The Forex market has been available to individual traders for nearly ten years now. In the past, it was only available to large financial institutions, such as banks, big companies, multi-national corporations and top currency dealers. However, now that it’s open to individual traders, it’s become a hot topic that many new traders are eager to learn more about.

So what is it? Forex is short for foreign exchange. Forex trading is trading in the currencies of the world through the Forex market, which is the largest financial market in the world. In fact, it generates trillions of dollars of currency exchanges everyday.

In addition, it operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it the most liquid market in the world. Though trading starts in Sydney and ends in New York, Forex trading is not centralized in a single location. This means you can trade in Forex market whenever you wish, regardless of the local time. A big advantage for traders, especially for those in search of optimal liquidity.

Trading in Forex requires trades to done in pairs. When you purchase a currency, you sell another currency at the same time. The most commonly traded currency pairs in the Forex market are: USD/GBP, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, and GBP/USD. As you can see, each currency is represented by three letters. USD is the United States dollar. GBP is the British pound sterling. JPY is the Japanese yen. CHF is the Swiss franc.

The first three letters of a currency pair represent the currency you used for the investment, while the last three letters represent the currency in which you invested. For example, USD/GBP means you used United States dollars to purchase British pound sterlings.

To get started in the Forex market, you’ll need a computer with a high speed internet connection, a funded Forex account, and a trading system. Most individual Forex traders will also use a broker, an individual or company that offers assistance to the trading process.

A broker earns his money off a small commission from your trades. In addition, although he’ll be trading your funded account, all decisions will remain yours, assuming that’s your wish. Here’s what else a Forex broker can do for you:

- Offer you advice regarding real time quotes.

- Offer you advice on what to buy or sell based on news feeds.

- Trade your funded account basing solely on his or her decision if that’s your wish.

- Provide you with software data to help you with your trading decisions.

Many experts say that you’ll never really understand how Forex works until you’ve traded in the market. To help you gain this experience without having to risk your money, you can set up a demo account at many of the Forex educational sites available on the Internet. You can also invest a modest amount for a Forex simulator, which allows you to explore a never-ending variety of market conditions and see the impact they’ve had on currencies in the past.

There’s no question Forex offers the trader the opportunity to earn a boat load of money. However, as with any other form of trading, and particularly because this is such a liquid market, it does have its risk. No trader will make money on every trade, and even seasoned traders can get caught and face substantial loses if they aren’t careful and wise.

The best forex trading software for you will always depend upon your needs and expectations. However, many types of software need to have basic features to allow you to trade with the smallest risk, least human allowance for error, maximum security and highest revenues.

Many available autopilots are on the net. You can try browsing to give yourself a better idea of every product. You can also ask people who have tried the system in order to find for yourself the best trading software. They will tell you of the advantages and disadvantages of a particular program and you can decide for yourself which pros you are most likely to buy and which cons to avoid.

If you are to pick the best forex trading software, there are basic things you should look for in it.

First, it should teach and guide you from the installation process up to the use of the software. There should be available help desks in case you need to inquire about something regarding the product. There should also be 24 hour maintenance and technical services available online or through the phone in order to assist you in case you need one. Most software have manuals, which provide easy to follow steps in installation and use but there should always be a back up operator to assist you in case you find yourself in chaos. After buying the product, you should not be left all on your own wondering how to make the software work.

Second, the best forex trading software to work for you must ensure the security of your financial and personal information. Hackers are all over the net and there should be a built-in firewall to keep these nasty peekers away. This is very important since you will be trading using either credit card or other financial accounts.

Third, many products offer weeks or even months of free trial in order to give you the chance to test their system, Although you should not fully rely on the results of these tests, you should not skip them altogether as they will familiarize you with how you should use forex software and project results. The tests will also show how accurate the system is in finding the best profit margin for you without risking real money as you can use it to back test historical data.

The best forex trading software should not promise you are going to be rich overnight. If it does, you can ignore it totally and move on in finding another one that works best for you. Trade experts will tell you this is totally a lie.

Some of the software come complete with other tools useful in the business like tips on forex trading which you can use even if you opt to choose another type of software. Take advantage of this helpful information as you can use them in enriching yourself in this trade you have chosen. Remember that the more you know the better equipped you become in gaining your riches.

A major shift in telecommunications from circuit to packet switched technology, along with increasing sophistication of the corporate LAN/WAN, is prompting businesses of all sizes to consider merging their voice and data networks. Increased bandwidth availability through gigabit Ethernet and fiber trunk lines allow for telephony to be treated as any other application on the IP network, albeit a very needy one.

Whereas the main motivation for individual consumers to make the switch to VoIP may be cost, as evidenced by the acceptance of such upstarts as Vonage, for businesses, the transition to IP telephony (IPT) could mean a costly network upgrade, fueled by aging or depreciated legacy PBX equipment.

The upside is the imediate potential of adding strategic business capabilities – a triple play of voice, video, and data – and future proofing the network for a host of real and non realtime applications under the concept called Unified Communications. Data and communications, all managed and maintained over one network instead of two.

The Life Cycle of an IPT Network

Just like any major network undertaking, best practices dictate that deployment take place in stages, the success of each successive phase depending on the previous. The first stage is planning and assessment, followed by an intense pre deployment testing and implementation stage, and once the migration has taken place, the ongoing operations and optimizations stage. Taken together, these phases of deployment are what is known as the converged IPT network life cycle.

Planning and Assessment: Business Drivers

The business case for convergence must be clear from the beginning. Why trash a perfectly functioning telephone network with a reliable reputation for a new, burgeoning technology, as of yet only minimally tested? If indeed your existing phone system is out of date, replacement parts are getting hard to find, or its functionality no longer suits the needs of a growing organization, one motivation for converging could be the unwillingness to invest in a new Centrex-centric PBX, based on circuit switched technology.

Managing Expectations

A successful deployment from start to finish should take about a year, with a good 6 months devoted to planning and testing. For organizations that have recently upgraded their network infrastructure, deploying a converged network may not be as costly as networks that are older, and require major renovation.

Realistically, it has been observed that migrating from a legacy PBX to an IP PBX will cost as least as much as buying a new TDM PBX. Where you may get your ROI is on moves, adds, and changes (MAC) in the new IP environment. Studies show that MAC on a TDM system averages about $65, vs. $10 on an IP PBX.

Equally important is managing the expectations of your end users. Let them know early on about deployment plans and keep them apprised of your progress. End users should be surveyed on what aspects of the current system they consider critical to their job functions, and what improvements they would like to see in the new system. Call and voice quality are understandably critical factors to users and like the carrier network you are about to replace, Service Level Agreements (SLA) play an important role to insure acceptable customer service.

Planning for Security

Security considerations are of utmost importance in the planning phase. Treat your PBXs as any other critical application server by keeping it protected from public access, perhaps even in it’s own DMZ. Remember that an IP PBX has all the vulnerabilities of IP, and it opens up a whole new Pandora’s Box with a connection to the PSTN. Firewalls and intrusion detection should be utilized appropriately and should be current enough to recognize voice traffic.

Also consider segregating your voice traffic through the use of virtual LANs. A VLAN can help increase network performance while having the added benefit of enhanced security.

Hosted vs. In-house

Early consideration should be given to the options available for the type of voice network to deploy, as well as who will be responsible for the deployment. For businesses simply wanting to implement a VoIP solution, a hosted IP PBX can leap frog you into the future, while saving on equipment costs and reducing the headaches associated with a long drawn out deployment process.

For organizations looking to future proof their network, vendor equipment must be chosen and assessed, as well as the management applications being considered for the deployment. Costs associated with upgrading the skill sets of the IT and/or Telephony staff must also be taken into consideration.

Calling in the Pros

Organizations that plan to migrate to IP telephony themselves but find they lack the necessary expertise, might consider bringing in a Systems Integrator to help with the deployment. A Systems Integrator should be chosen and brought in early in the project. They should work closely with the IT department and can also take on the role of trainer in getting them up to speed on the new technology. The cost of bringing in an outsider can be upwards of 20% of the entire project, but may be worth it to assure a seamless transition.

The Managed Service Provider

A growing trend in the industry is for businesses to offload all or part of VoIP deployment responsibilities to a Managed Service Provider. Carriers, equipment vendors, and professional services that now have a couple of years of experience in the field are finding that companies are willing to pay for their expertise. For businesses that find that their IT staff is not up to the task, or could be utilized better elsewhere, an MSP provides the option of outsourcing projects anywhere from doing the network assessment and capacity planning, to taking on the whole ongoing management phase, much like business was doing with their legacy telephony service providers.

Management Solutions

For the enterprise that is planning to leave it up to the IT and Communications departments, now is the time to consider third party management and analysis applications. Third party solutions are just now coming into the market that take a more holistic approach to management, looking at the effects of both real time and not so real time applications on the network as a whole. Solutions being considered should be assessed for their usefulness in the testing stage of deployment. More on these management applications in the ongoing operations and optimization part of this paper.

You’ve just called your bank for the 4th time this month.  You are put on hold and notice that you can whistle or hum their On Hold music in your sleep.  Why?  It wasn’t this way in the past?  You call your doctor’s office for the 4th time this month and are put on hold.  Their On Hold Messaging program tells you about the new doctor that has just joined the practice.  It’s the same message you hear EVERY TIME you call them.  Now instead of being educated, you are getting annoyed.  Why?

Here’s why.  The bank and the doctor’s office recently installed Hosted IP telephone systems.   In the past, when you called these businesses, your ‘hold’ experience was a bit more engaging and varied.  The music changed from time to time, and you heard different messages.  It seemed like the time you were on hold was shorter than it is now.

What’s the difference?  Instead of the On Hold program being played as a continuous loop for the full 6 minutes, many Hosted IP systems play the audio program from the beginning every time a call goes on hold.  This means the caller hears the same beginning message every time they’re put on hold…instead of the traditional method of looping the audio program so that the part of the program callers On Hold hear is random based on where the program happens to be playing at that moment.

What value did the bank or doctor’s office gain by going to Hosted IP?  Possibly a ton!  Perhaps they were able to save money on dial-tone by combining it with other Internet bandwidth.  New features, lower maintenance costs and cooler phones may have played into the decision.   Maybe the old system was just tired, broken and needed a new life as a boat anchor.  The purpose of this article is not to attack what may appear as a somewhat minor shortcoming with respect to how Hosted IP solutions neglect a few traditional features, but to simply point out a few points to consider.

For purposes of discussion, by ‘Hosted IP’, we mean that the software powering the telecommunications environment is NOT housed at the customer’s site.  It is a subset of ‘cloud computing’. The hosting solution software is typically housed at the provider’s secure and well protected site and connects to the customer’s phones via an Internet / Router solution.  Most providers bundle Internet, LD, local services, equipment (occasionally) into one bundled monthly price on a per user basis.  Some providers require the customer to purchase any equipment that is required on site to support the application such as phones and routers. We’ve seen pricing range from as low as $25 per month (per user) up to as high as $80 per month. Customers have varied amounts of control managing their systems, depending on their provider.

Some Hosted IP solutions offer the most serious challenges to properly configuring On Hold Messaging content for the end-user customer.  Success depends completely on the host software’s ability or the host’s willingness to load a customized audio file or a content player.  Many traditional business phone system owners that move to hosting services don’t find out until after the migration to the hosting service that they have lost their customized On Hold capability completely.  As of this writing, our company has ascertained several of the largest Hosted Providers are the most likely to NOT support their customers desire for a customized On Hold program. The reasons given for NOT supporting a customized file are that they have concerns from a legal perspective and simply don’t care to manage the updating and installation.   If you look closely at their marketing materials, they offer ONLY a canned music solution.  Unfortunately, this is often not a point of discussion during the sales process.  It is important for the customer to be aware of these potential shortcomings, and to cover them with their potential providers in advance.

Finally, it’s important to note that many (but not all) of the ‘wav file / mp3 scenarios work in the following manner within a Hosted VoIP solution.  When the HOLD button is pressed on a telephone, the host software requests for a ‘file’ to be initiated and the caller hears the file from the beginning each and every time they call.  This is somewhat against the grain of how an On Hold program should work.  Most On Hold providers create 4-6 minute programs in an effort to provide more content to callers, so as they call in time and time again, they hear different content via the ‘looped’ program feel that most 3rd party equipment solutions provide.   Cisco (sometimes used as the hosting software) does provide a method to ‘loop’ the program as long as the network is configured in a manner to allow for it.   As for the Hosted IP groups that will accept a Customized On Hold File, there is a bit of engineering that needs to happen within their platform to allow for the file to play in a ‘looped’ manner.  This varies from company to company.  Some of these groups have addressed this issue, while many others have not and don’t plan to until their customers raise the issue.

In closing, the world of telephony and its convergence with the data world is happening at a whirlwind pace.  There are benefits to be had, and gains to be made.  And though there certainly may be a plethora of advantages associated with any emerging technologies, there are often trade-offs and features…….. once coveted and taken for granted……. that are lost in transition.

Definition: The predictive dialer uses a variety of algorithms to predict both the availability of agents and called party answers, adjusting the calling process to the number of agents it predicts will be available when the calls it places are expected to be answered.

What it means: A predictive dialer is a computerized hardware system that automatically dials batches of telephone numbers on multiple lines for connection to agents assigned to call stations. Predictive dialers are widely used in call centers and are very effective when ran correctly.

My favorite type of predictive dialing is the hardware based systems that have NO VOICE RECOGNITION. This is a program that causes a slight delay due to the software trying to figure out which calls are reaching live people. It is designed to eliminate disconnects and answering machines. However from my experience you lose about 35% of you’re pitchable connects due to the customer saying hello twice. In my office we use a 6 man dialer that calls out on 8 phone lines. My reps pitch 100% of every person that answers the phone because they hear the call ring into the home owner. Each six man dialer should be able to generate about 30-40 mortgage leads per day.

HOSTED PREDICTIVE DIALERS

Hosted predictive dialers (aka: Web-based predictive dialer, or VoIP Predictive Dialers) use the hosted servers in their model to provide organizations and individuals with a predictive dialer capability without having to buy expensive hardware or phone systems.

Pros:
-No required investments in computer or telephone hardware
-No required investments in software or licenses
-Administration and support are handled by the service provider
-Links into the system are remote, enabling agents and supervisors to connect from any location
-Software updates and upgrades included.

Cons:
-Service is dependent on an internet connection; when the internet goes down, so does the service
-Providers using VOIP as their primary delivery method experience limited reliability and performance. There are services with analog phone capabilities but they usually limit you to a certain computer. The services that offer a full VOIP are usually a fix cost and unlimited dialing capabilities.
Auto Dialers

Definition: An auto dialer is an electronic device that can automatically dial telephone numbers to communicate between any two points in the telephone, mobile phone and pager networks. Once the call has been established (through the telephone exchange) the auto dialer will announce verbal messages or transmit digital data (like SMS messages) to the called party.

What it means: the key technology for auto dialers is the ability to detect the difference between a live human pickup and answering machine or disconnect. These are a little outdated with the newer predictive dialers and hosted services being so much better. I don’t know of any auto dialers that can come close to the basic predictive solutions out there.

OVERVIEW AND CONCLUSION

With over 8 years of dialer experience in different sized call centers I have come to one major conclusion in dialing as we know it. Predictive dialing is the absolute best way to go. I use the 6 agents x 8 lines per dialer method because my reps get to pitch every single person. This model is great for the small to midsized operations. The nice thing with my hardware systems is that you can stack multiple dialers on one computer so growth is pretty inexpensive in comparison with some autodialing systems that require a computer at each station.

The Auto dialers are almost a thing of the past. The only settings they are good for is big call centers that have 100s of agents and really need to use the Voice Recognition. Due to big payroll costs. These centers have to be only talking to live people even if they loose 35% of the pitches due to the delay. These are not good fro small to mid size operations.

The one down side to the predictive dialers is that they are an investment. They can be costly and for most small business it’s hard to come up with the capitol for a system like this. What I suggest for shops like this is to start out using a cheaper hosted service until you make enough to invest in the in house system. Hosted dialing can be very good but it’s still just a stepping stone to the hardware systems.

July 03, 2008 – Toronto, Canada – McGraw-Hill Ryerson brings new knowledges to the 2008 Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference as a leading publisher in Canada.

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The Wireless Mobile Expo and Conference will bring into light the latest products and solutions that brought appreciable revolution in the worlds approach to the technology in the Wireless and Mobile service industry, such as Enterprise Wireless Networking, Wi-Fi, Mobile Convergence, Bluetooth, WiMax, Wireless Broadband, Mobile Devices, Wireless Security, Mobile Computing, VoIP and much more. 

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Tourism and commercial recreation is over an $800 billion industry in the United States. Globally, tourism accounts for approximately 12% of the Gross Domestic Product, employing 10% of the worldwide labor force. It is estimated that by the year 2020, more than half of all employed people in the world will be involved directly or indirectly with the tourism industry. In the United States, travel-related tourism is the first, second or third largest employer in 32 states.

Resort hotels and motels offer luxurious surroundings with a variety of recreational facilities, such as swimming pools, golf courses, tennis courts, game rooms, and health spas, as well as planned social activities and entertainment. Resorts typically are located in vacation destinations or near natural settings, such as mountains, the seashore, theme parks, or other attractions. As a result, the business of many resorts fluctuates with the season. Some resort hotels and motels provide additional convention and conference facilities to encourage customers to combine business with pleasure. During the off season, many of these establishments solicit conventions, sales meetings, and incentive tours to fill their otherwise empty rooms; some resorts even close for the off-season.

A hospitality management career is high-energy and social. You’ll meet interesting people and work in some of the most beautiful places on earth – anywhere there is a need for resort or hotel management.

The skills and knowledge developed in this field of study are leadership, marketing, qualitative skills, research and evaluation, programming (recreation, leisure and meetings), planning and policy, legal aspects, and communications.

Most hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks receive orientation and training on the job. Orientation may include an explanation of the job duties and information about the establishment, such as the arrangement of sleeping rooms, availability of additional services, such as a business or fitness center, and location of guest facilities, such as ice and vending machines, restaurants and other nearby retail stores. New employees learn job tasks through on-the-job training under the guidance of a supervisor or an experienced desk clerk. They often receive additional training on interpersonal or customer service skills and on how to use the computerized reservation, room assignment, and billing systems and equipment. Desk clerks typically continue to receive instruction on new procedures and on company policies after their initial training ends.

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks deal directly with the public, so a professional appearance and a pleasant personality are important. A clear speaking voice and fluency in English also are essential, because these employees talk directly with hotel guests and the public and frequently use the telephone or public-address systems. Good spelling and computer literacy are needed, because most of the work involves use of a computer. In addition, speaking a foreign language fluently is increasingly helpful, because of the growing international clientele of many properties.

Resort managers experience the pressures of coordinating a wide range of activities. At larger hotels, they also carry the burden of managing a large staff and finding a way to satisfy guest needs while maintaining positive attitudes and employee morale. Conventions and large groups of tourists may present unusual problems or require extended work hours.

The recreation department’s major in tourism management prepares students to work in such diverse sectors of the travel and tourism industry as tour operations, resort management, convention management, meeting planning, and commercial recreation management. It includes courses in management of park and recreation facilities, tourism, tourism systems planning, resource tourism, convention management, meeting planning, marketing of leisure services, and the legal aspects of recreation and tourism. The program requires both field experience and a professional internship.

Careers Specific to the Bachelor’s Degree are convention and visitors bureau management, convention services manager, special event coordinator, meeting/conference planner, tour operations management, on-site meeting manager, travel agent trainee, cruise hospitality, hotel management trainee, resort recreation management, tour coordinator, natural or cultural tour guide, and park manager.

With preparation in tourism management, individuals have skills related to management and leadership which would contribute to any type of position sought in the tourism industry. The tourism industry is within the top three industries of most countries in the world and provides numerous career opportunities at a variety of levels of service, production and management.

After finding employment, proving oneself capable and making contacts in the industry, a person finds that a wide variety of advanced career opportunities present themselves.

The Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management requires a minimum of 120 units for graduation. This interdisciplinary program prepares students for careers in the hospitality industry and includes basic core courses and an area of concentration. The areas of concentration are Commercial Recreation and Resort Management from the College of Health and Human Services; Hotel Management from the College of Business; and Restaurant and Institutional Foodservice Management from the College of Health and Human Services. The core curriculum is housed in the Department of Hospitality Management, College of Business.

The Concentration in Commercial Recreation and Resort Management prepares graduates to be entrepreneurs, managers, planners, and program supervisors in the commercial recreation, travel tourism, and resort management career areas. The goals are to assist students to acquire knowledge, skills, practical experience, and job placement in leisure and travel related businesses.

Students learn about the travel and tourism system, economic and social impacts of tourism, resort development and marketing, tourist motivations, special events management, theme parks, transportation used by travelers, ecotourism, incentive travel, tour company operations and sales, spas, conference and meeting planning, destination marketing, and cultural tourism.

The Concentration in Hotel Management prepares students to manage and operate hotels, motels, and other lodging business. Major management functions include various aspects of accounting and cost controls, sales and marketing, property management, and use of hospitality management information systems. Emphasis is placed on problem solving situations and case studies to support the didactic approach to instruction.

The Concentration in Restaurant and Institutional Foodservice Management prepares students for management positions in various branches of the food service industry. The goal is to develop restaurant and institutional foodservice managers who combine knowledge and skills in business, food production, and services in the foodservice industry.

Completion of the core and concentration courses provides students with theoretical knowledge for successful attainment of top-level management positions in the professions of hotel management, restaurant and institutional foodservice management, or commercial recreation and resort management. The curriculum combines strengths in management with technical skills and internship opportunities in each area.

Testinisde 640-460 practice exam helps individuals increase their understanding of exam objectives and become familiar with the testing format. Testinisde 640-460 test questions have comprehensive questions, with verified answers researched by industry experts. The Cisco 640-460 practice test that we can provide are based on the extensive research and real-world experiences from our online trainers, with over 10 years of IT and certification experience.

Exam : Cisco 640-460
Title : IIUC Implementing Cisco IOS Unified Communications (IIUC)
3. Which Cisco Unified Communications layer is the call processing layer?
A. Layer A including video,communications client, software-based phones, IP Phone
B. Layer B including Voice mail,Presence,Contact Center
C. Layer C including Cisco Unified Communications manger,Directory Server.
D. Layer D including Gateway, Router, Switch.
Answer: C

4. You are CCNA VOICE associate in TestInside.com. One user from your company wants to use a signaling protocol on the voice gateways that require registration with the Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Which protocol should you suggest to him?
A. SIP
B. Frame relay
C. SRTP
D. MGCP
Answer: D

IIUC Implementing Cisco IOS Unified Communications (IIUC)
Exam Number/Code : 640-460
Exam Name : IIUC Implementing Cisco IOS Unified Communications (IIUC)
Questions and Answers : 114 Q&As
Update Time: 2010-05-08
Price: $ 110.00

640-460 Exam Description
The 640-460 Implementing Cisco IOS Unified Communications (IIUC) exam is associated with the CCNA Voice certification. This exam confirms basic IP telephony installation, configuration, and maintenance skills by testing a candidate’s knowledge of implementing and configuring small- to medium sized IP Telephony solutions using Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, and the UC500 Smart Business Communications System solutions.

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This is being done mainly to minimize the negativities as well to optimize the possibilities brought about by globalization. Such initiatives no doubt offer huge benefits, but they have also created new challenges for businesses, especially for those that are in the process of improving quality and productivity through the use of improvement techniques such as Six Sigma. New challenges have been created because the success of Six Sigma projects depends a lot on the level of coordination between implementation teams, something that is quite difficult to achieve when geographical boundaries and limitations are to be considered.

However, this should not dissuade businesses from achieving their global ambitions because the only thing required is the right focus and the ability to select the right options. Explained below are some tips and strategies that businesses can use for optimizing the performance of their geographically scattered Six Sigma implementation teams.

Relying on Technology

Technology has always been the best friend of businesses having worldwide operations, obviously because technology does not recognize geographical boundaries and offers the same benefits, irrespective of the color or creed of the individual using it. As such, geographically scattered Six Sigma teams that need to coordinate their activities can make use of the latest communications technologies such as Internet telephony (VoIP), Internet Video Conferencing and other available technologies.

The best part is that they do not have to worry about overhead cost because most of these technologies are much cheaper than communications technologies that were available just a decade ago.

Increasing the Frequency of Team Interactions

With the easy availability of cost-effective technology, businesses should try to make the best possible use of the available resources. Since geographically scattered Six Sigma teams are most likely to have members belonging to different countries and regions, businesses need to make efforts to help break the ice and initiate the familiarization process. This can easily be done by increasing the frequency of interactions between the regional teams.

If possible, businesses should try to encourage informal discussions and debates because it is only then the geographically scattered team members will be able to open up to each other and most importantly trust each other. This will go a long way in instilling the spirit of camaraderie, something that is vital for getting the best performance from regional Six Sigma teams.

To achieve even better results, businesses need to provide top management support to regional teams. The support can come either in the form of regular guidance or the leeway to take independent decisions. Whichever way it is delivered, top management support always helps because team members then feel more confident and are not afraid to take calculated risks that are a part of every Six Sigma implementation project. All this helps a lot in ensuring the success of ongoing multi-point Six Sigma implementation projects.

I just heard of a new useful site that was recently launched, called Picaphone, and thought that I should spread the word…

This site is free, has a lot of useful info, and most importantly strives to make our lives easier!

So… what is picaphone?

Is it an address book?

Maybe a personalized index?

What about a social network (they’re hot now)

Picaphone is all of the above and much more!

Picaphone is a global contact search engine, accessible from anywhere in the world. This site aspires to be the largest global online address book, for both private and business contacts.

Picaphone supplies you with a centralized and constantly updated database for all your contacts.

Picaphone’s concept combines strong elements from leading services, such as Plaxo, White Pages, Yelp etc, BUT also includes the following improvements:

1.You maintain a functional contact network without the “social” hassle. 

2.Your contact listings, wither private of business, are constantly and automatically updated. The process is like this, your contacts are first updated from within Picaphone’s listings, and in the future this information will be gathered from all over the web.

3.You  keep all your contacts up-to-date with their sync mechanism

4.You receive access to FREE global communication tools, such as video conferences & messages, VOIP and more.

5.You can share your contacts, preferences and favorite listings with others

Personally the last feature excites me the most, I can imagine myself going on vacation to London where, just before boarding the flight, I access all my friend’s contact lists, and use his address book + reviews to order places in restaurants, call a cab and more.

Just think of all the wasted time and frustration that will be avoided, not to mention all the great tips that you can get, from anyone!

Picaphoen’s concept interested me so, that I met with Picaphone’s founder, Mr. Ori Shaked. According to Mr. Ori Shaked: “For the first time, the http://www.picaphone.com/ site will allow everyone convenient, free and fast access to phone numbers of individuals and companies all over the world, without requiring and paying for any information services. The success of this ambitious project depends on the cooperation of web surfers all over the world. Our current target is to reach millions of users within the first few months.”

Bottom line:

In my opinion, this is a very interesting concept, very user friendly interface, and a very useful site.

Try it, it’s free!