Customer Relationship Management

I had been on a vacation a couple of weeks ago.  Thinking about work while on a vacation is not my idea of fun. However, I couldn't help but notice how mobility had changed the way we planned and managed this vacation compared to earlier vacations.

Right from finding a good travel deal, ticket booking and cancellations, resolving seat related disputes (amicably) to sorting out booking related issues, we did everything on-the-go. My iPhone proved to be really handy in this whole process.

Continue reading "How mobility has become ubiquitous" »

Posted by Shyamalee Samvatsar at 5:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

During the course of my work on mobility solutions, I have come across a number of thoughts regarding the applicability of tablet devices in an enterprise. In this post, I would like to present my take on this topic.

Currently, almost 90% of tablets are being used for personal computing purposes. They provide a more fun and interesting way of interacting with the computer. They fill the niche between a PC and a smartphone and provide convergent digital capabilities.  People are making extensive usage of apps on tablets for personal productivity and entertainment purposes.

Continue reading "Tablets - Do they really benefit an enterprise? " »

Posted by Shyamalee Samvatsar at 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Internet is out of space with allocation of last IP addresses. If you are wondering that the opening note is contradicting the title of this blog then no - not really in fact there is a strong correlation. Are you still baffled then here you go - "IPv4" which was allocating IP addresses is running out of new IP address for allocation and eventually paving the way to its successor IPV6 who had been waiting to take the rein for almost a decade now...without digging into the technicality of IPV4-IPV6 migration the 2 exciting facts in the news are:

1.     IPv4 running out of IP address means we have already got 4.3+ billion or more connected devices already and still growing !!!

2.     IPv6 can offer up to 346 Trillion IP address, which means the possibility of every pebble to have an IP address (if anyone ever wonder a why an IP address for a pebble J...pebble is used just a metaphor here).  

It's no surprise that proliferation of smart-phones and partly the re-emergence of tablets had expedited the process of IPV4 conclusion. In fact, Smartphones had started eating the pie of the PC market prompting many majors such as Dell (Streak) and HP (iPAQ) to plunge into the Smartphone segment to cover their lost ground. Analyst evens predicts smart-phones sales in 2011 to outnumber the PC sales.

Emergence of Mobile Platform: Consumer appetite for smart-phones is evident and reemphasizing the shift in customer preference towards mobility devices and mobile channels. But despite soaring interest, huge customer segment and technology enabler's "Mobile CRM" is still in its nascent stages. Primarily because not long ago, integrating an enterprise-wide CRM system with mobile devices was costly, time consuming and riddled with challenges. But those challenges have dissipated over the last few years....Yes, business doesn't need to foot a hefty bill for mobility services or devices, no more Offline client & complex data-synchronization challenges (its brings back my nightmares with Clarify CRM suite Traveller Client and its data synchronization issuesLL) with the advent of 3G networks, lowering cost of mobility devices & services, SOA principles and next generation Smartphones. Smartphone's aren't anymore a standalone gadgets they truly evolved into an ecosystem offering platform for content delivery, Apps, SDKs and Mobile commerce (payment gateway) enabling business to easily integrate their Enterprise CRM with Mobile Channel or launch a Mobile CRM Apps. Downloadable Smartphones applications and 3G networks had opened a whole new world of opportunities.

Continue reading "Soon every pebble will have an IP address...So Get, Set and Go on Mobile CRM" »

Posted by Mahadevan Meikum Perumal at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One thing, which we as subscribers, do not prefer, is change of our personal mobile number, especially when we are using it for a few or more years, as we would have shared it with our family & friends and other service providers (e.g. banks, insurance companies, schools, book stores, membership clubs). Any change in our personal mobile number, really causes a lot of inconvenience to us and others, as it really takes a good amount of time and meticulous effort to communicate the change in our mobile numbers and others duly updating their address books/records, for future communication.

It is for this reason, many subscribers like us, end up staying with a specific service provider, even if we are little dissatisfied with their services (e.g. Quality of Service, Price and Customer Service Support). At times, this specific situation allows the service providers to take their customers/subscribers for granted.

One big relief to this problem is the excellent feature Mobile Number Portability (MNP), which allows subscribers to retain their existing mobile numbers when they switch from one mobile service provider to another.

Continue reading "Mobile Number Portability (MNP) - A Good Test for Customer Loyalty" »

Posted by Shanmugam Gnanasambandam at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Guest Post by

Shanmugam Gnanasambandam, Principal Consultant, Enterprise Solutions, Infosys Technologies Ltd.

Building Customer Loyalty, should it always be a costly affair? Not really.

If the ultimate objective of CRM strategy of an Organization is Customer Loyalty, then they can effectively achieve this, by making best use of the mobile killer application, SMS or Short Message Service.

We as customers would like to receive timely information updates (based on our preferences), on our mobile phone (anywhere, anytime), from our service organizations, say banks, travel companies, book stores, movie halls, retail stores, news agencies, to name a few. This is possible through SMS, which is a simple, efficient and cost effective enabler of Mobile CRM. SMS based information communication helps organizations to build Customer Loyalty, in the long run, by providing the right information to the Customer, at the right time, consistently, based on their preferences, needs and requirements.

Continue reading "SMS - An Excellent and Cost effective Enabler of Mobile CRM and Customer Loyalty" »

Posted by Guest Blogger at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Customizability and Simplicity would be the distinguishing characteristics of smart-phone CRM applications.

“Hi,  I’ll take the iPhone”
“ Sir, Why don’t you try our other smart-phones models like…”
“ I’ll take the iPhone”
“..we have a special offers with monthly bill discounts, for these other models…”
“I’ll take the iPhone”
“ …Sir, we have received numerous service complaints with the iPhone and ..”
“I’ll take the iPhone”

Continue reading "Smartphones: The Need for ‘Smarter’ CRM" »

Posted by Sinoi Daniel Mathai ( Daniel ) at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Confinement has always been meted with a rebellion to move out free. The desire to be your own boss, to plan your own schedule or to work on your own terms has always been inherent in every living species (I did not want to state and confine these desires only for humans).

Continue reading "Mobile Applications on Laptop or Handheld; And The Winner is…." »

Posted by Vishal Mani at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

During the past decade, the usage of cell phones has taken an interesting turn. From the fashionable statement of the rich and famous, it has become a necessity for communication for common man, engine for economic growth, tool of productivity and a necessary medium for the ever-shrinking world. The past decade saw the amalgamation of two most important revolutions of the business world - Email and Cell Phones - creating a very potent mix for productivity. 

Continue reading "CRM for Road Warriors - Has the time come?" »

Posted by Diptesh Singh at 9:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)