IVR Deconstructed

The Internet is abuzz today with the news that fake Apple stores are being discovered all over China.  While China is a known hotbed for fake and counterfeit products, the newly found faux Apple stores are taking things to a whole new level.  Not only has this imitation store ripped off the Apple products, but they have gone so far as to replicate the entire Apple experience.

From the wooden shelves and the sparse set up to the “Apple” employees wearing the telltale Apple blue shirt, visitors at this store would be hard-pressed to spot the differences between the fake and the real Apple.  According to edibleapple.com, some of the workers actually believe that they are employed by an official Apple retail outlet.  Almost every aspect of these sham stores seem to replicate the true “Apple” experience.

As noted at edibleapple.com, “a huge portion of Apple’s record-breaking revenue recorded during the past quarter originated in China.”  Shockingly, Apple only has a few stores in Beijing and Shanghai.  Per NPR, reporters from the BirdAbroad blog visiting the store noticed subtle differences in both the aesthetic quality of the stores and the service customers receive at said stores.

The technology might not be technically stolen. According to NPR “a store employee reached by phone has confirmed that the store is not an authorized Apple reseller.  The salesman said products in the store are genuine Apple products sold at the same price as those advertised on Apple’s website. But everything from the branding to the concept was, which begs the question: Is this the newest technology threat?

Apple is one of the most popular, widely recognized, technically lauded brands in the world.  If their product design and branding can be ripped off and resold, what tech company is safe? While it is widely acknowledged that China isn’t recognized for their adherence to intellectual property law, this is one of, if not the most, flagrant examples of brand commandeering in recent memory.

This threat does not only affect Apple, but myriad other technologies and companies.  So how do companies attempt to safeguard from this type of product pilfering?  In-store product registration at the time of purchase (either on the Internet or at the store) enables stores to track and monitor their inventory.  Additionally, a product can only be registered once, so any duplicate or triplicate registrations can be easily noted.

While product tracking is a huge factor in monitoring and controlling products and, to some extent, branding, no brand is 100 percent secure from product replication and theft.  For the most part, countries adhere to pre-established international property laws.  For those that don’t, product tracking and registration is any tech company’s best bet to regulate the distribution of their products in international markets.

The Internet. Text messages.  Satellite transmissions.  Instant messaging. Smartphones.  Emails.  Tablet computers.  Over the last decade, there have been incredible strides made in the world of communications technology.

Traditional landline telephones were once a communication staple in every home and business, and on every street corner.  In recent years, there has been a shift in the popularity of communication devices, and the telephone has seen an extreme decrease in the amount of customers utilizing landline services.

This marked decrease in landline phone usage can understandably lead to questions about the continued relevance and validity of interactive voice response (IVR) systems and applications.  The introduction of the previously mentioned technologies has drastically changed the way in which communication occurs.  It’s valid to wonder whether IVR systems will continue to be an important component of telecommunications systems; after all, the word voice is sandwiched into the title.

There are myriad industries that utilize IVR as all or part of their communications technology.  From voice-activated dialing to private branch exchanges, IVRs can automate routine communications.  Companies in the mobile, banking, entertainment, travel, public utilities and news industries might use IVR to enable customers to check balances, make payments, place orders, make reservations, book tickets and check on account status.

IVR systems are more important today than they were ten or 15 years ago.  This advance in technology has not muted the importance of high-level IVR solutions, but rather this technology has contributed to the advancement of IVR technology.  According to Speech Technology Magazine, the global IVR market is expected to grow to $1.9 billion dollars a year by 2015.

As opposed to just existing as a telecommunications solution that relies exclusively on the phone to operate, interactive voice response is instead fast becoming a unified communication technology. IVR systems and hosting capabilities are integrating with real-time communication services like instant messaging, VoIP, call control, data sharing and speech recognition. This move to a unified communications platform is a significant leap forward for the IVR industry and will guarantee its relevancy indefinitely.  If businesses can use their IVRs in tandem or even in place of other technologies, it streamlines operations, cuts down costs and makes integration much easier.

Over the course of the past ten years, great strides have been made in the realm of enterprise telephony, only serving to improve and increase the services IVRs can perform.  The IVR industry is extremely robust, with a variety of different companies adopting IVRs daily to meet their telecommunications and unified communications needs.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, the telecommunications industry is one of the only industries to experience growth during the recession.  According to a report by Searchtelecom: “In the midst of widespread economic turmoil, global telecommunications revenue is projected to increase from roughly $1.7 trillion in 2008 to more than $2.7 trillion in 2013.”[1]

Unified communications typically work in tandem with telecommunications in order to diversify technological capabilities and allow for real-time communication beyond the telephone.  Businesses typically rely on a combination of both telco and unified communications for business interactions.  It makes sense then that both industries would show significant growth in the years ahead.  Whether we pick up a telephone, use the Internet, send a text or instant message, or even turn on the television, we are utilizing communication technology in some very critical way on a daily basis.

There are several very interesting, important trends occurring in both the telco and UC space.  Both technologies are continually evolving, and while it may be somewhat difficult to keep pace with every technical development that springs up, there are several overarching trends that are indicative of the direction communications tech is going.

As a kick-off to communications week, it is important to highlight the top trends in both unified communications and telecommunications.

1) The cloud: Everyone who comes into contact with technology, from seasoned professionals to those dabbling in tech on their off time, have heard about the ubiquitous cloud for the last several years.  Debates over the cloud’s security, functionality and evolution have been hotly debated topics on many parts of the Internet, and cloud computing along with a multiple server interface will continue to dominate both technology and conversations for the foreseeable future.

While there are a multitude of reasons why the cloud’s popularity has caught on so rapidly, some of the easiest explanations continue to be cost convenience and space.  Consumers moving their data to the cloud can access their information at anytime, anywhere.  Instead of having to lug around burdensome hard drives and other data storage items, they can hop onto any computer with Internet access, anywhere in the world with the proper security information and have instantaneous access to their data.

Because customers don’t have to worry about setting up a communications infrastructure onsite, they can save money using cloud programs.  Someone need not be available 24/7 to maintain a physical system; anyone can simply access their data on the Internet without knowledge of servers, hardware or infrastructure.

2) SAAS: In tandem with the cloud, software-as-a-service (SaaS) is changing the way software is both used and stored.  Instead of having to purchase and tediously upload software from a CD-ROM onto a driver, users can simply purchase a program from a website and download it, and the associated data will be stored in the cloud.  SaaS has become the preferred delivery method for software, and the industry is rapidly growing with sales being projected by Gartner to reach $10.7 billion dollars in 2011.

3) Mobile application integration: From non-crucial applications to business critical programs the new trend in tech development is offering program accessibility through mobile applications.  In recent years, smartphone usage has increased exponentially.  In order to cater to this broad demographic, software engineers and programmers are developing applications for any and every product that can be accessed by webOS, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian OS, and Windows Mobile.  This is a quickly developing industry and will inevitably be an integral part of the telco and UC process for years to come.

4) Multimodal tools and convergence.  All the aforementioned tools offer users distinct vehicles through which to consume technology, but unified communications allows for multimodal integration.  Now and increasingly in the future, users will be able to use software, applications and programs via their mobile phones, land lines, SMS, computers, netbooks, laptops, iPads, Nooks and any other device that allows for any type of communication.  It is vital that companies working in the development sphere make their programs accessible to multiple devices in a myriad of ways.  Multimodal software will dominate the future of tech, and unified communication and telecommunications is no exception.

[1] Keith Kessinger, “Telecom Revenue Will Grow despite Recession, Study Says,” Telecom Information, News and Tips - SearchTelecom.com, section goes here, accessed July 19, 2011, http://searchtelecom.techtarget.com/news/

Unified communications (the multimodal technologies that power communication devices) and telecommunications (communication that occurs over a cable, telephone or other electronic device) are an integral part of everyday business transmissions.

Regardless of what industry or sphere a business is operating in, it relies at least marginally on some type of communications technology to maintain daily business operation both internally and externally.  Employees need to communicate with prospective clients, customers and each other to complete routine tasks and projects.

Companies typically have Telco infrastructure, unified communications technology or, more often than not, both in place to ensure that successful contact is made and maintained on a day-to-day basis.

Telecommunications have evolved from less efficient forms of communication like telegraphs and audio messages to telephones, microwave signals and fiber optic transmissions that can reach individuals on the other side of the world in a matter of seconds.  The first telegraph office opened in the U.S. in 1844.  The first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid in 1866 (according to telephonetribute.com message exchanges between the United States and Europe took eleven days before the telegraph line was established).  Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876.

More recently, the first cell phone service became available in 1981 in both Saudi Arabia and Scandinavia.  The first domain, Symbolics.com, was assigned in March of 1985, foreshadowing the Internet age.  In 1992 the World Wide Web was born.

The growth of the Internet over the last 20 years has been an omnipresent force in all communications technology.  VoIP technology enables users to make calls via data transmission over the Internet.  APIs enable software programs to communicate with one another.  SIP enables control of both voice and video calls over the Internet.

Unified communications have also rapidly advanced in tandem with the swift evolution of technology and the telecommunications industry.  Many components of unified communications require the development of support systems that function to optimize technology and streamline communication processes.

From PBX systems to instant and unified messaging, unified communications serve to integrate and combine multiple technologies into a single structure to consolidate and improve the efficiency of communication systems.

Plum Voice has been recently featured on Alltop’s Unified Communications blog. Multimodal communications are becoming increasingly essential to business exchanges of all types, as one can see from taking a look at any of the blogs within Alltop’s Unified Communications category.  This week we will be exploring new and emerging trends in the telecommunications and unified communications space.

Whether we realize it or not, nanotechnology is growing in retail, showing up in products like food and food storage and surface treatments.

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter at the nano scale to make new things, such as new materials. Actually, to go more into it than that probably only makes it more confusing. It involves quantum mechanical effects at the atomic and molecular level.

If you check out Nanoshop.com, you can see some of the things people are making using nanotechnology. They include hydrophobic treatments for glass, environmentally friendly metal cleaners and treatment for concrete that prevents moss and algae growth.

Evidently silver nanoparticles are a common nano material because of their antimicrobial properties. They’re found most often in food storage containers to extend product shelf-life.

According to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), there are about 1,300 consumer products with nanotechnology out there and could be as many as 3,400 by 2020. The products come from over 30 countries, including the U.S. and China.

It’s not always evident that products contain nanoparticles by the packaging because some retailers are hesitant to acknowledge they contain such materials. Nanotechnology is still an emerging technology that most people don’t understand, which makes them wary.

However, a report by the Food Standards Authority indicates that the public perception of nanotechnology in food is at least “not negative,” according to PEN.

NANO Magazine ran an editorial that actually pointed to nanotechnology as a way for food companies to distinguish their products. (I guess kind of like organic.) And that most nanoparticles have yet to show any signs of threat.

“Many of the problems surrounding nano in food can be said to relate to fear and ignorance,” the editorial stated.

Well, in any case, nanoparticles are beginning their journey into the retail scene. Most experts feel nanotechnology’s impact will go far beyond that. It could be as big as the Industrial or Computer Revolutions. We’ll see.