Even though I work at a technology company where we develop innovative software applications (besides coding software, our team turns up servers and networking equipment all the time) I frequently have to remind my family that “I” personally do not know the first thing about setting up a home printer or wireless router. Sometimes I can really see the disappointment in their faces when I remind them of this fact.
I felt redeemed last week, however. I made a fantastic breakthrough with my grandmother (of all family members) when I introduced her to a new healthcare solution that would automatically remind her of the daily prescriptions that she needed to take.
My grandmother is 86 years old [...]

I’m looking forward to attending ITExpo January 20th – 22nd in Miami, Florida. The lineup of Keynote speakers for this conference is fantastic. I’ll be listening especially closely to Brian Higgins, Executive Director of Ecosystem Development for Verizon Wireless. It’s refreshing, if not surprising, to see one of the big boys at a conference all about innovation.
I have the pleasure of speaking on two panels at this event, one focusing on Cloud Communications and the other on CEBP implementations and fundamentals – two topics that are very near and dear to us at Jaduka. The Cloud Communications Summit will also draw a wide audience. Many enterprises can see the light at the end of the [...]

From Austin to Reston we go! We are geared up and ready for the week – my colleague Ben Benner and I will be attending Appian FORUM09 to announce and support the launch of our newly released Jaduka Notifications Service for Accounts Receivable.
Appian FORUM09 is the premier event for Appian’s BPM customer and partner community and a unique opportunity for networking and knowledge-sharing with elite practitioners, thought-leaders, and technology experts in business process management. It’s our pleasure to attend as a Gold Sponsor for this much anticipated gathering. Interested in attending? Visit the Appian FORUM09 site here.
We are excited to get to Reston to launch the Jaduka Notifications Service for Accounts Receivable [...]

While investigating different methods of enabling enterprise developers with voice services, we examined the services already embedded within the enterprise and why. It was very apparent that one the most successful service providers was StrikeIron, boasting many Fortune 1000 client relationships. That’s why we are excited about our announcement of the partnership between StrikeIron and Jaduka to extend our Notification Services to the StrikeIron developer base.
Jaduka Notification Service enables text-to-speech notifications or a company branded voice recording to be delivered to any phone, inside or outside of the enterprise. Those of you familiar with the StrikeIron Web Services Catalog know they have embedded their services within Microsoft Excel via LiveData for Excel and inside NetBeans. [...]

At Jaduka we are focused on adding voice to improve business processes and our solutions continue to gain traction in the enterprise and with brands, advertisers and resellers.
That’s why we are excited about a collaborative relationship now underway with Appian that will add Jaduka’s Voice Services to Appian’s Business Process Management (BPM) Software.
Appian’s Business Process Management Suite (BPMS) provides a complete platform for organizations to easily design, execute, manage, and optimize business processes. BPMS lets organizations gain control over critical processes, increase efficiency and reduce operating costs.
By combining Jaduka On-Demand Voice Services with Appian’s Business Process Management Solutions we’re aiming to create even more effective and efficient ways for connecting people, data, and systems and [...]

In the last 24 hours Ben Bernanke says he can see the light at the end of the economic tunnel and Austin-based Vignette is the newest acquisition of Canadian content management experts Open Text.
Two things to notice here. First, we’re in for at least several months more of what, according to Bernanke, will amount to further consolidation and acquisition before current conditions of market uncertainty draw to an end. Second, when current market conditions of uncertainty draw to an end, it will be precisely those companies that, like Open Text, have not only weathered the storm, but have grown and added new functionality that stand the most to gain.
If you’re an applications developer this means [...]

Gary Kim recently penned a post about eBay spinning off Skype as a cautionary tale for communications enabled business processes. I enjoy reading Gary’s posts and do so daily, but I have to respectfully disagree with Gary in this case. This divorce has much more to do with eBay’s internal teams simply not looking for communications solutions outside the current auction platform process more than not seeing value in CEBP.
In my view, the primary reason Skype was never a good fit for eBay is eBay’s direct communications resistant culture. In my experience, you can’t contact eBay via phone—they don’t support a call center or anything that resembles live customer service. Try to find a number [...]

Every toolset evolves. Archaeological evidence validates the historic progression of and improvements in prehistoric hunting tools over hundreds and thousands of years. Metal ore and heat were combined in ways that gave tools the ability to withstand chipping, breaking or other types of damage. Over time, toolmakers engaged in problem definition, tool creation and improvement. Evolution is a constant.
There is a parallel with communication tools used in enterprises today. As work group managers, we are constantly seeking ways to overcome communication, workflow and process problems. Once we identify a problem we run to the IT staff — the “tools craftsman” of today — to help us solve it. We explain, “I need this data in [...]

I just received a recorded message from the local Toyota dealership in Austin. The message indicated that my vehicle is due for service and then provided me with the dealership phone number so I could call and schedule an appointment.
The approach Toyota is taking in proactively reaching out to their customer is good, but it’s not good enough and, in this instance, it wasn’t frictionless enough to get me to stop what I was doing and make a service appointment.
What might Toyota have done better?
1. Indicate which car required service. I own two Toyota vehicles so how about listing the year, make, and model of the vehicle that requires service.
2. Provide more specific information. Indicate [...]

Telecom junkies use the term “IVR” to refer to the “press 1 to speak to a representative …” phone systems we all have to deal with when we dial in to talk to tech support or the airlines or our bank. The letters in the acronym stand for interactive voice response system. We’ve spent a lot of time over the years helping clients tweak their IVRs for better end-user experience.
Before we go further a secret must be imparted. Your users hate your IVR. You spend time and money getting your IVR up and running. But, alas. Your users hate your IVR. (There are good structural reasons for why your users hate your IVR, btw; more [...]