RIM prepares new device to rival IPhone
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A slate of new devices and software is under preparation by Research in Motion as it looks to keep its BlackBerry smartphone from losing more ground to touch-screen devices like Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad. A touch-screen smartphone with a slide-out keyboard is worked upon by RIM.
The phone will operate on a new version of the BlackBerry operating system, working much like an iPhone, letting users swipe through screens and expand images with their fingers besides having a universal search bar that lets users scour the entire phone’s data and some data online as well. Experiments are also carried on by RIM on a tablet device to serve as a larger-screen companion to its BlackBerry phone and it will be capable of connecting to cellular networks via a BlackBerry phone.
There are speculations that RIM will ship a phone running a new operating system and a new Web browser in the quarter ending September 30, but haven’t provided details of the device. Waterloo, Ontario, company, which has long led the U.S. market for smart-phones, has come up with new offerings after facing increased competition from devices built by Apple and those that run on the Android operating system from Google Inc.
RIM still sells more smartphones globally than any company besides Nokia Corp, but its share of the key North American market is slipping, as RIM has been slow to match Apple and Android’s touch-screen technology, smooth Internet-browsing capability and add-on software. RIM’s share of the North American smartphone market by shipments dropped to 38% in the March quarter from 54% in the year-ago quarter.
All of the complaints critics have leveled at the company’s devices will be addressed by RIM in its upcoming smartphone and operating system named BlackBerry OS 6.0. The new device will have a Qwerty keyboard that slides out from the bottom of the touch screen and the search may also be able to locate occurrences of the keyword on sites like Facebook or Twitter.
Bharti, Cisco, and Servion sign contract to offer Hosted Contact Center Services
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A consortium of Bharti Airtel, Cisco, and Servion today announced their foray into the Indian hosted Contact Center services market valued at USD 50 Million with the launch of India’s first ‘customizable’ hosted Contact Center services. This hosted Contact Center solution for large, medium, and small enterprises offers freedom from technology obsolescence, capital investments, and continuity challenges while leveraging the capability to customize the solution based on business requirements. The consortium targets acquiring 5000 ports / seats in the first year.
Improving customer service and cutting costs are everlasting business goals, regardless of the economic climate. With capital expense budgets shrinking, organizations are seeking innovative approaches to achieve these goals. Hosted Contact Center solutions offer access to technology without having to buy software licenses, hardware, building infrastructure, and dedicating IT resources to implementing, maintaining, and upgrading the technologies. That can mean plenty of cost savings and flexibility. Hosted Contact Center solutions are faster and less expensive to implement than customer premise-based Contact Centers, and require no ongoing capital equipment or maintenance fee investment.
According to Milan Rao, CEO, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel, the company is very happy to partner with Servion and Cisco and this alliance is in line with its philosophy to partner with industry leader, besides the company is committed to offer state-of-the-art solutions that enhance productivity and minimize costs for our customers. There is a great potential for Call Center solutions over a hosted platform as it promises huge benefits for enterprises across different verticalsâ€.
We understand that the business challenges each organization face are unique. A ‘one size fits all solution’ will not be effective under such circumstances. Hence we brought in the capability to customize these solutionsâ€, explains Mr. K. Balakrishnan, Managing Director and CEO of Servion Global Solutions. The consortium combines the best of three worlds reach and brand of Bharti Airtel communication network, technology leadership of Cisco, and domain expertise and integration capabilities of Servion in offering a tailor made hosted Contact Center solution to the enterprise customer†he adds.
The tough economic climate has brought about the need for innovative solutions and consumption models and the hosted contact center model is a great example of one. Cisco, Bharti Airtel and Servion are coming together today to offer a truly transformational solution that factors in the vital business imperatives of agility and scale, in times like this,†said Vikram Sharma, Head Managed Services, Cisco India & SAARC. He added, In addition to bringing the benefits of converged voice, mobile and data services to every desktop in the organization, the offering allows businesses to dramatically reduce upfront investment, while accelerating the adoption of unified communications on a global scaleâ€.
In addition to the features that are available for any high end premise based Contact Center solution self service, inbound, outbound, and international conferencing capabilities, the hosted Contact Center solution offers the domain expertise to customize applications, performance monitoring, infrastructure, skill sets, technology adoption and financial investments.
