Florida's Widespread Blackouts

Early Tuesday afternoon, Florida was hit by severe power outages and widespread blackouts. The power outage has been blamed on a failed disconnect switch and equipment controlling voltage that had caught fire at an electrical substation near Miami. The blackouts spread from Miami to almost 300 miles north to Orlando and even 100 miles west into Tampa. The utility companies indicated that roughly 1 million customers were without power during the afternoon’s events. Estimates reported by emergency officials and local news affiliates stated nearly 3 million people were affected by the outages. Florida Power and Light recognized that approximately 8,000 locations still were still experiencing blackout conditions into the early evening hours, according to President Armando Olivera. Although power has subsequently been restored, disruptions to every day life of this magnitude come at great costs to many. These events are unanticipated and cannot be prepared for by many of those affected. Many businesses lose the ability to service customers, blank traffic lights can cause major traffic delays and accidents, and in some prolonged cases medical concerns for the elderly and disabled come into play.

One aspect every company needs to account for is their emergency preparedness plan. What will happen to your company when the power goes out, a fire, flood, etc.? Make sure you have the ability to forward your phones to MedCom in order to keep in contact with all your customers. Nothing is more important than letting your customers know you are always available to help them in any situation. Don’t let accidents or unforeseen events stop your company from continuing operations.

MedCom is a recognized leader in our industry. We are Call Center Certified (Gold Level) and we are active members of the Startel National Users Group. This certification helps ensure that we will be operational and available to take calls at least 99.99% of the time. At MedCom in keeping with our high operating standards, we maintain emergency backup systems including four 3.1 KVA battery backups (with continuous power conditioning), a 35 KVA emergency back-up generator, mirrored disk drives in each network server, and a fully redundant standby Startel switch. We are proud of our client relationships, our people, our products and services, and with the job that we do.

In addition to all the back up systems, batteries and generator, MedCom has taken operational precautions a step further. We have joined the Agility Recovery Solutions. In the event of any severe emergency, Agility provides MedCom with a mobile recovery solution. Agility will provide the means and supplies for MedCom to remain operational after a crisis—including office equipment, phone lines and Internet connectivity. MedCom has made efforts to go above and beyond the industry standards in order to maintain business continuity, key relationships, and peace of mind.

Remaining Profitable in a Rapidly Changing Industry

Looking back on the answering service industry ten maybe even five years ago has shown considerable changes to the industry as a whole. The industry is constantly changing; resulting from newer and improved technologies. Within the timeframe mentioned above, MedCom succeeded within the industry by achieving some major accomplishments and top of the line upgrades. MedCom enabled voice messaging systems, SQL servers, web-based features and upgraded to Startel’s latest CMC Platform becoming the first answering service to operate a fully redundant and completely operational back-up CMC platform. MedCom earned significant awards and certifications achievements in the call center, such as the SNUG 24/7 Site Certification GOLD LEVEL and the ATSI Award of Excellence. One of the main goals at MedCom is to stay ahead of the competition, offering the latest features and providing excellent service.

The best way to remain profitable in any industry is to focus on your company’s core competencies. The core competencies are services or products that make your company excel in certain fields. Core competencies focus on adding value from services or products for the customer, making that service or product difficult for competitors to match or copy and they must be adaptable for a variety of markets.

Over the years, MedCom has experienced a steady growth by focusing on our core competencies. Under the leadership and guidance from management, our agents have been trained on how to best handle our clients’ calls within a one to two minute timeframe. While maintaining the industry’s highest standards, our agents interact with callers obtaining the necessary information requested by each of our clients. Having to handle calls from a variety of business environments, medical, commercial and professional, require our agents to remain attentive and focus on each caller’s needs. It is customary for our customers to expect and receive all necessary information in a timely fashion. You would actually be amazed at how much information our agents will get from callers in such a quick time span of one to two minutes per call. MedCom’s efforts to continually reduce the time needed to efficiently acquire callers’ information has become one of the most important and cost effective services given to our clients.

Resulting from MedCom’s quick and efficient call taking, our agents are available for the next caller. At MedCom, we focus on providing each caller with our agent’s undivided attention for the duration of their call with a minimal hold time. We strive to provide each clients’ customer a pleasant experience when they call. Long hold times and frequent interruptions reflect poorly on the quality of an answering service along with the reflection the client themselves. Therefore, we provide ample staffing to manage call volume and more importantly hold times. Each of the past three years, MedCom significantly lower the hold times for any callers placed on hold. In 2005, the average hold time for a caller was twenty seven seconds, in 2006 the average dropped to twenty five seconds and last year the average was down again to twenty four seconds. These hold times are well below the industry benchmark, which is service level difficult for competitors to replicate.

Additionally, MedCom is renowned for implementing the latest technologies available. Offering new features provide us ways to reduce customers’ costs, improve the quality and eliminate errors. Staying atop the technology curve, MedCom remains a step ahead of competitors. Some of the latest features include: accessing your messages via the internet, communicating with agents via 2-way text messaging and even enhanced customer data basing. Stemming from using the latest available features, minimal hold times, and efficient quality service, MedCom has earned and won the ATSI Award of Excellence ten consecutive years, including this year’s Top Score.

Finally, it is important to know that your company can’t be the best at everything. The best way to remain profitable is to focus on what you can do best and stand out in those areas. Focusing on core competencies lets you build competitive advantages that your customers will remember.

If you would like to hear more about MedCom, visit our website or use the new CALL ME button on the our blog’s homepage. The CALL ME button connects you directly to our office.

FCC Wireless Spectrum Auction

According the Friday’s Wall Street Journal, Google broadcasted they will make a bid for a 700 MHz wireless spectrum at a Federal Communications Commission auction. To simplify the wireless spectrum being auctioned, the 700 MHz frequency is what is used to carry signal to those old “rabbit ears” television sets. The auction price is estimated to reach $4.6 billion. Other members participating in this auction are most likely going to be the major wireless carriers, Verizon, AT&T and Vodafone. Winning the bid for a wireless license will provide Google a chance to become the newest member in the market of mobile phones and Internet services.

According to an article released by CNet News, Google wants the FCC to agree to its four "open" platform recommendations, which include: open applications for users; open devices that will work with whichever network provider customers choose; open services that would allow for third-party resellers to acquire wireless services on a wholesale basis; and open networks, which would allow third parties, such as Internet service providers, to interconnect at any feasible point within the 700MHz licensee's wireless network. If Google indeed wins the auction, the purchase of the 700MHz wireless spectrum will provide cell phone users access to an “open” platform. This means that cell phone users would be free to choose their service provider and still have access to the wireless spectrum. With a large player such as Google jumping into the mobile provider industry, they will definitely stir up the competition. Increasing competition and easier access to wireless services could create a major overhaul to how mobile providers price their phone and data plans.

On a side note: Resulting from the sale of the wireless spectrum on February 17, 2009, the FCC has mandated that all television channels must be cleared from the “over-the-air” analog spectrum and switched to a digital signal.

GrandCentral: One Number...for Life

Tired of carrying multiple phones or having a list of contact numbers? GrandCentral, which is currently teaming up with Google, has created a solution that far exceeds many average users needs. GrandCentral provides a phone management system that that lets you personalize and customize multiple phone numbers through One Number...for Life.

GrandCentral does not replace your current phone numbers or current devices. They provide you a new phone number that is not set in stone at one location or specific to one device. GrandCentral lets you answer, filter and control calls from any phone at any location with your new number. GrandCentral is currently in beta version and for now is available only through invitation.

Below is listing and summary of the features GrandCentral currently offers.

Screening:
Know who is calling and screen unknown callers. Whether you receive your call on a home, work or mobile phone, GrandCentral tells you who is calling before you accept the call. If the number of the phone calling you is already in your GrandCentral address book, they will let you know the name you have for that contact. If it is a new phone, GrandCentral can ask the person for their name the first time they call. Stop telemarketers in their tracks by never picking up, and then blocking their number so they don't call again.

ListenIn:
Hear why someone is calling before taking the call. Like a home answering machine, GrandCentral lets you listen to voicemail as it is being recorded. You can pick up the call at any time just by pressing the star key. No need to wait until a voicemail is done to hear it and no reason to accept every call. You can surprise people as they are leaving a message by jumping in on the call.

Call Record:

GrandCentral lets you save all or parts of a call. Both parties will hear an announcement notifying callers that call recording has been initiated or stopped. Listen to your recording in your GrandCentral inbox or by phone when you check your voicemail.

SPAM and Blocked:
Unwanted callers won't bother you again. Do you ever get unwanted calls from an annoying telemarketer, pushy sales person or ex-boyfriend/girlfriend? With GrandCentral you can make sure they never bother you again. Either use the "Send to SPAM" option to route callers directly to a SPAM voicemail box or completely block calls with the "Play number not in service" message. In both cases, your phone will not ring when you are called from these numbers.

Notifications:
Receive voicemail updates via email and SMS (text messaging). When you get a voicemail message, GrandCentral lets you know about it with an email, SMS or both. Just enter where you want your notifications sent. There is also a link from your email to listen to the message.

Forwarding Phones:
GrandCentral makes life simpler by letting you control all your calls with one phone number. Choose which phones ring when your GrandCentral number is called or send calls directly to voicemail depending on who calls you. Personalization is easy and there is no need to give different people different numbers or send out a new phone number if you change your job or move. Just update your GrandCentral forwarding settings.

Greetings:
Personalize your voicemail greetings by caller or group. You can play a personalized voicemail greeting based on the individual or group settings you have for any person in your GrandCentral address book. You can also record greetings by calling your own GrandCentral number and following the voice prompts. Listen to and update your greetings as many times as you like.

RingShare:
Go beyond the ring. Why should everyone have to listen to a "ring, ring" when calling? Have fun and play custom sounds for callers waiting for you to pick up. You can even choose to play different tunes for each group or individual.

WebCall Button:
Allow people to call you from your website or blog while keeping your number private. Add a WebCall button to your website or blog for people to call you. Your number stays private and you can use all the normal GrandCentral screening, blocking, forwarding, and other features that put you in control. The WebCall button takes care of connecting the call to you after getting the caller's number.

CallSwitch:
Change phones in the middle of a call. To switch from one phone to another without hanging up, just press the star key while you're talking. Your other phones will ring and you can pick up the one you want and hang up the other. Best of all, your caller won't even hear the switch.

Click 2Call:
Call from your address book or inbox with one click. GrandCentral makes returning calls or calling your contacts simple. From your account, just click on one of the "Call" buttons, and we'll call you and then call that number.

GC Mobile Overview:
Get visual voicemail for your mobile phone. GrandCentral Mobile lets you access all the core GrandCentral features from any web-enabled mobile device that can play MP3 files. Log on at http://m.grandcentral.com with your regular user ID and password and the site will remember you for future visits.

For more information on GrandCentral, visit their website at www.grandcentral.com. Try calling MedCom now with our new Call Me Button in the top right corner of the blog's home page.

Total Lunar Eclipse

Tomorrow evening make sure you stay awake and take a glance up in to the moon. On Wednesday night lasting from 8pm to midnight, there will be a lunar eclipse, when the moon completely passes through the Earth’s shadow. The total lunar eclipse should appear between 10pm and 10:50pm.

A lunar eclipse is visible from any part of the “night side” of the world. The lunar eclipse presents red and even turquoise color across the face of the moon. You should not need any special telescope or equipment to view the lunar eclipse.

Be sure not to miss this total lunar eclipse. Unfortunately if you do miss this, there will be a three year wait before you will get a chance to see it again.

HD DVD Loses War to Blu-ray

As high definition televisions exploded into the main stream market, the makers of DVD and media players quickly followed suit to design newer models capable of playing media in HD quality. These two new HD quality formats are HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs. While both of these new formats used new blue laser technology, the formats of each are very different. These differences created a “battle” between HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs. However, in recent days, the manufacturers of HD DVD players have lost the format war to Blu-ray. Many of the top electronics distributors have confirmed they will be ditching the HD DVD models and exclusively selling Blu-ray players and discs.

The name Blu-ray Disc comes from blue-violet lasers used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength, substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the current DVDs, which uses a red laser. Blu-ray discs will store 25-50 GB of memory compared to HD DVDs 15-30 GB. In terms of video, the storage spaces allows Blu-ray discs to play 23 hours of standard definition video or 9 hours of high definition video.

Another reason, Blu-ray beat out HD DVD is due to the wide spread support for that format from major suppliers of content and distributors. According to www.blu-ray.com, “Seven of the eight major movie studios (Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate) have released titles for Blu-ray, whereas HD-DVD only has support from two major movie studios (Paramount and Universal).” Also to be noted, Blockbuster and Netflix, two of the leading video rental companies, have supported the Blu-ray model over HD DVD.

The last straw for HD DVDs came when leading electronic distributors confirmed they will be supporting Blu-ray technology. Best Buy and Wal-Mart have been two of the most recent to announce their stance behind the move to the latest technology in high definition. Additionally, leading manufactures such as Sony, Panasonic, Philips and many others have favored Blu-ray. For instance, Sony’s latest gaming system the Play Station 3 is currently running Blu-ray technology. There have even been rumors lately that Toshiba, a heavy supporter of the HD DVD format, will be dropping the product line.

Best Buy’s current selection of Blu-ray disc players will run from $399 to $999 (US Dollars). The prices will appear to be quite pricey for “just a DVD player,” but just as HD TVs were expensive when they first hit the market the prices will eventually come back down to Earth. Just remember how impressed you must have been the first time you watched your favorite show or sports game on a HD TV. Now, picture watching your favorite movies in HD as well.

Nearly 500 movies titles have already been released in the Blu-ray format. The future of high definition movies and media storage is moving to Blu-ray players. So if you are shopping around for a new DVD player that matches your HD LCD or Plasma TV, make sure to go with Blu-ray. Although you may wait for the cost to come down some before buying, a Blu-ray disc player will be worth the cost in the long run.

While many stores will still carry remaining HD DVD players and movies, just know that in the upcoming months Blu-ray will become the new dominate technology in the world of high definition.

Call Forwarding 101

Clients that hire new receptionists often have difficulty understanding how call forwarding works, along with how it relates to the answering service. In short, the call forwarding feature is a service provided by your local telephone company and has been available for about twenty years. It was incorporated into modern telephone digital switching technology during the 1980's.

This change replaced hard-wired “secretarial lines” eliminating the need for answering services to be physically located near a telephone company’s central office. Call-forwarding was a huge change for our industry. Answering services can now serve clients located anywhere in the country. Initially, it took time to catch on as people had to understand and learn how to use it.

Now call-forwarding has evolved further into a value added feature called “Ultra Forwarding.” Ultra Forwarding allows you to forward your calls from any phone line. Standard forwarding requires you to use the phone line that you wish to activate and cancel call forwarding. Ultra Forwarding is beneficial in case you are not at your office when the phone lines need to be forwarded to the service.
Once your office calls are forwarded to us, you cannot answer them until you deactivate call-forwarding. You will receive a short ring to remind you that your line is forwarded, but the call itself is switched instantly by the phone company over to us. Call-forwarding is a monthly recurring charge that will appear on your local telephone bill. It may be incorporated into a “package” of calling features and not separately itemized. Any toll charges to forward the call are charged to the forwarded number. For many clients, the recurring monthly charge for the call-forwarding service is the only additional cost and no toll-charges need apply.

You must have call-forwarding enabled on your main business number in order to use this feature. It is only necessary to forward the main published number, the number that you give to your clients to reach you, usually the main line. Simultaneous calls normally transfer to us without the second caller receiving a busy signal. Make some test calls using a couple of cell phones and check to see that both calls go through. If the second call gets a busy signal, contact your local phone company business office and ask to have one or two additional “talk paths” added to your line.

In most areas to activate call forwarding, just lift the receiver and press *72.

After you hear a second dial tone, enter the phone number that you wish to forward your calls. Then, wait for us to answer. Let us know you have forwarded your lines to the service, who is on call and when you will be returning. It is highly recommended to confirm your call forwarding has been activated successfully. You can do so by using an alternate phone line and dialing the number you wish to be forwarded. In the event you cannot get call forwarding to activate, try cancelling call forwarding and then re-forward your line. When you cancel call forwarding, it will reset your line.

In most areas to cancel call forwarding, just lift the receiver and press *73.

Two tones tell you call forwarding is off.

Cell Phones Can Do More Than You Think

The days of expensive bulky mobile phones are long gone. Reception signal and customization were some major problems with the early cell phones. The uniqueness of an original mobile phone for making and taking calls has been far surpassed by even today’s most simple mobile devices. Today, most cell phone users have upgraded to a newer generation of cell phones multiple times. It’s nearly impossible to be in public without hearing someone’s favorite song set as their personal ringtone. Many cell phones come with an extraordinary amount of features and applications that could only be dreamed of with the original models. Phones now include text messaging, built in cameras, video recorders and music players. Additionally, smartphones provide wireless access to email, documents, calendars, internet access and even GPS location. Even if you are stuck in one of those 2 year contracts and can’t upgrade your phone or service plan until that ends, there is still a way for you to get the information you need from your cell phone. Also, if you want to avoid high monthly costs for data plans, what you may not know is that Google has provided a way to for you to get most of the same the information on your cell phone on demand for no additional charges.

Google SMS (Text)

The way Google provides this information is through text messaging. Google Text works very similar to the Google search on you desktop or laptop. Send a text message with your query to “GOOGLE” (466453) and within seconds Google will respond with the closest match. Here are some of the most common searches and examples. I have found using Google SMS very simple and the best part is how quick the responses are received.

• Directions: To get driving directions, enter your start address then 'to' followed by your destination address (ex: 94040 to 94043, pasadena ca to los angeles).
• Weather: To get weather information, enter 'weather' (or 'w') followed by a city and state, or zip (ex: weather 10013, w New York, NY).
• Local Business Listings: To get business listings, enter what you want to find and include a city and state, or zip (ex: pizza 10013).
• Movie Times: To get movie show times, enter the name of a CURRENT movie and include a city and state, or zip (ex: moviename 10013, moviename Boston, MA).
• Glossary: To find definitions on the Web, enter 'define' (or 'd') followed by the word or phrase (ex: define ubiquitous, d network).
• Sports Scores: For NBA/NHL/MLB/NFL/NCAA scores/schedules, enter a team name (ex: Lakers, Sharks, Mets, Jets, Duke). Available only for sports in season.
• Stock Prices: To get stock quotes, enter a SINGLE stock ticker symbol or the word 'stock' followed by a less obvious ticker name (ex: GOOG, stock DUCK).
• Product Prices: To get product prices, enter 'price' followed by the product name (ex: price dvd player, price camera), or enter the UPC/ISBN code directly.
• Airlines/Flights: To get flight information, enter the flight number to get gate times or the airline to get the phone number (ex: ua 14, united airlines).
• Translations: To get translations, enter 'translate' (or 't') followed by the expression, 'to' and a destination language (ex: translate dog to french, t new to german).

Listed above are some of the more popular searches Google offers through Google SMS. There are even more listed on their website. They even give you a chance to get a feel for how this works on the website before using your cell phone.

Google 411 (1 800 GOOG-441 or 1 800 466-4411)

For those that aren’t very familiar with text messaging or just prefer to speak with someone, Google offers a voice activated system of the same information, free of charge. There is no longer a need to pay additional fees for 411 information per call. Google’s 411 services let you search for businesses by name or category, anytime or anywhere. An added bonus, Google will connect you to the desired number or location free of charge. To save time, enter the Google 411 number into your cell phone as a contact.

SMS/Text Messaging at Your Answering Service

Have you thought about how you can use your cell phone to interact with your answering service? Imagine getting your messages sent to your mobile device via text message within seconds of us receiving the call. There would be no need to scramble around looking for a pen to jot the message down on paper. All the needed information would be sent directly to your cell phone. Also, receiving your messages via text messaging allows you easy access to your messages for future reference. Text messaging is a cheap and reliable source of receiving messages. Unlike pagers if you are out of a coverage area, the text message will appear immediately once you return to a coverage zone.

Better yet, you can even communicate with our agents through two-way text messaging. If you need to respond to a message, update your On Call status or just have a question, you can initiate a conversation by sending us a text message. This would allow you the quick, quiet and convenient way to interact with our CSRs. For more information on how using text messaging will work with your account, please give us a call today.

For those that are not clients of ours, check and see if your current answering service offers these features. If not, please give us a call or visit our website to see how we can better suit your needs.

Our First Post!

Welcome to MedCom Professional Services, Inc. Blog. We hope that you frequently visit this blog to stay up to date on current events with our company, staff, technology and customer service. We encourage you to post comments and feedback. This is an opportunity for you to keep in touch with us, share your thoughts and experiences, and maybe even learn something new every now and then.

About MedCom.
MedCom, located in Levittown, PA, began its 24/7 answering service with a handful of clients in 1987, many of which are still with us today. MedCom has grown into a nationwide answering service, handling clients in the medical, professional and commercial industries. From its inception, MedCom's commitment has been to provide the highest quality services to our client base. We have built our reputation and our business by growing in a controlled and steady manner. We offer our clients continued improvements in systems and technology and we maintain the highest standards of professional excellence. MedCom is fully committed to our staff of 30 employees. In an industry that traditionally compensates its staff with low wages, offers no benefits and experiences 50% employee turnover, MedCom stands out in employee compensation and loyalty. We offer our CSRs a living wage, comprehensive health benefits and profit sharing. Additionally, we provide significant bonus incentives to staff and managers alike. Motivated employees who have a personal stake and who care about their job will always outperform the competition. As a result of MedCom's management team and loyal staff's effort to provide the highest quality service, our company has been awarded the ATSI Award of Excellence for 10 consecutive years. In 2007, MedCom received the award for the top score as the nation's best answering service.







Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. We look forward to this new way to communicate to our clients, staff and all other visitors to this forum. Again, we encourage everyone to respond with your comments and experiences. For more information about MedCom, please visit our website at www.medcom.us.