Conversationware

Sometimes, leaving a voicemail is more useful than speaking to someone in real time.

Of course it’s not black and white, it depends on the conversation.

But, to illustrate the point, haven’t you ever got someone on the phone, asked a question and then waited while you hear them um and ah, or scrabble about for some piece of paper.

How often does the person give up and say - “I’ll have to call you back”?

We’re taught very early on about the power of preparation. So, when you make a call, plan for the person not being there. And, if you are in the habit of leaving ‘good’ messages, quite often you’ll get more done than if you actually do get hold of someone.

Voicemail is panned because of the people leaving useless messages. It gets a raw deal.

Leaving a well structured voicemail outlining your objectives and timelines can be a boon to your own productivity rather than a halted progress.

Whats more, if the person needs help with the task you’ve just set, they can ask for help with those objectives by forwarding the message in YOUR words (and emotions), rather than their interpretation.

So, when someone leaves a message saying “Matt, call me back”, it’s very tempting not to.

I pinched that phrase from AVST.

We’ve been dreaming about usable mobile working since forever.

Anyhow, having been wandering around with a Mobile Broadband connection from Vodafone for a couple of weeks, I now think that working anywhere is finally a reality!

- at least for us in the UK - I’m not entirely sure where else this might be available at such reasonable cost - £25 per month according to the website.

Vodafone’s website also lists further down the page that it limits users to a 3 GB monthly total. It then refers to the terms and conditions - but I defy anyone to find the T’s and C’s that apply.

Typical huge company website - completely useless to navigate.

I reserved judgement for a while, but everywhere I’ve been for two weeks has been fine. No mountain tops or anything you understand, but Burton on Trent was ok, a typical middle england place. So, hence this mini review.

Everything is great with Mobile Broadband.

My only small gripe is a nagging system tray piece of software that displays 7.2MB at all times, even if a speedcheck does show most places to be giving me 250kb download.

It almost looks designed to hoodwink the user, which is probably not the intention, although, when you look at the marketing spiel on the website….you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

There is no need to hoodwink us Vodafone.

That’s because 250kb download is enough for most everything, including picking up voice messages via Outlook and VPN (although I would stay away from web development, as your browser will choose to fool you by showing a reduced bandwidth version of your site).

So, finally I am free from those useless wireless hot spot business models that drove my irritability through the roof. Why on earth wouldn’t Hotels provide their guests with broadband access, when it is obvious to the casual observer that it would attract more business for them?

Beats me. And now, Mobile Broadband will be beating them.

Here’s me in a hotel room testing a You Tube video across the modem…..no problem!

Any telephone system salesperson will say their new sparkly VOIP platform supports unified messaging.

I bet it doesn’t support everything you might want though. The devil is in the detail.

Huh?

In reality, this is only because the word itself hasn’t been defined very well. So, what is being unified, where, and for whom?

If this subject is at all interesting to you, then you should know there are 4 types of user desktop accessible voice messaging.

A. Server based unified messaging

This very best unified messaging system sends voice and fax messages to the email server for storage and access.

The UM system will then usually also have a plugin installed at the email client for GUI setup and playback.*

This setup means that all messages then benefit from the ALL of the resilience and access methods that have already been paid for on the email system. (If you haven’t got resilience for your email system then message me abut Neverfail!)

1. The users see no difference between message types
2. Web Access is supported in the existing client OWA, iNotes
3. Notifications and rules are the same for all messages
4. Thin client is seamlessly supported
5. User voicemail set up is also GUI based via the email client plugin
6. Text to speech over the telephone is easy, but this should be available in all 5 scenarios listed here

NB: This does NOT mean install UM on the email server. I have seen this cause restrictions on functionality, reliability, change management overheads, and ongoing cost of ownership (and support…resellers take note). 

* Notes sites could use DUCS (Domino Unified Communications) for the clients, but this can be more expensive than a whole UM system on it’s own, so wouldn’t recommend it.

Most important of all, there is only ever ONE copy of the message for the user to worry about

B: Client based unified messaging (integrated)

This takes advantage of the ability of Email Client software, like Outlook, to access messages stored in different places.

Voice messages remain on the voicemail server, and are presented in a second ‘inbox’ to the user, meaning that access is graphical and bit easier, but not fully ‘unified’. The email client is ‘looking’ in two places for messages.

1. Voice messages are NOT available by web access to email
2. Resilience and backup for voice messages has to be considered separately
3. Voice messaging and email message are not totally interactive
4. Messages saved, or deleted, by the telephone are not resident in email ‘deleted’ folder, and therefore not retained.
5. Many systems can’t provide telephone access to email in this setup

C: ‘Simple’ ‘unified’ messaging

Most common amongst smaller telephone systems, the offer is to send voicemails to email.

Unfortunately, this option looks very similar on the UM brochure, with a voicemail in Outlook inbox.

In reality it is not at all useful for the user (the whole point of UM is to make life easier for the users).

1. The first choice is usually whether to ‘forward’ a voice message - which actually means ‘copy’. The trouble with ‘copy’ is that the user then has to manage two copies of the message, this is fraught.
2. The other option, which is to ‘move’ the message over to email, then means the message is no longer available via the telephone.

Not a good choice to have to make 

D: Browser based access

This isn’t ‘unified’ messaging at all, but it does provide a solution for those users who shouldn’t have voice messages embedded into email.

A lot of finance companies, for whatever reason, are worried that voice messages might be included in legal ‘discovery’. Interesting, because most legal companies I know are insistent that voice messages should be included in the email store.

Browser based access to the Voicemail server still provides a GUI front end for messages and mailbox configuration, but keeps the voice message separate from email, and, if streamed, can prevent a message being saved to desktop and then forwarded without record.

E: Voicemail Only

You may want some of the above for a proportion of users, but if you have users without email, they may want only a voicemail box. This should be possible without incurring any licence costs.

F: So What You Want is………

A system that can provide all 5 different types of messaging, concurrently, on the same system, to different sets of users with different needs.

You just don’t know what you’ll need next week, or next year after the acquisition.

You may also want the following

• Any PBX switch support - VOIP or not
• Multiple PBX support on the same box for migration
• Unlimited Auto Attendant Menus
• Personal Attendant Menus
• SMS notificiation
• Mobile device support (single mailbox, multiple devices)
• Mobile auto logon
• Speech Integration, Directory, Settings and Groupware Calendar and Contacts
• Fax integration
• Thin client support (Citrix, Windows)
• Old Voicemail key emulation (Octel, Audix etc)
• Networking
• Failover
• User Management
• Scalable
• Modular

Did I miss anything?

Oh, by the way, Unified Communications is completely separate - that uses different client software and application servers.

Message me if you need further info about a good service led distributor.

I kept hearing about Twitter, but to be frank, things are busy enough without learning anything new. But, I suppose there is nothing new about having to learn something else in web software land.

So, here I am

https://twitter.com/mattlambert

I follow only one person so far (1 hour and counting), and that’s because they linked to this blog with a twitter post, so I knew where to find them.

Ok, I admit, being in a conversation on your own is no fun for me - so if you’re reading, why not sign up? It’s free, takes about 10 minutes to discover the long and short of it all.

The premise is that you can keep up to date with people’s stuff, but only as and when its convenient for you, not for them.

It’s like IM but shorter and not so interruptive. This is a very important point for us Brits who, even if you’re ‘friended’ via instant messaging, won’t presume to interrupt even if your presence status is ‘green’ unless you’re very best of buddies.

I can see it would be a better form of ‘presence’ - much more contextual.

Ultimately, the fact I work remotely (no word reversal jokes huh), made the decision, as Twitter can apparently resemble being in an office by letting you pick up on ambient information without having to join in.

It even interfaces through your gtalk client and ping you to remind you to add a sentence and to make things easier.

Perhaps you can tell me if you’ve already had a go, or if you can add to the ‘business case’? I may have to update my Communications Mindmap

When Milton Keynes Tesco had a store designed with plenty of space to get around, for a change, I thought “what a clever company”.

We used to spend loads in there, but I haven’t been allowed for a while until I snuck in today for some juice. My wife fell out with them ages ago and, as ever, she knew better than I did.

I was aghast.

Now, I’ve read The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, and I understand a little of the economics, it must be tough for capitalist retail companies. But:

Who decided it would be a good idea to block up the aisles with extra pallets at the end of every row. Who exacerbated the problem with roadblocks of special offers in the middle of the aisles.

Presumably management weren’t watching people coming out of the store today with a healthy dose of roadrage.

Tesco are a rich company, and I’m guessing whoever they paid to design the store was aware of the best in retail science, and had brains. If there was room for more pallets wouldn’t the shelves have been made longer?

They put their profits above their customer’s comforts and convenience - in broad daylight.

Incidentally, it seemed to me that the grumpy customers must infected the staff, who used to smile….not this morning they didn’t.

I make no apology for linking to Lou Carbone again. Great audio.

So if you’re tempted to naval gaze, cut costs remember that happy customers are not so price sensitive, and they come back. Perhaps you can get on with finding your growth targets elsewhere instead.

I can’t believe so many companies are messing up lately. Perhaps after each birthday you just notice more

Software rollouts are always fraught.

Something to do with the users being overwhelmed, apparently its been going on for years.

RSS is a completely radical communications technology.

Communication is already valuable, and yet how much more valuable is it when automated?

Somehow though when you try to explain it to people there is often a muted response. (In case you are a fellow enthusiast, showing is much more effective than telling).

Nevertheless, I feel the tide is just about to come in.

One of the leading protagonists of this world changing technology is Newsgator, and today they started to give away their RSS Readers, for free. Some cracking solutions they have too.

Sometimes things you read ‘chime’, and today is one of those days. I think it’s called synchronicity (by Carl Jung) which is ironic in some respects.

I was reading a long exposition on the effects of technology (all driven by RSS) on journalism, over on the Publishing 2.0 blog.

As an aside, I like reading journalism blogs, because it’s fun when journalists argue in written form. They know how to wheedle a point. And if all else fails, they express their anger in the most delightful way.

From the comments, it is clear that the panic isn’t far from setting in, and disruption is in full progress, illustrated by one of the comments on media’s digital future: he says

“I feel a rather pertinent point is being missed out: who is going to pay for it?
The product is being given away for free, advertisers are looking for more targeted audiences and the powers-that-be do not want to spend to invest.”

And summarises

“Before this revolution really kicks off, we should be looking at defining what we expect of journalists and others in this move to a fully digital era.”

Here is the evening news: The revolution already kicked off, and amusingly for me the commenter would seem to have answered his own question. (Does any Journalist who doesn’t run a blog miss the point?)

Advertisers are looking for more targeted audiences, and importantly, in the last few years Google has introduced a radical concept.

You can start to measure the results of money you spend on marketing -you can’t do that with print advertising.

Completely unheard of only a couple of years ago, but this has resulted in the quickest growing company ever created. Advertisers will pay Billions to have their message played to people.

Google turnover

• 2005 - $6B
• 2006 - $10.6B
• 2007 - Extrapolated to $17B

Whilst Advertisers pay per person vaguely interested (voluntarily clicking), Paul Sweeney illustrates the next point, that those being advertised to are also happy to be more closely targeted - a win win.

Knowing what people are interested in looks like it will pay off big time - and who knows how much having that better picture of the audience might just mean.

That’s where Newsgator are placing their bets, as along with a number of other good reasons, Jeff Nolan explains that discovering the ‘reader’s attention is a key driver to making the client software free. (APML has also become part of the plan)

I admired the company the first presentation I got about 15 months ago, Synchronisation is a great strategy as RIM proved all to well.

So, this is just another good decision, and (one of?) the original investors agrees.

I’ve been having fun.

I got the idea of a diagram from David Armano - his blogging story is here, worth a quick read. He always seems to have a diagram or two to communicate his ideas and I’ve been impressed. I thought I’d have a go at that…only I can’t draw very well.

So, the mindmap below was created at http://bubbl.us - a free hosted service for mindmaps. A very simple to use and quite exquisite user interface. It took only a few minutes to work out how to use.

I love mindmap interfaces anyway, being the most gratifying way to communicate difficult concepts visually without any visual design talent (believe me).

The MOST special part of this map though is that it is ‘embedded’ on the page. It is read only, but, you can click, drag and zoom in and out on the page. Give it a go…I’ve been messing with it all evening.

No matter that I haven’t finished the map, I can update the web application, and it will update on the page, and anywhere else I’ve shared it, with no further effort.

One snag, the solution is being re-written right now, and we’ll have to wait for the problem free embedding version for you Firefox viewers. I’ve added the diagram (exported naturally) below for a full view.

If you can’t see it properly, click this image

The next step is for me to see what it looks like in a Reader.

The idea behind this mindmap is to group technologies together to see what patterns emerge and to remind how things might fit together.

Companies are going to find it harder than ever to prioritise where they spend their communications budget.

Unified Messaging groups together message types now merging into one client (although not a single application). Unified Communications are merging into another - if that’s your definition too - it’s not everyone’s.

The more established technologies have more facets, it seems to indicate there’s more to come from the asynchronous and newer techs. I also think that asynchronous technologies will merge into a single interface….stands to reason.

I suppose in the end, you have to decide what you want to communicate, who to, and how. This diagram merely shows the how.

I know I have to add micro-blogging, but feel free to chip in, or let me know where I’ve got it wrong.

Watching star trek in the early days, as a young boy you understand, it’s been nice to see some of the technology come to fruition.

So, Communicators came along in the 90’s, and now look - we’re close to teleportation.

These items were successfully teleported from one continent to another. Although, the ability to teleport humans isn’t just around the corner or anything.

(I picked this up from the Dezeen blog, and if you like design, the website is very worth a feedscan)

Ok, I cheated a little - but if you didn’t know. This is usually just where the Arthur C Clarke phrase is usually trotted out, but it’s not magic, it just looks that way if you squint.

Why spend time, sweat and tears writing your predictions for the coming year.

Relax in your armchair instead, with your google persistent search turned on for the first week in January, and peruse until you find some you agree with - then link to them.

My interest is in how communications can help with business, in all senses of the word and to my mind, the best on the subject is a great article by Shomik Banerjee summarising 2007 and looking at 2008 for enterprise communications. Really good job.

Of course, I have to comment, or it’s not worth linking

Shomik doesn’t say if the headlined views below are in order of importance, or likelihood;

• A) PBX is passé, ‘UC’ is the buzzterm
• B) The Focus Market for Enterprise Telephony is Shifting to SMB
• C) Enterprise Mobility is ‘Hot’
• D) Collaboration Gains Fresh Impetus
• E) SOA and Web Services Gain Traction
• F) Open Source and Open System Gain Mindshare

In terms of market impact, I would have them in roughly the reverse order.

(maybe not by the end of 2008 though)

Another good read is by Charlie Bess on the EDS fellows ‘next big thing blog’. I like the Green IT idea, and I guess this is just an acceleration of the virtualization movement, which has been manic paced in any event.

Feel free to link to others in the comments!