The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Miles Davis's The Birth Of The Cool. Hey, one can only take so much Christmas music, don't want to burn out before Christmas Eve:
Callidus Software officials have pronounced themselves pleased with the company's participation as a platinum sponsor of Dreamforce '09, Salesforce.com's seventh annual user and developer conference.
Callidus Software officials have pronounced themselves pleased with the company's participation as a platinum sponsor of Dreamforce '09, Salesforce.com's seventh annual user and developer conference.
The vendor showcased its new applications available on the Force.com platform, including Monaco Suite, Commissions Manager and Plan Communicator to the more than 15,000 participants at the annual event.
"We attended Dreamforce to showcase our native SMB products on the Force.com platform," noted Leslie Stretch, president and CEO at Callidus Software, adding that the vendor received interest in their Force.com products "such as our claims-based tool, Commissions Manager, and our document distribution and approval product, Plan Communicator."
"We attended Dreamforce to showcase our native SMB products on the Force.com platform," noted Leslie Stretch, president and CEO at Callidus Software, adding that the vendor received interest in their Force.com products "such as our claims-based tool, Commissions Manager, and our document distribution and approval product, Plan Communicator."
Both products are billed as providing an "on-ramp" to sales performance management by "strengthening communication and streamlining sales processes."
Mark Smith, CEO and EVP at Ventana Research, described the Callidus Plan Communicator and Commissions Manager products as tools to help organizations off-board from using dedicated spreadsheets onto "a product that uses software designed for the process and for management" to pay commission and incentives. He said it would be attractive to "mid-sized organizations that have defined products and services with set commission rates and accelerators."
Callidus also announced that they will be expanding their entire suite on top of the Force.com platform to further embrace cloud computing, including building native applications on the Force.com platform to embrace the Salesforce CRM environment.
Mark Smith, CEO and EVP at Ventana Research, described the Callidus Plan Communicator and Commissions Manager products as tools to help organizations off-board from using dedicated spreadsheets onto "a product that uses software designed for the process and for management" to pay commission and incentives. He said it would be attractive to "mid-sized organizations that have defined products and services with set commission rates and accelerators."
Callidus also announced that they will be expanding their entire suite on top of the Force.com platform to further embrace cloud computing, including building native applications on the Force.com platform to embrace the Salesforce CRM environment.
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Back to the hard news: Vonage has announced that throughout the Christmas season, its customers will be able to once again dial 1-700-CALLSANTA from a Vonage home phone line and hear a recorded greeting from Santa Claus.
Back to the hard news: Vonage has announced that throughout the Christmas season, its customers will be able to once again dial 1-700-CALLSANTA from a Vonage home phone line and hear a recorded greeting from Santa Claus.
After hearing the message, they will be able to leave Santa a message telling him what they want for Christmas.
Note to all of you asking for a white Christmas: Thanks. Thanks a lot. Next year be careful what you ask for, willya?
As an additional customer service, the recorded message will be sent to the account holder's e-mail address so they know exactly what their loved one asked Santa to bring them. The audio attachment can be forwarded to other family members and friends, or even set aside as a keepsake. Or as a good blackmail threat in a few years.
Starting at 5:00 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve, callers can track Santa's whereabouts as he delivers toys around the world by dialing 1-700-CALLSANTA. And if you send First Coffee $10 we promise we won't let your kids know about this feature.
Vonage sells voice and messaging services over broadband networks, including unlimited calling to landline phones in all cities and locations in more than 60 countries. Vonage Mobile is available for download on the iPhone, BlackBerry and iPod touch.
The vendor's service is sold on the Web and through regional and national retailers including Wal-Mart, and is available to customers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
As an additional customer service, the recorded message will be sent to the account holder's e-mail address so they know exactly what their loved one asked Santa to bring them. The audio attachment can be forwarded to other family members and friends, or even set aside as a keepsake. Or as a good blackmail threat in a few years.
Starting at 5:00 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve, callers can track Santa's whereabouts as he delivers toys around the world by dialing 1-700-CALLSANTA. And if you send First Coffee $10 we promise we won't let your kids know about this feature.
Vonage sells voice and messaging services over broadband networks, including unlimited calling to landline phones in all cities and locations in more than 60 countries. Vonage Mobile is available for download on the iPhone, BlackBerry and iPod touch.
The vendor's service is sold on the Web and through regional and national retailers including Wal-Mart, and is available to customers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
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Yes, there's an ab for that: IPhone fitness application developer Abvio has announced Runmeter 2.0, a running application for the iPhone 3G/3GS.
Yes, there's an ab for that: IPhone fitness application developer Abvio has announced Runmeter 2.0, a running application for the iPhone 3G/3GS.
The app turns your phone into a GPS stopwatch, if you think such a gadget would help you run faster and increase endurance, well, put this on your list for Santa. It has Twitter text-to-speech, so you can get coaching and even more distractions while running.
It's one of the first iPhone applications with the ability to start or stop the application from Apple's earphone remote. It allows direct Google Maps sharing via e-mail or Twitter -- "Let's see, Nelson Avenue... whoa, how'd I end up here? Must've missed a race marker a few miles back..."
It's one of the first iPhone applications with the ability to start or stop the application from Apple's earphone remote. It allows direct Google Maps sharing via e-mail or Twitter -- "Let's see, Nelson Avenue... whoa, how'd I end up here? Must've missed a race marker a few miles back..."
Abvio bills Runmeter 2.0 as "battery-friendly -- runners can train for up to six hours without recharging or using a battery extender."
Steve Kusmer, co-founder and CEO of Abvio, says users can control and use the app "while your iPhone is sleeping in your pocket or armband." It also has maps, a calendar of all your runs, graphs of elevation and pace and spoken announcements of your statistics as you run.
Runmeter 2.0 requires no Web site log-in or monthly subscription and is ad-free. It's available now from the Apple iTunes Store for $4.99.
Steve Kusmer, co-founder and CEO of Abvio, says users can control and use the app "while your iPhone is sleeping in your pocket or armband." It also has maps, a calendar of all your runs, graphs of elevation and pace and spoken announcements of your statistics as you run.
Runmeter 2.0 requires no Web site log-in or monthly subscription and is ad-free. It's available now from the Apple iTunes Store for $4.99.
Abvio's a privately held, San Francisco-based iPhone application developer building iPhone applications for fitness.
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Aspect, a unified communications vendor, has announced "measurable results" in its support call center through the use of unified communications capabilities and the Seamless Customer Service UC application for the contact center.
Aspect, a unified communications vendor, has announced "measurable results" in its support call center through the use of unified communications capabilities and the Seamless Customer Service UC application for the contact center.
Aspect Technical Services is using Seamless Customer Service for inbound routing, coordinated voice self-service to live service and Ask an Expert functionality. Company officials say they want to provide integrated assistance, to "continue to increase first call resolution and enhance the overall customer experience."
Gary Barnett, chief technology officer and executive vice president, research and development and Aspect Technical Services, Aspect, says unified communications is "bringing concrete benefits to the call center, to the business and the customer, based on our own personal experience in Aspect's customer support center.
Gary Barnett, chief technology officer and executive vice president, research and development and Aspect Technical Services, Aspect, says unified communications is "bringing concrete benefits to the call center, to the business and the customer, based on our own personal experience in Aspect's customer support center.
"After deploying Seamless Customer Service, our support engineers saw measurable results demonstrating how UC could streamline communications and improve customer service," Barnett noted: "Companies that deploy this technology can expect to use presence, IM routing and reporting capabilities."
Aspect officials said call hold times for their Technical Services have been reduced by 76 percent, to just 44 seconds per call: "Additionally, since the initial introduction of the Ask an Expert capability, the overall first day resolution rate has increased by seven percent and the time to reach a support technician with the correct skill set has improved by eight percent."
Aspect officials said call hold times for their Technical Services have been reduced by 76 percent, to just 44 seconds per call: "Additionally, since the initial introduction of the Ask an Expert capability, the overall first day resolution rate has increased by seven percent and the time to reach a support technician with the correct skill set has improved by eight percent."
Teams using Ask an Expert to reach out to Aspect's experts across the organization have shown overall increases in overall customer satisfaction scores by six percent, measuring 4.79 on a scale of five.
The call center product's features include the capability to use the presence detection, instant messaging and conference calling capabilities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2. This lets support engineers use presence identification and skill criteria to find available experts in other departments to address customer questions.
The call center product's features include the capability to use the presence detection, instant messaging and conference calling capabilities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2. This lets support engineers use presence identification and skill criteria to find available experts in other departments to address customer questions.
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ADC, a vendor of communications network infrastructure products, has announced that its Mobile Solutions Center semi-trailer will travel throughout the U.S. and into Canada bringing their products "directly to customers and prospects."
The 53-foot-long trailer featuring ADC products and services began its tour in the southwestern United States in October 2009 and is scheduled to travel across North America through October 2010, stopping at more than 125 customer locations and industry events along the way.
The Mobile Solutions Rolling Thunder Center will make its first trade show stop at the 2010 BICSI Conference at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando on January 17-21. The mobile exhibit will feature five application areas: FTTP business and residential, enterprise wired and wireless, cell site connectivity, central office/headend and professional services.
"For more than 10 years, ADC's mobile exhibits have brought the company's technologies and products to its customers' doorsteps," says Jon Secrest, vice president of global marketing for ADC, adding that the newly-designed and expanded Mobile Solutions Center offers a "hands-on" approach for service providers, consultants and others to "learn more about our latest offerings and get their specific questions answered by one of our experts."
The Mobile Solutions Center's open design displays products in specific application environments throughout the trailer beginning with a central office at the core and moving to the outside plant and cell site areas.
The Mobile Solutions Rolling Thunder Center will make its first trade show stop at the 2010 BICSI Conference at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando on January 17-21. The mobile exhibit will feature five application areas: FTTP business and residential, enterprise wired and wireless, cell site connectivity, central office/headend and professional services.
"For more than 10 years, ADC's mobile exhibits have brought the company's technologies and products to its customers' doorsteps," says Jon Secrest, vice president of global marketing for ADC, adding that the newly-designed and expanded Mobile Solutions Center offers a "hands-on" approach for service providers, consultants and others to "learn more about our latest offerings and get their specific questions answered by one of our experts."
The Mobile Solutions Center's open design displays products in specific application environments throughout the trailer beginning with a central office at the core and moving to the outside plant and cell site areas.
The Center also features a fold-down stage to accommodate larger groups, an online reservations center and the latest in interactive electronics.
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VirtuOz has released version 5.1 of its enterprise virtual agent, extending the functionality and capabilities of VirtuOz for enterprises.
"The VirtuOz virtual agent provides value to businesses by automating interactions with their customers," says Alexandre Lebrun, co-founder and CEO, VirtuOz.
VirtuOz has released version 5.1 of its enterprise virtual agent, extending the functionality and capabilities of VirtuOz for enterprises.
"The VirtuOz virtual agent provides value to businesses by automating interactions with their customers," says Alexandre Lebrun, co-founder and CEO, VirtuOz.
This version of VirtuOz, for companies using virtual agents for customer service, is specifically designed for enterprises that are "creating integrated multi-channel marketing strategies," according to company officials, adding that the release centers around "three key areas of functionality: integrating VirtuOz virtual agents with live chat, an iPhone development kit, and more powerful analytics support."
Yep, gotta have an iPhone strategy these days: Version 5.1 offers a development kit so customers can integrate virtual agents into their applications for the iPhone. Virtual agent support on the iPhone, company officials say, enables enterprises to provide "a consistent experience to users on the Web and iPhones."
VirtuOz 5.1 is described by company officials as providing "out-of-the-box integration with live chat from a variety of live chat providers," noting that virtual agents respond, on average, to "80 percent of customer requests."
VirtuOz 5.1 is described by company officials as providing "out-of-the-box integration with live chat from a variety of live chat providers," noting that virtual agents respond, on average, to "80 percent of customer requests."
With this integration, when a virtual agent must escalate a customer to a human agent, the tool allows them to be passed to a live chat agent within the same chat window as the virtual agent, "along with some or all of the previous conversation."
A true godsend for those of us tired of re-entering information, and no doubt a boon to support personnel, who can get to the problem quicker.
