Are you thinking of deploying Skype for Business as your next corporate PABX?

Download the brochure

Many business are beginning to look at Microsoft Skype for Business (Lync) as an option to either replace their existing telephony infrastructure or to integrate it into their current environment to meet department or branch office needs.

While Skype for Business offers a wealth of features for instant messaging, presence, collaboration and enterprise telephony, there are still gaps in features that today's enterprises need if they were to consider fully replacing their current PABX infrastructure.

The CallXpress CX-E platform is the perfect complement to Skype for Business with its direct IP integration. CX-E addresses the gaps in features, delivering essential communications applications, such as:

• Enterprise-class voicemail to support your confidentiality and compliance requirements 
• Enterprise-wide and departmental speech and DTMF automated attendant 
• Informal call center for ACD and UCD functionality 
• Intelligent call completion based on schedules and user presence 
• Personal assistant to enable your mobile workforce 
• A full set of Information Access, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and notification capabilities

Download the brochure to find out more. Then call us on 1300 65 98 28 or email us on sales@cpstg.com.

Is your IT team ready for continuous software delivery?

With software vendors following Microsoft's lead and developing the model of software as a service, IT departments are becoming ever stretched in their resources.  Every software deployment requires testing for compatibility with each enterprise's hardware, software, cloud and virtualised environment, as it is rolled out to the users.

Another problem for IT departments will be to ensure there is sufficient bandwidth for such continuous rolling out of software upgrades, many happening concurrently.

Add to this the fact that IT staff numbers and budgets have been declining steadily for the last decade, and you have the perfect storm. An already overstretched IT staff handling an overwhelming number of help desk calls and pulling all-nighters while trying to restore business systems performance.

The solution is for organisations to develop application readiness practises - application discovery, analysis, incompatibility and mitigation assessments; preparation then testing piloting and deployment. All in a perfect world, right?

To alleviate the demands placed on IT teams, an option is to utilise a Managed Services provider to manage company application deployments. Already versed in application readiness best practises, application delivery is managed and delivered and then supported by a number of tiers of help desk support options.

Many CPS customers are benefiting from having a predictable monthly IT spend which allows them to accurately budget.

To find out more about how CPS Managed Services can assist your over-stretched IT teams and ensure efficient IT rollouts, email Ryan McAleer today.

Are we powerless without power?

Our staff member Henny Boonen was caught up in last week's Newcastle storms, where 20,000 of the original 200,000 people are still without power one week after the storm began.

Said to be one of the most devastating storms to hit the region in 80 years, a spokeswoman from Ausgrid said the storm caused more damage to the electricity infrastructure across the Hunter than any other weather event, including the 2007 Pasha Bulker storm.

For those not directly affected by roof losses or falling trees, residents without power found themselves cut-off from every communication medium they usually take for granted. With no power, no internet, non-operational mobile phone towers and smartphones with flat batteries, schools had no way to inform parents not to send their children to school and many businesses were unable to operate.

Those supermarkets who did had power restored could not order or receive deliveries which meant no fresh milk, dairy bread or produce. Once the goods were selected, shoppers received another shock. No EFTPOS facilities. And the nearest ATM?  Also without power.

You see the problem?

It makes you think doesn't it?  While we think we could do without light and internet for a few days, we forget that it affects the way businesses purchase goods and how we pay for them. Many businesses don't think of something as simple as a power outage in their disaster recovery planning.  But it's something to be seriously considered as we rely more and more on electricity to support all of our basic human needs.

Telstra launches vision for a more connected healthcare system

Telstra launches vision for a more connected healthcare system

2020... what's to come?

I've been in the IT game for more decades than I'm willing to share, and from my observation we have been blown away by innovation after innovation over this time, and invested capital into these advances to get the promised returns that technology leaders told us were possible. The end result is that many business and IT decisions were made purely for their perceived value, rather than a strategic purchase, and each built upon each other so that many times we needed to “rip and replace” earlier investments just to keep up.

The CEO of a leadership company, Mark Barrenechea, CEO and President of OpenText, has given us the opportunity to look ahead more than a decade, and ask the questions “where is all this going” and “what will it mean for businesses”?  Rather than continuing to flit from technology to technology, in his whitepaper he has given us a glimpse into the future, with a look at 3 major innovations that will be in place by 2020 and how we can use this knowledge to plan ahead.

These innovations are:

1. Disruptive Technologies

Some of these new technologies that will impact businesses are 5G, holographic TVs, nanobots, wearable technologies, 3D printing and the Internet of Things.

2. The “Generation Z” workforce

This will be the first generation that grew up with easy access to the Internet and will expect unlimited access to information. 

3. Mass Digitalization

The delivery of software, video, audio, games and other media will all be delivered digitally. Mark Barrenechea concludes that CIOs will need to transform from a record keeping focus to one of engagement and outlines tools that will allow companies to take these steps in preparation.

To read more download the agenda here.

Time to flick the switch from your old copper to NBN?

Post election, the country seems to have gone silent about NBN.  But while the media has finished talking about it for now, it is still being rolled out around the country, and quite a number of our customers in the Wollongong region are now looking at their copper network being switched off, their work having been completed around 2 years ago.  View the NBN video.

What a lot of people don’t realise, is that once the copper is switched off, consumers and businesses will have to “switch” their services to an NBN one.  While an easy response might be to just sign up with one of the major providers, it’s worth considering other players, particularly when the increased data speed can provide consumers with a much broader level of choice.

One such example is the cloud PABX.  In demand for an Australian cloud PABX solution needed for an Australian environment, CPS Technology Group have developed Jingl, a hosted PABX solution which is suitable for all types of users, from individuals or businesses including tradespeople, business services, not-for-profits, sales offices and engineering firms all the way up to corporate branch offices and government organisations. How it works.

 View Plans

Cheaper call costs

With Jingl you can really save on existing phone bills. JINGL offers much lower call rates, as well as untimed local and STD call charges. 

PABX alternative

Organisations can now weigh up the costs of running an in-house PABX against a cloud based service, which can often provide a much greater set of features with much lower running costs and no CAPEX expenditure.  The enhanced list of features available includes:

• Music on Hold
• Auto-attendant IVR
• Queuing of incoming calls
• Call forwarding
• Voicemail
• Call Recording
• Fax over IP
• Full reporting too!
• 
  

So if you've received the letter about switching, please give us a call on 1300 659828 and let us offer you a great alternative.

Learn more about the benefits. 

Wholesale enquiries welcome

If you're interested in adding Jingl to your suite of products, please contact us.

Don't lose sight of the customer in your quest for an app...

In the race to provide customers with an app for their smartphone or tablet, some organisations are forgetting the driver behind the need… which is to provide their customers with an enhanced level of customer service.  And the end result can be apps that do not deliver, or prove to be poorly designed which unfortunately can have the opposite effect.

Organisations have to take a step back, and address their mobile strategy from a customer service point of view.  Will the app integrate with back end systems?  After all, an app is really just another customer service touch point. If the customer is experiencing problems with the app, will the customer service agent they contact be able to see what went wrong?  In order to do this, organisations must develop mobile applications with tight integration to the contact centre.  So when a customer who is using the app encounters an issue, the customer support process is driven directly from the app. The app’s integration to the contact centre means that there is no need for customers to go through a lengthy query and response session with an IVR to categorise the call.  But, the app shouldn't just place a call. The entire history of the customer’s session on the app should be forwarded to the contact centre so that the agent will know precisely who the customer is, their entire purchase history, and what they were trying to do so that any issues can be resolved quickly.  

Interaction Mobilizer

Interactive Intelligence have built a toolkit that will allow businesses and organisations to generate one application to run on Apple iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices along with social media sites like Facebook.  By using this approach, the full range of back end interface capabilities means that all manner of functionality can be built into an app.  Companies can allow customers to place orders, query about shipments, or change their profile settings and preferences — in essence, whatever services companies choose to give customers access to. View the video

For more information, visit our website.

All we want for Christmas is... Presence

Okay, I don’t mean presents, but for companies, presence can equate to the same thing, with productivity gains and increased customer satisfaction, both of which equate to improved business profitability.

We've all heard the term “presence” bandied about, and we all have our own concept of what it means in our working lives.  You may be surprised to learn the term has been around since 1980, derived from the term telepresence, which at that time meant the manipulation of objects in the real world through remote access technology.  (Thanks Wikipedia).

So, in one way, not much has really changed.  Today, presence is simply when you and your employees are not only contactable wherever you are, but others have full transparency of your contactability status. Or more simply put, it allows users to determine personnel availability to perform the work in real-time.

Presence and Collaboration for improved Productivity

Microsoft Lync, Cisco Jabber and IBM/Lotus Sametime uses presence in synch with your calendar, which combined with user settings means people in your network can tell at a glance who is willing and available to communicate, where they are, and how they are able to be reached.

As well, Microsoft Lync, Cisco Jabber and IBM Sametime extend this ability to mobile users, by offering smartphone apps that provide all the presence and messaging capabilities, with Cisco also delivering conferencing, using an escalation to the Cisco WebEx Meetings application on the iPhone.

Presence for enhanced Customer Service

The Interactive Intelligence platform takes it one step further, by synchronising the telephony system with messaging.  In the past, one of the challenges with integrating applications such as Microsoft Lync with existing telephony systems had been managing presence, since both systems had their own concept of presence.  Interactive Intelligence enables administrators to configure mapping between the differing values to enable bi-directional synchronisation of presence.

All users have an active status. Depending on the status a user selects, he or she can set details including status notes, forward number, and date and/or time they will become available. The date and time information the user enters is played for all their incoming calls while in this status.

This presence management assists operators to ensure calls are transferred with accuracy thus avoiding lost and unanswered calls and improving customer satisfaction. In a contact centre scenario, other agents are able to monitor real-time presence of staff to ensure there is always someone available to take a customer service or support call.  Staff can monitor the calls and jump in to let callers know when their call might be taken prior to placing them in the queue. 

And for staff in the office using the Interaction Client, they can easily see if a person is available to take a call or to make an interaction.

To find out more about Presence, and how it can benefit your organisation, contact us.

How can mobility positively impact your business?

With all the buzz of mobility in the workplace, and the phenomenon of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), many employers and businesses are left scratching their heads and wondering how it will impact their workplace. While they might be feeling they haven’t caught up with the technology yet, employees are one step ahead. More and more staff are bringing their devices into the workplace and finding their own ways of increasing productivity to better utilise their time.  

A Cisco-commissioned study by Forrester Consulting gives a very good analysis into the Expanding role of Mobility in the Workplace.  The study showed immense productivity benefits in: increased employee responsiveness and decision-making speed (76%), and faster internal issue resolution (59%); increased worker productivity (47%) as well as a marked improvement in Customer issue resolution (46%) and improved customer satisfaction (43%).

The Expanding role of Mobility in the Workplace study concluded that mobility initiatives are a key component to overall strategic initiatives, and that businesses should prepare to support employee owned smartphone and tablet devices and broaden the range of mobile applications and services deployed to employees.

So it may be time to stop wondering, and actively start investigating how mobility is going to be used in your workplace.  The first place to start is to look at your employees, what they do and how they do it. You could begin by assessing:

1. How are employees spending their time while in the office?  Are they always at their desk or are they away from their desks for extended periods?
2. When out of the office, how much time do they spend away?  How do they use this time?
3. What type of work are they doing and what type of tools are they using to do it?
4. What tools are available to employees when out of the office?

Just by going through these exercises on a department by department basis, you may find that it is viable to consider giving staff more access to mobile applications and collaboration.  By doing this, not only will you keep your employees happy, but you will receive productivity and customer satisfaction benefits as a result.

There are an enormous range of mobility options for businesses and organisations of all sizes.  CPS Technology Group represents all the top vendors who are leaders in the mobility field. To help you understand the technology and make the right decisions, we can consult with you to determine the best applications and services that suit your particular needs.  

If you would like to receive a copy of the study, you can download it here. And if you would like to know more about how CPS can help you harness the power of mobility in the workplace, please use our contact points here. 

Why do I need a social media presence?

Are you among those who remember when email came out?  I was working for IBM at the time, and we used it for internal purposes, but we soon came to the realisation that if we had someone’s email address, we could type a message and send it to them… and they’d get it straight away!  How amazing that was to us at the time.  But as early adopters of email technology, we had no idea what impact it would have in business over the next couple of decades. 

Social media is a bit like that.  There were the early adopters, people who were amazed at who they could follow and tweet and how they could chat with each other quickly.  Then a few businesses joined the party, realising they could communicate with their customers and promote their products.  Now, mainstream businesses are joining in and beginning to plan social media strategies.  

For those who are still reluctant and wondering what they could possibly get out of it, consider it a dialogue with customers and prospects where you can informally ask questions or talk about what matters to your business.  You can let customers know about staff training, events, or marketplace intelligence, and provide the type of information that is not usually available through other channels.  You can’t easily update your website daily, but you can post comments freely throughout the day on facebook, linked in or twitter.

What about detractors?  There is a fear that people may use your social media pages to badmouth your company.  However, wouldn’t you want to know if people were disgruntled with your business?  And who?  The transparency provided by social media gives you an opportunity to do something about it. 

So, here are 3 good reasons for having a social media presence:

1. Customer service.  You can put in a very cheap customer service solution without great investment in time or money.
2. Transparency.  Keep track of what people are saying about you, which gives you an opportunity to address issues that you may not have even known you had.
3. Advertising.  It’s simple to create a presence and simple to maintain.  You can easily invite customers to follow you and run promotions or release new products.

In larger companies, the question is not whether to use social media, but how to keep track of all the comments posted.  

The good news is that social media can now be integrated with multimedia contact centre systems to capture, manage and deliver social media questions and complaints to the appropriate point managers or customer service staff.  This type of integration ensures your customers know they are being heard, and more importantly, demonstrates their importance by being given timely answers. 

Season's Greetings

Growth on a shoestring

Finding ways to increase growth whilst reducing overheads can be a complex challenge for heavy industry leaders. Traditional methods of solving this challenge by opening the wallet and investing in plant and materials is being replaced by a focused technology approach. Technology innovations specifically designed to address this concern have been created by leading vendors.The innovations address the growth concern, the concern for optimisation of limited plant space and the need to get products/services to the market more quickly.

Growth without investing in additional plant and materials is a viable option for 21st century businesses who adapt simple new technology ideas. Exploring new markets, increasing production levels and becoming truly global are just a few benefits of adopting new technology.

Below are 3 brief ideas to help your business grow without the expense.

• Hot desk – The typical office cube for 1 employee (10m2) costs at least $3,000 to set up excluding LAN cabling and communal areas. Leading companies share desk space and telephones without losing any accessibility.

• Exploring new markets – Locals like to do business with locals, how do you set up a new “office” without physically leasing or purchasing a new property. We can help you set up a “local” office anywhere in the world with the same access to technology they would get in HQ.

• More products, less time – companies pour 1,000’s of hours of productive time out the window by being chained to a fixed desk location. Enable your employees by providing them with the tools to work anywhere and on any device.

CPSTG is a leading total solutions provider, trusted by 1,000’s of Australia’s leading businesses. A CPSTG consultant would be happy to have a free confidential chat with your business to explore how we’ve helped others and how we could help you.

Outsourcing

Focusing the concentration on primary production, growth and marketing has seen many companies outsourcing functions they previously managed themselves, including maintenance, computer and payroll functions.

While outsourcing itself is nothing new, the depth and breadth of systems that are now available “in the cloud” has enabled businesses to re-examine their earlier model of employing technology experts and on-premise solutions.  There is simply no need, when many applications and services can be hosted off-site, and what that technology can do is exponentially increasing. 

In the early 90’s most businesses ran on-premise technology.  Over the last 10 years this has changed rapidly. Today over 50% of businesses utilise some form of hosted technology.  Shifting the focus from internal management to external management has several positive impacts. 

So what are the unique benefits?

· Flexibility – Organisations adopting hosted platforms typically have a lot more flexibility when it comes to adding or removing new users and increasing functionality. Aged technology models rely on engaging a 3^rd party to come to site and replace physical server parts or buy more equipment.

· Reduced overheads  - The more sophisticated technology gets, the more advanced the support systems must be.  Businesses have the choice to either hire multiple employees to manage the systems or outsource particular tasks to a managed ICT service provider. Outsourcing reduces overheads and enables businesses to engage the I.T. skill sets they need without having to keep experts permanently on the payroll.

· Focus on core activities – The typical I.T. professional spends the majority of the day troubleshooting, upgrading and diagnosing then fixing basic desktop issues. Reassigning these duties to a managed I.T. provider allows the I.T. team to concentrate on enabling the business to better utilise technology.

Outsourcing can help your business reduce costs, streamline operations and enable business growth.

CPSTG is a leading total solutions provider, trusted by 1000’s of Australia’s leading businesses.  A CPSTG consultant would be happy to have a free confidential chat with your business to explore how we’ve helped others and discuss how we could help you.

6 good reasons to consider Managed Services

Many businesses today are using Managed Services for their I.T.  Why?

Because it’s a good investment that’s helped them increase their productivity and hence their revenue, as well as cutting down on spiraling I.T. support costs.

These days businesses are increasingly dependent on I.T., making it essential to have experts to handle the regular maintenance of I.T. infrastructure.  However, most small and medium businesses cannot afford to hire a qualified, full-time I.T. administrator.  Managed Services is the best solution, since it allows businesses to concentrate on what they do best - managing the core competencies of their business.

Why is Managed Services important for your business?

1. Cost Effectiveness

If you’re not an I.T. expert, you’ll need to hire consultants for basic I.T. maintenance - and this is usually too costly for small and medium-sized businesses.  The downtime during breakdowns of computers or outages will cost your business more money in the long run than outsourcing costs.

2. Budgeting – Fixed Monthly Cost

Managed Services offer a choice of service levels which may be priced on a per-month or per-device basis.  This subscription model gives you more predictability in expenses as opposed to the as-needed time and billing models used by break-fix I.T. consultants.

3. Outsourced and Controlled

Although Managed Services are outsourced, you do not surrender complete control of your I.T. infrastructure. You decide which aspects of your network the service provider will take care of and what you would prefer to handle.  You are also kept informed of everything that happens in the process and management of your systems.

4. Monitoring

Your system performance is maximised across the entire I.T. network through real -time proactive monitoring of desktops and servers.  Issues are detected and resolved  before they become bigger.

5. 24/7 IT support

With Managed Services, you get support whenever you need it.  You don’t have to wait in line for whatever system problems you need resolved.

6. Peace of Mind

Knowing that your I.T. system is in the hands of experts, you are assured that somebody is there to carry out proper maintenance of all your computer hardware and software.  You can also be confident that if you encounter any problems with your I.T., there are experts on hand, who will help you fix them immediately.

When you choose Managed Services, all of your I.T. operations are handled by a highly qualified and knowledgeable provider who assumes ongoing responsibility for monitoring, troubleshooting, and managing I.T. systems and functions on your behalf.  You select which systems are covered, and the Managed Services provider takes charge of the network equipment and applications.  These are specified in the terms of a service-level agreement (SLA) established to meet your company’s specific business needs.

To find out more, please click here.

The Technology Generation

The technology generation has a different mindset to baby boomers.  They have been raised with technology rather than the boomers who have had to adapt to it.

Offering the technology generation an out-dated technology backbone that doesn’t align to how they “connect” in the outside world inhibits their ability to be truly productive and forces them to re-learn out-dated technology systems.

There is a way to break free from this traditional model and here are just a few ideas to get you started.

· Provide your employees with the ability to connect to the office environment anywhere, anytime and on any device. This enables your employees to be working as highly effectively as if  they were at the office, whether they are in the back of a warehouse or on a beach in St Kilda.

· Enable access to the tools that they’re most comfortable with. The Electronic Generation is used to instant messaging, computer based phone applications and using a single device as a total communication tool.

· Technology is desirable... at least the technology generation think so. Attracting top talent is a challenge for many businesses.  Stand out from the crowd with your fresh approach to technology.

The ideas listed above are nothing new, they’ve been around for years however it is the uptake rate which has exploded in the last few years. Decrease in costs, cloud applications and employee demand is largely driving this trend, which shows no sign of slowing down.  Businesses need to begin thinking about how they can facilitate the change in workforce styles in productive ways.  Fortunately the same technology that the Technology Generation was raised on is adapting too and there are exciting new developments becoming available which helps to empower employees in a business context.

CPSTG is a leading total solutions provider, trusted by 1,000’s of Australia’s leading businesses.  A CPSTG consultant would be happy to have a free confidential chat with your business to explore how we’ve helped others and discuss how we could help you.

Beam me up Scottie – I’m working from home

Now I might be showing my age a bit here, but remember when Star Trek popularised the notion of beaming us places we wanted to go?  It hasn’t quite happened in 2012, but technology has managed to make us materialise ourselves in different places in some form.

I have now been working from home for almost 3 years, when I relocated to a small town in Victoria to support my husband’s new job, and we both wanted to cut down the commute.   Aside from the obvious distractions that I learned very quickly to ignore (dust bunnies and dishes in the sink) there were three main issues to overcome.  Space, communication and support.  Space was less of a “how much room” issue, as a “headspace” issue - getting into the mindset of “I’m in the office now” and I learned that routine was the key to that.  Get up, shower, dress, have breakfast then go to the office (i.e. the back room). 

The second key issue to the success of working from home is communication.   Initially when I started working remotely, we had installed our Interactive Intelligence VoIP system, which handles remote workers as well as if they were physically located in the main office.  I have a city phone number, which when dialled checks to see if I’m marked as “in the office”.  When I am, the system rings my home number (or mobile, depending on how I’ve set it) and I click to take the call and the connection is made.  Similarly if I am making a call, I put the number into the CIC client and it dials from the office, displaying my phone number in Melbourne.  So that takes care of phone calls.  But communication, as we all know, is more than just being able to make or take a phone call.

Once we acquired Accent Business Technology who are based in NSW, 50% of our staff became “remote workers”.   Luckily for us, the NSW I.T. department were well versed in Microsoft Lync and installed this software on each of our desktops.  Now, not only am I able to send off IMs to staff to get quick answers to questions, I am also able to view a colleague’s desktop when they have something to share, or share a whiteboard or presentation to collaborate on a project a number of us are working on.  Combined with webcam, Lync has become a powerful tool for meetings and training sessions at CPS.  The interesting thing I found on my last few trips to the Melbourne office was that staff are using these same tools at their physical desks in the office.  People aren’t getting up to walk around to others desks as much as they used to, because the technology is such that we don’t have to! 

The last issue to overcome was I.T. support, and again the NSW office came to the party with their Evolution I.T. support expertise.  The NSW office has been remotely supporting many businesses’ I.T. infrastructure in the region for a number of years, and once Evolution was deployed to my workstation, all software issues and upgrades are handled remotely from either the VIC or NSW office, depending on who is looking after the issue.  If I have a problem, I lodge a ticket via the web client, and within minutes, I get an email from one of our help desk advising me of the next steps and often fixing the problem immediately while remotely logged in to my PC.   The evolution software has saved me from making an emergency trip to Melbourne a number of times when issues have come up with my laptop. 

All this means that I remain in touch and am able to work as productively as if I were physically in Melbourne.  So, Scottie, while we’re not quite beaming people up, we are able to materialise in their “space” and share ideas, thoughts and comments instantaneously, so that physical location doesn’t matter as much as it used to.  

What you didn't know about Telstra's Business Broadband

Telstra Business Broadband is more than a high speed internet connection. It’s a true business-grade platform, combining robust networks and services with dedicated business features and support.  Connecting to Telstra Business Broadband provides your business with a streamlined internet connection that delivers more than fast data. The service can also help you save time and money, be more productive, boost your efficiency and stay competitive.

Here are some common questions that we are asked about this business grade of broadband.

1.  What is the difference between a Tier 1 and Tier 2 service provider? 

• Tier 1 ISPs provide & maintain direct backbone links into the www. This means that they can communicate with any other network without using other ISP servers.  This increases reliability and security.
• There are only 4 Tier1 providers in Australia & Telstra is the largest
• Tier1 providers on sell www access to Tier2 providers (eg Bigpond)
• TBB is a Tier 1 service with direct connection into Telstra’s www backbone

2.  What is the level of support provided to Telstra Business Broadband customers and how is this different to other internet services?

• 24/7 Australian based technical & sales support

3.  What are the key features of Telstra Business Broadband?

• Tier 1 Business grade internet access service
• 24/7 Australian based technical help service
• Static IP address
• No speed throttling when usage limit is reached
• Usage is measured from download only
• Free Domain name registration, if required
• Can change usage plans at any time during the contract period (up or down) for no penalty
• 10 POP email addresses

4.  Why shouldn't I just go direct to Telstra?

• We provide account management services with our Telstra Products
• There are a range of corporate plans only dealers can provide, which fix costs for a set period.
• You don't have to deal with the many different Telstra departments.
• We are a "one-stop shop" specialising in the full range of business communication and I.T. services.
• Customer's love our follow up service.
• We are Telstra's Enterprise Partner of the Year for 2012!

To find out more, click here.

Creating a customer experience strategy

Consumer Trends, Social Media, Cloud Technologies.... How are companies cost effectively using technology to help meet these demands?

Company budgets are shrinking, yet there is an increasing demand for providing a far more positive customer experience in today’s social & multi-media environment.  At first glance meeting these demands may seem too expensive, however, by leveraging the latest technologies any orgainisation can reduce total costs and improve the customer service experience.  It just means communicating with consumers the right way at the right time.

Creating a “customer experience strategy”, communicating using the customers preferred media, social or automated methods can reduce costs and drastically improve customer service.  Implementing the right technology will quickly pay for itself and offer organisation wide efficiencies and improvements delivering a very compelling ROI.  But, the right way to communicate with customers is constantly evolving as communications options and consumer expectations change. Everything from online bill payments to self-service ordering, it is all geared towards putting the power back in the hands of consumers.

Consider the following.

Some staggering social media statistics…

• 200 million users access Facebook through their mobile
• 95 million Tweets are posted on Twitter each day
• 250 million users engage with Facebook on external sites
• 65% of companies are deploying at least one enterprise social software tool
• People spend more time on Facebook than any other website

And Mobility

• Sales of Smartphones and Tablets are now greater than all PCs including notebooks
• Android is the #1 OS for mobile platforms with over 350,000 new activations per day

And Video

• More than 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every  minute
• By 2013, over 90% of data traffic will be video
• One third of corporations say they are using video at least once a week

And Virtual

• 60% of server workloads will be virtualised by 2013
• 20% of professional PCs will be managed under a hosted virtual desktop model by 2013

Where is customer communication headed? - Communications are merging!

Customers want a consistent experience, personalised treatment using their channel of choice, at a time that suits them, “one-to-one” communication has becoming a real expectation. Companies that haven’t aligned their different communications channels, will have a fragmented view of the customer and will be unable to deliver a coherent and consistent conversation across the enterprise.

What does all this mean?  How will it impact your current network and infrastructure?

If you are looking to replace your current communications infrastructure, or are completely confused about choosing the right technology for your enterprise, or want to understand how to leverage equipment you already have, then read more here. 

What makes us "click"?

“Do you ever just “click” with someone and wonder why? And do you ever wonder why you struggle to get along with someone else? 

It happens to all of us, on a regular basis.  Chances are it’s all about different personality styles!

You've probably heard about the 4 main personality styles.  They have been given many different names over the years.  Essentially it's about what makes us all tick (and click!).  

We will use the following names for this exercise, Analytical, Driver, Expressive and Amiable.

Once you know the traits of each group, it’s easy to work out who you are and the people around you. Not only does recognising these different styles help at work but it is a very useful tool to have in your kitbag at home as well.  Your approach to life, your values and your character type will determine how you approach all others, and therefore will be how you would like to be approached. 

Our customer service guru, Carolyn Johnson, conducted an hour training session recently with sales staff, to identify and help us understand the personality styles of the different groups of people.  We were able to identify our own personality styles and found that the group was made up of a variety of the styles - - which is not unexpected as we need all styles in the workplace to operate effectively.  

If you fall into the Analytical or Driver groups, you like to control your emotions and are more task driven.  Whereas Amiables and Expressives are more emotional and people focused.  If you fall into the Driver and Expressive groups, you are more likely to be doing a lot more telling than asking. However Amiables and Analyticals will do a lot more asking.  And lastly, Drivers and Expressives are more interested in a quick result... JUST GET IT DONE!!!  This doesn't suit Analyticals and Amiables as they are more process driven.

Following the course, many staff were able to say "AHA!" and then pinpoint the problems they were experiencing with different types of people.  They could now understand what was motivating the people they were dealing with and would be in a better position to give them what they needed, based on their personality styles. 

Many staff reported back favourably a couple of weeks later, when asked if they had put the training into practise.  

So next time you are dealing with someone who is "doing your head in," step back and try to see things from their perspective.  You might just find a common footing to start on that will help you come to a resolution. 

Choosing a mobile handset

With an increasing number of handsets available on the market - how do you choose what’s best for your business?  Telstra has selected the best models for businesses to make it that bit easier.

Do you work on the road? You might think about a superfast network speed for sending large files more quickly on the go. The Samsung Galaxy S II 4G along with HTC Velocity 4G handsets could be what you need. The HTC Titan is a 4G phone and is also a Windows based phone which means you have access on your mobile to Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and One Note.  The Nokia Lumia 800 is also a great Windows phone, with easy access to your Excel Spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentation.

If you prefer something more basic and durable- the Telstra Tough 2 (T54) is a great option. Made for construction workers and techs who are often on job sites. The Telstra Tough is built for rougher conditions.

Another great basic phone is the Nokia C5-00 which still gives you access to email, but is similar to the classic style Nokia.

Besides making your business easier with the ability to work from anywhere, anytime, Smartphones have loads of fun and useful applications. Check out Workout Trainer as a great antidote to too many business lunches, or if you travel for work, check out Trip Advisor’s range of City Guides.  Or for people on the road, consider Waze, a community based traffic and navigation app which helps you avoid traffic jams and roadworks on your travels.

Quote of the day:

 “Three objects were considered essential across all participants, cultures and genders - Keys, Money and Mobile Phone.” 

Jan Chase- Nokia

Blog by Kara Skorupan