All opinions expressed are mine, and are not necessarily those of my employer. Comments are welcome; spam is not. Contrasting opinions are welcome; attacks are not.
The other day I stopped to get gas. The only pump was the one farthest from the door of the gas station (you'll see why this is important in a minute), so that's where I pumped my gas. In a couple of minutes, a delivery man carrying several cardboard boxes walked from his truck toward the door of the gas station. The customer who was pumping gas at the pump nearest the door left her pump, walked to the door and held it open for the man carrying the boxes. Both smiled, and he thanked her. This happened twice more, then the delivery man left. The lady finished fueling and left.
One stranger took the initiative to help another. Nobody would have thought less of her if she hadn't. There was nothing for her to gain, except the feeling that she'd helped someone.
I will strive to be as helpful to strangers as the young lady.
29 March 2008
How useful is a digital voice recorder?
All opinions expressed are mine, and are not necessarily those of my employer. Comments are welcome; spam is not. Contrasting opinions are welcome; attacks are not. Any products mentioned have been purchased at retail. No incentives have been offered for expressing my opinion.
MapQuest (WWW.MapQuest.Com) is very useful for driving directions. Having printed directions is very handy, especially for keeping track of mileage and making comments on the route. Writing notes en route, however, is inconvenient and can be hazardous to my health and insurance premiums. What I needed was a way to take notes without writing.
A visit to Staples (WWW.Staples.Com) brought the answer: A Sony IC Recorder (eSupport.Sony.Com). There's a round, recessed Record / Pause button, an oval Play button, and a raised rectangular Stop button. (There are more buttons for additional functionality, but they're not needed often.) There's an LCD screen, built-in microphone and speaker, plus jacks for external mike and headphones.
It is very easy to use the recorder. The design makes it easy for me to keep my eyes on the road while recording a comment. The screen at the top of the front is smooth, making it easy to orient the recorder in my hand. The Record button being recessed means I don't accidentally start recording. A short beep confirms that recording has begun. The Stop button stops recording (duh!) and a little longer beep confirms that the recording has been saved. The Play button sounds a short beep, the message is played, and another beep says that the recording has ended. Pushing the Play button while recording stops recording and plays it back immediately.
That's the basics of using the recorder. One of the best benefits of the IC Recorder is the USB cable that enables me to upload the voice files to my PC. There's software that helps me to edit the audio, and even convert from the Sony proprietary format to an MP3 file. The quality of the MP3 audio is not as good as other formats, but that shouldn't matter. You wouldn't be using the IC Recorder for serious podcasting anyway.
The downsides of the IC Recorder? Messages are recorded in four "folders", A through D. Each folder can hold up to 99 messages, no matter what length each is. Switching folders isn't something that can be done without watching the screen and pressing multiple buttons. If I'm driving and have just recorded message 99 in folder A, I can't record another lump until I pull over and switch to folder B. (grumble, grumble)
The recorder is not cheap, but isn't expensive when you consider all of its features.
If memory serves, the files uploaded to the PC can be scanned with Dragon's speech recognition software (http://WWW.DragonTalk.Com to produce text. So far I haven't tried it.
What experiences have you had with portable digital voice recorders? Any tips for using them, or fun uses?
MapQuest (WWW.MapQuest.Com) is very useful for driving directions. Having printed directions is very handy, especially for keeping track of mileage and making comments on the route. Writing notes en route, however, is inconvenient and can be hazardous to my health and insurance premiums. What I needed was a way to take notes without writing.
A visit to Staples (WWW.Staples.Com) brought the answer: A Sony IC Recorder (eSupport.Sony.Com). There's a round, recessed Record / Pause button, an oval Play button, and a raised rectangular Stop button. (There are more buttons for additional functionality, but they're not needed often.) There's an LCD screen, built-in microphone and speaker, plus jacks for external mike and headphones.
It is very easy to use the recorder. The design makes it easy for me to keep my eyes on the road while recording a comment. The screen at the top of the front is smooth, making it easy to orient the recorder in my hand. The Record button being recessed means I don't accidentally start recording. A short beep confirms that recording has begun. The Stop button stops recording (duh!) and a little longer beep confirms that the recording has been saved. The Play button sounds a short beep, the message is played, and another beep says that the recording has ended. Pushing the Play button while recording stops recording and plays it back immediately.
That's the basics of using the recorder. One of the best benefits of the IC Recorder is the USB cable that enables me to upload the voice files to my PC. There's software that helps me to edit the audio, and even convert from the Sony proprietary format to an MP3 file. The quality of the MP3 audio is not as good as other formats, but that shouldn't matter. You wouldn't be using the IC Recorder for serious podcasting anyway.
The downsides of the IC Recorder? Messages are recorded in four "folders", A through D. Each folder can hold up to 99 messages, no matter what length each is. Switching folders isn't something that can be done without watching the screen and pressing multiple buttons. If I'm driving and have just recorded message 99 in folder A, I can't record another lump until I pull over and switch to folder B. (grumble, grumble)
The recorder is not cheap, but isn't expensive when you consider all of its features.
If memory serves, the files uploaded to the PC can be scanned with Dragon's speech recognition software (http://WWW.DragonTalk.Com to produce text. So far I haven't tried it.
What experiences have you had with portable digital voice recorders? Any tips for using them, or fun uses?
22 March 2008
Customer Service: Good and otherwise
The person who, when asked where the vitamins are, says "I'm sorry; I don't know, but I'll find someone who does." is providing much better service than the person who says, vaguely, "Umm, Aisle 6, I think." The person who says "This is my first day, you'll have to ask at the Service Desk." isn't serving me, but they're especially not serving their employer.
The person who is busy stocking shelves in aisle 3, but stops and walks me to aisle 7, then helps find the right vitamins is providing really good customer service.
Customer service is part of marketing. (In fact, nearly everything is part of marketing.) You got me into your store by advertising. You haven't sold me anything yet, possibly because I don't know what I want, but more likely because I don't know where it is. If you want me to buy from you, serve me. A smile would be nice, but it's not required.
A few years ago I worked in a hospital. Many floors, several wings. I described myself as "A programmer guy." Nothing to do with medicine, and certainly not a salesman, nor a marketer. My philosophy was that if someone looked lost, I'd offer help getting them to their destination.
No matter where the visitor was headed, I'd say "Well, I'm going that way. Let's walk together." No directions. No "Take the Peach Elevator to the fourth floor, ...." Fortunately department policy was that being late to a meeting due to getting a visitor un-lost was OK. Even better than OK, it was providing simple courtesy, otherwise known as customer service.
The person who is busy stocking shelves in aisle 3, but stops and walks me to aisle 7, then helps find the right vitamins is providing really good customer service.
Customer service is part of marketing. (In fact, nearly everything is part of marketing.) You got me into your store by advertising. You haven't sold me anything yet, possibly because I don't know what I want, but more likely because I don't know where it is. If you want me to buy from you, serve me. A smile would be nice, but it's not required.
A few years ago I worked in a hospital. Many floors, several wings. I described myself as "A programmer guy." Nothing to do with medicine, and certainly not a salesman, nor a marketer. My philosophy was that if someone looked lost, I'd offer help getting them to their destination.
No matter where the visitor was headed, I'd say "Well, I'm going that way. Let's walk together." No directions. No "Take the Peach Elevator to the fourth floor, ...." Fortunately department policy was that being late to a meeting due to getting a visitor un-lost was OK. Even better than OK, it was providing simple courtesy, otherwise known as customer service.
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