Cell Halfalogues, UPS and REMO, Open Source CRM

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David Sims
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Cell Halfalogues, UPS and REMO, Open Source CRM

"Ever wonder why overhearing a cellphone conversation is so annoying? American researchers think they have found the answer," goes the Reuters teaser.
Frankly, my friend, we wonder about that as often as we wonder why we find Julia Roberts beautiful or why we like banana splits, or why we find cold toilet seats and Justin Bieber annoying.
Evidently it's because only half of the conversation is overheard, the researchers say. See, this "drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking," according to scientists at Cornell University, Reuters reports.
"We have less control to move away our attention from half a conversation (or halfalogue) than when listening to a dialogue," said Lauren Emberson, a co-author of the study that will be published in the journal Psychological Science.
"Since halfalogues" - ten points for the somewhat cool coinage - are really more distracting and you can't tune them out, this could explain why people are irritated," she theorized, according to Reuters.
Read more here.
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The National Foundation for Educational Research, Britain's largest independent provider of research, assessment and information services for education, training and children's services, has selected UPS Systems to "avert disaster with its remote monitoring tool REMO, and reduce the organization's costs," according to NFER officials.
The foundation's mission is to aid British government departments and agencies on both a local and national basis by informing and improving policy and practice. As you might imagine, then, its IT systems are essential to its day-to-day operations, and power failures are not acceptable.

UPS Systems is helping NFER with its remote monitoring tool REMO, NFER officials say. When the NFER chose to install REMO into its server room, it was to protect its UPS and temperature control equipment. As foundation officials say, if its main supply failed while its back-up batteries were discharged, its UPS would have insufficient power to enable the systems to shut down safely. This could result in NFER losing valuable stored data.
Read more here.
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Cost savings are "still the primary driver for organizations choosing open-source software," according to Jay Lyman, an analyst at The 451 Group.
Industry observer Mary Brandel writes that while this is the case, at least initially, "that impression seems to change after adoption, when more users report that flexibility is the primary benefit they enjoy rather than cost savings," citing Lyman.
"With the downspin of the economy, how you spend your money is critically important," Bassim Hamadeh, founder of University Readers, which uses SugarCRM software, told Brandel. "But beyond saving money, what we look for is better software."
TMCnet's Brendan Read reported recently that open source software, which is written with source code that is widely available with little or no proprietary copyrights, is now entering contact centers "and for several good reasons. These chief ones include lower price points," among others.
Read more here.
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Of course it isn't a hot trend unless it has an iPhone tie-in - exceptions made if there's an iPad tie-in.
Industry observer Matt Carter writes that "as consumers flock to download iPhone apps for real estate from big names in search, like Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia, brokerages are eager to get in on the action, too."
He cites Alex Levy, president and CEO of Hillside Software, as saying that with the Apple iTunes store supporting keyword searches, "brokerages want to establish a strong presence there so they'll turn up high in the search results."
Levy knows the general idea well. Recently his firm presented a Client Management tool that, in the words of company officials, "reaches far beyond the basic information provided by most Web sites today."
Read more here.
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"In late February, the Sunbury Mills sanitary sewer pump failed." Okay, it's not the greatest opening line in world literature, but hang on. There's a reason for it.
As the Sunbury (Ohio) News reported, "The real failure was not so much the pump malfunction, but the failure of an auto-dialer system that should have warned wastewater plant supervisor Rich Felton that the pump was down."
So due to the auto-dialer failure and lack of a backup pump, the News reported, "raw sewage backed up into the basements of three nearby homes."
Council member Dave Linnabary, who also chairs the village Services Committee that oversees the wastewater treatment plant and sanitary sewer system, told the News that new auto-dialer testing procedures are being enacted.
We should certainly hope so, although it's too late for Sunbury Mills resident Natalie Cox, who now has a $2,500 bill just to clean the basements and the loss of personal items in her home totaling $14,500.
Read more here.


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