Brendan Read : The Readerboard
Brendan Read
TMC

The Readerboard

| Contact Center/CRM Views and Analysis

E-Business

Making the IVR Ogre Customer-Friendly

June 25, 2010

Customers may not exactly be a fan of IVR systems but if they are programmed right, with their needs in mind, they can actually do some good by enabling them to get the services and items they need with minimal waits: and aggravation.
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business

Don't SLAPP Social Media (or SLAPP, period)

June 2, 2010

Strategic lawsuits against public participation or SLAPPs are the cowards' way of quieting dissent; the legal equivalent of glove-covered brass knuckles. Now comes the disturbing if not unexpected report from The New York Times that firms have been attempting to SLAPP consumers they appear to have annoyed and who have in turn posted comments on social media sites.
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business

Can Social Media Influence Sales? Just Ask Simon Cowell

December 21, 2009

If there is ever a demonstration that social media can make or break a product--and why enterprises should wrap tools and training with CRM strategies to effectively tap this new channel via their contact centers as presents to themselves-- then a recent U.K. Facebook-organized campaign to deny the debut single from the recent winner of Simon Cowell's X Factor reality show the hallowed position of Britain's top Christmas pop song should be it...And that's the lesson with social media. If individuals can topple the best efforts of an industry giant like him--with the lovely touch of beating the musical equivalent of saccharine with Semtex--imagine what those who believe or dislike other products and firms can do if they can gain support for their campaigns via the social channel.
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business

May Nortel Execs' Stockings Be Laden With Coal

November 30, 2009

Canada's CBC reported Thursday that Nortel's management approved a plan earlier this fall to reward themselves with salary increases, investments or bonuses. An internal document obtained by the broadcaster outlines a new compensation scheme for 72 Nortel executives that will see them get a total of $7.5 million on top of their current salaries in 2009. This greedy self-serving, yet not surprising move given Nortel's record of incompetent, questionably ethical management--one whose stupidity is matched only by its board who failed in its duties to properly oversee this outfit--comes out at a time when those that actually did their jobs well--its pensioners and long-term unemployed--are being denied what is rightfully theirs.
Posted in E-Business

Nortel May Be Split, Sold To Avaya, Nokia Siemens, Siemens Enterprise Communications

March 12, 2009

Remember the last time you played Monopoly (TM) when a big player in the game who owned Boardwalk and Park Place went bankrupt, and how you and your friends couldn't wait to buy these nice assets for dimes on the dollars? That's what's happening to Nortel right now. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that the communications firm, which is under creditor protection, has attracted several possible purchasers of its high-value enterprise and wireless equipment businesses. According to The Canadian Press, the WSJ's website named Avaya and Siemens Enterprise Communications as potential purchasers of Nortel's enterprise product line according to well-placed sources.
Posted in E-Business

Smoot-Hawley...It's Baaaack! Will It Infest Tech And Destroy The Economy?

February 2, 2009

The ghost of Smoot-Hawley is baaack...and it is a real horror that spread misery worldwide, and could do again unless elected officials have the guts to drive a stake in its latest resurrection.
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business

Nortel, if it stays, will stay and grow in enterprise, contact center space

December 17, 2008

Rest assured customers and would-be buyers of Nortel's contact center and UC solutions. The famed Canada-based communications solutions supplier is not going to hang up on you. If Canadian media reports are any indication, Nortel will increase its focus and presence on the enterprise--including contact center--markets.
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business

With Web 2.0 Be Prepared For Brickbats As Well As (the Few) Bouquets

December 15, 2008

A recent Wall Street Journal article on Web 2.0 brought home a key point for firms wanting to present themselves to this evolving and morphing mélange of business and social networking sites, of blogs and wikis in their CRM strategies: be prepared for the bad as well as the good.
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business

mCommerce + eCommerce = Retail Success

December 8, 2008

Forget home and business computers. mCommerce is the killer app for eCommerce, and together it will enable retailers to be successful now and going forward provided it is fully integrated with the stores.
Posted in E-Business, Wireless

End of the Line for Toll-Free Numbers?

July 31, 2008

Today is the 'last run' for the toll-free number connecting New Jersey Transit, the third largest transit agency in the US, with its customers. Yet could this be the beginning of the end of toll-free numbers in North America?
Posted in Call Center CRM, E-Business, VoIP
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