Month: May 2010

Managing contact centres is a mammoth task and even more so when you have to manage staff holidays and days off. You need to make sure that you have enough staff covering the phones and make sure that you keep the delicate balance between keeping staff moral up and not allowing holidays to affect your operational costs.

The TotalView Vacation and Holiday Planner enable you to simplify the whole process, from selecting possible holidays to approving the entire workforce’s time off. This will save a lot of administration time and allows you to set rules for all of your call centre agents giving them more control over their paid and unpaid leave.

This programme is designed to cut down on operational time and ensure that you will have enough staff to cover the call centre every day of the year. It gives your call centre agents the chance to ask for holidays through an online request service which will approve the days automatically if the call centre is adequately staffed.

The TotalView Vacation and Holiday Planner do not just cover holiday requests. It is also possible to use it for managing sick leave and personal leave each which have different rates and different restrictions. There are rules which can be set so that you cap the number of agents who take time off each day and also you have the ability to monitor the amount of half-days and early finishes each staff member has.

Another unique feature of this programme is the ability to customise it for each area of the call centre. Obviously different departments have different needs so each location can be managed separately.

Call centre agents can view the holiday request screen individually which allows them to see which dates are available. They are easy to use and will not let anyone book a holiday if there is not enough cover for them. It is up to the agents themselves to make sure they book their holidays well enough in advance so that they can have the leave – It works on a purely first come first serve basis.

There will obviously be some people who miss out on the dates that they wanted because they booked them too late, but this is the same with or without this programme. However, it is possible for those who missed out to place themselves on a waiting list in case the dates become available. If somebody does cancel their holiday, as a manager you can customise the way you deal with this. You can set it so that the first person on the waiting list automatically gets the dates or you can reserve it and give it to which you choose to.

Once you install the vacation and holiday planner, you will immediately see how much of your time is freed up. There is no need to personally deal with individual holiday requests or queries so you will have more tie to spend on the running of your business.

At the end of the day, holidays are important to everyone in a workplace and it is important that everyone has a fair share of annual leave. By installing this programme, you are ensuring that your employees take an active role in booking their preferred holiday dates.

While desktop computers can be a little more bulky than laptops, they offer a lot more power too. From playing games to watching movies; from designing to development they play many different roles in our life. They are hugely useful in many different working environments from offices to hospitals. And unlike laptops, Desktop Computers are cheaper and faster.

There are many large companies that manufacture and sell desk top computers. There are also many different types that are useful in many different areas. The key differentiator is with the internal components; Microprocessor, RAM (Random Access Memory), Hard drive, Monitor, Graphics Card. So let’s talk about these components in detail.

Microprocessor – It is called the “Brain of the Computer” and is responsible for the overall functioning of your Desktop Computer. Be very precise when it comes to this. For home use you may choose a dual core processor, Core 2 duo or Quad Core for professional developers. The Core 2 Extreme Processor (the fastest available in the market) is great for the high end gamers.

RAM – it helps in increasing the performance of the computer, today generally 2 GB (Gigabyte) of RAM comes in with a Desktop Computer that can be upgraded to 4 GB or more.

Hard drive – Desktop computers can come with a huge amount of hard disk space. It is important to understand what you want to do with it. For example, if you are wanting to store a lot of movies and music, you may want to look at something as large as 500 GB or even higher.

Monitor – From a CRT monitor to a TFT, and from 15” inch to 21” inch, there are many different options and one suitable for everyone’s pocket.

Graphics Card – This enhances the graphics and display of your computer. A good graphics card will take your computer to a different level. There are dedicated as well as on board graphics available. Ranging from 64 mb – 1 gb of dedicated and 128mb – 1 gb of onboard graphics.

We can see that there are a number of factors to consider when choosing a new desktop computer so it is worth reading reviews and also keeping a look out for seasonal offers.

Most gaming jobs are in quality assurance testing and require that the tester works at the video game companies “in house” location which is normally not close enough  for people like you and me.But now gaming jobs can go to freelance gamers that get a membership and work from home beta testing new games before they are released and check them for defects or glitches in the programming.

Top level game tester salary can be attained for the dedicated gamer and bonuse will be available for catching major flaws in the games playability and programming.Gaming jobs are important because companies need to know how normal people play games and what they expect to get out of a title.

If you love playing video games and would love to start getting paid for it by top video game companies then consider such gaming jobs like beta testing and quality assurance as an option.You don’t even need to have experience testing games because you will be taken step by step through the process to make sure you can make the most money possible testing video games online.

To get started and see the whole list of gaming jobs that you can start on from home then check out this great website that I started out with and have made lots of money ever since @ Gaming Jobs Online. They provide a list of companies that you can get started with right away.

Make sure to also create a profile and get involved in the forums so you can share your opinion about games and stuff with others.See you there.

The car industry is a clear reflection of all the recent and hi-tech advancements and developments. With so many innovations coming up, car industry has also show a paradigm shift from simple commuting to comfort, luxury and ease. One such known innovation is the Global Positioning System (GPS).

gps is a navigational aid originally developed for the army, forces and military. It is a simple device that helps to search a particular location on the map. The technology uses a number of satellites to send and receive transmission data.

The system comprises of 24 satellites that revolve around the earth’s orbit twice per day. These satellites are monitored by ground stations located at various sites on earth. The main purpose of these ground stations is to update, verify and correct the navigational signals of the satellites. After the signals and messages from the satellites are verified and monitored, these are received by the receivers installed in the vehicle.

The GPS software installed in the vehicle interprets the signal. This interpretation also identifies the signal sending satellite, the location of the satellite and the time signal took to reach the receiver. After that the receiver determines the actual position.

Three satellites form an intersection to pinpoint the location and a fourth satellite plays a role to verify the accuracy of the position. Accuracy level is influenced by the harmonization of atomic clocks present in the satellites with those present in the GPS System.

GPS system installed in cars provide useful information about the car’s actual position, best road to the destination, traffic areas and even display the time required to reach a particular destination. The driver just needs to target a location and the software will calculate the optimum distance and route immediately. Some advanced maps will also display information on the nearest supermarkets, gas stations, hotels, food centres and ATM machines. Apart from the display on the dashboard, some GPS system also has voice instructions to guide drivers to their route.

GPS also aids to track the car mileage and car speed. It also helps in recovery of stolen cars as it gives complete information on all the destinations where the car has been stopped and for how long. These way car owners are able to track their cars if stolen or if taken by their drivers for some work.

Currently, there are only few Indian cars that are compatible to GPS technology. The luxury brands like Mercedes Benz and BMW have most of their cars fitted with this technology but other Indian car manufacturers are on their way to make their new cars compatible to GPS technology.

Recently, Volvo has brought an innovative technology known as Road Traffic Information to India. This works on the concept of GPS and helps the car driver to search a set destination through unfamiliar roads and traffic environments. The system is available at an additional cost of Rs 1.5 lakh.

GPS technology is gaining popularity in Indian cars. It is believed that the in-car navigation system is soon to enter some major Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

Cyber Warfare

Recent media reports suggest that there has been an increase in Cyber warfare or electronic assaults from hostile governments as well as drug lords. The reality is that many developing nations are vulnerable and cannot protect themselves and their infrastructures such as stock markets, communication and transport systems against such attacks.

Furthermore, with all these growing threats there is a need for nations to come together and sign a legally binding digital asset treaty. A treaty such as this would make it an offence for a hostile government to use cyber attacks or electronic espionage against another country. In November 2001 UK, the European Union States, Canada, Japan and the United States signed what is known as the Council of Europe Agreement on digital crime activities. The significance outcome of this agreement is cross border investigation of cybercrime between these nations. This makes it easier for law enforcement agencies of these nations to cooperate on extradition requests for offenses against one country committed from within another country. In addition, these countries went further to adopt common ground on criminal laws such as hacking, forgery, digital related fraud, unauthorised access to computer systems, infringements of copyright and child pornography.

The agreement stopped short of including developing countries such as the G20, however the UN should take a lead in enacting a digital asset treaty that will cover offenses such as fraud, unauthorised computer access, child pornography, data privacy and copyright.  Although, computer crime is truly international, differing Acts in different jurisdictions inhibits prosecution of international digital crime.

For more information please visit our network security website at http://www.honeyjet.co.uk/. There we have an extensive selection of network security articles, tools and network security solutions.