Posts by Bob McCallister

Coming soon, a number of objects in our lives will be connected, automatically sharing information and performing functions to save us time and hassle. Thermostats, fitness trackers, car door locks, toll booths, refrigerators, espresso machines, outdoor lighting – they’ll all be part of the Internet of Things (IoT). But someone needs to be responsible for assuring they all stay connected. It’s the perfect opportunity for carriers to deliver more value than ever before. How? –…  MORE

“Plain old telephone service” might seem like a timeworn phrase spoken by your grandmother from the Midwest. But it’s actually a legitimate term telecom companies use to describe, well, plain old telephone service. They even have nifty acronym for it – POTS. “Old” is the operative word here, as the traditional landline is going away like an object in the rear-view mirror. POTS revenue is declining, maintenance costs are rising, and customer service is almost…  MORE

Every business, no matter the category, is undergoing a digital transformation. That’s because today’s user has all the power – they can view, shop, and make a number of decisions from any device, anytime, anywhere. Networks must now employ the combination of automation, intelligence and analytics to adapt to this new user behavior. Built properly and used correctly, your network can measure every user action to improve efficiency, reduce costs and provide a more responsive…  MORE

It seems like every other month, we hear about a security breach at a large company. And when that large company is a mega-retailer, like Target, there’s huge trouble. Not just for the hundreds of thousands (or millions) of consumer records in the database, but a loss of consumer confidence. What’s a poor retailer to do? Once a reputation gets damaged, it’s tough to win back confidence from customers who have dozens of other shopping…  MORE