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Innovation Management – moving past the wall
One useful tool in the idea generation phase is to simply be prolific. It can be said with great confidence that quality is related to sheer quantity. Some of the most highly recognised creative products came about when the creator was being...
Innovation Management – the Value of Structure
Structure is one of the most valuable tools for enhancing creativity. There are essentially two types of structure: Frameworks and Work Processes.
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation...
OCS Sweeps Up At BBC
OCS Cleaning & Support Services has won a Golden Service Award
for its work at the BBC Media Village. Winner in the Best
Cleaned Premises: Offices Over 15,000m2 category, the OCS team
picked up their award at the Royal Lancaster Hotel,...
Speed as a Trend
Observing and reacting to trends makes the difference between success and failure in today's marketplace. Technology is shrinking time and space, giving customers more choices and businesses more competition with less time to respond. Thus, speed is...
Troubled Waters Require Capable Leaders at the Helm
Canada's lean leaders need to look beyond the horizon and chart the future
In stormy times, true leadership skills emerge, says Larry Coté, the President of Lean Advisors Inc. ( www.leanadvisors.com )
By Larry Coté
The rumbles on our...
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Can You Hear Me Now?
Can You Hear Me Now?
by Dave Russ
Way back in 1996, Congrss passed the Telecommunications
Act. This ground breaking piece of legislation was enacted
to loosen the death grip that incumbent Bell monopolies
held on consumers wallets... as well as foster competition
in the long distance and broadband arenas.
In the FCCs own modest declaration... "The
Telecommunications Act of 1996 has the potential to change
the way we work, live and learn. It will affect telephone
service -- local and long distance, cable programming and
other video services, broadcast services and services
provided to schools."
"Potential" being the key word here.
Oh, it started out well enough... with the usual hype and
fanfare associated with the Internet heyday. New players,
fueled by the 90s investment frenzy, arose like wildflowers
in May... collectively spending billions of dollars on the
race to blur the line between the old switched networks and
the new IP pipelines.
Breakthrough technologies, such as VOIP
(Voice-over-Internet Protocol), threatened to shake the
very foundation of the telecommunications world, offering
consumers viable new choices. Companies like Net2Phone and
Dialpad gave anyone with a computer, microphone and dialup
connection, the ability to do an end around the established
long distance carriers.
Soon, VOIP went mainstream, finding its way directly to the
telephone and bypassing the need for a computer. "Pay by
the month, not by the minute" became the rallying cry of a
new generation of long distance marketers... as the concept
of flat-rate and "unlimited” long distance blossomed.
Consumers and small businesses no longer needed to fear
receiving a huge long distance bill come months end... as
they stepped off the per-minute treadmill.
And all was well... or so it seemed.
But did these cutting edge Internet technologies forever
change the telecom landscape, as promised? Was it time yet
for high-fives at the FCC... and was a victory parade in
order for consumers?
In a word... No.
Quality and reliability issues, indifferent customer
service and unsound business practices... exacerbated by
the overall telecom meltdown, wiped out most of these
alternate providers... burying them in the dot.com
graveyard.
Meanwhile, the Big Three (AT&T, MCI and Sprint) still enjoy
the lions share of US long distance revenues.
And has the local market fared much better? Not really.
The 1996 Act required the regional Bell incumbents to grant
access to their UNE-P (Unbundled Network Element-Platform).
But like all good monopolies, the Baby Bells have done
everything humanly possible to prevent this access. Just
ask Covad, NorthPoint and Rhythms... companies that all had
far-reaching aspirations of bringing high speed DSL to
everyones doorstep.
So much for competition, right?
Well, dont give up quite yet. There is some good news.
Despite the carnage, there has been a survivor or two.
Companies that refused to be stonewalled and have remained
true to their vision.
One in particular that stands out is a CLEC called Z-Tel
Communications (Nasdaq: ZTEL). For the past few years,
Z-Tel has valiantly battled the huge Bell monopolies to try
and gain entry into the local telephone markets. And
believe it or not, theyre succeeding... having quietly
acquired over 350,000 paying customers in 47 states.
Even more impressive has been Z-Tels commitment to
innovation and value. They recently introduced Z-LineHOME
Unlimited™, a bundled package ($49.99 in most states) of
unlimited local calling, unlimited nationwide long distance
and popular calling features like Voicemail, Caller ID,
Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling, Find Me and Notify Me.
In addition, Z-Tel is poised to roll out their exclusive
Personal Voice Assistant (PVA). The Personal Voice
Assistant is a revolutionary step forward in voice
activated communications... and will soon be included in
the Z-LineHOME Unlimited feature set at no extra charge.
Gregg Smith, president and chief executive officer for
Z-Tel, in recent meetings with the FCC and Congressional
leaders, stated:
"Due in large part to UNE-P, competition is generating
improved services for consumers every day. For example,
Z-Tel is actively investing in and developing
next-generation dial tone services that we believe will
change the way people communicate, like voice recognition
technology and personalized online directories. Soon,
instead of looking up phone numbers, our subscribers will
be able to simply say, call Aunt Tracy on her cell phone
and be connected.
And today, for a flat monthly fee, Z-Tel subscribers can
call anywhere in the U.S., talk as long as they want and
take advantage of advanced services that make their
communications more powerful.
These are exactly the kinds of services that the 1996 Act
sought to deliver."
Yes they certainly are. What do you know... maybe telecom
deregulation is finally working after all.
Can you hear me now?
About the Author
Dave Russ, Partner
Unlimited Long Distance 4U
Helping Smart Consumers Save Money
With Unlimited Local Home Phone Service
and Expanding Communcation Power with the PVA
http://www.unlimitedlongdistance4u.com
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| DTI - Welcome to the DTI's Innovation Home Page |
| The DTI is working to stimulate a significant increase in innovation throughout ... It covers Living Innovation, web streaming of a series of high profile ... |
| www.dti.gov.uk |
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| Innovation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| An innovation in this light occurs whether or not the act of innovating ... A convenient definition of innovation from an organizational perspective is ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| National Innovation Website |
| The Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources has developed this website to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of innovation and ... |
| www.innovation.gov.au |
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| Innovation, creativity and brainstorming resources from ... |
| A comprehensive site designed to provide busy entrepreneurs with a focused collection of the best resources on innovation, creativity, and brainstorming. |
| www.innovationtools.com |
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| Innovation Weblog - Trends, resources, viewpoints from Chuck Frey ... |
| The Innovation Weblog - Valuable trends, resources and viewpoints in innovation, creativity and brainstorming from Chuck Frey at InnovationTools. |
| www.innovationtools.com |
|
| CORDIS: Innovation Portal: Home |
| This Innovation Portal is supported by DG ENTR of the European Commission, ... European Commission adopts new Communication on Innovation: on 13 September ... |
| cordis.europa.eu |
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| CORDIS: Promotion of Innovation: Home |
| This programme stands at the cross-roads of the Community's policies on Research, Innovation and SMEs. |
| cordis.europa.eu |
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| Innovation Network... leveraging innovation, creativity and ... |
| The Innovation Network is an association of companies and employees committed to innovation. The site features some interesting articles as well as some fun ... |
| www.thinksmart.com |
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| Business Innovation : Car Reviews, Online Gaming, and Product Branding |
| If your in need of great Online Gaming material, we carry up to the minute news and reviews for all of your favorite games and gaming systems. |
| www.businessweek.com |
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| Innovation - Life, Inspired | PBS |
| Learn about fascinating innovations, explore interactive features, submit questions to our experts, investigate resources and lesson plans, and more. |
| www.pbs.org |
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| Innovation.org - Welcome |
| Impact of Innovation Saving & Improving Lives Controlling Healthcare Costs Strengthening ... Future of Innovation New Medicines in Development Next Wave of ... |
| www.innovation.org |
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| Innovation: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with innovation on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
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| Innovation Relay Centres - The World Largest Network for ... |
| Innovation Relay Centres giving advice on Innovation, Technology Transfer and Exploitation. Major European source for innovative technologies or new ... |
| irc.cordis.lu |
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| The Tech Museum of Innovation | Welcome |
| The Tech Museum of Innovation - Welcome! The Tech Museum inspires and educates the innovators of the future. |
| www.thetech.org |
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| Pages tagged with "innovation" on del.icio.us |
| CoDev 2007 - Co-Development for Business Growth: Open Innovation and Alternatives ... PDMA & IIR's 5th Annual Front End of Innovation ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| innovation |
| Publication highlighting the research activities of NUS. The site provides snippets of selected articles online, and provides a subscription form online. |
| www.innovationmagazine.com |
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| Canadian Innovation Centre |
| Services includes invention evaluation, technology due diligence, market research, and education programs. |
| www.innovationcentre.ca |
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| London INNOVATION :: Home |
| Maximise your business potential through innovation. Learn the secrets of successful business innovation in London. |
| www.london-innovation.org.uk |
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| Eric Von Hippel's Homepage |
| Downloadable Books. Democratizing Innovation (2005) ... The Sources of Innovation (1988). Free download of the complete book. Permission granted by Oxford ... |
| web.mit.edu |
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| Intel Innovation in Education |
| www.intel.com/education/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages |
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