April 2006 Archives

NICE Systems this morning made an announcement that I, for one, didn't see coming: its acquisition of Texas-based IEX Corp. as well as performance management provider Performix. Ultimately, the combination of the companies should create a behemoth call center entity that provides all manner of recording, monitoring, workforce management and performance management in one package.

After I've had some time to digest the news, I will share some more thoughts with readers.

TES

PS: In an earlier version of this blog, I goofed and stated that NICE had bought Blue Pumpkin, when in fact that was Witness Systems. That's what you get for blogging before you have had your second cup of coffee. Thanks to the reader who pointed that out.

I just sent a query to my credit card company via their Web site asking about their surcharges on transactions made in foreign countries (I'll be going on vacation this spring.) I've used this method before. When an agent answers my question, I get a notification to log into my account and view the response.

It used to annoy me that so many telecom and financial services companies no longer make their phone numbers easy to find. But after years of hearing one thing from an agent, only to find later that it's not true but have no recourse to prove what I heard initially (it becomes a case of "I said, they said"), I've discovered I like this method. The responses are usually speedy, AND I have the respone in writing. Should the agent inform me there is no fee but I later find one posted to my account, I've got it in writing that a representative of the credit card company promised me there was no fee. In the days of old, my recourse was, "Well, an agent...I don't remember his name...told me there are no fees...I don't remember what date it was. No, I don't remember what number I called."

Accountability works both ways!

TES

Unfortunately, last night I discovered the Web site www.songtapper.com. I'm probably the last person to find this site, but in case you haven't heard of it, here's how it works. If you know a song's melody but don't know the artist, you can access this site and actually "tap" the tune out on the space bar. The Song Tapper then searches its database of songs and returns a list of results in order of probability.

I found that it listed my song as its number one result two of three times I tried it.

Like we all needed a new site to waste time and provide mild amusement...

TES

I've gotten some comment on my article of yesterday, Someone Needs To Put A Leash On Credit Card Issuers. Here is one:

Tracey;

Kudos! I just read your article, "Someone Needs To Put A Leash On Credit Card Issuers." You're right on target, of course, but there's even more!

I've been toying with a piece for my blog at http://preventchargebacks.blogspot.com/. I'm wanting to go way out on a limb and predict the end of credit cards as we know them. I want to, but I can't seem to find that last bit of common sense in the credit card industry that might actually make it happen - they'll just keep keeping on in spite of themselves. But I can tell you that in any other industry that was as business unconscious as the card companies, prediction of imminent doom would be easy.

Consider this...

Visa and MasterCard will proudly boast that the online credit card fraud rate has remained steady or declined ever-so-slightly over the past 3 years. Independent polls seem to be in that ball park too. There's a problem - Online sales have increased at the rate of 30% a year, making the total dollars lost to fraud increase at 30%. All this is going on while Visa and MasterCard are touting their Verified by Visa(R) and SecureCode(R) as the best thing that ever happened to online merchants. You won't see all three of those facts in the same paragraph anywhere else.

If you take a look at the credit card situation from the E-Commerce merchant's point of view, it isn't any better. At merchant911.org we're seeing horror stories from merchants that you wouldn't believe.

New merchants are being signed on every day and never given even the slightest education on the perils of on-line fraud. Why would the card companies educate the merchants when all losses to on-line fraud are the merchant's liability? E-Com merchants take a triple hit on every fraudulent transaction.

The more fraud, the more money the card companies make in the form of chargeback fees - a politically correct term for the fines assessed to merchants for being a victim of a crime. And remember that in 2005 there were over 55 million card numbers, complete with names, addresses, expire dates, and security codes that were either stolen or known to be at risk with unknown consequences: http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm. These are just the ones that we know about. This year so far we're at 1.1 million cards and 700,000 full ID thefts - with a reported potential in the millions.

At Merchant911.org (free) and PreventChargebacks.com (fee) I fight to educate the merchants. I'm losing!

As often happens on Friday, I'm too tired to cook. The very thought of making even�toast right now exhausts me. While I'm normally an avid cook, I am less than inspired to start experimenting in the kitchen tonight. The sum total of my kitchen equipment manipulation will be to acquire a beer out of the fridge upon entering my house.

Which, of course, means pizza. Though I know how to search for pizza places in my area on Google the long way (without about 25 keystrokes), here's a trick I didn't know: in the Google search window, type in "pizza" and your ZIP code. Ten keystrokes, then a�comprehensive list of pizza joints near you.

Now, if only they could rank the quality of the pizza for me, ensuring I get the best available in the area.

TES

Learning what it takes to do skills-based routing well is like learning to do your taxes with flair: it's a skill that will forever more serve you well. TMC is pleased to be offering a Skills-Based Routing Webinar, in conjunction with IEX Corp.

Please put it on your calendar for June 15^th at 2:00pm EST and stay in tune for more information.

TES

Former CIS editor David Butcher spotted my article on the Netflix versus Blockbuster patent hoo-ha today, and sent me a wonderful tidbit of information...that someone has actually patented the childhood "string phone" concept. To think...how much money do our former seven-year-old selves own the patent holders?

United States Patent 4,195,707
Kupperman, et al. April 1, 1980

Communicating Device
A device for communicating in which a hollow frustum extending outwardly from a flat base has tabs at the ends thereof for holding a relatively rigid diaphragm having spaced apart apertures therein. A pair of these devices are interconnected by a cord or string, whereby conversation or sound projected into one of the devices is reproduced at the other device. Two devices are molded as a single integral unit and merchandised as an in-pack item with children’s breakfast cereals.

We are not making this up. Repeat, we are not...

TES

Anyone who believes that "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" doesn't live in New England. Woke up this morning to snow on the ground...April 5th. As far as I can see, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lion, then April comes in like a lion and lets the lamb wander about periodically, but never lets us forget that the lion is still boss, at least until June 1st, at which time the lion turns the whole show over to the fire-breathing dragon from hell.

TES

...in its full circle of contact center product offerings. The company announced today it has acquired a call recording/monitoring/quality management solution from Illinois-based SophistiCom Technologies. This company will now be very, very hard to beat in the call center space. The full article is here: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/contact-center-products/articles/883-aspect-acquires-last-puzzle-piece-call-recording.htm

TES