VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com

October 4, 2007

Over a decade ago I came across Interactive Intelligence, a company who looked at the call center space as an area ripe with opportunity. They decided to market products which did exactly the opposite of what others were doing at the time.

 

While most companies were focusing on pushing box after box after box -- one for the ACD, another for the dialer, workforce management, etc… Interactive Intelligence decided to unify the communications mechanisms and deploy software as opposed to hardware. Their solution was to have a single configuration interface, navigation menus, etc.

 

I was thinking about the past decade in communications as I came across this interesting Flash demo from the company. It seems like more and more companies are now doing with Interactive is doing.

 

This demo talks a bit about the company and the Customer Interaction Center solution they provide. In my opinion, all companies should have a Flash demo such as this so web visitors can determine what their company does in a rapid and easy fashion. I would prefer a bit more interactivity in such demos but still in a few minutes this Flash presentation gives you a good idea of what the product is about and it is worth a viewing.

 

Check it out here.

 

Oh, and I almost forgot. Like any good demo… If you watch the whole thing you are eligible to win a free Apple iPhone. Now that is a tough offer to refuse. Good luck!

October 4, 2007

60 lucky people will be able to own the new Nokia Ascent Ferrari 60 phone. As is the case with the cars, if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it. Let’s put it this way. Assuming the average car costs around $30k and the Average Ferrari costs about $300k – you pay a 10x premium for the prancing horse.

 

The situation is similar with the phone where if the average smartphone costs around $250, you can pick up this new Ferrari phone for about $25k. Again, a 10x mark-up.**

 

As is the case with the car, the phone could also become a collector’s item. But then again, I am sure the chance of cell phone theft increases dramatically when you pull out a phone costing around what an entry level annual salary is for some!

Now I am wondering how I can get an editorial review unit. Any Nokia or Ferrari PR people who want to hook me up? I promise to return it. Really I do. :)

**Ouch -- boy did I screw up. the Ferrari phone is a 100x time markup and I have to thank the eagle-eyed commenter Vitality for pointing it out. I guess my brain short circuited at the cost variance of 100x. Amazing!

October 4, 2007

If you are interested in how services like Freeconferencecall.com make money be sure to check out this article in the Wall Street Journal (paid content). In short, large phone carriers like AT&T and Verizon have to pay 5.3 cents per minute to terminate calls in rural parts of Iowa due to the way the telecom regulations in the US work.

 

So free conference calling services, chat and sex lines were set up with numbers connecting to rural Iowa. The rural carriers split the incoming revenue with the internet companies.

 

The large phone companies started to block calls, the free conference calling services complained to the FCC and now the large phone companies stopped blocking calls and instead refuse to pay.

 

If nothing else this article shows just how inconsistent the telecom policies are in the US and moreover how technologies like the internet and IP communications have been able to open up large business opportunities.