BizRules Blog

I have been using AT&T CallVantage VOIP for a couple of years now, and I really liked their service. Unfortunately AT&T decided to shut down this service. I'm not sure why. But here are some clues:

"Based on our continued focus to deliver the best possible products and services to our customers and to focus our efforts and investments on new technologies, we are no longer offering AT&T CallVantage Service. All of our current residential and business customer accounts will be retired by end of year 2009. Customers are currently being given the opportunity to migrate to another AT&T service, transfer to another service provider, or disconnect service completely."

 

"We are focusing our efforts and investments on developing and enhancing our new technologies. While we understand that it may be an inconvenience to transfer services, we are focusing our efforts on making the transition as smooth as possible for customers."

 

"In April, AT&T CallVantage customers began to receive several notifications informing them that AT&T CallVantage Service is being discontinued and urging them to explore other AT&T service alternatives. If a customer fails to take action, we will continue to reach out to the customer to make sure they are aware of their options to transfer services." *

Until now, AT&T has been doing a great job of sending letters warning me to port my numbers before they shut down CV. I don't want to lose my phone numbers, so I've been looking into my options for porting and using these numbers. I'm going to miss CV: their customer service has been pretty good, and the VOIP service has been excellent.

Today I received an email notice that they ported one of my lines. What I don't understand is why they decided to blame me for deciding to cancel the service.

CRM Rule #1: Don't blame the customer for your decisions or mistakes 

-----Original Message-----

From: AT&T CallVantage Service [mailto:CustomerNotifications@maillennium.att.com]

Sent: Friday, September 25, 2009 12:02 PM

To: xxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: AT&T CallVantage Service Disconnect Order Confirmation for (999) 999-9999

 

As requested on 09/25/2009, AT&T CallVantage (R) Service is in the process of disconnecting your 2nd Line service. You will not be able to place or receive calls using the AT&T CallVantage Service on your 2nd Line. If you have not done so already, you should immediately arrange for service with an alternate phone service provider.

 

If you have any questions or concerns simply visit https://www.callvantage.att.com/help. We are sorry you decided to cancel this additional line, but want to thank you again for being a AT&T CallVantage Service customer.

 

Sincerely,

 

AT&T CallVantage Service Team

Hey it wasn't my decision! I was a happy customer. I think this letter could have been a little nicer. Simple CRM rules can help make it better.

Keywords & tags: AT&T shutting down CallVantage VOIP service

* Links:

http://www.callvantage.att.com/disconnect

http://www.cnbc.com/id/30346565/for/cnbc/

http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/converg/2008/082508converge1.html?t51hb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_CallVantage

https://www.callvantage.att.com/help/genfaqs/disconnect_why.htm

Posted by Ask Rolo at 05:11 PM Filed under CRM Rules | | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Orbitz just lost its cool.

I just booked a roundtrip flight from Dallas to Atlanta. The outbound flight is at 5:30AM CDT. The return flight is at 4:05PM EDT. Each flight is about two and a half hours long.

But according the Orbitz' email confirmation:

1. This is an overnight flight.
2. This flight arrives two days later.
3. This flight arrives on the previous day.
4. This flight arrives two days prior.
5. This flight departs from a different airport.
6. This trip starts and ends at different airports.  (see the rest of the email text below)

WOW! There is just way too much information here to absorb. I need to take this one step at a time so it can really soak in.

First, "this is an overnight flight." Do you know if you have to pay for pillows and blankets nowadays?

Second, "this flight arrives two days later." Apollo 11 took four days to get to the moon. (July 16-19, 1969)

Third, "this flight arrives on the previous day." Now that I can believe! Believe it or not, that would be the second time this ever happened to me. Once I flew out of Tokyo at night on my birthday. I arrived in Hawaii in the morning, on my birthday. The International Date Line is cool that way. (see http://bizrules.com/resumes/rh_mobil_story.htm) 

Fourth, "this flight arrives two days prior." Back to the Future. Sounds like a good time to buy some stocks before takeoff.

Next, "this flight departs from a different airport." I hope they have a fast shuttle bus.

Finally, this trip starts and ends at different airports. I guess that message is OK. The main reason I booked this trip is to get from one city to another. So this message is technically correct. I've never seen this message before in Orbitz email confirmations, so this could be a new system enhancement to improve customer service: it's good to let customers know that they will land in a different place than where they took off from. That's all good. So that's not really a bug. It's more like a feature.

This automated email has 5 or 6 mistakes, depending on whether you think #6 is a bug or a feature. Actually 10 or 12 mistakes, because the messages were listed for each flight. That's not good.

Orbitz has a business rule problem. Somewhere in the system, rules are missing or they are just plane wrong. Orbitz needs to improve their business rules management system. Orbitz needs to figure out what their business rules are and what they should be. They need rules that are correct, complete, compliant, consistent, clear, and concise.

That's what Orbitz needs. And what Orbitz customers deserve.

Rolando Hernandez, CEO, www.BizRules.com

NOTE: Below is an excerpt of the Orbitz email

=================================================
Your Travel Document

Hello ROLANDO,

Thanks for traveling with Orbitz. This e-mail confirms the ticket number(s) issued for the "Atlanta <DepartureDate>" trip.

<DepartureDate>
Delta Air Lines # 1912
 
Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson ATL (ATL)
Departure (DFW): <DepartureDate>, 5:30 AM CDT (morning)
Arrival (ATL): <DepartureDate>, 8:48 AM EDT (morning)

 This flight arrives two days later.

 This flight arrives on the previous day.

 This flight arrives two days prior.

 This flight departs from a different airport.

 This trip starts and ends at different airports.

<ReturnDate>
Delta Air Lines # 67
 
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson ATL (ATL) to Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)
Departure (ATL): <ReturnDate>, 4:05 PM EDT (afternoon)
Arrival (DFW): <ReturnDate>, 5:34 PM CDT (evening)

 This is an overnight flight.

 This flight arrives two days later.

 This flight arrives on the previous day.

 This flight arrives two days prior.

 This flight departs from a different airport.

 This trip starts and ends at different airports.
=================================================

Update 1: An Orbitz customer service rep said this was due to Delta merging with Northwest. The inventory data from Delta is messed up she said. I wonder how many people received these warnings and error messages.

Update 2: A good place to go for more information on business rules management and rulebase techology is www.rulesfest.org

Posted by Ask Rolo at 08:49 PM Filed under BR 101, BRE / BRMS, BRM (Rule Mgmt), Benefits / ROI, Brain Drain, Business Mistakes, Compliance (SOX, etc.), E-Commerce Rules, Lessons Learned, Rule Examples | | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Join the Federal Knowledge Management Initiative & Federal KM Working Group

America faces critical challenges today (information overload, brain drain in government, sharing knowledge, automating knowledge, making laws easier to understand, etc.) and enormous opportunities in the years ahead.

I truly believe KM is part of the solution that can help us overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities.

Government and private sector KM executives have united and formed the Federal Knowledge Management Initative to convince our leaders in Congress and the Obama Administration to coordinate, formalize, and centralize America's efforts around knowledge management.

This presentation by Neil Olonoff summarizes the "Federal Knowledge Management Initiative Roadmap." The initiative, begun several months ago by members of the Federal Knowledge Management Working Group, aims to establish an official center for knowledge management in the Federal Government. With this center of operations as a start, the Federal government can begin to foster knowledge sharing practices and culture, build innovation, and find solutions to the Knowledge Retention Crisis. And there is much more to the plan. Learn how you can become a part of this exciting, ambitious new direction for knowledge management in Government, by attending via phone and computer.

Download Federal Knowledge Management Initiative PPT

Join the Federal KM Working Group. No dues are involved. To join the listserv, send a blank e-mail to kmgov-subscribe@list.jpl.nasa.gov

Read the Roadmap on their Wiki page:

http://www.km.gov

Posted by Ask Rolo at 08:57 PM Filed under Brain Drain, CEO, CIO, Challenges, KM (Knowledge Mgmt), Press Release | | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Free Webinar by Dr. Leon Kappelman: Enterprise Architecture 101

Posted by Ask Rolo at 08:01 PM Filed under EA (Enterprise Architecture) | | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jobs: RuleBurst (Haley Rules) Technical Architect

BIZRULES is looking for a Haley Rules Technical Architect *

The Haley Rules Technical Architect manages the design and implementation of the Haley rules engine within the context of the Seibel implementation.  The Haley Rules Technical Architect will design the integration into the target environment.  The Haley Rules Technical Architect should have extensive experience implementing Haley Rules within the Seibel context.

* by "Haley Rules" the client means
- RuleBurst Rule Engine (BRE)
- SoftLaw Rule Engine (BRE) / Expert System (ES) 
- Haley Office Rules
- Haley Expert Rules
- Haley Business Rule Engine (BRE)

This is for a long term project. RULEBURST/SOFTLAW experts anywhere in the world (Australia, UK, Canada, USA, etc.) are welcome to apply for this challenging opportunity! Relocation available for top candidates.

If you are interested and have experience with RULEBURST / SOFTLAW / HALEY RULES contact us or send your resume to

Careers8@BizRules.com

Posted by Ask Rolo at 12:58 PM Filed under Haley, Jobs | | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jobs: RuleBurst (Haley Rules) Modeler  

BIZRULES is looking for a Haley Rules Modeler *

The Haley Rule Modeler designs and implements the Haley Rules using the Haley data model and rules. The Haley Rule Modeler is expected to have extensive experience implementing the Haley rules engine and should have experience implementing the Haley rules engine in the context of Seibel implementations.

* by "Haley Rules" the client means
- RuleBurst Rule Engine (BRE)
- SoftLaw Rule Engine (BRE) / Expert System (ES) 
- Haley Office Rules
- Haley Expert Rules
- Haley Business Rule Engine (BRE)

This is for a long term project. RULEBURST/SOFTLAW experts anywhere in the world (Australia, UK, Canada, USA, etc.) are welcome to apply for this challenging opportunity! Relocation available for top candidates.

If you are interested and have experience with RULEBURST / SOFTLAW / HALEY RULES contact us or send your resume to

Careers8@BizRules.com

Posted by Ask Rolo at 12:57 PM Filed under Haley, IBM, Jobs | | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WARNING: CEO's need to wise up and "bail out" of billion dollar IT projects right now

Dear CEO: 

I am sick and tired of reading about billion dollar IT projects that we both know are never going to work, change, or last. It's time to stop the non-sense and use common-sense.

Here's just one example from InformationWeek. California is spending $3,600,000,000 (that's $3.6 BILLION) on these systems:

• Financial system: 11.8 years, $1.6B
• Strategic Offender System: 5.7 years, $416M
• Home Support Services: 10 years, $298M
• Automated Welfare System: 3.8 years, $263M
• Child Welfare System: 7.3 years, $254M
• Motor Vehicles IT Modernization: 6.8 years, $207M
• Consolidate IT Infrastructure: 2.9 years, $191M
• HR System: 6.1 years, $179M
• ERP for Prisons: 4.5 years, $176M 

Do you really want to cut your systems development budget?

Here's how:

Let's say you're planning an 18-month $18 million systems development project. Imagine that's the cost and time for analysis, design, programming, testing, and deployment.

Using business rules, rulebases, rulebased technology, and architecture and engineering principles, we can program that system in 12 months and $12 million. It's that easy.

We can save you 6 months and $6 million just by using rule-based programming languages instead of hard-coding your rules.

If you can tell us exactly what all your business requirements are, and how many business rules you have, well then we can bring your costs down even more.

We can find enough good qualifed experienced out of work programmers right now who are just as cost-effective and as productive as any programmer in any country who would love to work on your project. And they're ready to start as soon as you're ready to save $$$.

When do you want to start saving millions of dollars?

Hurry, you must act now. Call 1-800-SAVE. The first 50 callers will save an additonal $1 million if you call in the next 30 days. You must call before shareholders find out how much you're really spending on systems development.

PS - By the way, for every $1 billion you spend on development, you're spending $5 billion on maintenance. It's time to stop IT non-sense. You must call now!

Posted by Ask Rolo at 10:59 AM Filed under BR 101, Benefits / ROI, CEO, CIO, Challenges, Lessons Learned | | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)