Well - what do I know?

#Bring Your Own Device

2012-01-17T03:29:00.001-08:00

I wrote a blog recently about the trend towards BYOD to work, and a thought struck me this morning as I increasingly see pieces about the subject.

The increased use of mobile devices means that increasingly we are mobile (obviously Graham – what's your point) and not plugged into the mains. I think you are probably ahead of me now – right!

Yup – BATTERIES. My personal experiences with battery life are mixed to say the least, but suffice to say that being mobile all day on a device for calling, emailing, web surfing, document browsing.....etc, does tend to have a fairly profound impact on the battery. So what's the answer?

I'm not really sure is MY answer, as I have tried several different ways of addressing the issue, mostly unsatisfactory thus far. My attempts have included: multiple batteries – inconvenient and a pain to change on the go, but does provide the life needed; external battery pack – was a complete pain, as the connector didn't stay in the phone, and it was like trying to hold an octopus with the cables; second mobile – well we all know that multiple SIM and single number isn't widely available; phone sleeve with battery – not tried this yet, but may well give it a go, as it looks by far and away the most elegant solution.

But what about a better battery – wouldn't that be the answer? Well yes obviously (presupposing we remembered to charge it before we left home this morning). I heard recently about some research that had discovered a new "way" of producing a battery that had increased power storage and performance, but sadly it indicated that production would commence in several years time. What do we do in the meantime – I suspect this issue will become a bigger one as we all find ourselves out-and-about with a "dead" device, and either nowhere to charge it, or the charger at home "on the side"

But what do I know

Bring your Own Device

2012-01-04T04:12:00.001-08:00

I was recently pondering technology and specifically the kind of technology that I've spent a significant portion of my working life with and that is telecommunications - telephones and data communications if you will.
For a long time the enterprise or business community led the way as far as technology adoption went and especially telecommunications. I'm sure you all recall the first mobile phone "bricks" that were for a long time "status symbols" in the workplace. But now it's all change,as nearly all of us have I am sure, very "smart" smartphones full of the latest apps, and tablet devices aplenty for our own use, and acquired personally. And so most people have better technology available to them in their pocket than many enterprises have afforded them today. As a result of this "dynamic", increasingly individuals are deploying their own devices in the work environment (Bring Your Own Device) causing an absolute headache for the IT department as far as security of information is concerned. Notwithstanding this, many enterprises are stepping up to the plate and enabling their workforce to deploy their own devices which on the face of it might seem to be a good thing for the enterprise - allowing them to save money on not equipping everybody with new technology - perhaps?!
However this is only part of the conundrum given that ultimately communication is all about, well .....communication and the very disparate nature of these devices with different operating systems et cetera clearly presents a challenge in terms of integration and of course making them all work seamlessly. And that's before we even get into a conversation about support. So having said all of this what's my point. Well my point is this. The Legacy PBX and communications infrastructures are clearly creaking at the seams, in fact many haven't been updated since the end of 1999 (when the Millennium bug was going to see planes falling from the skies) amidst fears of failure if nothing was done, and I begin to wonder who today is really offering the greatest innovation to meet the needs of the way we're choosing to communicate and work these days?
Many of the usual suspects are struggling with the very legacy that everyone else is, and I can't currently see any vendor really rising up to the challenge, however, I can't help feeling that one of the worlds biggest players albeit not known for their "voice" credentials - Microsoft may well have the answer with their Lync offering and the partnership ecosystem (or ISV ecosystem) that I'm seeing beginning to evolve.
There are increasingly so many compelling reasons to ensure we review and change the way in which we communicate, not least of which the challenges around travel and the drive for organisations to become increasingly more green and create a much smaller carbon footprint. So I guess the biggest challenge here really is the disparate nature of these technologies and the understanding for organisations in order to be able to successfully integrate these technologies to work effectively and of course in these austere times to find an affordable solution. So in the final analysis I can see that we will increasingly see the adoption of the aforementioned technologies and in a "use what you require" cloud supplied utility price model. And it seems to me that for the next few years certainly that this will increasingly be the preferred acquisition model. Services organisation with a heavy bias on knowledge workers will be the "glue" that makes it all work, and ultimately free us from the "desk"?? - well that is I believe a completely different challenge and discussion for another day.

But what do I know.....

Happy Christmas everyone and remember to put your out of office on

2011-12-22T06:56:00.001-08:00

I've not long finished reading a really interesting book by Tim Ferris titled 4 hour working week and there were some interesting take-always for me which could potentially work in my situation.
I do wonder how some of the concepts introduced would work for most people though, and in particular I'm referring to his slant on email communications. Tim asserts that email is too intrusive and one should aim to read and respond far less frequently than most of us do.
Consider how "helpful technology" has enabled us to receive and read our emails at any time in any location on a myriad of different devices, and the culture this appears to have driven.... A culture of email appearing to be an urgent communication. I have witnessed (and indeed have succumbed to) MS Outlook appearing to drive daily activity of email conversations. Tim suggests that an auto responder should be set to reply with a clear message setting expectations that a response will be delayed to preset times each day, or even each week (over time as part of a transition plan).
Personally I like this idea, as I agree that email has become far too intrusive and that there is no better way of urgently communicating, than the telephone, after all we all have at least one and it is good to talk.
I reckon if we all decided to treat email as a communication tool rather than our god, then we would almost certainly increase our overall productivity, and get far more done.

But what do I know... Happy Christmas everyone and remember to put your out of office on.

BBC Sport - England World Cup campaign faces "most comprehensive review ever"

2011-11-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

BBC Sport - England World Cup campaign faces "most comprehensive review ever"

Too much in the way of politics it seems to me - not an untypical situation to be found in many organisations where "doing the right thing" (and often the simplest) gets caught up in the fight for survival for the people involved.

Whilst this is not at all surprising or indeed unexpected, it sadly holds back the progress of the talented guys waiting to run onto the field of rugby with their heads held high wearing their country's colours.

I guess the answer lies somewhere in ensuring that people retain a role for at least a manageable period of time whilst seeking a new role (if that's the future direction for them), and the A-team running the show gets together quickly and aligns as a macro-team to ensure that everyone is "on message" and understands their particular role. During this process the opportunity should exist for people to say what needs saying and move on.... But hey "What Do I Know" :-)

Leadership - by Jim Rohn

2011-10-29T14:21:00.001-07:00

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly
Jim Rohn

Slow dance by David L Weatherford

2011-10-25T10:25:00.001-07:00

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
it's like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn't a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

Don't you love a rumour

2011-09-08T13:27:00.001-07:00

I have been musing recently, as a pretty well-networked sort of chap, how the current (insert adjective for lots) of changes immediately visible to me are almost nauseating!
I know that the pace of change is almost incessant, but even so, it's getting so that I am beginning to wonder if the World is going mad.
Just in the last couple of months I know of 3 new high profile appointments, 6 resignations, redundancies - too many to count, and umpteen others attending interviews in the search for a "better" employer.
That's before we even get to the M & A rumours, and we know that there are plenty of those - right?

So why?

Has it always been like this, and it's simply one of the natural consequences of an "always on, always connected" World, or something far more simple - such as choice!
Sure, it's a tough economic environment right now, but being connected opens far more opportunities than ever before and a more enlightened workforce is far more active in seeking a "better fit" work environment than our forebears were. After-all, whose fault is it if you are not happy at work, and who is it most important to - DISCUSS :-)

What is world class customer service?

2011-07-20T10:15:00.001-07:00

Is it good enough to do just what's expected? "It does what it says on the tin" kind of approach?
For me I'm not sure that's good enough! For me, the measure of great customer service is when people step up to the plate and delight with their ability to be flexible and see the relationship through your eyes. For me it's about people who are prepared to accept the challenge of the difficult issue rather than opt for an easy ride and taking a company line - especially when the customers approach is a cry for help!
What do you think - does "good enough" get confused for excellent customer service? I think it does....discuss

I can see you

2011-04-21T04:29:00.001-07:00

Isn't it funny that even though we know intellectually things like videoconferencing and audio conferencing in general are a good thing as far as the green agenda is concerned and of course from an efficiency and effectiveness point of view. Yet we still don't seem to adopt them in our business lives quite as wholeheartedly as you might imagine.
Why ever not?
Is it merely standards, usability or acceptance or is it something more esoteric?
Perhaps it is all moving a lot faster than we think, for example in our personal lives the availability and uptake of technology particularly in terms of mobility is staggering. Much of this technology is now being driven into the enterprise through our adoption at a consumer level. We are finding increasingly, use for Skype and facetime for example. These applications are being broadly adopted by generation Y and increasingly by their parents . Furthermore these consumer technology products are also being brought into the workplace as you will see increasing use of personal iPhones, iPads and other tablet devices in use for work purposes and IT departments having little choice but to embrace and "allow" it.
If you add to this ubiquitous nature of data anywhere any time from any device and the always on availability of (increasingly higher bandwidth) data connections we can see that there is a need to understand and embrace if we are not to be left behind when it comes to competing for customers, staff and profits.
So what will you be doing to ensure you embrace the unstoppable change that all of this enables?

Is there a spy in the camp? | Azlan

2011-01-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

Is there a spy in the camp? | Azlan

So you pride yourselves on providing excellent customer service! How are you measuring this and who are your customers? Where are they based and what do THEY THINK of the service you provide (remember that if you cant measure it you can’t manage it)? I have been at various ends of the communications industry for more than 25 years and despite the greater awareness of customer service I am still often shocked by how customers are served when they contact an organisation.

The advent of auto attendant applications and ISDN services supporting direct dial numbers made a significant difference to business capabilities and many organisations were able to embrace the technology to architect customer oriented “shop windows” where customers got connected to the right person with the right information first time every time (well almost) and all was well. Then change happened and customers decided that they would email your company and perhaps drop you a question from the web site, and many of you weren’t expecting this! So you had to re-architect your shop window to accommodate different channels and modes of communication which for many proved a huge success. Despite this many organisations are still way behind the curve and a call or email to them proves a huge disappointment, due largely to either a lack of response to email or dead end technology limiting the customer experience to nothing short of shocking. The fact that customers have many options available to them means that they CHOOSE to contact your more enlightened competitors who have enabled themselves to meet the customers using their preferred communication mode.

So if your telecom and IT isn’t up to scratch, you could well be operating like you have a spy in the camp. So are your voice and IT systems working for you, or for your competition?

Technology sales - are they difficult?

2010-10-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was musing over some of the really cool technology available today,
like the new Flare Experience from Avaya, launched this month, and in
particular how sales in this area has or has not changed in the past 5
years or so.
In particular, I was considering the sales approach and whether or not
there is a greater degree of sales resistance and perhaps it is
getting more difficult to open doors, or if general improvement in
available information via the internet and social platforms that the
opposite is true.
My sense is that the right approach is varied according to audience,
but absolutely can be successful - and that's a conversational,
business language oriented conversation, not a strong closing
aggressive language. Ari Galper discusses this in his unlock the game
while others claim that cold calling is dead.
Personally I think that good clear professional communications has
always and will always work.
What do you think?

A [very]Special Poem

2010-03-02T13:09:00.001-08:00

I have just received this poem and felt that it was so touching that I wanted to share it here on my blog,

Very Special Poem

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee
Scotland , it was believed that she had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through her meagre possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse took her copy to Ireland . The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet:

Crabby Old Woman

What do you see, nurses................What do you see?
What are you thinking......When you're looking at me?
A crabby old woman.................Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,......................With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food ............... And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice.......'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice ..........The things that you do,
And forever is losing .....................A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not, ............ Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, .............. The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?......... Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,.....You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am .............As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, ................... As I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of ten..............With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters.......................Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen ...................With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now ..................... A lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty, ............... My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows ............... That I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now,..................... I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide ......... And a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty,.................... My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other..................... With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons..............Have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me.....................To see I don't mourn
At fifty once more,................Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,................... My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me,.......................My husband is dead,
I look at the future,.............................I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .........Young of their own,
And I think of the years.......... And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman......................... And nature is cruel;
Tis jest to make old age ............... Look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles,..................... Grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone................... Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass................ A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,...................... My battered heart swells.
I remember the joys,.......................... I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living......................... Life over again.

I think of the years..................... All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact......................That nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people,.............................Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman;..........Look closer......see,....ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within....
we will all, one day, be there, too!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM.

IT WILL OPEN HEARTS

What did you learn in 2009?

2009-12-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

I guess we’ve all felt the recession in some form and have felt some pain or seen some benefit, depending upon the business we are in, or the state of our personal finances. Whatever our position, we have seen impact. Often we have no ability to influence what happens to us, but we can absolutely choose how we respond to what happens to us. So I decided to share an abridged version of my 2009.

I left long term employment in October 2008 as a result of taking a redundancy package, and immediately began a consulting assignment. At the start of 2009 I decided to press on and see what business I could become involved in and although not consciously, something far from what I had been doing (it was only later that this realisation came to me).

I became involved in publishing and assessing sales people’s capabilities and fit for specific roles and spread myself so thinly that I found it difficult to explain when asked, what business I was in. During this time I also began to network extensively and learnt much about social media and social networking. I read significantly too and took the opportunity to invest in personal development- training with Delta TCC and completing three INLPTA diplomas: Leadership, Coaching and Sales all were delivered using NLP techniques which provide a platform for enhanced communication with people.

After the summer I came to a realisation that I had much invested in my experiences to date and expertise gained from more than 20 years in the Telecom market place and so I made a decision to return and subsequently found my self a great role to immerse myself in, and am delighted to be doing so.

So what have I learnt? I learnt a huge amount about myself, a lot about people generally, and about human nature, as well as behaviour. I learnt much more about business generally too – certainly more than I would ever have expected to. Overall an invaluable life lesson and absolutely unmissable. I am most definitely a better person, and more heavily armed to take on business than I could ever have hoped to be – PRICELESS

My twitter rules of engagement

2009-12-12T12:21:00.001-08:00

Before reading this, please be aware that I possess a sharp sense of fun and am learning as I blunder through life :-)

I got some good advice today after seeking out an expert in this field as a result of encountering a situation which I was puzzled by. So here I am setting out for peeps how I engage and whom I choose to follow and why. Also some of the things you can expect from me and those you probably shouldn't expect.

Clear? Good

So why am I using twitter? I am embracing the social media/social networking wave and use many different platforms to connect with new people as well as develop existing friendships and relationships. I actually have no particular END GAME just to connect, share, learn and be part of what the internet has enabled. Through embracing the connectedness that social networking has enabled, I have made new friendships, business contacts and learnt many new things. In fact my INLPTA diplomas in sales, coaching and leadership were all as a direct result of using social networking.

So, to my rules of engagement: (in no particular order) :-)

>I am here to share, learn, meet new people, converse, help people, collaborate, and have some fun.

>I follow people based upon what I read, how I see people operating, what their stated aims might be, how aligned or different I see us- and many other random factors.

>I do NOT follow people because you ask me too? I am however always delighted to listen to recommendations with a reason, but do not practice I follow you because you follow me. I may well follow you, but it's not a "given".

>I also do not expect you to follow me back just because I have chosen to follow you- I am an adult able to make my own independant decisions and choices for which I hold only myself accountable :-)

>I do reply and engage with people, if I'm on-line, in real-time, otherwise when I can.

>I will retweet interesting items, important information, and notices. Happy to RT if asked and providing it isn't offensive and isn't at odds with my values or beliefs.

>I will ONLY recommend you if I have a personal reason to do so, and not because you have asked me to, or because you have recommended me. Why? how can I possibly be expected to recommend you unless I really believe you have something of interest to people... I do not recommend anyone unless I have good reason to - a personal positive experience for example. I expect the same treatment in return and will not ask for a recommendation, but am always grateful for them if deserved.

I do hope this is read by you with the good spirit I have written it with, to provide clarity and assurance of my intent. Also to serve in setting expectations. And feedback of course welcome.

Whom do you admire? Who is your hero?

2009-12-03T12:50:00.001-08:00

This is a question that I have heard asked on many occasions in interviews for jobs, or of celebrities in TV interviews and many times I have listened to the answers without much reflection. There are always the perhaps more predictable responses - famous historic figures and others in the public eye, but the ones that carry most weight for me are the ones where people quote "real" people that they know - especially family members. Having said this, I rarely think much about this. Until now that is - I was just relaxing in my bath and my thoughts turned to recent conversations and the person in mind I started to remember interviewing him for a position in the company I worked for perhaps 10 years ago. I started to recall that I asked him this very question and his response needed no thought - it was his father who turned out to be a man of the church.

So why am I blogging about this? The simple answer is that I have often reflected on people I admire and (sadly) for the first time I thought about my parents in this light....and I thought and thought, and you know what I AM absolutely proud and full of admiration for my parents. They brought my brother and I up incredibly successfully - we always had the essentials and were always loved and cared for. Both of my parents had to work to "make ends meet" and there were occasions when things were difficult, but they made sacrifices and made sure my brother and I always had what was needed. They are definitely my heroes, and you can be sure that I will tell them to their faces when I next see them :-)

POLICE WARNING, PLEASE CIRCULATE

2009-11-25T06:48:00.001-08:00

WARNING FROM POLICE

THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN
BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE--
NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating.. You walk across the car park, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine put it into reverse.

When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you stop and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically run you over as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!

BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, lock your doors and just drive away.
Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you
read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women.
A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.
Please tell all your friends

Secure your public WiFi

2009-11-21T02:29:00.001-08:00

Here is the detail around the issue that my friend has solved and that BBC Watchdog highlighted in post below this one

Secure your public WiFi

View more presentations from Martin Keg.

Free stuff Tech press | a GEID blog

2009-11-21T02:20:00.000-08:00

STOP PRESS - Free white paper and free trial - SecureConnect wifi protection. A good and clever friend of mine has developed a solution to combat the problem the BBC watchdog programme highlighted concerning security for your web traffic at WIFI Hotspots. The problem incidentally is considerably broader than this..... � Free stuff Tech press | a GEID blog

Ignorance is bliss....or just foolish?

2009-11-17T05:27:00.001-08:00

A general lack of knowledge and awareness in an area that we know little about is understandable and for all of us there are blind spots that fall outside our area of awareness. Sometimes, these can be areas that we should know about, but often pay little or no attention to them. For example, we all know that we should take care to secure our home against intrusion – we put locks on our doors and sometimes windows.....but not everyone places the same degree of importance on the same issue. Likewise we secure our banking details – PIN numbers and cards so we minimise the risk of fraud, but again to varying degrees.

The BBC aired the Watchdog programme on Thursday 29^th October 2009 alerting us to the lack of security available to us at public WIFI hotspots. The ramifications of this are incredibly alarming, and so putting your head in the sand, whilst obviously an option, is not something that smart people do. Get protected and secure your traffic, and remember that it is not JUST WIFI hotspots that this affects. As you begin to consider how you can protect yourself – take a look at how Secure Connect guards you against intruders.

To what degree is this a problem to you – worth risking it? I thought not – CLICK here to register to try Secure Connect

WHAT IS A GRANDPARENT? I just got this on an email and loved it so much I thought I'd share it

2009-11-14T10:43:00.001-08:00

(taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds)

Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of her own. They like other people's.

A grandfather is a man & a grandmother is a lady!

Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the shops and give us money.

When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.

They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and also why we shouldn't step on 'cracks.'

They don't say, 'Hurry up.'

Usually grandmothers are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear.

They can take their teeth and gums out.

Grandparents don't have to be smart.

They have to answer questions like 'why isn't God married?' and 'How come dogs chase cats?'.

When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television because they are the only grown ups who like to spend time with us.

They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they say prayers with us every time and kiss us even when we've acted bad.

A 6 YEAR OLD WAS ASKED WHERE HIS GRANDMA LIVED. ''OH,'' HE SAID, ''SHE LIVES AT THE AIRPORT AND WHEN WE WANT HER WE JUST GO GET HER. THEN WHEN WE'RE DONE HAVING HER VISIT, WE TAKE HER BACK TO THE AIRPORT.''

GRANDPA IS THE SMARTEST MAN ON EARTH! HE TEACHES ME GOOD THINGS BUT I DON'T GET TO SEE HIM ENOUGH TO GET AS SMART AS HIM!

It's funny when they bend over, you hear gas leaks and they blame their dog.'

SCAM ON PARCEL DELIVERY

2009-11-12T07:37:00.001-08:00

THE LATEST SCAM BE AWARE

Can you circulate this around especially as Christmas is fast approaching -
it has been confirmed by Royal Mail. The Trading Standards Office are making
people aware of the following scam:

A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel
Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and
that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number). DO
NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize .

If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will
already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

Please advise family members/Friends.

What is a friend?

2009-09-14T01:24:00.001-07:00

And does this change over time?
What I am driving at here is simply that I am sure we all perceive friendship slightly differently and based upon our personal expectations and experiences, may have cause at some time to reflect on this question.
Are those people that you thought were your friends STILL around when you most need them, or are they conspicuous by their absence in your life now you could do with some support and anchors?
I wonder what your experience has been :-)?

I simply loved this and wanted just to share it - click on the video and watch with an open mouth

2009-09-04T12:53:00.001-07:00

Christian the lion

This is a true story (from "christian, the lion who thought he was people"). Saw this video and watched it about 30 times in a row. Theres many Christian the lion videos already posted, i just took the better song and edited it to the better video. Hope you enjoy it as much as i did. If you'd like to see the entire video on this, irridescent posted a 10 part video from original movie.

OUTSOURCING

2009-09-04T04:46:00.000-07:00

I wonder how much more thought about outsourcing the recent economic situation has driven?

I guess that for many roles in an organisation, having absolute control over the position is an imperative – or at least that is often the perception.

It is a bit like sales-aid leasing or hosting isn't it? What I mean is, that it's the result that everyone seeks, (so in leasing terms it's not about owning the product, but what the product delivers that's important) and more often than not it isn't about how you get there (as long as its ethical and above board of course).

So what is important? Expertise, knowledge, capability, "can do" attitude and good communication. The market is almost awash with skills like this now as a result of many organisations shedding staff in order to keep costs under control, and a smart organisation can capitalise on this by outsourcing some of their business development activities and actually lower costs to the business. So why wouldn't you?

Time to Quit!

2009-09-02T00:35:00.001-07:00

This arrived in my email this morning and I thought it was too good not to share. I don't know who originally created it, but thank you, whoever you are!

1. Quit arguing with people about the same old foolishness! Respect their position and keep it moving!

2. Quit telling people your secrets when you know they are not going to keep them! And if you keep telling them, then quit getting mad when they tell your secrets!

3. Quit trying to pull people on your journey who don't want to travel with you. Either they believe in you and value you....or they don't!

4. Quit complaining about things you can't and won't change!

5. Quit gossiping about other people! Minding our own business should be a full time job!

6. Quit blaming each other for things that in the big picture aren't going to matter three weeks from now! Talk solutions...and then implement them!

7. Quit eating things you know are not good for you! If you can't quit...eat smaller portions!

8. Quit buying things when we know we can't afford them! If you don't have self control, then quit going to the stores! Quit charging things, especially when you don't NEED them!

9. Quit staying in unhealthy relationships! It is not okay for people to verbally or physically abuse you! So quit lying to yourself! It is not okay to stay in the marriage for the children! Ask them and they will tell you that they really would prefer to see you happy and that the misery you and your spouse/partner are living with is affecting them!

10. Quit letting family members rope you into the drama! Start telling them you don't want to hear it! Quit spreading the drama! Quit calling other relatives and telling them about your cousin, uncle or aunt! Go back to #5 minding your own business should be enough to keep you busy!

11. Quit trying to change people! IT DOESN'T WORK! Quit wasting time & energy getting angry at people when you know that they are just being the miserable and jealous people that they are!

12. Quit the job you hate! Start pursuing your passion. Find the job that fuels your passion BEFORE you quit!

13. Quit volunteering for things that you aren't getting any personal fulfilment from anymore! Quit volunteering for things and then failing to follow through with your commitment!

14. Quit listening to the naysayers! Quit watching the depressing news if you are going to live in the doom and gloom of it all!

15. Quit making excuses about why you are where you are or why you can't do what you want to do!

16. Quit waiting on others to give you the answers...and start finding the answers for yourself! If what you are doing isn't working for you...then quit it!

17. Quit deliberating and start making your dreams a reality!- Quit being afraid and START LIVING YOUR LIFE! CREATE THE LIFE YOU WANT! If you want something different than what you have had in the past...you must quit doing what you have done before and DO something different! JUST QUIT IT ...... and START DOING something to create the experience you want!

Is it always the strongest who survive?

2009-08-09T07:50:00.001-07:00

Darwin wrote that it wasn't necessarily the strongest who survive, but the most adaptable- this is as true today from my perspective in business as it was for Darwin when he originally wrote it.
It has never been particularly easy to find new customers who want your product or service. The process of finding and meeting new customers is in itself not difficult. Most companies using a traditional mix of marketing including cold calling and telesales. These traditional methods are growing less effective as it is so easy for people to find the products or service they require through a 5 minute search on the internet, or more readily through an established relationship.
Creating a loyal following through exploiting the web and creating a valuable relationship is the smart way to build a future pipeline. When these "followers" have a need for your services, you will be on hand, trust and value already established, to solve their problem. But you already knew this- right? So what stopped you doing something about it? Time, resource, etc etc. There is plenty of evidence to show that this is a sensible approach, so perhaps it's time you took steps.
Http://unhub.com/grahambunting

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BBC NEWS | Business | Pound clears $1.70 against dollar

2009-08-04T05:18:00.001-07:00

Signs of recovery appearing in the news yesterday as manufacturing sees some positive signs and shares increase - BBC NEWS | Business | Pound clears $1.70 against dollar

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Sales VS Marketing!

2009-07-27T03:22:00.001-07:00

I wonder why it often seems that sales and marketing work in separate silos, and measure a disparate set of metrics (which appear to be aligned at surface level) – never before has it been more important for these two departments to align and (really) work together – it is not practical for each to work to an exclusive success measure. There is only one measure of success – profitable growth.

Yet despite what seems an obvious statement, there is still conflict rather than coordination at all levels and much finger pointing for the general lack of sales results. Sales claiming that there are not enough good quality sales leads arriving at their desks and marketing claiming that there are loads of leads and sales are unable to sell them. If this carries on unchecked then it's clear that the disharmony will drive down business rather than develop it.

The answer should lie in alignment – aims, metrics, pay etc. Why would you have two such critical departments of the business working at any lesser level of congruence I wonder?

The Telecoms battle for domination.

2009-07-20T13:58:00.001-07:00

I have been watching the situation with Nortel with interest since
they went bankrupt and wondering where the value sits for various
suitors. I confess to a degree of surprise that the only news I have
read about is Telecoms vendors showing interest. Why not Cisco or
Microsoft for example? Is there not an opportunity to make an
aggressive land grab and perhaps make significant inroads into the
Telecoms market place where Avaya and other traditional voice vendors
are currently dominant.
So back to the initial comment- where is the value when there is so
much apparent duplication. I can't however argue that $475million
isn't pretty good value for a significant global player like Nortel.

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Sent from my mobile device

Happy with your sales results?

2009-07-13T08:27:00.001-07:00

Are you happy with your sales results? Want to objectively measure your success today and produce quantifiable gains - take a look at what PERA can do for your sales effectiveness

Who Are We Presentation

View more presentations from Graham Bunting.

Where is life's journey taking you?

2009-07-08T05:35:00.001-07:00

I am philosophically thinking about my life as a journey and how all of the various experiences are shaping me into who I am today, and what I will be tomorrow. Very rarely do we get the time and opportunity to do this naval gazing, and yet I have been fortunate in getting the chance. By the way, I think the phrase "it's not what happens to us, but how we respond to it that matters" is a great example of the fact that we often have very little influence over "things" that happen to us in life, BUT, we absolutely can choose how we respond to them!

Back to my opening comment – through the opportunity of redundancy, I took the chance to review and evaluate my life's journey, and think about "ME PLC" in many different ways – what I stand for and what's important to me etc. This part of my journey has been both very important and enlightening in that I have learnt much more about me. In so doing, I have built value into my future work opportunities: Grafting onto my sales/leadership/team expertise, with 2 qualifications from INLPTA – a Coaching diploma and a Leadership diploma rich in Neuro Linguistic Programming language.

I also learnt that whilst I do have a strong independent streak, I also enjoy a working environment that enable rich people interaction and that enables me to take my experience and share with other people though mentoring and coaching and general interaction.

I am thinking much more now about the journey and hope that people reading this will take this as a catalyst for them to take more control.

Telecoms - everyone's an expert

2009-07-06T03:51:00.000-07:00

Telecoms – everyone’s an expert

I have worked in telecoms most of my working life and I have seen much change on one hand and yet paradoxically very little on the other.

Telecom to most people appears to mean telephony – I.e. a device for speech for use at home, in the office or whilst mobile, and from this perspective, apart from changes in phone set designs and disparate approaches from vendors on the layouts and labelling conventions (some use simple text whilst others use icons that I can’t for the life of me work out – so what hope is there for the uninitiated) there has been very little change. Even the newer entrants from the data World have taken a fairly conventional approach, which is probably understandable.

There is much change talked about more at the large enterprise end of the commercial market place, and this is at an infrastructure (plumbing) level. IP or Internet Protocol to give it its full name is a different approach to transmission of the voice signals that for most of us means very little. After all, who made a fuss over marketing the fact that the “old world” was TDM or Time Division Multiplexing? So what! Does it really matter? Perhaps not, but then again perhaps it does – the answer lies in the “what does it mean to my business if I change/don’t change”. The impact could be very little; however, it could deliver significant additional capability for your organisation and cost savings too – especially if you can share traffic on inter-office links, and use other low cost network carriers for some traffic. There is no simple answer to the conundrum, it just needs careful consideration from your perspective for your business, and weighing up the pros and cons – because there could well be some, for example, if your data infrastructure is already creaking at the seams, it could well require an investment to update before adding voice as well. A lot of this will depend on your organisations approach to return on investment and how you measure the benefits etc. Just get some independent advice before jumping in.

Just because it SOUNDS too good to be true - IT DOESN'T always mean that it is

2009-06-23T05:34:00.001-07:00

This particular saying, whilst in certain circumstances may hold true does NOT always hold true.

Having been involved for many years (more than 22 years in fact gosh) in the telecommunications market, I have seen many changes and lots of exciting technology that really enhances the way businesses can service and support their customers, and enable people to work flexibly. All of this carries a burden of cost - after all the vendor pays to develop the clever software and hardware to support it, plus lots of testing to ensure the deliverables are truly reliable and resilient so as not to let you down. It is therefore no surprise that this all requires customers to make an investment from their hard won revenues.

Refreshing then to learn that competitive pressures and other factors are bringing down the cost of communicating and new technologies are enabling greater choice - all of which results in opportunities to reduce telecom expenses. Savings of 40%-50% are not uncommon especially for companies who have a number of locations, and a lot of land line to mobile calls.

Is your company wasting money to the tune of an additional 60% over and above what it could be? I would be surprised if you couldn't save money and there is no burden of cost for new equipment - How compelling is that?

Ernst & Young, Slaughter and May and Rolls Royce all benefited from a free no obligation consultation and now enjoy the regular lower costs that you could.

You've got the power

2009-06-21T00:50:00.001-07:00

You've got the power

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Official Gmail Blog: 5 little-known Gmail features you may not yet know about

2009-06-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Official Gmail Blog: 5 little-known Gmail features you may not yet know about

What level of "social network" automation is acceptable - before it becomes impersonal and "one way"?

2009-06-02T12:00:00.001-07:00

If like me you are getting to grips with the latest trends in social media with the likes of twitter, facebook, linkedin, friendfeed etc, then you are probably familiar with the regularity of the updates and in the case of the micro blogging of twitter then you like me are probably wondering how on earth some people manage to send so many tweets every day as well as holding down a full time job. There is a whole industry grown up off the back of this new phenomenon, with applications galore to provide access whilst on the go (from your mobile) and to automate much of this. My thought here, is that with the increased use of automation - does this take away the personal touch and some of the very purpose of social media - being personal contact? I am comfortable with a degree of automation, but how much is too much - for example if everyone is just "sending" who is reading and responding?

Shoots of recovery?

2009-06-01T12:36:00.001-07:00

Are we beginning to see some signs of recovery I ask myself? I have noticed that there appear to be more houses going up for sale and those that were already are appearing to be sold. And by coincidence, I received a mailer from a local estate agent backing up my thoughts by suggesting that they are seeing a pick up and that they are needing more houses to sell.
Those cynical folk amongst us might argue that the estate agents are attempting to talk up the position to create a market - well surprise surprise, I actually think a lot of our problems were that we talked ourselves into the recession in the first place. All the BAD news on the TV and in the papers - all the "so-called" experts telling us to batten down the hatches and stop spending.... Do you think that this helped us all to retain a level panic free attitude and continue to spend, or did it have the opposite effect.
Well either way, I am confident that we are seeing some areas of change, so I for one am very pleased.

Self confidence

2009-05-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

I loved this for the very reason that it is one of the best ever examples I have seen of great parenting. It appears to me that she was given love unconditionally and was able to grow and flourish as a child should - see for yourself
SE-FeyTina.gif (GIF Image, 300×205 pixels)

Sales networking

2009-05-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

I have been a member of many networking groups over a period of time and have found them all wanting. Most people (despite training at best) appear still to approach networking with a view to how many cards can I hand out and what's in it for me?
I wanted to offer an alternative network for sales professionals who really want to be proactive and supportive, share information and introductions and be part of a successful practive network. Find us at http://thesalesnetwork.ning.com/

So it's no surprise when they do

2009-01-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

Small wonder that when interviewing for sales people - you get sold to. Albeit the sales person themselves rather than a "product". Questions flood through your head - did they really achieve what they said they did? Were they really that successful? Will they be a good fit for my organisation? What really motivates them? Where is their comfort zone? etc.. Frequently these days finding good quality sales people seems hard work - in tough economic times, folks tend to keep their heads down, and with many organisations laying of staff how does one sort the wheat from the chaff. Let's face it your sales people are your business advocates - selling your company's image and representing you at all times. Isn't it wise to invest in ensuring you are fielding the best team. I wonder how many of us really just recruit sales staff after ensuring they wear a nice shirt and tie combination and when it just "feels right"....most of us...Right?