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The Next Big, Green Thing in CRM January 13, 2010 
News that the economy shed an additional 85,000 jobs in December is enough to put a damper on any New Year's celebration, and it was a sobering reminder as we trudged back to work in January that we are only in the early stages of a recovery. Just to review, we know that employment is a lagging indicator and that nothing moves in a straight line.
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Cable TV Standoffs: Customers in the Crosshairs January 05, 2010 
Many questions remain for cable TV viewers nationwide even after Fox and Time Warner Cable settled their noisy spat with a New Year's Day agreement. The deal was good news for more than 6 million Time Warner customers in the short term -- their shows will go on. However, the companies are not talking about how the agreement will affect customers' bills.
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Analyst: Verizon's Defense for Whopping Fees 'Disingenuous' December 21, 2009 
Verizon recently doubled its early termination fees to US$350 for customers who want out of their wireless phone contracts -- a fee much higher than competing carriers charge. However, there's no need to worry; the extra money coming into Verizon not only helps the nation meet its mobile broadband goals, it also helps lower-income consumers to consider buying a smartphone.
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Beyond CRM: 5 Steps to Outfox Your Competitors September 03, 2009 
Imagine this all-too-common scenario: A customer needs to add a new line to his cellphone plan. He's had a number of reception and phone issues, and he will stay with his current company only if offered a very good deal. However, the agent -- unaware of the prolonged dissatisfaction and insensitive to the customer's tone -- suggests an expensive upgrade plan and rushes the customer to some type of decision.
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All About the Bottom Line: Q&A With Avaya Global Services President Chris Formant February 02, 2009 
Chris Formant, president of Avaya Global Services, has been on the job since March 2008. It is no small irony that one year ago he was tasked with the assignment of strengthening the services group's financial and operating performance -- a significant undertaking, given that the services division touches upon more than half of Avaya's revenue and workforce.
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Bundled Service, Unbundled Customer Service December 30, 2008 
Memo to telecom service providers: "We never thanked you, but you did a great job offering us consolidated billing. It is hard to remember now, as for the last few years you have been so aggressive in promoting bundled services, but five years ago, this was a major pain point. Three bills for ISP, cable and telephone, and usually three different due dates as well."
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Enterprise Videoconferencing: Business Tool or Business Toy? December 11, 2008 
By looking carefully at the technological, environmental and cultural changes required to fully take advantage of the power of video and telepresence, the full story of how companies can successfully implement this technology is being revealed. Aberdeen is uncovering how successful implementations of telepresence occur in the enterprise workplace.
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Bundled Services: A Great Big Ball of Consumer Angst? December 05, 2008 
Are cable "bundle" customers changing channels to wireless telecom services? A recent study by the CFI Group, which focuses on measuring customer satisfaction and CRM issues, indicates they are. That is, if they can. Some can't, either because the choice is unavailable, or they have signed the option away.
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Cable's Customer Satisfaction Tangle December 02, 2008 
Cable company and customer satisfaction: The two terms are often considered antithetical. Through the years, these corporations have earned a reputation of being slow to respond to customer inquiries, inflexible and callous. Now as new competitors tread on their cash cow video services, will these providers change their ways, or will their rigidity cause them to lose business?
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Competition for the Portable People Meter? December 01, 2008 
I recently read an article that featured an up and coming media measurement technology created by research firm Integrated Media Measurement Inc. Using cell phone based data collection, IMMI's digital monitoring system measures audience exposure to multiple media platforms via codes embedded in the audible audio portion of the advertisement.
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Big Blue Taps Power Grid to Bring Broadband to the Boonies November 12, 2008 
IBM announced a partnership with International Broadband Electric Communications Tuesday that will see the two companies begin deploying Broadband over Power Line networks at electric cooperatives throughout the eastern U.S. The two companies are working to resolve an issue that has plagued U.S. residents in rural areas -- no access to broadband Internet services.
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Siebel Suite Gets Major Overhaul November 12, 2008 
For the second time since its acquisition of Siebel, Oracle is rolling out a major upgrade of the iconic on-premise suite. Version 8.1.1 has rehabbed many of its features -- as well as lavished a great deal of attention on the loyalty functions. The company is also introducing Oracle CRM Gadgets for Sales -- five mini-applications that provide enterprise data and service leveraging Web 2.0 content.
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You Call That Broadband? Group Decries Plodding Pace of US Net Speed August 13, 2008 
A nationwide study released Tuesday by the Communications Workers of America labor union found that Internet connection speeds in the United States have increased little over the past year. The nation's median data download speed gained just 0.4 megabits per second, it reported. At that rate, it will take more than 100 years before the U.S. attains speeds currently found in Japan, according to the CWA.
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Verizon Opens Wallet to Settle Raft of Early Termination Lawsuits July 11, 2008 
Verizon Wireless has agreed to a $21 million payout to settle lawsuits alleging that the wireless carrier's early termination fees were too high and unfair to consumers. While Verizon has not admitted any wrongdoing in the case, the multi-million dollar settlement covers not only a California-based class action lawsuit but a variety of cases pending across the country as well.
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Beyond CRM 2.0 June 25, 2008 
Last week, and for many other weeks, I discussed CRM 2.0, but today I am thinking more about the world beyond 2.0. Maybe it will be CRM 3.0, or maybe some wise guy like Paul Greenberg will change the numbering and call it "CRM 20xx," who knows? My reading and research tells me that there will be a need for something else.
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FCC Poised to Reprimand Verizon for Hounding Customers June 20, 2008 
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission reportedly is expected to rule against Verizon in a complaint filed by three cable companies against the telco. The FCC plans to tell Verizon it cannot try to talk phone service customers into staying instead of switching to a cable competitor, according to press accounts that leaked the pending decision.
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