CRM Junkyard

...and thanks for all the fish

2005-10-03T16:08:18-05:00

As of the end of today, I will no longer be an editor for Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine, nor will I work for Technology Marketing Corporation.�

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My professional career is taking me elsewhere, closer to my home. Therefore, the CRM Junkyard blog will�no longer be updated.

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Vendors: Any future editorial considerations and inquiries regarding CIS magazine may be directed to editorial director Tracey Schelmetic or executive editor Glenn Kalinoski; regarding TMCnet, to Al Bredenberg.

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Blog readers: For additional�TMC blogs, visit here.

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All: For completely irrelevant, often irreverent bloggage, you can, of course, refer frequently to Dave Barry�s blog.

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And CRM Junkyard's�final ~~tech-related~~�~~random~~�~~trivial~~ awesome�link: "Australia Gets Drunk"

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Cheers.

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DRB

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Gratuitous, insipid song-quoting goodbye, here:

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So long, so long
Front foot leads the back one
Go on, and it won�t be too soon
I'm gone, I'm gone
And on to the next one
So long, and I won�t be back soon.

'Rio-style' Customer Feedback

2005-09-29T13:10:09-05:00

A few typical abilities in the field of CRM solutions, in relation with customer service: analytics, reporting and surveys, etc.

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Customer service solutions providers better make sure these aforementioned features are totally effective; yes, make sure service-seeking consumers and customers have the option to voice their thoughts w/r/t service experience, because you really don�t want your clients to be receiving �Rio-style� customer feedback (as reported yesterday by Reuters):

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Consumer feedback, Rio style...�

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An angry passenger on a crammed bus in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro set the vehicle ablaze after it broke down and the driver ordered everyone off.

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The bus stopped with a boiling radiator in the poor Campo Grande neighborhood Monday and the driver told passengers it would not complete its route, a fire department official said Tuesday.

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One passenger returned with a bottle of alcohol, sprayed it inside the bus and set it alight, ignoring a fare collector who was still inside.

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The fare collector jumped out just in time to avoid the fire but the blaze destroyed the bus and also damaged nearby electricity and telephone wires.

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Police were searching for the arsonist, who fled.

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Residents of Rio's slums sometimes torch buses to protest police killings of innocent people during raids against drug gangs. But police said this case was different.

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"It was just one furious, stressed out passenger," a police officer said.

VoIP, a sequel: Fusion Goes To Jamaica

2005-09-29T12:47:52-05:00

Fusion, a provider of advanced solutions and technologies integrated on a single service platform, today announced that its Jamaican subsidiary, Fusion Jamaica Limited, has achieved operational status in line with company expectations. Fusion Jamaica is now positioned to offer Internet access and a full suite of advanced VoIP services to consumers and corporations throughout Jamaica.

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Jamaica is a $900 million telecommunications market.

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Fusion presently provides a full suite of communications services to corporations, consumers, international carriers, government entities and Internet service providers in more than 45 countries. The company further provides its efonica branded VoIP and other Internet services to/from/in/between emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Visit TMCnet�s news page for the full announcement.

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DRB

Intellidyn credit data boosts Touchstone

2005-09-28T16:14:49-05:00

Intellidyn Corporation, an analytics firm that leverages the nation�s credit, demographic, transactional and behavioral marketing data, yesterday announced that Touchstone Communications has coupled credit-based analytics from Intellidyn with unique, loyalty-based management to boost conversions and leads per hour for its mortgage industry clients.

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A provider of integrated customer contact solutions, Touchstone�s call centers serve Fortune 500 companies specializing in financial services and residential mortgages.

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Touchstone President Mike Meyer said, �Touchstone believes that by providing a higher level of service to our clients, business opportunities will always be there for us. In the past, we would use lists provided by our clients, but we were not satisfied with their response performance. By utilizing Intellidyn's individual-level credit data modeled on channel-specific response and conversion behavior, we now contact only high-response, pre-qualified leads. This helped double the number of qualified leads we are able to generate per hour at two call centers and boosted telemarketer morale. Our loyalty-based call center management strategy, combined with Intellidyn's pre-qualified lead data has helped us double client conversions and increase leads-per-hour by [50 percent to 80 percent], to more than 600 leads per day.

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Intellidyn has compiled notably comprehensive and up-to-date databases based on transaction, credit, demographic and behavior, and it provides an in-depth, �atomic� level of data management, analytic services, list services, database marketing and strategic services. The company�s customers include marketers in fields of banking, collections, insurance, lending, member/donor, travel, wireless and others, all of which utilize Intellidyn�s data and marketing products and services to boost campaign performance and ROI.

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�Intellidyn is pleased to be able to help Touchstone deliver high-volume lead conversions to its clients,� Intellidyn President and CEO Peter Harvey said. �We work closely with Touchstone to ensure that they have the right data so that their call centers contact only the most qualified individuals, based on the unique offers of their clients.�

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Touchstone Communications provides offshore integrated customer contact solutions to the financial services and communications industry. Its customized solutions include inbound and outbound telemarketing and business process outsourcing (BPO) designed to enhance or replace in-house operations. Acting as a seamless extension of its clients� operations, Touchstone aims to deliver cost efficiencies and measurable improvements in quality and performance.

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DRB

eBay support for repet. stupidity

2005-09-27T15:36:16-05:00

HostedSupport.com, a provider of automated online customer support solutions for Web businesses, today announced ezSupport for eBay, its new automated customer support solution customized specifically to the needs of eBay sellers.

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ezSupport for eBay assists sellers in dealing with the overwhelming volume of repetitive (and often stupid) e-mail questions from buyers by automatically answering 80 percent of incoming questions. (eBay currently has 135 million users worldwide.)

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Typical questions received by sellers include inquiries on shipping policies as well as specifics regarding products� sizes, weight and colors.�Through a set-up wizard, sellers develop their own list of questions and answers:

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Buyer inquiry: �Quick question before I bid...Does the Actual-Size Vintage 1942 DC-3/C-47 Cargo Aircraft come with a CD player?�

Seller automated response: �The actual-size aircraft is from World War II. It's a 1942 model.�

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Buyer follow-up inquiry: �So it doesn�t have a CD player?�

Seller follow-up automated response: �No stupid questions, please. Read product description before inquiring...Stupid.�

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Obviously persistent stupid potential buyer: �Does�the aircraft�come in purple?�

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Once sellers develop their own questions and answers, ezSupport for eBay can be up and running in less than 20 minutes.

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ezSupport for eBay is a Web-based, hosted solution with no special software or hardware to purchase. Targeted to eBay sellers and ecommerce companies that sell on eBay, ezSupport for eBay enables sellers to focus on increasing sales rather than dealing with redundant customer e-mail messages.�

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HostedSupport.com�s partnership with the online auction company makes the company the only developer of automated customer support that has integrated into the eBay API to support �Ask the Seller a Question.��

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According to a company statement, one example of an eBay seller who found himself bogged down in the volume of buyer e-mail is Bob Allen, co-founder of MyGolfBallStore.com. MyGolfBallStore.com is an online retailer of sporting goods and an eBay platinum power seller.�Allen and his customer support team utilized e-mail, spreadsheets and paper files to track customer issues.�As the business grew, this manual process consumed too much time and became too complex and costly. Allen then adopted ezSupport for eBay to automate his customer support process.

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According to Allen, �HostedSupport.com was the answer to my prayers. We were suffering severe growing pains trying to keep up with our customer support workload.�Since using ezSupport for eBay, seventy percent of our workload has been eliminated by the system, and our customer relationships have never been better.�

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ezSupport for eBay is priced at $9.95 per seat per month. It is available on a month-to-month subscription basis.�Further, the hosted solution supports Windows and Macintosh and is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Opera and Safari Web browsers.�

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In addition to ezSupport for eBay, HostedSupport.com offers another product customized to eBay: ezSupport Lite for eBay, a free introductory solution that also integrates with �Ask the Seller a Question.��

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HostedSupport.com also offers ezSupport and ezSupport Pro, the company�s automated online customer support solutions for any online business. ezSupport and ezSupport Pro feature auto-answer e-mail, FAQs, ticket tracking, live chat, advanced reporting and POP e-mail importing, as well as free training and set-up assistance. Pricing is $49.95 per seat per month for ezSupport and $79.95 per seat per month for ezSupport Pro.

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HostedSupport.com is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. In addition to eBay, its clients and partners include PCMall; E! Online; TicketWeb; Yahoo! Search Marketing; and, of course, MyGolfBallStore.

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DRB

Indus' new service delivery mgmt.

2005-09-26T16:49:32-05:00

Indus International Inc., a provider of service delivery management (SDM) solutions, today announced a new and improved Service Delivery Management offering.

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With a broader feature set, new tools and improved usability, the enhanced and expanded Indus solution is designed to enable clients to perform more tasks at the point of service, improve communication across departmental silos and manage enterprisewide performance in real time. As such, Indus clients are provided with �unparalleled capability to achieve world-class performance,� according to the company, by improving productivity, reducing costs, increasing customer loyalty and generating new revenue streams through service delivery.

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According to the company�s new-product announcement, the enhanced offering for Service Delivery Management includes the following enhancements:� �

More Flexible and Dynamic Asset Tracking ��Indus Asset Suite software offers increased ability to track mobile assets and dynamically change owners, operators and maintainers throughout the lifecycle of the asset.
Increased Mobility and Field Service Optimization ��Indus Service Suite software provides increased ability to access required data and parts in the field and more flexibility to plan tasks around schedule interdependencies.
Improved Customer Management Performance and Ease of Use ��More than 160 enhancements have been incorporated into Indus Customer Suite software to further boost performance and scalability, integrate advanced technologies and deliver unparalleled ease of use and flexibility.
Proven Methodology for Driving ROI � The new Indus Value Assessment methodology combines the latest advancements in value analysis and software delivery with proven best practices to provide achievable ROI goals and to create an action plan tied to strategic business objectives to meet those goals.

For more information on the company and its products, visit Indus online.��

Ronald or Ronette?

2005-09-23T16:01:44-05:00

Who�d have thought McDonald�s iconic clown, Ronald, could ever be described as sexy? The greasy-fast-food chain�s clown has had a stylish � dare I say smoldering � and successful makeover in a Japanese ad campaign.

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As reported by The Guardian today, �A gender-bending makeover of McDonald�s marketing icon in Japan has been hailed a great success after capturing the public imagination and enticing adults back into its outlets to sample a revamped menu.�

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Of course, universally everyone knows Ronald McDonald as the creepy clown (as all clowns are creepy, yeah?) who wears gi-normous shoes, red mini-afro and yellow MC Hammer-pants-fashioned overalls (i.e., baggy, kids, baggy pants and now baggy overalls...savvy?).

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The Guardian noted: �In the Japanese TV commercial, the foxy female version, with shoulder-length straight auburn hair in place of Ronald's frizzy mop, smoulders at the camera in a flowing yellow dress, and later a red and white striped bikini with thigh-length leggings and red high heels.�

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The man behind the campaign, Hidekazu Sato (known by his nickname Kazoo) � the associate creative director at Beacon Communications � insisted to The Guardian that he �did not create a female Ronald McDonald - but merely appropriated his instantly [recognizable] outfit.�

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�We devised the costume and took the red and white stripes and the yellow, which were [recognized] and converted them into a stylish dress,� Kazoo told the UK paper via a translator. �We were assuming that even if we didn't include the McDonald's logo and even if the model was a beautiful caucasian just those [colors] of the mnemonic design would wake up people's association with McDonald's.�

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Perhaps his next task will be to model The Hamburglar after Viggo Mortensen?

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Of course, what with the media-purported obesity epidemic spreading at record pace in the United States, perhaps the success of this campaign should stay in Japan.

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Otherwise ... I say, Kudos to you, Kazoo.

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Ronald or Ronette Picture gallery

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DRB

Speaking of Headsets...

2005-09-22T16:10:04-05:00

Speaking of Sennheiser�s 60^th birthday, be sure to read the annual Headset Roundup and headset feature ("Speaking Softly In Your Ear") in the September issue of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine for relevant tips and information and sources for consideration in purchasing headsets and headset technologies.

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(�Relevant,� as in, There is absolutely NO reference to earwax in the feature.)

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The editorial contains insight and advice from experts at Sennheiser, GN Netcom, Plantronics and Etymotic Research, Inc.�

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Cheers.�

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DRB

Renewing New Orleans nightlife

2005-09-22T11:54:25-05:00

One word: Strippers.

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In non-tech-related news today, and in regard to bringing back New Orleans' nightlife, Reuters offered this �

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Strippers help tease back New Orleans nightlife�

By Matt Daily

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In a sign that things may be returning to normal in New Orleans, strip shows are back in the city's famous French Quarter.

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Erotic dancers and strippers are entertaining crowds of police, firefighters and military personnel instead of the usual audiences of drunken conventioneers and tourists in�Bourbon Street's Deja Vu club, which reopened this week.��It's the first strip joint to resume business, three weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck in the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States.

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"It's nice to get back to work, and all these men need some entertainment," Dawn Beasley, 27, a dancer at the club, said on Tuesday night. "They haven't seen anybody but their buddies for two weeks."

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The crowd hooted and hollered as women peeled off their tops and gyrated, as customers tucked tips into their G-strings.

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"This is our first time off the ship and it's great," said one young sailor as he left the club. He declined to give his name or say where he was stationed.

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"It's good to see the businesses getting back up and bringing the city back," another sailor said.

New Orleans' strip clubs have long been a fixture of Bourbon Street, where marquees promise everything from "barely legal" dancers to transvestite divas. Photos of the seedy shows inside the clubs line the windows, next to scores of bars in the district that draws tourists from around the globe.�

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The city's dusk-to-dawn curfew failed to prevent the Deja Vu from staying open to the early hours, with blaring music and neon lights spilling out into the Quarter, most of which remained bathed in darkness in the aftermath of the storm.

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"We were open till two last night, just long enough to get the testosterone flowing," Beasley said.

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Only a handful of restaurants and bars in the Quarter have reopened in recent days, serving food and drinks -- usually without charge -- to rescue workers and military who stream through the mostly empty streets. The Deja Vu waived its cover charge, drinks were selling for $3 and a private dance was available for just $1.

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For Deja Vu manager Brent Ardeneaux, reopening was a public service.

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"It's a disaster zone. You got a lot of people in from out of town that need entertaining," he said as he unloaded supplies from the back of a pick-up truck.

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The club even drew several women looking for a respite from their duties patrolling the city, but they resisted entreaties to join the others on stage and left after a few minutes.

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One of them, a soldier, said: "We were just looking for any place open. We've been working hard."�

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(Disclaimer: This blogger offers no ethics-inclined opinion on the matter; rather, he simply reports the news...while horizontally swinging himself from a ceiling-high pole.)

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(Disclaimer, 2x: Nor does this blogger�actually have a ceiling-high stripper pole installed at his area�of work; he saves that luxury for his home.)�

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(Disclaimer, 3x: Seriously,�though, this blogger has no intention of making light of the tragedy that has taken --and continues to take -- place in New Orleans and surrounding areas.)

Fear Drives VoIP in Telecom

2005-09-21T14:37:30-05:00

Is the main reason more telecom companies are switching to VoIP the cost savings?

The convenience?�

Efficiency?

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No.

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The main reason that more companies are switching to VoIP, according to a report by Heavy Reading, is fear.�

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Of more than 175 carrier professional surveyed, the single biggest reason for VoIP deployment is �fear that traffic would otherwise migrate to competitors� networks,� Heavy Reading senior analyst Graham Finnie told TechWeb.�

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More than half of the respondents said more than half of their voice traffic would be IP by 2007.�

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More than three-quarters of those surveyed said their company had already deployed VoIP in some part of its network; within 12 months, that figure will rise to almost 90 percent.

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See below for TechWeb�s report on the VoIP-in-telecoms survey.�

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DRB�

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Fear Driving Telecoms to VoIP, Says Survey�

Tue Sep 20, 4:20 PM ET��

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MANHASSET, N.Y. � Global telecom carriers are accelerating their plans to offer Internet-based VOIP services for fear of losing critical business to competitors, according to a report by Heavy Reading.�

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The report surveyed over 175 carrier professionals representing more than 130 network operators worldwide, including AT&T, BellSouth, BT Group, SBC Communications, and Verizon Communications.��

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Over half the respondents said more than 50 percent of their voice traffic would be IP by 2007, the survey found, with relatively little difference expected between VoIP in core networks and in access networks.��

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More than three-quarters of survey respondents said their company had already deployed VoIP in some part of its network, and within 12 months that figure will rise to almost 90 percent. At the same time, over half of respondents said that less than 10 percent of traffic, in both access and core, was VoIP today-- and the proportion of customers with VoIP-enabled terminals or handsets was even lower.��

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"The single biggest reason for deploying VoIP is fear that traffic would otherwise migrate to competitors' networks," said Graham Finnie, Heavy Reading senior analyst and author of the report. "Not surprisingly, this view is especially true among incumbent telcos-- over three-quarters of incumbent respondents saw fear of traffic loss as important or critically important to their VoIP strategy."��

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The survey also noted that most network operators with softswitches deployed in their network have opted for integrated devices, although data suggests there will be a trend toward distributed softswitches in the next two years. Access media gateways are the most widely deployed VoIP network equipment today, and 84 percent of respondents expect to be using them within two years.��

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However, the highest growth in uptake of VoIP equipment is expected to be in media servers and session border controllers (SBCs) or other policy control equipment, the survey found.��

Oracle, Clickatell Target Mobile Messaging

2005-09-20T14:44:48-05:00

Clickatell, a provider of global mobile messaging, today announced its teaming with Oracle to launch a mobile messaging Web service for the Oracle Application Server Wireless, a component of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

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The Web service allows businesses using Oracle Application Server Wireless to immediately connect to Clickatell�s global gateway to send their short message service (SMS) messages locally and around the world. The Clickatell gateway provides a large mobile messaging coverage network with connections to more than 550 mobile network operators in 180 countries.

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Oracle Application Server Wireless allows businesses to easily extend existing enterprise applications to include messaging services to their customers and staff. The introduction of Clickatell�s Web service allows businesses to send near-real-time alerts and other messages regardless of the recipient�s location.

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According to the announcement:�

�Connection to the Clickatell gateway is quick and easy via the default Web service and requires no additional software or drivers. And to gain the advantages of a global multi-network messaging network, businesses don�t need to individually negotiate with and connect to mobile operators. In addition, businesses don�t have to spend resources on getting the best performance from the connections, as Clickatell actively monitors the networks and takes care of load balancing and message routing. Finally Clickatell�s team of messaging experts and systems engineers is available via a 24x7x365 in-house [service center].�

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Clickatell is a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork.

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More-detailed information can be found at the following: http://www.clickatell.com/brochure/oracle.php

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DRB

FCC Updates DNC Report

2005-09-19T15:27:02-05:00

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week released its �Annual Report on the National DNC Registry�. Such covered topics include the effectiveness of the DNC registry, as well as detailed information regarding the enforcement actions undertaken by the FCC.

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For a well-put synopsis�and highlights of the FCC�s update, visit Tracey Schelmetic�s coverage�on TMCnet.

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DRB

Today's International Holiday

2005-09-19T15:13:04-05:00

Avast! Today be the day! Arrr! Arrr! Arrr!

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The CRM Junkyard blog today officially recognizes international Talk Like A Pirate Day.�

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How it began.��

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So walk with a swagger, sing a shanty and count th� time �til ye can pillage yer personal grog cabinet and drink with yer buxom beauty.

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Savvy?

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DRB �Mad Brigand�

Pins & Needles! Pins & Needles!

2005-09-19T13:31:41-05:00

For�those without jobs to aspire:�The Couch Potato record.

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Key Quote: "He does it, he says, to raise awareness of suffering children."

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DRB

At a loss, really...

2005-09-16T16:51:59-05:00

A portable bidet? It seems kind of ... well, I just don't know.

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And yet -- I'm curiously drawn to its intriguing premise. I don't know.�I suppose go for the newer version; the one with the digital camera.

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(Now, do I categorize this post under Wireless Technology?)

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DRB