Personal Telco Project

There is an interesting movement going on in Portland, Oregon and it is all about providing cheaper, and private wireless.

The Personal Telco project is a community based wireless mesh network. The network is a bunch of interconnected wireless routers, or nodes, which interconnect traffic between users and network hop off points to the Internet.

The user connects his wireless router to an external antenna and the mesh technology connects into the community airspace fabric.

These experiments show how the power of community with off the shelf technology can bring link minded enthusiasts together.

Now take this methodology and apply it to a remote community with no internet access by landline. A satellite internet drop can be connected to a village mesh network providing internet access to its members. Take this community and empower them with DataWind or Android tablets and each user now has access on a shared basis that will empower them to learn and share in conversation.

If the village lacks reliable power then wind, solar or water can be used to keep the batteries charged at the mesh hub but also can be used to keep those tablets charged. Soon, a 12 year old will have become the village IT administrator using the internet at night to study for his IT certifications through a MOOC and one day will leave the village an imigrate to another country. He will make money that he cannot have imagined and be able to send money back home to his family. Thats the power of community and technology.

https://personaltelco.net/wiki

http://villagetelco.org/mesh-potato/

Low cost ways to market your business

Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. Find out how to keep your marketing strategies smart and cost-effective.

Small business marketing is about making your target customers aware of your products in focused, effective ways that are easy on the back pocket.

Increase positive word-of-mouth

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most popular small business marketing options because of the credibility impartial third-party recommendations can lend a brand. Another plus is that it is usually free. Simply focus on delivering excellent customer service, actively ask clients for referrals, and make sure you get on top of any complaints or service issues as soon as you can.

 "The greatest compliment is a referral"

Personalize the experience

Going that extra mile for a customer is a great way to spread word about your company, but rather than just entertaining a special request, bring home your efforts by showing you’ve paid attention and know exactly what your customers want before they ask.

 A package with airline tickets was returned to the travel agent due to a wrong postal code. The owner dropped it off personally.

Provide incentives

Rewarding customers is a widespread and effective marketing manoeuvre for businesses of all sizes, but the rewards don’t have to be big and expensive. The cost of a discount, free gift or even just the chance to participate for the chance to win a prize can go a long way.

Coupons or Contests work very well. Why not reward your best customers with a Samsung Tablet? They are under $200

Brand everything

It’s easy to forget the small marketing opportunities that sometimes slip right under our noses – and branding opportunities are top of the list. Think beyond basic business cards and email signatures and get your brand out there on your vehicle, stationery, invoices, proposals and clothing – even your kids’ softball uniforms if the team’s looking for sponsorship.

The big Brands understand this very well

Be social

Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook allow you to open a direct dialogue with customers. If your target market is a clearly definable social group, you can try to tap into that community via blogs, social media comments and tweets. The key is to comment or blog frequently, consistently and with subtlety, emphasizing and promoting your brand values and not just your products or services.

Using Social Networks have been proven to increase brand presence and sales revenues.

Become an expert

Promote yourself to the media as an authority on your sector of business. Contact journalists with story ideas, send in letters to the editor and even try your own hand at press releases related to newsworthy issues affecting your industry. Public speaking can also be an option too, and once you’ve established your credentials, customers seeking knowledge and expertise will start to seek you out over your competitors.

Everyone wants to buy from a trusted advisor.

Network

In many industries, it’s all about who you know rather than what you know. For small businesses looking for a low-cost way to market, networking at the right functions, trade shows and social events can lead to referral partnerships or entrance into a network of companies that refer customers to each other.

Local chambers of commerce are a great place to start.

Tips on Using Social Media to Market your Business

1. Have a Clear Game Plan

Identify your business goals  and target audience before you venture into Social Media networks. What do you want to achieve, what message do you wish to convey and what is the type of social media channels used by your customers.

2. Decide on your Content

Research who you customers are and their behaviour and select the content that will capture interest of your key audience. Ude a variety of fresh, relevant and value-added items that project your brand image across different social media platforms. Be consistent.

3. Measure your Success

Monitoring is important to determine which methods are providing you with the best results. Make changes as some content is more effective than others. This will allow you to better understand the timning and trelevancy of your activies across the differnt netwoprks.

Tip #1 Tell a story
Tip #2 Customer Testimonials are important
Tip #3 Be honest and authentic in your approach

How to Avoid having your cellphone location Tracked

If you travel to the Queen West business district, a comnpany called |Turnstyle Solutions will track you. They have sensors installed that will identify your unique MAC address (cellphone or laptop) and track your activity as you shop around the community.

Hmmm johnny was at Dark Horse and probably had a coffee, then he wandered around a couple of art galleries, a book store then was at Condom Shack for 32 minutes and then was at Trimurti Indian Cuisine for 2 hours. That sure is creepy. The Queen West BIA gets reports as to who is coming to their area.

How do you prevent this?

1. Boycott the Queen Street BIA. However, eventually every business district will begin tracking you

2. Turn off wi-fi and Bluetooth on your smartphone, tablet or laptop

3.Do not use free wi-fi or access it to log onto your social media accounts. If you are at an airport using the wi-fi you will be tracked and may be tracked to see where you land

4.Avoid smartphone apps. Angry Birds has been known to track location data and many loyalty reward cards do the same.

5. The Pebble and Samsung Gear Smart watches have Bluetooth. Shut them off.

6. Opt out from Tracking if given a choice

7. Turn off your phone and remove the battery. Bell Canada has been tracking its 7.7 million mobile subscribers for quite some time

Big Data and Analytics can crunch the data and figure you out pretty quickly if tied into your air mile card or credit card bills.

Lets see he bought wine at the Wine Rack, something at Victoria Secrets, checked into the Dollar Motel for the afternoon rate using his Visa and texted CandyGirl several times. What an odd place for a job interview or customer meeting.

If you are a criminal , please have your cellphone with you so the tracking information can place you ate the scene of the crime.

Technology can be good and bad and may impact your privacy

Consumers are demanding a Flawless On-Line Shopping Experience

Consumers continue to demand a flawless on-line shopping experience. What drives consumer behavior and what influences them during the on-line encounter?

At the top of the list, Shoppers leverage promotions such as discount coupons or free shipping when buying on-line.

Shoppers want a simple shopping cart process that makes checkout fast and easy

Shoppers frequently will use reviews and ratings when making a purchase

Shoppers have adopted retail branded mobile apps in making e-commerce purchases

Shoppers continue to showroom and use bar code tools to scan and check pricing while in a store to make a buying decision. His is more prevalent in a shopping mall where multiple stores may sell the identical item.

Shoppers expect a easy customer service experience when interacting with the contact center

What is really interesting is that the smartphone has become the bridge between the online and in-store experience. This has completely changed the buying process and consumers are voting with their feet and wallet especially on big ticket items.

1)     Let’s take a popular book seller who charges $ 39.00 Canadian for the book S by J.J. Abraham and Doug Dorst  while the US price is $35. When the dollars were at par the Canadian consumer was gouged. The online price from the same book seller is $24.45 but with free shipping for orders above $25. You have to buy another book to get free shipping since you are 45 cents shy of the offer. So if you are lucky you will get two books for the same price as the in-store price. Free shipping and price is the key driver on this transaction.

2)     Want to simplify your coffee buying experience? The Starbucks smartphone app makes buying easy and also manages your rewards program which in the past was always a headache as it was email and coupon driven. Starbucks is the number one choice for the mobile user.

Take Tim Hortons that also has an app but no rewards program AND the scan to pay application only works in select locations centered in the St. Catherines area. Hmmm my city is not included….No Timmy Me app for me.

Second Cup has no App.

McDonalds has no app and uses stickers for their coffee rewards program.

No surprise that Starbucks is leading the mobile consumer gain coffee cup down.

3)     I need to find an extra battery for my Samsung Note 3 and I am at the mall. I scan the bar code at one store where its list price $49.95, the other store has it list price as well. Hmmmm Amazon has it for $40 with shipping…If I can wait a week for delivery I save $10 plus another $1.30 in tax. Showrooming can save a consumer money.

4) I have a problem with a reward on my Starbucks card. However, I need to enter my 16 digit card number and also a 8 digit pin in order to get help while calling in. I use the mobile app so I have no clue what the numbers are. I sit in the Starbucks and cannot do much until I get home. Can I not just touch a button on the app and it calls in for me and exchanges the info the agent needs before I can discuss my problem?

Top Five Contact Center Trends for 2014

The customer contact center experience is going through rapid transformation as new technology is improving the overall experience.

Customers are demanding that they be able to to interact with  their vendor by whatever method they choose.

Increased revenues, increased CSAT scores and increased customer retention is the primary benefit of those organizations that take a long hard look at their contact center and make improvements as necessary.

In many cases, this will mean replacing their aged and discontinued TDM based contact center for a cloud based or hybrid cloud based solution that offers a complete suite of interaction technologies.

The top trends are as follows:

1. Migrations to the Cloud

Cloud based contact center solutions are becoming a very strong viable choice. This is due to the ability to add features quickly, a monthly cost model, lower TCO than premise based solutions, and a strong redundancy solution. The best providers provide a list of applications that can transform your business.

2. Mobile Devices Driving a better Interaction Experience

Consumers want to be able to interact using their smartphone for voice, smartphone through an app, or tablet driven.

3. Big Data

Without a doubt a contact center that uses big data will have a better understanding of their caller and their buying patterns or history. This could improve the inbound experience but is also valuable in an outbound call. If you know Bobby buys his acne products every three months then it is simple to reach out and offer a reminder. I think Amazon does a great job with this because if you are buying books on woodworking then you might also be buying woodworking tools.

4. Speech Analytics

This powerful tool can really simplify the whole "please listen carefully as our options have changed.....press 1 for English and 2 for French....blah blah blah".

Service.......Internet......Cable Modem........ring ring ring...."Hello How can I help you?"

5. Social Media

With the rapid rise in social media networks and a place where consumers spend time then there may be a compelling business case to offer integration within those platforms. If a consumer is within Facebook or a vendor Facebook page then why not be able to click to the call center for service?

People also use twitter to blast out their dissatisfaction so coupled with Big Data a trigger can occur where the agent does an outbound call to the angry consumer..."I understand you are unhappy with your Delta Flight...how can I help?"

6. Personalized Multi-Channel Service

This will allow a better call experience for the consumer with a personal touch to their interactions. No need to offer a French or Spanish menu if they speak English, no need to got through multiple menu trees when the caller is a platinum rewards member and should be bumped or transferred to the high priority queue. if they always ask for a emailed sales receipt then just make it happen automatically without wasting 20 seconds of dialogue to ask for the email address. Its on file already.

7. The Browser is another interaction Channel

If I am getting upset with trying to make a purchase but before going through registration, verifying the email address , etc. etc. to find out my $12 purchase warrants a $40 DHL shipment cost, then why can I not do a web chat and confirm it before wasting time. Web chat works great when on your tablet while watching TV and trying to buy something. Make sure your website or e-commerce site is smartphone or tablet friendly. Shipping costs is the primary reason in the abandoned cart report.

8. CSAT is Important

Customer satisfaction scoring is important again for those that forgot the past ten years. It is easier to retain a customer than find a new one. Happy customers will continue to buy more stuff from you and with big data you can actually promote new products and services to your existing customers in order to increase the wallet share.

How to Beat a Speeding Ticket Tips

So you just got yourself a speeding ticket and you have a fine, increased insurance premiums and possible demerit points. I have gathered some simple tips to help you beat it.

1. Take Notes

After you received your ticket, take notes relating to equipment used to catch you, weather conditions, directions, location of speed signs, street information, Officer behavior and conversation details.

Sometimes photos can be useful as well

2. Review the Ticket

Look up the violation numbers associated with the Highway Traffic Act, the fine amount and all details. Cops make errors and those errors can help you in court.

3. Hire a Paralegal

Many ex-cops now work as the ticket fighter paralegals and there are various franchises to call upon. Most offer a 15 minute free consulation to see if there is a chance to beat the ticket. Depedning on the situation spending $300 to fight a $300 ticket could make sense because if demerit points are taken then insurance premiums will go up considerably.

The paralegal if engaged will set a court date, ask for disclosure and represent you in court.

4. Take a Day off of Work for the Court Date

You can mail the plea to the local court house, or you may have to go in person to book. Once booked, change it to a later date that may prevent the police officer from appearing in court. This is a common tactic as the system will try to have the officer spend a day in court defending his stack of tickets.

No need to take time off of work if a paralegal is hired. That's is their job to represent you

5. Request Disclosure

You have a right to disclosure which will include the officers notes, equipment used, witness statements, record of speed, etc.

You will have to go through the prosecutor at the Provincial Offences office.

6. Plea Bargain

Depending on your driving history, it is possible to plea bargain for a reduced fine, a reduced demerit points or it tossed out of court (if warranted). The prosecutor will be interested in settling the matter quickly as the courts are jam packed every day.

Do not forget to treat everyone in the system with respect and be polite.