Telecommunications

Using Metrics To Motivate Call Center Agents

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The latest generation of call center software allows organizations to monitor agent and department performance at a level that would have been impossible ten or twenty years ago. However these tools are not just for management use. Call center reports provide valuable motivators to agents, inspiring them to excel and boost the center’s productivity.

Giving Agents Control

When agents become isolated, their performance suffers. A workday becomes an endless series of phone calls. There is no sense of progress other than the ticking of the clock, and the only goal is to get through the day. Morale drops. Service quality drops. Customers become unhappy. It’s a death spiral.

Live call center reports allow agents to see how the department is performing in real time. Phone calls are no longer isolated incidents, but rather pieces of an overall flow of call volume. The agent is not alone, but part of a team. Employees can see how individual efforts affect hold times, queue lengths and other statistics. As the number of calls climb they can put in an extra effort, and as call volume falls agents can relax and take a breather.

It’s Like A Game

Goals are an important element of motivation. They allow us to “win” at whatever we are doing, providing a sense of accomplishment. Realistic and achievable objectives improve employee productivity by adding an element of fun to the workday, without undermining the professionalism needed in the position.

Service departments use call center reports in this manner. Agents work to keep queue lengths and hold times below certain levels. They are prompted to work harder to win at the customer service game. Agents take it upon themselves to work harder when needed rather than needing to be browbeaten by management. This internal motivation is an invaluable part of a productive and happy service team.

Service First

There are two things to keep in mind when using call center reports as motivational tools. First, it’s all about customer service. The reason we want to get hold times or queue lengths down is not that it makes our reports look good. It’s because a caller who gets to a human being faster is going to be a happier customer. However when we become so obsessed with getting our numbers down that we hang up on customers before the problem is resolved, we’ve lost sight of the true goal. Agents still need to provide exceptional service to each caller.

The second thing to remember is the motivational benefits of call center reports are lost when we use those statistics to punish rather than encourage. When an agent is not meeting standards something needs to be done, but reprimands and threats often simply lower morale while providing only a token increase in productivity. Low morale service agents may take their bad moods out on customers. Find a positive way to inspire low-productivity employees to work harder.

Faster Network Inventory with NEWT Professional

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IT professionals have always needed to cope with the growing difficulty that accompany monitoring an growing quantity of personal computers like a business develops. This kind of require is generally known to as Network Inventory or PC auditing. Sometime ago, if a person needed hardware and software inventory across a network, it meant physically going to each computer on that network and recording my way through a spreadsheet manually. Fortunately, through the years, software and OS’s have greatly enhanced, making Network Inventory simpler. NEWT Professional is a software product produced to lessen the work involved with Asset Management. Developed since 2003, NEWT has developed right into a high-speed PC Inventory tool, able to scan hundreds of computer systems in minutes, saving money and time for organizations of all dimensions.

In the world of Network Management, you’ll find several techniques used to Network Inventory computers. Two primary divisions are tools designed to use an agent and ones which are agent-less. Many agent-less tools could be extremely slow and/or have many difficulties with computer and security configuration, for example WMI (Windows Management Interface), thus they still require going to individual computer systems to “fix” issues before they could be audited. This is very frustrating to Network Inventory advisors. Utilizing an agent can circumvent these issues but frequently requires days or hours of extensive deployment.

The coders at Komodo Labs devoted well over 180 days developing a strategy to alleviate these Network Administration problems, leading to their latest version, 2.5. NEWT Professional now only requires read/write access to the ADMIN$ (pronounced “admin dollar” or administrator share), which is available by default to administrators in Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. This enables Network Inventory to get the same information in only minutes that before required hundreds of hours. Not just have scan speeds improved, but network bandwidth was greatly reduced, making it possible to accomplish Network Inventory over slow connections, for example WANs (Wide Area Systems) with little effect on network traffic.

NEWT Professional is helpful for nearly any network in which a total Network Inventory is required, and several MSP (Managed Service Providers) and Network Inventory technicians use NEWT Professional to quickly detect configuration information for his or her clients. It picks up all of the normal Hardware and Software Inventory information, including CPU info, system serial numbers, OS Product Keys, etc., but additionally goes one step further, gathering CPU temperature, system and hard disk temperature, USB type (1.x, 2.0 or 3.0), correct hard disk type (IDE versus. SATA) & serial number, monitor type (LCD/CRT), detailed RAM Slot info and many more.

After carrying out a Network Audit, data will come in a simple-to-read spreadsheet-like view, with options including saving to NEWT’s own format, exporting to Excel, HTML, text or perhaps a fully relational MS Access (MDB) database.

In terms of blazingly fast network inventory, NEWT Professional meets the requirements of network professionals everywhere, all without emptying your wallet.

Career In The Telecom Sector

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India has grown through leaps and bounds, the sector which has lead the whole economy to grow and develop, and reach where it is today. Students are always encouraged to choose the career of their choice, to make them put their whole- hearted efforts in the work. Almost all the industries provide great opportunities for the students to show their creative side, and work according to their interests. One sector which has grown to a great extent and in many ways the basis for many other industries to develop is Information Technology.

Telecommunications, a part of the IT industry, has grabbed the attention of a large number of students as their career prospects. Also, the career in telecom sector is very flourishing, with the industry booming and showing great growth rate. Telecom industry is said to be the industry, which even faced the recession well enough, and was not much struck by the same. Therefore, one can find a lucrative as well as a promising career in telecommunications sector. For pursuing a career in telecommunications, a student can opt for any of the following telecom courses, depending on his level of education:

Bachelors of Science in Telecom Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Computer Technology
Certificate in Computer Forensics
Diploma in Telecom Engineering
Certificate in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science in Mobile Internet Communication Informatics
Certificate in Information Technology

The degree courses require a time period of four years, in which the student is made to learn all the technicalities of the subject. A student needs to have physics, chemistry and maths as his subjects in the senior secondary examination to pursue his career in the telecom sector. There are many subjects in the telecommunications industry, which the student can choose as his specialisation, some of them are:

Telecommunications and System Lab
Statistical Signal Processing
Optical Communication & Networking
Cryptography & Network Security
Speech And Audio Processing
Advanced Computer Networks
Image & Video Processing
Wireless Communication
Satellite Communication
Multirate Systems And Filter Banks
Antenna Theory And Design
DSP and Micro Controller Lab

Telecommunication sector is so vast, that it provides opportunities for all the students, whether he is a degree or diploma holder. The various sectors and job responsibilities in the telecom sector are:

Software:

Telecom Software Engineer
Telecom Systems Solution Engineer

Hardware:

Telecom Hardware and Software Engineer
DSP Chip Design Engineer
Real-time Computer Systems Developer
Performance Optimizer

Communication:

Communication Engineer
Mobile Communication Engineer

Multimedia:

Image Processor
Video Engineer

Design:

Antenna Design Engineer
Telecommunications Equipment Designer

Management:

Trainer
Research Project Supervisor
Technical Support Provider

With the advancement of every sector, and the booming technology sector, the growth of telecommunications as a sector is very bright, and even scholars have predicted the industry to grow at a great rate in the upcoming years. The career prospects of the students in this field are also very brilliant, due to the vastness and the number of opportunities provided by this sector to the students. Students in any field are very finicky about their future as a whole; therefore, they make it sure that the career they are opting for is worth it and would definitely help in producing lucrative results overall. Companies like Bharat Sanchar Nigam, MTNL, ISRO, Oracle, TCS, WIPRO, Airtel, siemens Communications, TATA, Vodafone, Honeywell, IT Solutions, Infosys are few of the companies, covering private as well as public sector, which holds the future of the telecommunication students.

Definition And Various Uses Of Jack Screws In Industrial Applications

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Tools like nuts, screws, and bolts are an indispensible variety of fasteners that are virtually used in any type of industry for variegated purposes. Generally, all these tools are available in a host of sizes and shapes, and are made out of different materials too. While, some of these devices are utilized in general applications, others are designed for specific precision fastening requirements. Such specific applications highly require parts or components that can be aligned precisely when they are fastened. Each and every industry uses large equipments and machines that employ tiny components like nuts and screws. However, using the right kind of screws is highly necessary. Screws carry out the primary and the most important task of fastening two or more objects together. Thus, this particular aspect cannot be overlooked. There are several types of screws that are used in different applications, and jack screws are one type amongst them.

What are Jack Screws?

This is a unique screw that is a part and a design for several types of electronic components and electrical connectors. They draw two halves of the connector together and help in creating a secure seal between the electrical device and the cable. The thread of the screw is designed to withstand excessive amount of pressure. Hence, if the screws are employed they normally self lock and hold up very well to the countless wear of use.

Applications and Its Uses

Jack screws are included in the huge variety of screws that hold high significance on the market. This is mainly because they are widely used in a variety of electronics and electrical industry. Especially in the electronic industry, these screws and Male-Female Standoffs are very commonly used. They are used in telecommunication industry for supporting equipments like CPU”s, monitors, and so on. They are also found in multi-layered PCBs to maintain a specific distance between two or more objects. Additionally, a screw jack mechanism is used in raising cars, and other industrial machinery including airplanes.

Screw jacks with standoffs are mainly employed for fastening two different components at a controlled distance separated from each other. When an application with two objects requires a specific distance between them, screw jacks are the first preferred choice for industrialists. Also, depending on the exact nature of the application, these screws can be supplied with or without a nut or washer in it. However, in most cases permanent attached washers are installed on such screws indicating lesser chances of loosening in the long runs. In addition, these screws are also found on wire harness plugs.

Thus, overall, there is a rising demand for jack screws in the electronics as well as the electrical, and telecommunication industry. These types of screws are available in different sizes. The smaller designs are mainly found in household equipments, and the larger designs in commercial equipments and other places of business. Nonetheless, the jack is made out of different types of metals, but the screw is normally made of lead.

T1 Internet Service – When Is A Business Internet T1 Justified

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This piece provides an overview of T1 Internet Service for those businesses that need higher reliability and availability. Since T1 Internet service comes with a service level agreement (SLA), usual uptime is much higher than DSL or cable. Also, with T1 Internet service, the upload and download speeds are a constant. This is vital for critical information needs, where limited downtime can be tolerated and productivity depends on consistently fast Internet access. Also, for voice applications a T1 can include quality of service (QOS) to ensure the access speed and consistency required for quality voice traffic.

Many small business use low-priced Internet links, such as DSL, cable, and fios. To keep costs down, all of these methods use sharing techniques to connect users to the Internet itself. Also, reliability is not assured, athough a “best effort” is made to preserve connectivity. A business Internet T1 data line, although using technology identical to SDSL, is given a higher value by the telcos. A T1 failing will be repaired within hours whereas a DSL, cable, or fios user could possibly experience a 5 day turn around time for repair.

Telecommunications vendors provide higher-end services, such as business Internet T1 service, in order to address higher reliability and consistency needs in some companies. As a business grows and adds employees, the value of an Internet connection increases and the business often needs higher availability. Often, the usage and reliance on the Internet also increases after services such as voice, and shared data services are moved to the “cloud.” In the neighborhood of 10 employees, a company will find it’s telecommunications needs more feasibily served by a business Internet T1 service.

Voice over IP (VOIP) has become widespread as well as various shared data services. Examples include popular applications such as SalesForce.com, GoogleApps, and many more. Generally, the quality of information available on the Internet has improved over time, causing more extensive dependence on connectivity to applications and online data sources. Changing business operations and usage all require additional bandwidth and reliability. Sales revenue and productivity of employees can be affected for each minute of downtime. How many businesses would survive with no telephone service for several days?.

Although hard to measure, timely information or lack thereof can make or break many small enterprises. This is especially true for companies using “cloud computing,” where online collaboration and information for daily operations in office calendaring, documents and financial data are only accessible through the company Internet link.

With business Internet T1 service, the SLA offers a “guarantee” of reliability and availability of crucial Internet services. Although many don’t realize it, a company’s Internet connection is an essential resource as more business functions and information needed for daily operations now must have reliable access. Loss of connectivity even for hours or a few days at a time can be fatal to daily operations or even the enterprise.

As T1 prices continue to decrease and businesses’ need for connectivity increases, a greater number will turn to the reliability and availability of T1 Internet service for day to day operations. The SLA distinguishes T1 Internet service from less expensive and unreliable DSL, cable, and fios services that many are using today. The SLA will be the deciding factor in order that critical operations are maintained, productivity remains high, and adequate sales and revenue is achieved for survival.