Brendan Read
TMC
May 2009
You are browsing the archive for May 2009.
Ending Charity Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Bad Practices
May 22, 2009As Americans set out for the Memorial Day weekend I wonder how many realize that this is in a reality a somber holiday, originally started to honor the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War that greatest of American tragedies, whose political aftershocks continue to this present day, and expanded (rightfully) to all fallen American service personnel. When I was a Cub Scout I took part in the local Memorial Day parade, marching to my town's largest cemetery where an honor guard fired a 21-gun salute with their rifles, and racing with the other boys to pick up the shell casings.
Unfortunately as with all human endeavors there are the vermin who seek to exploit and abuse the respect that we have for those who fight for our freedom by seeking funds for bogus veterans' organizations via telemarketing. The Federal Trade Commission has caught a few in its traps. The FTC, joined by 48 states, brought 76 enforcement actions against 32 fundraising companies, 22 non-profits or purported to be ones on whose behalf fund were solicited, and 31 individuals in "Operation False Charity".
Sage Advice to SMBs on Data Management and Business Software
May 15, 2009If staying afloat in rough economic waters were not enough, small-midsized businesses (SMBs) are experiencing frustration and inefficiency when it comes to integrating data management and business software (i.e. ERP, CRM) that have been intended to help them manage costs and grow revenues. With the hefty chunk of change those solutions command, at a time where every dollar spent must have the maximum value extracted, these need to start pulling their weight.
A new white paper sponsored by Sage and published on TMCnet reveals that customizing applications for particular needs ranks the top--63 percent--of common software problems. This is followed way behind by duplicate data entry points and coordinating software updates each at 32 percent.
Oh Canada: eBay Closes B.C. Contact Center
May 7, 2009In what cynics say is another death knell for nearshore contact centers in Canada, and one more piece of evidence that beneath globalization is headquarters nationalism, online auction giant eBay is closing its Canadian contact center, which is located in Burnaby, British Columbia; Burnaby is part of the Metro Vancouver area.
Yet this move is one more illustration why traditional bricks-and-mortar centers are obsolete...
The Canadian Press reports that 700 agents will lose their jobs by the end of September as eBay pulls its work back across the border: to its Salt Lake City offices plus to other offices worldwide.
"While it is a difficult decision to close our Vancouver facility, we believe that consolidating our North America customer service operations will help accelerate our efforts to continually exceed buyer and seller expectations," the wire service quoted Chad O'Meara, vice-president of customer service for eBay Marketplaces.
It is too bad to see eBay shutter its shop. Despite the fanfare around the 2010 Winter Olympics, British Columbia including Metro Vancouver has been hard hit by the downturn and can ill-afford to lose this employment.
