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Just updated on the High Tech High Touch Solutions' website:

• Ticker Tips - Updated scrolling marquee for quick tips of things you will find useful to know on our home page at www.hthts.com

• Refreshed Call Center / Service Desk RSS Feed - Read about things going on in the Call Center and Service Desk industry on our RSS feed.

• 2009 Government Customer Support Conference website has been released. www.governmentconference.com

======== Are You Receiving Too Much Information and Feeling Overloaded?

Idea Overload: A Google search for “innovation management” turns up more than 23 million results. Research shows that for every “big” idea, there are often 50 mediocre ones—and companies can spend millions turning an idea into an actual product. What about all those newsletters you get?  Loads of new ideas and information can overload you with data.

A simple solution is to select the top 3-5 topics you are the most interested in. Configure your email system so the newsletters you decide to receive, but are not important to read, automatically sort into a "Read Only" folder. Only your most important emails should go into your "Main Inbox" folder.  (Hopefully - that includes eSharings - smile.) This will help you handle and read only the most essential things. Everything else will be in your "read only" folder to read when you have the time.  When you have favorite newsletters go to their own unique folders, it is less likely the folders will be viewed at another time, with some exceptions, thought this is certainly an option too.

Unsubscribe from the newsletters, RSS Feeds, Blogs, etc. that you don't need right now and re-route the other ones to your "Read Only Inbox".  Keep the list of things unsubscribed from in a resource directory for future access. 

I set up my email like this and it made a world of difference to my time management efforts and improved my response time to important requests.  It also helps me to know what is hot and what's not by looking at the subject lines of my favorite newsletters when they are in a single "Read Only Inbox".

Remember: When you need something you can look for it - the Internet and books are loaded with information. It is always growing and often has more current information than the data in your folders.

Here are a few web links on "What's Hot" in our industry.

Variety of News topics

Management

TMCNet

What's Hot, What's Not: IT Skills You'll Need in 2010

What's Hot in Social Networking

The World's Greatest Call Center Manager Mousepad - Worth the Look!!

======== 'Outsourced' movie tackles global issue with relatable comedy

Now on DVD as of September 2008 - Outsourced ranked #1 in the Netflix most watched instant downloads last week.

Seattle-based director and co-writer John Jeffcoat researched what life is like on the other end of the phone by visiting call centers in Bangalore and by collecting stories from a source who does training for Microsoft.

"When his department is outsourced to India, customer call center manager Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton) heads to Mumbai to train his successor (Asif Basra). Amusing culture clashes soon ensue as Anderson tries to explain American business practices to the befuddled new employees -- and in the process learns some important lessons about globalization and life. Director John Jeffcoat's delightful comedy also stars Ayesha Dharker and Matt Smith."

"I watched this movie and really enjoyed it.  You might want to give it a try. (Ivy)"

www.outsourcedthemovie.com or www.networkworld.com/news/2008/020708-outsourced-movie.html

Click to read the Blog too.

======== Gift Cards for your Service Desk and Contact Center Staff Could Cost Extra: Be a Smart Gift Card Buyer

Clipped from Consumer Action website

Even at their best, gift cards represent an interest-free loan to the store. And, in the case of bank-issued gift cards (those that carry a Visa/MC/Amex logo), the fees associated with the cards mean an unexpected gift to the bank.

For example, California generally forbids dormancy or inactivity fees for store-issued gift cards. But when the gift card can be used at multiple retailers, these laws do not apply. Industry standard for inactivity fees on bank-issued gift cards is $2.50 per month after 6 months. These small dings can sneak up on you if you don’t use the cards promptly.

Bank-issued gift cards also contain a “purchase fee,” averaging around $4. The worst-case scenario is a gift card from Washington Mutual, whose minimum purchase fee is $5.45. If you’re giving your nephew a $50 card, that’s 11% that goes to the bank—a ratio even worse than Coinstar.

======== HOT Recession Consideration: Don't be Hasty and Outsource Without Doing the Proper Analysis