HunterPsych

Frustration and Anger

Being very bad at using FAQs and reading manuals, I am a big user of online tech support. Though I meet many lovely people in the business all over the world, the tech systems that support them drive me wild with frustration and anger.

• For gobbledegook, press 5; for incomprehensible tech term pres 7; for nothing I am looking for, press 1.
• Hi I’m Steve, head of customer services for Big Inc and I’d like to thank you for choosing Big…
• Please listen carefully, as all our menu options have changed.
• Please enter you sixteen digit code, then press the pound sign.

You know what I’m talking about.

In the first example, so often ‘they’ know what they are talking about, but you don’t and even when you do, all you want is ‘agent’, but there’s no number to press for that.

In the second example, you could care less about Steve wanting to feel good and maybe you feel you made the wrong choice anyway.

In the third example, you have been hearing that same message over the last year and ten calls + you’re not an idiot or you would not be calling a tech support center.

Chances are high that in the fourth example, you will be asked for that same information a couple more times before you get done with the call.

Of course, you have your own frustrations and beefs. Since you are often told that “calls may be recorded… ” please always share your dissatisfactions-you never know, maybe a report will get back to management.

Tech Breakthrough

But imagine my delight when I discovered management at two companies, at least, have listened to me!

Apple and Canon.

You might expect a breakthrough from these tech giants. Well, I’d always been pleased with their people and the way they always seemed to be able to solve my problem, even sometimes when it was not their business.

I had occasion to call both Apple and Canon last week-twice. On the second call to each they acknowledged ME, and asked if I was calling about the same or a different problem. No ‘if this, press that’, no asking for serial numbers, product or offers to speak in Spanish.

The two calls took a fraction of the time for me to get resolution, wasted less time, blocked airtime less and had me calling off delighted. So much more delighted that I already was, that my feelings for both companies were positively enhanced.

Delight Customers, Don’t Piss Them Off

Big corporates and startups alike are beseeched to delight their customers, but so often fail to go the extra mile to make that happen. When a business does that, the effect is astonishing.

We are so concerned with the inside of our business that we often fail to check each of our actions potential for pissing off our most valuable asset, bar none.

When we do manage to do something great that they have not asked for, but that enhances their experience of using our product, we get a huge return on the investment.

Sustainability Through Delight

So, great product user experience, and satisfaction of value proposition are wonderful to behold, but inherently lack the ability to create a long term relationship with customers.

This delight is one of the biggest factors that those who seek sustainability often do not acknowledge. Professor Richard Rumelt (author of Good Strategy, Bad Strategy), talks about coherent action being needed to make a successful implementation of guiding policies of strategy.

My experience of the tech support breakthrough at Apple and Canon demonstrates a really significant example of coherent action. It’s tough but companies have to do everything right to ensure sustainability.

Tech Support Contributes to Strategy

Back office activities, like tech support and many others are the places in the company where the rubber meets the road, but are seen as an end in themselves.

Have you ever heard of the Director of Technical Support having a place at the top management table? Probably not. And yet his or her failure to implement customer delighting services can utterly destroy the strategic intentions of the Senior VP of Marketing.

Tech Support may not need to be at the top table, but they people involved like software engineers, communications specialists, as well as the agents themselves must think like a senior manager. Their contribution to strategy can go unsung if delightful, but will be castigated if they piss customer off too much.

William Keyser, a veteran entrepreneur, is Managing Director of Venture Founders LLC: How To Start a Business. Startup Owl offers a wealth of free information and advice to would-be and early stage entrepreneurs.

Will is a veteran entrepreneur with VC experience and he is committed to help business startups to: clarify their business purpose; sharpen their business model; better their business plan; speed their market entry; offer customer value; finance their business right; grow their business strongly; survive their business challenges-more effectively than they might do on their own.

Will teaches strategy and entrepreneurship on an MBA program, and serves on non-profit boards. His latest ebook is a guide on how storytelling can launch a business. Take a look: Telling StartUp Stories that is available at Amazon and other e-bookstores.

Texts are out, videos are in. The youths these days prefer more intimacy and a sense of closeness which can only be truly experienced with the help of video chats. So, even if your buddy resides in some faraway country, streaming video software makes it possible to virtually eliminate the barrier of distance. Such software permits complete accessibility and makes for a perfect tech tool for both adult as well as non-adult chats.

Some desirable features which should be present in the best tools are as follows:

1. Great broadcasting quality: The software promises great broadcasting quality. Clarity of picture is incomparable and the sound quality is also amazingly good. Such a sharp broadcasting quality gives you the feel that the other person is sitting right in front of you. Distance becomes virtually immaterial.

2. Greater control: The tool should allow greater control so that the user can choose the level of privacy he or she desires. At the same time, the best tools also allow only the participants to drop feedback or comments.

3. 3rd party apps not necessary: Streaming video software should not compel you to download or install 3rd party apps or plug-ins. They can prove to be tedious and annoying. Besides, some surfers are not comfortable with the idea of downloading too many apps for fear that some harmful element may attack the computer.

4. Cost-effective: The best script is also the one which is cost-effective. Being economic comes with the advantage of enjoying mass appeal.

5. Fun and easy: The best chatting software is not going to put your grey cells to any acid test. Rather, it is likely to be quite user-friendly and easy to comprehend and control. Thus, even laymen will be able to run the software with relative ease. At the same time, it should be funny and full of emoticons. The young brigade of netizens these days hanker after apps where there are several hilarious emoticons for expressing a gamut of emotions.

6. Customization: Some notable companies are also introducing streaming video software which offers customization. So, those users who pine for custom-based tool can also get one easily.

7. Easy to start: Great cam software can be started easily, requiring only the performers and payment gateway. Security and safety are also very high. So, any monetary payment made by the users through credit cards is secure from any malicious attack.

8. Fresh features: The hallmark of a must-buy tech tool or app is that it is constantly updated with new features. So, while investing in streaming video software, you should keep in mind that it must have this trait.

9. Money-yielding tool: Such software proves to be a lucrative money-yielding tool. Money starts to roll in fast and anyone who is running a chatting business or is organizing adult chat sessions is going to turn rich in no time.

10. Lifetime support: The software should also offer lifetime support. This feature helps the buyer to get the best value out of his or her investment.

For more resources about streaming video software, please visit streaming video software

The title of “software engineer” has got to be among the most highly abused in the corporate high-tech world. It’s also one of the most popular.

And why not? It sounds a lot better than “computer programmer,” and it looks much better on one’s business card. Unfortunately, it’s often inaccurate. Engineering is, after all, the application of sound technical principles to develop systems that are robust, efficient and elegant. I’ve found that a great many software engineers can develop working programs, but do little or no real engineering design.

Does this sound harsh? Perhaps, but I’ve also found it hard to deny. I’ve encountered very few software engineers, for example, who have clean, crisp and readable coding styles–an essential element of elegant software design. I’ve also encountered a preponderance of cryptically written functions, clumsy software abstractions and bizarre spaghetti code. To my dismay, I’ve discovered that even among computer science graduates, many reduce object-oriented programming to the mere use of private data, public functions and object instantiations. It’s enough to break a teacher’s heart.

Now, I won’t go so far as to say that most programmers write spaghetti code. That would not be fair. However, I do think that relatively few programmers have a deep appreciation for the artistry of software development. That’s not to say that they’re ignorant of such things; not at all. Rather, it’s more that the engineering aspects of elegant code design are all too often neglected.

I think this happens because modern programming tools have made proper code design seem like a nuisance. In the early years of computing, people were forced to write out their software designs, pondering many fine details before they ever sat down in front of the computer. Nowadays, with our fast compilers and interactive debugging systems, programmers often find it more convenient to simply sit down and start coding, with just a modicum of software design. Mind you, I do understand that this is sometimes more efficient–when the programming task is fairly routine, for example. However, when such design-as-you-go software development becomes standard practice, then you have the makings of utter chaos.

In part, this problem is also rooted in the malleable nature of computer software. No self-respecting civil engineer would design a bridge by slapping girders together until he has something that works; after all, if the bridge collapses, it could take months to rebuild it. Similarly, no sensible architect would want to build a house without blueprints and floor plans. Yet it is commonplace for programmers to develop software using poorly chosen functions and only the sketchiest of designs. After all, if the software doesn’t work, they can always find the bug and fix it–at least, in theory. In practice, these bugs are often difficult to detect, and fixing them can require extensive surgery. The consequences of an ill-designed software program can be disastrous indeed.

For this reason, I believe that high-tech companies need to give software engineering the respect that it deserves. They need to develop a true culture of systematic software design, instead of merely settling for “whatever works.” A company that’s looking toward the future must pay proper devotion to the principles of software maintainability, proper documentation and elegant, robust design. It must also inculcate a culture of true software engineering among its employees. The failure to do so may work in the short-term, but it is a recipe for long-term disaster.

V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D. takes great pride in working at Cellular Technology Ltd (http://www.immunospot.com, http://www.elispot-analyzers.de, [http://www.elispot.cn]) where he serves as a senior electrical and software engineer. He is pleased to work in an environment where excellence is valued.

Insurance billing software programs are accounts receivable, insurance billing, and practice management. Any good packages will deliver state-of-the-art features that are easy to use and work like a healthcare practice’s manual accounting system.

The program should include open item accounting that allows easy to match payments to individual charges, so that you will know what has or has not been paid. Patient ledgers will show complete account activity including charges, payments, and account adjustments. A patient and insurance aging report easily marks past-due patient and insurance payments.

The program must be able to stores information for billing every type of health insurance including private commercial insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, worker’s compensation, auto insurance for personal injury cases, and many others. Depending on the location of your practice, claims for Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and commercial insurance may be submitted through a clearinghouse. Make sure that the program is compatible with Medisoft Electronic Claims Direct software to send electronic claims directly to selected insurance carriers

Always remember that any billing software that you purchase is only as good as the customer service and support it receives. There should always be technical support on hand to answer questions that you may have. Tech support is especially valuable when there emerges a technical glitch in the insurance billing software that you cannot troubleshoot on your own. Also, if you can get some kind of assurance as to the quality and duration of the software, all the better. You may have to pay more for tech support and guarantees, but the investment could be worth it.

Insurance Software [http://www.WetPluto.com/General-Insurance-Software.html] provides detailed information on Insurance Software, Insurance Billing Software, Health Insurance Software, Litigation Insurance Software and more. Insurance Software is affiliated with Stock Trading Software [http://www.e-TradingSoftware.com].

As a small business owner I am constantly pursuing the “bottom line”. It’s a simple formula, really. Just increase sales while decreasing expenses, right? Easier said than done I’m afraid. The fact is that most production costs like fuel, rent, internet access, insurance, etc, continue to rise and don’t show signs of slowing any time soon. That means I’ve got to be downright cagey in conserving every dime I can, where I can.

So, when I upgraded to a new computer I went with the most performance for the lowest cost. That meant no frills, especially where software is concerned. Manufacturers want an arm and a leg to pre-install software bundles on your new machine. Even if you’re a little more technologically savvy and purchase and install software yourself, Microsoft Office Standard is like four hundred bucks, and you still have anti-virus and other vital software to shell out for. What’s an entrepreneur to do?

I’m fortunate enough to know a few people who work in the tech sector and are a lot more knowledgeable than myself on the subject of personal computing. When I told one of my tech-head friends I was looking for a less expensive software solution he told me to check out Open Office software.

He sent me to this site where they have an Open Office software suite available for download, bundled with a free anti-virus suite! I tried it out and I’ve been very impressed with what I got for my dollar. The open office programs have all the same features as their Microsoft counterparts, as well as a few advantages unique to Open Office.

The bundle includes a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a database, a program for creating multi-media presentations, and a drawing program.

I haven’t got to spend a whole lot of time with the presentation program, Impress, but it interfaces nicely and seems to be able to create anything I will need for a great sales presentation. Draw, the graphics program, is great and creates artwork in bitmap, GIF, JPEG, and a couple other formats I’ve never even heard of. Most important to me though have been the word processor, called Write, and the spreadsheet, Calc.

Write has all the features, there’s nothing missing. It also has its own helpful options like auto correct and auto complete, and it can create documents in open document format, a file format developed by an industry consortium to be the new standard in compatibility. In addition it can read and edit my old Word documents, as well as create new ones. It can also create .pdf files.

Calc shares the same virtues as its word processing counterpart, with the abilities to read and write existing Excel docs. This is huge for me because almost all of my payroll, invoicing, and expense tracking are kept on custom made spreadsheets I built myself, and the ability to keep the data I have and continue my book keeping without starting over is crucial. I also love the natural language formula feature. It allows the creation of formulas using actual words like “sales-costs”. It’s really slick and saves me a ton of time.

Now if you’ve done your homework or have a background in computers you know that Open Office software is open source code software, meaning essentially that it’s free. So why pay for software that can be gotten for nothing? Well the answer lies in the extra features, bonus software and support provided in this Open Office suite. At under $50 dollars for the whole Open Office software bundle, the anti-virus suite alone makes it worth the cost. Also included is one whole year of free technical support, which is important for the less technically inclined, such as me.

Open Office is a Free Microsoft Office alternative but with a small fee you can get an entire Office Software Suite packaged with everything you need for your school or small business computing including an anti-virus program. Try http://www.OfficeSoftwareSuite.com