By David Sims
[email protected]
The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music
is Robert Earl Keen, Jr.’s great new song “For Love.” Why doesn’t stuff this good get on the radio?
Okay, it’s Thanksgiving Day, which means nobody’s reading
this, so let’s try to get the ol’ search engine hit count up, hang on a sec…
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Welcome, readers!
…
The market for VoIP
services in Asia continues to show strong growth, as total revenue is
expected to rise from nearly $5.5 billion in 2004 to more than $10 billion by
2009, reports In-Stat.
Currently long distance calls, initiated from either
traditional PSTN terminals or full IP local loops but carried over IP backbones
to recipients’ local networks, create the bulk of VoIP business in Asia,
providing for 85.4% of total revenue in 2004, the high-tech market research
firm says. In Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, a large portion of
long distance calls has already migrated to the IP platform.
“By contrast, adoption of local VoIP services is slow due to
regulatory barriers in many countries and the dominance of incumbent players,”
said Victor Liu, In-Stat analyst. “In Japan, however, competitive service
providers such as Yahoo! BB have demonstrated how they can creatively leverage
technological advantages to introduce new services and woo customers in a loose
regulatory framework.”
The report also found in 2004, there were 8.7 million local
VoIP lines in Asia. Yet it cautioned that regulators still have to make hard,
yet smart decisions to ensure smooth market development, with some vendors
placing high stakes on VoIP for their future success.
And it’s still basically a non-starter in China, as industry
observer Dan
Nystedt reports: “In China… telecommunications companies moved to block
software services such as Skype Technologies’ SkypeOut, to protect their long distance
revenue. Under current regulations in China, PC-to-phone services are strictly
regulated and only China Telecommunications (China Telecom) and China
Network Communications (China Netcom) are permitted to carry out some trials on
a very limited basis.”
Basically, “in China, there is no incentive for service
providers to allow rival VoIP services, so the market’s not going to grow very
rapidly,” Nystedt quotes Victor Liu, an In-Stat researcher based in Singapore
as saying.
The story’s the same across the region, with regulatory
barriers thrown up to favor dominant
telecommunication companies: “Phone service providers in many markets want to
maintain control over their territory with existing lines so they can still
charge customers for routing calls onto the IP network.”
…
Here’s a new one: Consumer
Relationship Management.
Seems that BMW North America has selected New
York-based Dotglu, LLC as its new “Consumer Relationship Management
agency-of-record.” Dotglu will work in direct partnership with GSD&M, the
lead agency recently awarded the BMW national brand and advertising business.
As the CRM partner company, Dotglu will work with GSD&M
and BMW to “maximize the total customer experience in all areas of CRM, direct
marketing, database marketing and interactive marketing initiatives, including
the redesign of http://www.bmwusa.com/,”
according to BMW officials.
“In the end, our relationship with consumers is the most important
relationship we have as a brand. We believe that Dotglu is the ideal business
partner for us to enhance, broaden and redefine our direct communications with
consumers,” said Patrick McKenna, Manager, Marketing Communications.
Steve Thibodeau, President, Dotglu said their CRM objectives
are to “build and expand BMW’s leadership in any area that they compete, and
deliver strategies and creative ideas that will completely redefine how brands
and consumers interact.”
...
Rather tough finding CRM, VoIP and other business tech news
on Thanksgiving Day, one must range far afield, out of the United States… let’s
see… ah, here we go: Citrix Systems ha renovado su software
Application Gateway para introducir
funcionalidades click-to-dial que permiten realizar llamadas VoIP desde la
interfaz del PC.
La versión 6 de Citrix Application Gateway incluye una aplicación cliente de
Smart Agent que permite a los usuarios pinchar un número de teléfono en
cualquier aplicación o página Web y marcar el número desde un teléfono IP de
sobremesa. Citrix afirma que la integración teléfono-ordenador de este software
ayuda a incrementar la productividad del usuario, sin la costosa y compleja
configuración requerida por soluciones CTI anteriores.
...
First CoffeeSM gives thanks for another
non-Thanksgiving Day celebrating country, New Zealand: Siebel Systems, Inc. has announced
that the New
Zealand Inland Revenue Department has selected Siebel Enterprise Case Management and Siebel Public Sector
Case Management Analytics to “provide a framework for increasing the efficiency
and effectiveness of its case management and to enable the seamless transition
of cases between its business areas,” according to Siebel officials.
In 2002 Inland Revenue developed and launched an
e-Enablement Strategy to do such things as streamline and simplify (but not
reduce, alas) its tax processes, with hopes of increasing compliance, and
enhancing the administration of its social policy initiatives. As part of the
requirement to support this, a new case management system was also identified.
(“Social policy initiatives?” In taxes?)
Siebel Systems’ case management solution will be rolled out
initially in Inland Revenue’s audit, return and debt collection, and child
support business areas. It will be accessed by an estimated 1,000 audit users,
500 return and debt collection users, and 700 child support users, plus other
potential users across Inland Revenue. Design, configuration, and testing will
occur prior to the rollout to each business area, starting with the audit area
in June 2006.
…
If you’re looking for
something
to be thankful for, Max
Boot reminds us that “47% of Iraqis polled said their country was headed in
the right direction, as opposed to 37% who said they thought that it was going
in the wrong direction. And 56% thought
things would be better in six months. Only 16% thought they would be worse.”
You can also be thankful for the fact that there have been “two successful
elections this year, on Jan. 30 and Oct. 15. The constitutional referendum in
October was particularly significant because of the wholesale engagement of
Sunnis in the political process. Since then, Sunni political parties have made
clear their determination to also participate in the Dec. 15 parliamentary
election. This is big news. The most
disaffected group in Iraq is starting to realize that it must achieve its
objectives through ballots, not bullets.”
You won’t have heard the MainStream Media report this, but
the Brookings Institution reports that Iraqi
per capita income has doubled since 2003 and is now 30% higher than it was
before the war. The Iraqi economy will grow at a whopping 16.8% next year.
There are five times more cars on the streets than in Saddam Hussein’s day, five
times more telephone subscribers and 32 times more Internet users.
And whereas before 2003 there was not a single independent media outlet in
Iraq, Boot says, “today, Brookings reports, there are 44 commercial TV
stations, 72 radio stations and more than 100 newspapers.”
Be thankful that we’re winning and the terrorists are
losing. Big time.
If read off-site hit http://blog.tmcnet.com/telecom-crm/
for the fully-linked version. First CoffeeSM accepts no sponsored
content.
