Rural Telecommunications articles from May 2004

Rural Telecommunications archives from May 2004

A team effort.(From the Editor)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... New products, reliable service, great customer care--one would think a telco would need little more to assure its business success. But if the customer doesn't know about it, it may as well not exist. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

Employees and elder care.(ShortTakes)(health care costs)
May 1, 2004... Elder care has been called the "silent productivity killer," as more and more people fall into the "sandwich generation," having to care for both children and aging relatives. With the growing number of elderly people being cared for by family...

The joys of working.(ShortTakes)(high performers)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... More stress, longer hours, more pressure and greater demands. Yet some people in this type of workplace situation love their job--if they make more than $100,000 a year. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] That's the latest findings of a study...

Spreading the word on TRAs.(ShortTakes)(telecommunications relay services)(telecom for hearing impaired)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The results of a survey about the level of awareness among Pennsylvanians regarding telecommunications relay services (TRAs) for people who have hearing or speech loss launched a two-year educational campaign this spring. [ILLUSTRATION...

Excelling at customer service.(ShortTakes)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... "Customer service standards are only as good as the people who enforce them. Telcos may have good intentions when it comes to delivering service, but only one thing counts--the customer's actual experience," according to Measure-X, a...

Tips and tidbits.(ShortTakes)(Society for Human Resources Management)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Society for Human Resources Management asked the following of 412 randomly selected human resources professionals: Question Does your organization use forced ranking (an employee evaluation process that measures employees'...

You make the phones work, now what?(Perspective)(Glenwood Telephone Membership Corp.)
May 1, 2004... In the last few years the telecommunications industry has changed significantly with the increase in competition. Not only are employees expected to make the phones ring, they are expected to sell them too. It wasn't too long ago, when...

Did it work? How do you track a marketing campaign once it has been launched?(FirstPerson)(Interview)
May 1, 2004... An effective marketing campaign is a necessity for the rural telco that is trying to promote a new service or technology, or for the telco that merely wants its name to be more mainstream in its service area. When launching a new marketing...

An open-door policy: sharing marketing 'secrets'.(customer support)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... Ring, Ring. "Good Morning, ABC Telecom, may I help you?" "Yes, I'm interested in your new special features package and I'd like some more information." "I beg your pardon? What package are you referring to?" "The one you advertised in...

Communication savvy: 'reading' customers right.
May 1, 2004... The ability to communicate aptly is perhaps the single most important factor in customer service. Communication is a two-way street, involving not only the coherent conveying of your message, but also the receptiveness to both the verbal and...

Customer respect: building a better Web site.
May 1, 2004... Telecommunications companies are needlessly losing customers (and revenue) by paying too little attention to the factors that add up to "customer respect." By considering a few basic principles, telcos can implement changes on their company's...

Did it work? Tracking tips for marketing campaigns.
May 1, 2004... Are your direct mail pieces affecting your organization's bottom line? Do your brand-awareness campaigns influence sales levels? Did the sales promotion you ran last month impact your market share? Sales and marketing staff should ask...

Telling the rural story: a profile of Norman T. Welker.(Biography)
May 1, 2004... Norman T. Welker is proud of his rural roots. When strangers ask him where he lives, he tells them, "Illinois." Instinctively, he said, the next thing they ask is, "Chicago?" Welker then shook his head, smiled, and said, "I have to tell...

2004 NTCA TeleChoice Awards.(Winners, Circle)(National Telephone Cooperative Association)(Directory)
May 1, 2004... Presented before you are the winning entries in the sixth annual NTCA TeleChoice Awards. The winners were recognized during the PRNet conference, April 25-27, in Orlando, Fla. As in past years, the competition was intense as judges reviewed...

Bumps in insurance markets smoothing out.(Risk Manager)
May 1, 2004... We've broken into another year, and looking back on the bouncing stock market and slumping economy of past years, one wonders whether this year will bring positive change for the commercial property casualty insurance consumer, or if the...

A new world for telecom marketers.(Executive Viewpoint)(rural markets)
May 1, 2004... Fifty years ago, when plain old telephone service was the only telecommunications service available, marketing was relatively simple. Competition was nonexistent. In fact, the local telephone company was the only provider in town, and there...