher the better.
So choose your plans accordingly to avoid excess charges or maybe the new wireless entrants with their 3G unlimited data plans will make a lot of sense. If WIND mobile ran an ad campaign called the “Cut the Cord” program and threw in a HDTV antenna they may just become a bigger worry to their competitors.
*****To clarify the point I was trying to make in context of the response I got from Rogers (by the use of what I believe to be Avaya Social Media Manager and I now have a real world example that it works...works fast too) was that the use of streamed video content from Netflix or Apple TV ends up using bandwidth that is charged by the amount of download to the customer. I was not aware of the Online TV service Rogers offers and will have tio investigate if I need to connect my iPad to the TV with an HDMI cable or if it streams off the HDTV box.
Canadians have to feel the pinch of broadband download limits or face the wrath of excess charges at $3 a GB. Naturally the Telcos and Cablecos are trying to protect themselves from the new entrants in the marketplace but at the consumer’s expense of higher and higher monthly fees.
I am a Rogers customer so if they feel threatened by Netflix and AppleTV then they need to offer a better or similar service or enhance their offerings. With the proliferation of HDTV OTA antennas sprouting up on rooftops and Satellite FTA dishes, I can see how shareholders are getting worried about the share price. The past few months Rogers has worked hard to improve their cable and HDTV offering.
So if you have a 90GB plan what does this all mean to the average user?
• One hour of a standard definition movie from Netflix is about 1GB…so 3 hours of Netflix a day for one month
• The average song downloaded is about 5Mb and I seem to get a fair amount of large attachments so that’s 18000 songs a month
• One hour of CBC news at high definition on Apple TV is 1.6GB so that’s 56 news casts or 1.8 shows per night for a month
So if you have traffic that exceeds the 90GB limit then you may be in for a shock when an extra $30, $40 or even $60 shows up on your next bill.
One also needs to be concerned about download speeds to ensure a clear and jitter free or pixelated screen so it’s important your connection support at least a 5MB download speed with the higher the better.
So choose your plans accordingly to avoid excess charges or maybe the new wireless entrants with their 3G unlimited data plans will make a lot of sense. If WIND mobile ran an ad campaign called the “Cut the Cord” program and threw in a HDTV antenna they may just become a bigger worry to their competitors.
*****To clarify the point I was trying to make in context of the response I got from Rogers (by the use of what I believe to be Avaya Social Media Manager and I now have a real world example that it works...works fast too) was that the use of streamed video content from Netflix or Apple TV ends up using bandwidth that is charged by the amount of download to the customer. I was not aware of the Online TV service Rogers offers and will have tio investigate if I need to connect my iPad to the TV with an HDMI cable or if it streams off the HDTV box.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The 3 Biggest Call Center Lies and the Customer Experience
The 3 Biggest Call Center Lies and the Customer Experience
It was an interesting day a few weeks ago as I heard a Forrester Analyst nail the whole customer experience right on the head and then had a chat with a few friends who brought up the hilarious nature of contact centers.
Is it really that bad? You are so right its pathetic!
Corporations talk about how the customer experience is so important and how that this high level of service is a key differentiator
Here are the 3 biggest lies and I just took 20 minutes calling various organizations as a test
1) Your Call is important to us
2) We are experiencing an unusual number of calls and holding times will be longer than usual
3) We are recording this call for quality assurance purposes
These 3 on hold call center messages are the first signs of a company that is not attuned to customer service
Because what they really mean is the following:
1) If it was important we would answer by the third ring or at least 80 % of our calls would be answered within 30 seconds. A ring cycle is 6 seconds so you should get answered by the third ring.
2) That really is saying there are so many complaints we are constantly flooded with calls, our product is so bad people call in all the time to complain, or we only have two agents logged in so it will be a while
3) After being on hold for 32 minutes, punching in your account number, getting bounced a few times and having to provide the account number again …you may get upset and yell and threaten a lawsuit. They will have your threats recorded.
So you end up just emailing the complaint and the following appears:
“Thank You for your message, our award winning customer service ambassador will contact you in 72 hours.”
A week goes by and no response.
The winners in the marketplace will be those that are accessible, listen, take action and care about the customer experience. Those that don’t will only have themselves to blame.
People buy from people, they buy from those that they trust and they buy from those that take a negative experience and turn it into a positive one.
The winners in the marketplace embrace a customer-centric view of contact center economics. I urge every single senior level CXO, every manager to take the view of the customer, and call into their contact center and take notice of the customer experience. Take notes and choose an action plan to fix the inherent issues.
I personally have been recently WOWed by Apple (Total spend of $800), Borders (Total spend of $40), Amazon (Total spend of $50), Durham Radio (Total spend of $120), and Monitoring Times Magazine (Total spend of $16). I am still waiting for Metro to return an email after several negative shopping experiences (Total spend of almost $200) that I will never return to their stores and am so excited that Walmart will open nearby soon and give them a run for their grocery money.
That’s what happens when the retailer does not listen to the customer.
It was an interesting day a few weeks ago as I heard a Forrester Analyst nail the whole customer experience right on the head and then had a chat with a few friends who brought up the hilarious nature of contact centers.
Is it really that bad? You are so right its pathetic!
Corporations talk about how the customer experience is so important and how that this high level of service is a key differentiator
Here are the 3 biggest lies and I just took 20 minutes calling various organizations as a test
1) Your Call is important to us
2) We are experiencing an unusual number of calls and holding times will be longer than usual
3) We are recording this call for quality assurance purposes
These 3 on hold call center messages are the first signs of a company that is not attuned to customer service
Because what they really mean is the following:
1) If it was important we would answer by the third ring or at least 80 % of our calls would be answered within 30 seconds. A ring cycle is 6 seconds so you should get answered by the third ring.
2) That really is saying there are so many complaints we are constantly flooded with calls, our product is so bad people call in all the time to complain, or we only have two agents logged in so it will be a while
3) After being on hold for 32 minutes, punching in your account number, getting bounced a few times and having to provide the account number again …you may get upset and yell and threaten a lawsuit. They will have your threats recorded.
So you end up just emailing the complaint and the following appears:
“Thank You for your message, our award winning customer service ambassador will contact you in 72 hours.”
A week goes by and no response.
The winners in the marketplace will be those that are accessible, listen, take action and care about the customer experience. Those that don’t will only have themselves to blame.
People buy from people, they buy from those that they trust and they buy from those that take a negative experience and turn it into a positive one.
The winners in the marketplace embrace a customer-centric view of contact center economics. I urge every single senior level CXO, every manager to take the view of the customer, and call into their contact center and take notice of the customer experience. Take notes and choose an action plan to fix the inherent issues.
I personally have been recently WOWed by Apple (Total spend of $800), Borders (Total spend of $40), Amazon (Total spend of $50), Durham Radio (Total spend of $120), and Monitoring Times Magazine (Total spend of $16). I am still waiting for Metro to return an email after several negative shopping experiences (Total spend of almost $200) that I will never return to their stores and am so excited that Walmart will open nearby soon and give them a run for their grocery money.
That’s what happens when the retailer does not listen to the customer.
Shared versus Dedicated IP Hosting - what is more effective?
A friend who is working through a start up needs to figure out how he wants to set his servers up and why he really needs a dedicated IP address and not a shared one.
Shared versus Dedicated IP Hosting - what is more effective?
In today's World Wide Web - website designers and webmasters around the world must know the difference between shared and dedicated IP addresses. Most web hosting companies do not offer dedicated IP addresses for their clients. Why? Before we can attempt at answering this question, we should further define and clarify the differences between the two.
Shared IP Address - Every web server around the world is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address. An example of an IP address would look something like: [126.703.4.151]. Most websites on the world wide web are hosted on shared IP addresses, meaning that one server with one IP address can hold several domain names.
In the not so distant past, every domain used to have individual IP addresses. Recently, the allocation of IP addresses has been stricter due to the fact that there is a finite amount of addresses in existence. Now servers have the ability of determining a domain request through name servers. Example: www.dimarcogolf.xxx is found by NS.REBELNETWORKS.COM where the name servers are tied to a specific IP address.
Dedicated IP Address - A dedicated/unique IP address is not shared by other domain names; it is unique to your domain name and your space on the server. This means that if someone types in the numeric form of the IP address the same domain will always appear in the browser. Dedicated IP addresses are considered to be premium real estate on the internet and most web hosting companies charge extra for their client to have one.
"We saw this as real eye-opener in the industry. Instead of asking our customers to pay for a dedicated IP, we have included it with every package we sell." Domenic Macchione, President of Rebel Networks
Usually dedicated IP addresses are used for large web sites, secure e-commerce web sites, or other individuals that are willing to pay for such a premium. Dedicated IPs give websites the ability for complex hosting and offer more flexibility. The benefits of having a dedicated IP address are:
- Private SSL Certificate - SSL certificates are needed for accepting credit cards online. Most web hosting companies usually offer a shared SSL certificate where clients can share the web host’s server-wide SSL. This is not recommended if you intend on having a very secure online store.
- Anonymous FTP - Anonymous FTP is a method of sharing files on the Internet. Anonymous FTP means a server will allow anyone using an FTP software access to a public directory. This service is called Anonymous FTP because the user name used to sign in is "anonymous." To enable anonymous FTP many web hosting companies will require a dedicated IP for the anonymous FTP function to work properly.
- Private Domain Name Server - An example of a name server would look like this: [NS.REBELNETWORKS.COM, NS2.REBELNETWORKS.COM]. Since all web hosting companies provide you with their DNS servers, you don't need to have your own. But if you choose to have your own name server you will need to have a dedicated IP address to do so.
Another benefit of a dedicated IP address is that website will have more control over their search engine results. Presently, search engines along with many telecom and internet service providers around the world have been fighting to block spam activity. This has been accomplished through blacklisting IP addresses that have spammed in one way or another. Since shared IP address users are mixed together on the same server IP with many others websites, innocent web sites have been blacklisted from search engines.
In short - individuals who would like full control over their website, e-commerce web sites who need their own SSL certificates, and individuals who want to fully optimize their website for search engine results should consider a Static IP address.
Shared versus Dedicated IP Hosting - what is more effective?
In today's World Wide Web - website designers and webmasters around the world must know the difference between shared and dedicated IP addresses. Most web hosting companies do not offer dedicated IP addresses for their clients. Why? Before we can attempt at answering this question, we should further define and clarify the differences between the two.
Shared IP Address - Every web server around the world is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address. An example of an IP address would look something like: [126.703.4.151]. Most websites on the world wide web are hosted on shared IP addresses, meaning that one server with one IP address can hold several domain names.
In the not so distant past, every domain used to have individual IP addresses. Recently, the allocation of IP addresses has been stricter due to the fact that there is a finite amount of addresses in existence. Now servers have the ability of determining a domain request through name servers. Example: www.dimarcogolf.xxx is found by NS.REBELNETWORKS.COM where the name servers are tied to a specific IP address.
Dedicated IP Address - A dedicated/unique IP address is not shared by other domain names; it is unique to your domain name and your space on the server. This means that if someone types in the numeric form of the IP address the same domain will always appear in the browser. Dedicated IP addresses are considered to be premium real estate on the internet and most web hosting companies charge extra for their client to have one.
"We saw this as real eye-opener in the industry. Instead of asking our customers to pay for a dedicated IP, we have included it with every package we sell." Domenic Macchione, President of Rebel Networks
Usually dedicated IP addresses are used for large web sites, secure e-commerce web sites, or other individuals that are willing to pay for such a premium. Dedicated IPs give websites the ability for complex hosting and offer more flexibility. The benefits of having a dedicated IP address are:
- Private SSL Certificate - SSL certificates are needed for accepting credit cards online. Most web hosting companies usually offer a shared SSL certificate where clients can share the web host’s server-wide SSL. This is not recommended if you intend on having a very secure online store.
- Anonymous FTP - Anonymous FTP is a method of sharing files on the Internet. Anonymous FTP means a server will allow anyone using an FTP software access to a public directory. This service is called Anonymous FTP because the user name used to sign in is "anonymous." To enable anonymous FTP many web hosting companies will require a dedicated IP for the anonymous FTP function to work properly.
- Private Domain Name Server - An example of a name server would look like this: [NS.REBELNETWORKS.COM, NS2.REBELNETWORKS.COM]. Since all web hosting companies provide you with their DNS servers, you don't need to have your own. But if you choose to have your own name server you will need to have a dedicated IP address to do so.
Another benefit of a dedicated IP address is that website will have more control over their search engine results. Presently, search engines along with many telecom and internet service providers around the world have been fighting to block spam activity. This has been accomplished through blacklisting IP addresses that have spammed in one way or another. Since shared IP address users are mixed together on the same server IP with many others websites, innocent web sites have been blacklisted from search engines.
In short - individuals who would like full control over their website, e-commerce web sites who need their own SSL certificates, and individuals who want to fully optimize their website for search engine results should consider a Static IP address.
Microsoft spends $8.5 billion to buy Skype and VOIPGURUs IMHO
Microsoft spends $8.5 billion to buy Skype
Holy honeydrops looks like Google and Facebook won't be buying Skype anytime soon
So what is actually going on here?
Lets face it Microsoft has been dropping down the charts of innovation lately. Google is the biggest search engine, FaceBook is the biggest social network site, Android has become the fastest growing mobile device (including tablets) operating system, Microsoft owns the corporate desktop and also the personal pc desktop, RIM still owns the corporate Smartphone, Apple is taking market share in the Smartphone arena, Skype is the biggest VOIP brand, and yes Apple owns the tablet and portable music market right now.
So in the emerging post PC world i have no idea what to do with the legacy companies like AOL , Palm, and Hayes the modem maker but i can assure you the disruptive innovators are feverishly working in a garage in Palo Alto, Trento and Ottawa right now.
So Microsoft has somewhere like $50 billion in cash and generates another $15 billion in free cash so they can really afford the purchase. Do like Cisco - its cheaper to buy an existing platform and bring to market a lot faster than building from scratch.
Skype has about 100 million active paying users and over 600 million registered and using it occasionally for free. It’s available on practically every Smartphone, PC and tablet device worldwide. It is the world’s best known brand for free or cheap internet based VOIP telephony and video based calls. It also includes instant messaging and presence as a bonus.
Microsoft now has the ability to integrate Skype into their desktops and the Windows Phone 7 very easily. Just imagine having a truly integrated Skype client that can receive calls from your cousin in Bulgaria as easily as receiving a local call. Sure we have it today but its still not truly integrated the way it could be when you own the source code.
Microsoft would also seek to introduce Skype into the Xbox (probably a platform with more IP ports than Nortel ever had) , and why not Outlook, Word, or even do a click to call through PowerPoint.
Avaya has already arranged a partnership for a Skype client for their Aura IP telephony platform. Imagine calling an Avaya based contact centre through Skype on your Smartphone or tablet while at Starbucks sipping a Pumpkin Soy low Fat Latte with double foam and free Wi-Fi.
Imagine Skype embedded in Microsoft’s Lync Enterprise platform and integral to OCS. Now maybe we have a game changer in the business enterprise space. Every business grade IP telephony manufacturer has shifted their R&D to software based SIP applications that will replace today’s touch tone telephone. More and more are hanging up on the Telco’s and cancelling their copper based service.
If Jobs doesn’t do it with the iPad 3 then Ballmer better hurry up and get Samsung on board for the WindowsHomeControl smart screen on their washer/ dryers and refrigerators. "mommy the dishwasher is ringing. ......Get the phone...pick it up...mommy ...get the phone!"
Its coming folks and ya’ll laughed when i predicted Wi-Fi technology would change the internet forever
So Microsoft has accomplished many things with this purchase:
• Access to over 600 million registered users with a global brand
• Shut out their competitors from buying Skype
• Speed to market with a communication app that works on everything already
So hopefully Microsoft wont screw it up like EBay did. The bought Skype for about $2B 6 years ago hoping that it would be ideal to connect EBay sellers with EBay buyers in the auctions but this never worked out and EBay took a big loss. Hopefully they won’t change the Skype brand name to Zune or Vista either.
The egos wont allow it but RIM and Microsoft should partner up next! And take Yahoos to the altar as well for an interesting 3 way play.
Holy honeydrops looks like Google and Facebook won't be buying Skype anytime soon
So what is actually going on here?
Lets face it Microsoft has been dropping down the charts of innovation lately. Google is the biggest search engine, FaceBook is the biggest social network site, Android has become the fastest growing mobile device (including tablets) operating system, Microsoft owns the corporate desktop and also the personal pc desktop, RIM still owns the corporate Smartphone, Apple is taking market share in the Smartphone arena, Skype is the biggest VOIP brand, and yes Apple owns the tablet and portable music market right now.
So in the emerging post PC world i have no idea what to do with the legacy companies like AOL , Palm, and Hayes the modem maker but i can assure you the disruptive innovators are feverishly working in a garage in Palo Alto, Trento and Ottawa right now.
So Microsoft has somewhere like $50 billion in cash and generates another $15 billion in free cash so they can really afford the purchase. Do like Cisco - its cheaper to buy an existing platform and bring to market a lot faster than building from scratch.
Skype has about 100 million active paying users and over 600 million registered and using it occasionally for free. It’s available on practically every Smartphone, PC and tablet device worldwide. It is the world’s best known brand for free or cheap internet based VOIP telephony and video based calls. It also includes instant messaging and presence as a bonus.
Microsoft now has the ability to integrate Skype into their desktops and the Windows Phone 7 very easily. Just imagine having a truly integrated Skype client that can receive calls from your cousin in Bulgaria as easily as receiving a local call. Sure we have it today but its still not truly integrated the way it could be when you own the source code.
Microsoft would also seek to introduce Skype into the Xbox (probably a platform with more IP ports than Nortel ever had) , and why not Outlook, Word, or even do a click to call through PowerPoint.
Avaya has already arranged a partnership for a Skype client for their Aura IP telephony platform. Imagine calling an Avaya based contact centre through Skype on your Smartphone or tablet while at Starbucks sipping a Pumpkin Soy low Fat Latte with double foam and free Wi-Fi.
Imagine Skype embedded in Microsoft’s Lync Enterprise platform and integral to OCS. Now maybe we have a game changer in the business enterprise space. Every business grade IP telephony manufacturer has shifted their R&D to software based SIP applications that will replace today’s touch tone telephone. More and more are hanging up on the Telco’s and cancelling their copper based service.
If Jobs doesn’t do it with the iPad 3 then Ballmer better hurry up and get Samsung on board for the WindowsHomeControl smart screen on their washer/ dryers and refrigerators. "mommy the dishwasher is ringing. ......Get the phone...pick it up...mommy ...get the phone!"
Its coming folks and ya’ll laughed when i predicted Wi-Fi technology would change the internet forever
So Microsoft has accomplished many things with this purchase:
• Access to over 600 million registered users with a global brand
• Shut out their competitors from buying Skype
• Speed to market with a communication app that works on everything already
So hopefully Microsoft wont screw it up like EBay did. The bought Skype for about $2B 6 years ago hoping that it would be ideal to connect EBay sellers with EBay buyers in the auctions but this never worked out and EBay took a big loss. Hopefully they won’t change the Skype brand name to Zune or Vista either.
The egos wont allow it but RIM and Microsoft should partner up next! And take Yahoos to the altar as well for an interesting 3 way play.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Trump Hotels – How Ivanka Trump uses Social Media to keep their Hotel Guests Happy with an awesome Customer Experience!
Trump Hotels – How Ivanka Trump uses Social Media to keep their Hotel Guests Happy with an awesome Customer Experience!
The Hotel industry has become very social with Expedia and Yelp taking hotel ratings to heart. It’s those like Ivanka (executive vice president ) who really understand the Customer Experience that is bringing customer service in the hotel industry to heart. The Trump Hotel Collection has been offering Facebook reservations for around six months, and Ivanka Trump has been taking advantage of her personality-driven brand. Ivanka is known to tweet out hotel specials to over a million twitter followers. However, she is one of the few Hoteliers that understand how things work. Once a guest makes their Trump Hotel reservations through Facebook, A hotel attaché will call the guest and ask about personal preferences : which newspaper do you prefer?, any special amenities required?, What room temperature do you enjoy? This goes above and beyond exceeding a customer’s expectations and sets the stage for an enhanced Customer Experience. In fact, if you have a small child that needs a crib in the room the crib will even show up with a Teddy Bear. Now that’s creative thinking and a way to exceed a customers expectation. With rooms at the Soho Trump in New York a starting at $399 a night, they are not overpriced because the Westin Hotel charges similar but Ivanka strives to Trump one over the competition.
I personally have stayed over 300 nights in a specific hotel chain if not more and stayed with a specific brand and can only say that only one hotel reached out to me in a very personal and human interactive manner over the past 10 years– that was the Westin Grand Hotel in Vancouver. The Starwood properties group will always send a satisfaction survey out to guests but if you have a bad experience they never acknowledge the concerns that you raise in the survey. So a guest will stop replying to surveys and then change hotel brands to one that cares.
Can it only be that The Westin Grand in Vancouver is a hotel that truly appreciated a repeat customer? Sending emails stating how happy they are that you chose their hotel or even ignoring complaints doesn’t’ count. Starwood does get extra points because the W Hotel and Aloft hotel banners do offer free airline ticket and hotel folio printing in their lobby kiosks. Not every traveler has a printer or laptop with them and this can be a very handy service. Some Starwood locations have a business center with free use of a computer and a printer that really sends the message that they care. However, a lot of other properties expect you to pay $10 an hour or more to use this facility (even for casual use).
The business and vacation traveler can be a particularly fickle bunch because they expect a better customer experience when paying over $200 a night. Free internet is expected in all areas of a hotel property and now luxury brands are looking to provide guests with free use of Apple iPads, RIM Playbooks, Smartphone and other devices to their guests that can enhance their stay and bring them back for more.
The Hotel industry has become very social with Expedia and Yelp taking hotel ratings to heart. It’s those like Ivanka (executive vice president ) who really understand the Customer Experience that is bringing customer service in the hotel industry to heart. The Trump Hotel Collection has been offering Facebook reservations for around six months, and Ivanka Trump has been taking advantage of her personality-driven brand. Ivanka is known to tweet out hotel specials to over a million twitter followers. However, she is one of the few Hoteliers that understand how things work. Once a guest makes their Trump Hotel reservations through Facebook, A hotel attaché will call the guest and ask about personal preferences : which newspaper do you prefer?, any special amenities required?, What room temperature do you enjoy? This goes above and beyond exceeding a customer’s expectations and sets the stage for an enhanced Customer Experience. In fact, if you have a small child that needs a crib in the room the crib will even show up with a Teddy Bear. Now that’s creative thinking and a way to exceed a customers expectation. With rooms at the Soho Trump in New York a starting at $399 a night, they are not overpriced because the Westin Hotel charges similar but Ivanka strives to Trump one over the competition.
I personally have stayed over 300 nights in a specific hotel chain if not more and stayed with a specific brand and can only say that only one hotel reached out to me in a very personal and human interactive manner over the past 10 years– that was the Westin Grand Hotel in Vancouver. The Starwood properties group will always send a satisfaction survey out to guests but if you have a bad experience they never acknowledge the concerns that you raise in the survey. So a guest will stop replying to surveys and then change hotel brands to one that cares.
Can it only be that The Westin Grand in Vancouver is a hotel that truly appreciated a repeat customer? Sending emails stating how happy they are that you chose their hotel or even ignoring complaints doesn’t’ count. Starwood does get extra points because the W Hotel and Aloft hotel banners do offer free airline ticket and hotel folio printing in their lobby kiosks. Not every traveler has a printer or laptop with them and this can be a very handy service. Some Starwood locations have a business center with free use of a computer and a printer that really sends the message that they care. However, a lot of other properties expect you to pay $10 an hour or more to use this facility (even for casual use).
The business and vacation traveler can be a particularly fickle bunch because they expect a better customer experience when paying over $200 a night. Free internet is expected in all areas of a hotel property and now luxury brands are looking to provide guests with free use of Apple iPads, RIM Playbooks, Smartphone and other devices to their guests that can enhance their stay and bring them back for more.
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