The Best and Worst Companies for Call Center Service
The Best and Worst Companies for Call Center Service:
Call Centers get kudos or raspberries. Check the ten best list to see who they are and make a mental note of it, but read the ten worst for the horror stories. Have you heard about the woman who complained about her billing and then got mail addressed to “Bitch Dog”? Or the guy who had to threaten murder to get his service disconnected? And which company asks for your social security number before they will speak to you? Outsourcing and automation aren’t the problem, its the people who design and implement the systems. What companies have you had the best and worst luck getting call center service from?
Free small-business podcasts from the SBA
Many people dream of starting their own business, but few have the know-how to start a successful one. The Small Business Administration offers a selection of podcasts designed to teach you the basics.
The site currently hosts nine podcasts, with more planned for the future. Current topics include “Check List for Starting a Business,” “Selecting a Business That Fits” and “Financing a Small Business.” If you’d rather read than listen, the site also offers Word-formatted transcripts of the podcasts. However you choose to absorb the info, it’s decidedly worthwhile stuff for the budding entrepreneur.
Technorati Tags: freestuff
Uganda’s phone-charging station
Uganda’s phone-charging station:
Cory Doctorow:
Nice Cool Tools piece about Uganda’s phone-charging entrepreneurs:
Uganda is a country coping with a severe energy crisis resulting in frequent power cuts. In addition, access to mains electricity in rural locations is limited. Given that mobile phones require power, and access to power can be unpredictable – how do people keep their mobile phones and other electrical devices charged? Last July a Nokia research team travelled to Uganda and explored this issue as part of a more in-depth study into shared phone use.
There are two forms of mobile phone battery charging services in Kampala – either offered as an additional service by phone kiosk operators or as a stand alone service. It costs 500 Ugandan Shillings (0.2 Euro) to have a battery recharged similar to the price of 2 or 3 phone calls. Whist both services appear to thrive there are a number of barriers to use: customers cannot use their phone whilst the battery is being charged; the customer risks, or perceives the risk that their battery being swapped for an inferior one; a perceived risk of phone theft – signs that suggest service providers are not responsible for loss or theft are evident.
The appeal of quasi-uniqueness
Happy packaging of Z.VEX guitar stompboxes:
Mark Frauenfelder:
Z.VEX makes a wide range of effects boxes for musicians. I love their bright and colorful enclosures. The boxes not only look neat, they do neat stuff. Check out the Theraminesque Wah Probe video. Link (Thanks, Robyn!)
Previously on Boing Boing:
• Amazing gallery of birth-control-pill packaging Link
• Unfortunately suggestive food packaging Link
• Dime-store packaging gallery Link
Technorati Tags: product design, value added proposition
