I was over in Cisco’s building 32 the other day and was about to meet with the collaboration team when I saw something that looked a lot like Facebook running on a Cius and an iPhone. As I went over to explore, I met Raghurama Bhat and Ashish Chirputkar, the two ‘humble’ engineers who created Cisco Quad, our enterprise social collaboration platform.
I started wondering how Bhat and Chirputkar had the time to develop Quad, how internal development began, and why a Facebook,Twitter or LinkedIn for the enterprise makes sense. So with my HD video camera already in hand, I recorded this interesting feature interview. These two engineers and their team had a huge impact on how work is now done at Cisco where over 70,000 employees live their days in Quad to get their work done and collaborate.
Kroma Makeup serves customers better with unified communications.
The second company we’re highlighting during Small Business Week is Kroma Makeup, which manufactures and distributes a line of wholesale and retail makeup products. In addition to five retail locations and 3,000 retail customers, the company also provides its products to plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and medical spas, so providing an excellent service experience was key to retaining its clients. But the company was losing sales because employees were missing important calls.
To improve customer care, Kroma Makeup turned to Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) to integrate its phone, email, and fax. Now not only do employees get their calls, but with Cisco Unity Express they can also get voicemail messages delivered to their email.
With Cisco unified communications solutions, Kroma Makeup succeeded in providing customers with improved personalized service as well as increasing employee productivity and reducing company expenses.
See how companies are using technology to help them grow and succeed.
It’s National Small Business Week, and we’re taking this opportunity to honor small businesses. They make invaluable contributions to the country’s economy in many ways, including creating 60-80 percent of new jobs. In addition, small businesses are a driving force of innovation, and technology plays a big part in enabling those efforts.
All week, we’ll be shining the spotlight on small businesses that have put technology to work for them to help them succeed. The first company we’re highlighting is The Headgame, a men’s only hair salon in Roseville, CA. By switching to a unified communications system, the Cisco UC320, the salon provides better customer service with improved call handling.
2011 is shaping up to be the year of the tablet. As seen by overwhelming consumer demand, the trend that started in 2010 continues to rapidly gain momentum. More and more people see value in the advanced video and collaboration capabilities combined with the mobility that tablets offer.
Within the enterprise, mobile tablets are positioned to be a critical part of a company’s suite of collaboration and communications tools. Organizations can leverage the unified communications and collaboration capabilities of the tablet to enhance productivity for an increasingly mobile workforce. Cisco saw the power of this tool and responded with the release of the first mobile tablet made specifically for businesses, the Cisco Cius™.
Today, May 11, AT&T announced plans to offer the Cisco Cius to its business customers, and Cisco expects the Cius to be available for AT&T’s HSPA+ network in the fall of 2011. The purpose-built Cius delivers virtual desktop integration with anywhere, anytime access to the full range of Cisco collaboration and communication applications, including full interoperability with Cisco TelePresence®. The Cius will move easily between wired connectivity to Wi-Fi and mobile broadband networks, including AT&T’s HSPA+ network.
Businesses that use voice over IP (VoIP) service and IP phones gain many advantages. No wonder desktop IP phones are used by more than a third of small and medium-sized businesses surveyed in Europe and North America.
Prices of IP phones can differ by hundreds of dollars. If you have multiple phones to buy, smart shopping can bring your company exponential savings.
To make the best investment—for now and the years ahead—answer seven key questions:
2011 is shaping up to be the year of the tablet. As seen by overwhelming consumer demand, the trend that started in 2010 continues to rapidly gain momentum. More and more people see value in the advanced video and collaboration capabilities combined with the mobility that tablets offer.
