The iPhone is an amazing device. But iPhone users realize it's a little less amazing once they stop answering their mail, tweeting and posting to Facebook, and use it as a phone. Add to that the furstration of dealing with a large corporate call centre dedicated to keeping you as far away from actual service and contact with a human being, and you've got a real problem in th epalm of your hand.
Fonolo, an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch based on the popular website, aims to rid users of these frustrations by letting them cut around the usual phone maze and get straight to a CSR. By listing the entire phone tree, Fonolo empowers users to get around unfriendly menus, and the app also remembers your history so you don't have to navigate around menus if you call back. A cursory search of the app revelaed Rogers (my nemesis) as well as informing me that the company is "currently offline" (no surprise there.)
Besides the "stick it to the man" aspect of the app, I also like the fact that it operates over wifi, saving users from onerous cell charges. I don't have a landline, and previously I would hop on Skype for what was sure to be a long wait for service. I've tried to keep my interactions with giant firms over the phone to a minimum, but sometimes you simply have to talk to a human, and in those cases, Fonolo looks like it will keep you from smashing things and going berserk before you get to said human.
Toronto-based Fonolo makes it easier and less frustrating to call large companies with its ground-breaking, Web-based service that puts an end to... [more]
If 2009 was about creating awareness of social media communities, then 2010 should be about exploring how to meaningfully engage. At a minimum, all marketers should be monitoring how their brands live online. Do you have a solid grasp of the social media landscape where your product or service is being discussed? If you don’t, then you are missing out on a golden opportunity to listen in and learn from your customers.
Whether you are new to social media or an early adopter, spend two days with leading social media thinkers, speakers and practitioners and learn how to seamlessly add the power of social media to your traditional media efforts.
On February 24th and 25th the Third Annual Social Media Marketing event will be taking place at the Old Mill Inn & Spa in beautiful Toronto.
For more information on this event, including registration details, please visit the Social Media Marketing website.
The folks at Vancouver's Elastic Path have been kind enough to share their friends and family discount with Techvibes readers.
So here you go:
Get outfitted for the Games! Use promo code EPFRIENDS2010 for 15% off at www.vancouver2010.com/store.
15% off any purchase, no minimum, expires February 14, 2010.
Please use EPFRIENDS2010US in you are shipping to the US.
Exclusions: Red Mittens, Petro Canada glasses, video games.
Elastic Path Software provides a flexible ecommerce platform that gives enterprises the capabilities and control to deliver innovation in a complex... [more]
Toronto's Polar Mobile announced this morning that their Toronto Maple Leafs Mobile App has hit 100,000 users and nearly three million page views per month.
Like Dion Phaneuf and J.S. Giguere over the past week, the Leafnation has embraced Maple Leafs Mobile which has proven to be the most successful NHL team App since its launch one year ago. Powered by Polar Mobile’s SMART Platform, the App delivers real-time content to fans including up-to-date stats, video highlights, interviews and news.
“We felt it was important for the Maple Leafs to be one of the first teams in the NHL to have their own mobile application and we're excited about the increasing popularity of our App since it launched a year ago," said Chris Hebb, senior vice-president of broadcast and content for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "Maple Leafs Mobi is an all access App that lets Leafs fans consume the latest information about their favourite team, including blockbuster trades, where they want and when they want. The interactive capability of Maple Leafs Mobi including the video on demand takes the access to the Maple Leafs to a whole new level."
Maple Leafs Mobile is available as a downloadable application for iPhone, iPod Touch and BlackBerry smartphones and is an extension of the Toronto Maple Leafs digital and interactive content brand. Maple Leafs fans are surpisingly evenly distributed when it comes to their mobile device of choice when it comes to accessing Maple Leafs Mobile with 35% iPhone users, 35 % BlackBerry smartphone users and 30 % iPod Touch users.
Other interesting usage stats include: BlackBerry smartphone users open the App on average 17 times/month, whereas iPhone/iPod Touch users open the App on average 9 times/month. 17 per cent of BlackBerry smartphone subscribers also shared Maple Leafs Mobi with a friend via email.
Leafs fans can download the free application by visiting www.mapleleafs.mobi, for BlackBerry smartphones on BlackBerry App World or for iPhone or iPod Touch users at the Apple App Store.
Just image what the usage numbers will be like if the Leafs can make the playoffs.
Polar Mobile has rapidly established itself as a leader in providing end-to-end mobile solutions in North America. Polar Mobile's key expertise... [more]
Soniya Monga, one of the organizers behind Social Media Week - Toronto (and a regular contributor here at Techvibes), recently caught up to Chris Robbins of WIND Mobile. Chris is the Chief Customer Officer at WIND and was at a Conversuasion session. Conversuasion was presented by Ad Lounge and bills itself as an "oral history from the characters that shape our industry."
Prior to joining WIND, Chris spent a number of years in Prague with Vodafone is a senior marketing position.
Techvibes is the leading online community for technology professionals in Vancouver and across Canada. Techvibes provides an easy-to-use platform... [more]
Simply put, we want to create the most unforgettably positive customer experience in Canada. How? By speaking with you, not at or over you. By... [more]
