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Holy Paging Systems!

TAD — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:01:21 +0000

Paging systems are often synonymous with high-stakes situations. Often, characters we watch on police and hospital dramas are summoned to the next confrontation or plot twist with the bleeping of their trusty pager. That’s to say nothing of the real emergencies where pagers are the most logical choice for quick and reliable communications between emergency services personnel. Although pagers are commonly used in many commercial areas, such as in restaurants where they alert hungry diners to a free table, one place you might not have expected to hear of paging systems being implemented would be in a church. Another place you might not expect to find pagers is in a nursery. So what are the chances of finding the two uses combined?

Pagers in Church

At many large churches today, predominantly in the USA (but the practice is now spreading rapidly worldwide), you’re assigned a pager when you drop your child or children off at the church’s nursery. If a parent is needed in the nursery during the worship service, or whichever event they’re attending at the church’s premises, the nursery worker uses the church paging systems to notify the parent. It’s as simple as pushing the pager number into the transmitter. When the pager vibrates, the parent can quietly leave the service and attend to their child.

Wide Services

Paging systems can be found in a range of sizes – as many churches differ in size, or hold outdoor events on the church grounds, the paging systems they use must be wide ranging enough to cover the entire church property so that parents can be reached anywhere, even in the car parks. Another advantage of using paging systems is that people around the parent aren’t disturbed by any noise or bleeping during the service – it can be quite embarrassing when the ringtone of a mobile phone can be heard blaring over a hymn or psalm, for instance. A pager vibrates discreetly, allowing the parent to get up and leave respectfully and quietly.

Nursery Workers

Implementing paging systems in church nurseries has many benefits, not only for the convenience of the poor parent disturbed in the middle of their service, but for the nursery workers as well. No longer do they have to possibly leave their charges in order to interrupt a service themselves; and being able to summon a parent remotely means less staff are needed at any one time so that one can leave in case of emergencies. Regardless of the size of the nursery staff, it makes sense to have as many nursery attendees free to care for their charges as possible.

Philosophy

As many congregations will tell you, a church’s size shouldn’t matter in terms of the service it provides to its community. Paging systems have been successfully implemented in churches and nurseries all over the world, because timely and discreet communications can be just as important to everyday people as any rapid orders needing to be delivered in an emergency scenario. Pagers in churches are, ultimately, all about peace of mind – the goal of every good church-goer, surely?

Kelly Atkinson is the Marketing Executive for Multitone Systems, a tele communications strategies company that has provided paging systems and pagers for organisations in the public and private sector for many years.

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The Communications Strategies for Mating among Deep-sea Creatures

TAD — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:33:31 +0000

For creatures living in the oceans’ depths, where light is almost entirely absent and the scarcity of food means that individuals must range far from one another, finding a suitable mate is considerably more challenging than in most other regions on Earth. For this purpose, these creatures have adapted various communications strategies for attracting and seeking a mate: enhanced senses, bioluminescence and electrical communication are the most common.

Into the Abyss

At 200 metres below the surface, the Mesopelagic or “Twilight” zone of the ocean begins. Here the creatures begin to bioluminesce in the murky light and food scarcity is already driving them apart, or to the surface at night, or to develop long, sharp teeth to attack their ambitiously large prey. The Bathypelagic zone begins at 1,000 metres; below the Abyssopelagic zone, its name taken from the Greek for “bottomless”, and the Hadal zones of deep-sea trenches. Barely any light penetrates to these zones. The only sources of food are what trickle down from above – with occasional feasts of dead whales and large fish and other local-dwelling creatures. Many species are transparent or have developed a red colouration – because the faint sunlight is blue-green, as is most bioluminescence, red is not reflected by deep-sea light sources and appears black against the black sea. Finding prey is a challenge in these waters, let alone finding a mate. Deep-sea creatures have had to develop specialised communications strategies for this essential part of their lives.

Senses

Sensing a potential mate across any distance in the deep ocean is not easy, and those creatures that rely on the more conventional senses, like sight or hearing, have adapted to develop especially good optical or audio organs for that purpose. Fishes like the darters and sticklebacks are among those who may use colouration to advertise their availability. Other creatures have communications strategies based on sending sounds or chemical smells through the water.

Light

Some deep-sea creatures possess the ability to produce light through bioluminescence, solving the problem of extremely limited sunlight for vision. Bioluminescence is achieved in two different ways: through a symbiotic relationship with light-producing bacteria, or from the fish’s own self-luminous cells called photophores. Many deep-sea fish famously use this light to attract their prey, swinging their curious lamps through the abyss. Others, like the Atlantic midshipman, may employ it as their communications strategy in attracting a mate. Lanternfishes have photophores in rows along their sides, arranged in species-specific patterns; these lights can be seen from a distance by potential mates.

The Electric Organ

Certain species of skates and rays have electricity producing organs, applied to several purposes. For example, electric rays use their paired electric organs to shock and stun their prey, while using the electric field they can generate to navigate, locate prey and communicate.
The electric organ’s role in communications strategies is not restricted to the electric eel: the skate’s electricity producing organs, located near the tail, only produce weak electric fields not capable of stunning prey. Researchers believe that the skate’s electric organ therefore plays a critical role in locating a mate, among other necessary communications.

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading telecommunications strategies company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategy systems for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Communications Strategies of Trees

TAD — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:43:33 +0000

Scientists have discovered over recent decades that some trees and plants emit chemicals that provoke a survival-boosting reaction in surrounding trees or even in animals. The extent to which this represents trees “talking” remains under debate. In some cases, it seems passive: the second tree simply responds to the first tree’s chemical reaction to its own problem. In others, the communications strategies look far more intentional, with the endangered plant reaching out, such as the tobacco plant when besieged by hornworm caterpillars. Here are several examples of these communications strategies used by trees.

Walnut trees

When stressed by unusually high temperatures and droughts, walnut trees emit a chemical form of aspirin, methyl salicylate. This triggers the formation of proteins that boost their biochemical defences and reduce injury, analogous to a human’s immune response. Farmers hope to utilise this as an early warning signal for crops that are beginning to fail, before any visible signs like dying leaves appear. Additionally, these may be communications strategies for the trees themselves to ensure that all walnut trees in the ecosystem build up their defences, as lab research has indicated that a plant may begin forming the defensive proteins if linked to a plant emitting the chemical.

Poplars

In an experiment in New Hampshire, Jack Schultz and Ian Baldwin potted 45 young poplar trees and put 15 in an isolated chamber far away, as the control group. The other 30 were placed together. They mechanically ripped leaves off 15 trees while leaving the other half intact. They returned after two days to analyse the leaves for phenolics (certain noxious compounds), and found that the leaves from both the ripped and intact trees showed significant increases in these compounds. Meanwhile, the control group showed no change. This experiment indicated that poplars have communications strategies for spreading awareness of a leaf-destroying insect danger.

Acacias

Another example of these kinds of communications strategies are some African savannah acacias. When nibbled by antelope they produce leaf tannin in quantities lethal to the browsers, while simultaneously emitting ethylene into the air. Capable of travelling up to approximately 45 metres, this ethylene prompts neighbouring trees to produce their own leaf tannin within 5 to 10 minutes. This was discovered by Wouter Van Hoven of Pretoria University, South Africa while investigating the sudden death of 3,000 kudu antelope on game ranches in the Transvaal. Their fences forced them to continue eating the tannin-poisoned leaves, while giraffes, roaming freely in the ranches, only ate from one acacia tree in ten and avoided those downwind and thus were not affected.

Tobacco

In this example, the tobacco plants do not actually talk to their neighbours – instead they have communications strategies for summoning predators. Hornworm caterpillars are a pest to tobacco plants, devouring their leaves, but when a chemical in their spit reacts with airborne substances – called green leaf volatiles – released by the plants, the predatory big-eyed bug is drawn to the plant. There it feasts on the caterpillars, ridding the plant of its problem.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Strange Communications Strategies of Cats

TAD — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:30:05 +0000

Sometimes our cat’s behaviour can seem a little on the odd side to us humans. Is there any reason that Sylvester head butts us in the morning, or kneads our stomach as we settle down in front of the TV? Actually yes, both these are forms of affection and understanding your cat’s communications strategies can help build up a relationship with your pet and let you know whether your cat is feeling happy or sad.

Why does my cat head butt me?

Waking up in the morning to a cat head-butting you is not as bad as it sounds. Your cat is simply adopting the same communications strategies that it would use with another cat that it enjoys the company of. When cats like each other, they greet one another with a head-butt and this often extends into a full body rub. So if you wake up to a head-butt remember that it’s nothing to worry about; your cat is simply showing you some affection.

Why does my cat’s teeth chatter when he looks at birds through the window?

Why cats adopt these particular communications strategies when looking at birds they can’t reach has divided scientists’ opinion. Some believe that the cat’s teeth are chattering as a sign of frustration at not being able to reach its prey. However, another school of thought is that the cat is chattering in an attempt to emulate the natural call of the bird’s prey in a bid to trap the bird.

Why does my cat knead me before settling on my lap?

Kittens are taught to paw their mother’s breast to release milk when nursing. As a kitten, feeding is a time when a cat feels most content and your cat will take these communications strategies with it into adulthood, kneading or pawing you to show contentment and affection for you. Your cat may also adopt this behaviour when it’s in pain, as a means of comforting itself.

Why does my cat bring dead mice and birds into the house?

Waking up to find a dead mouse on your front doorstep, or worse still in your kitchen, is not a good start to the day. However, it’s behaviour that you should never scold your cat for. Your cat is bringing you gifts and, although you might not appreciate them, it’s a sign of affection. By doing this your cat is also attempting to teach you how to hunt. Mother cats bring dead mice and birds back to their youngsters in order to teach them how to catch their prey and this is simply what your cat is trying to do for you.

Why does my cat arch its back and hiss at the neighbour’s cat?

Cats evolved from the deserts of ancient Egypt and during this time snakes were their number one threat. With most cats terrified of snakes, they try to adopt a snake-like demeanour in order to frighten away rival felines. Arching their back also makes them appear bigger and a result acts as a warning to trespassers onto their territory. Such communications strategies may look terrifying because they are intended to act as a warning. If the other cat fails to retreat after the initial warning then a more serious attack will ensue with your cat lashing out with its paws.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

When Communications Strategies Go Wrong

TAD — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:24:35 +0000

It happens – sometimes, even the most well-intentioned communications strategies go wrong. “What we’ve got here,” as Luke famously says in the film ‘Cool Hand Luke’, “is a failure to communicate”. Though communication strategies span across different mediums and can contain many different messages, there are a few common factors when they fail to achieve their intended effect: the delivery of certain information. Whether the strategy is wide-ranging and complex, or even a simple discussion at a personal level, there are a few notable ways that some people simply fail to communicate.

Listening

Too often, communicators take the ‘broadcast’ component of their message, and focus their efforts on crafting and improving it to the detriment of actually making sure their message is the correct one to send in their particular context. Better communications skills are ones that are adapted to their environment, whether it is selecting a timely topic for a public speech, the content of a press release, or even simply pondering the next sentence in a conversation. All of these examples will be limited in their effectiveness if they aren’t based on other communication that has preceded them – either transmitted or received. In this case, the principle of listening holds a great deal of weight, and can ensure communications strategies remain effective.

The ABC’s

There’s a key guideline for many forms of communication, and it can be distilled into an alphabetical pattern – Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity. In many cases, communications strategies are needed in order to convey information to explain something, whether it’s a common challenge, event, or even a bit of gossip! American General Douglas MacArthur was once quoted as saying that giving orders that could be understood wasn’t as important as giving orders that couldn’t be misunderstood. If your communications are kept accurate, brief, and clear, whoever receives them will benefit.

Know When to Communicate

You may have sharpened both your sending and receiving skills when it comes to communications strategies, but a crucial element to making sure they’re effective is judging when to utilise those skills. It can be a substantial waste of time to communicate when no-one is listening, after all. This is of prime importance when choosing a medium for any communications strategy. A far-fetched example, but a memorable one, is sending an email bulletin out when the target recipients don’t have computers. Without proper timing, and confirmation a sent message will reach its target audience, sending a perfectly-crafted message and listening for feedback will have little effect, no matter how well both aspects are conducted.

Presentation

There are many communications strategies going on at a given time. The same areas for communication might be targeted by many different people, in the same manner as several people shouting at each other in a small room. It becomes very difficult to distinguish specific messages unless they are somehow unique. In written communication, choices about fonts, colours, and incorporated images make the possibilities for distinct communication almost limitless. In technological terms, someone may be heedless of multiple text message alerts on a mobile phone, and more attentive to an alert for an incoming call. In presenting any form of communications strategy, it’s important to maximise its uniqueness in order to maximise its effectiveness – if it’s not saying something important and unique, why is it saying anything at all?

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Corporate Communications Strategies

TAD — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:19:23 +0000

When people talk about communications strategies, all too often the article or presentation takes one of two paths: launching into a hugely complicated discourse on the philosophies of management systems and their communication components; or taking an even more detailed stroll through the latest ‘bits-n-bytes’ of a gadget or technology system that will do it all for you.
Both of these routes are sometimes guilty of over-complicating things.

Getting it

There was once a senior management meeting where an executive spoke at great length, and in considerable technical detail, about the need for their organisation to communicate more effectively with its staff. He felt that the workforce just didn’t understand the key messages. He was politely interrupted by someone sincerely asking, “What do you mean by that?” The irony and surrealism of the situation were apparently lost on everybody present.

Another, perhaps apocryphal story, relates to the CEO who said in a newsletter article that he was disappointed at his obvious failure to clearly articulate why he believed the company’s communication strategies weren’t working. Yes, the stuff of legend and laughter over a drink but what do these things tell us about communications strategies?

Keep concepts simple

The libraries are full of learned works defining communication strategies and offering advice but there are a few simple points that are sometimes overlooked:

•   You have to have something worthwhile to communicate (we’ve all seen and binned the corporate newsletters full of irrelevant ‘filler’ and many press releases are widely ignored). If you’ve nothing to say then say nothing;
•   You need a target audience that are willing (or have been persuaded) to listen or you’ll be communicating and there will be nobody there to hear you;
•   Your audience must believe they obtain benefit from listening or they won’t do so again in future;
•   Your messages must be consistent, integrated and release-planned/managed or they’ll look like a patchwork quilt of mutual contradiction;
•   You must have an over-arching objective (the real strategy) behind your communications rather than just shooting from the hip as something occurs to you;
•   You must have gifted communicators to deliver the messages.

Now before you join a lynch mob and say this is trivialising and superficial stuff, yes, the science of communications strategies is complicated. It would be possible to have a huge debate about the difference between a strategy and tactical implementation, technology, PR integration, branding, multi-channel delivery, media management and so on, but that would be missing the point – basically much of this IS simple! If you haven’t got the basic concepts in place, your expensively constructed communications strategies will be unlikely to succeed.

A brilliant shot to the foot

Consider the real example of one CEO that issued two open memoranda to all staff, confirming on the same day that:

• due to economic difficulties, staff were being asked to co-operate by noting that taxis between distant offices would no longer be available in bad weather and that public transport should be used;
• that the management ball would be held on such-and-such a date at a prestigious hotel.

Maybe hilarious in abstract, but the organisation also prided itself on having exemplary communications strategies in place. Well, perhaps it did but it’s doubtful if any of its objectives related to driving staff morale and motivation into the floor!

Another company announced to the media a major outsourcing of work overseas that “would not threaten jobs” and within 24 hours then released news of large-scale compulsory redundancies to the same media. The result? Much understandable and value-destructive media speculation as to whether the company was a well-run ship that knew what it was doing.

Lessons

What are the key lessons from such debacles? It’s too easy to dismiss these sorts of disasters as simple execution errors by press offices or HR Departments of what was essentially a sound communication strategy. What one may speculate in these cases is that there are very probably strategies in place but that these are overly theoretical, perhaps pre-occupied with technology and which are not incorporated into a day-to-day management system that translates them into practical (and simple) reality.

It’s doubtful if any of these howlers (and there have been many, many more) could have happened had the very simple and earthy checklist mentioned above, been applied along the lines of:

•   What are we trying to communicate here and why?
•   Who is it aimed at and are they listening?
•   How does it sit for consistency with our position(s) elsewhere?
•   How does it dovetail into our key strategic messages and objectives?
•   What is this really communicating as opposed to what we hope it’s communicating?
•   Has a duly qualified communications expert put this together?

It’s not rocket science nor is it really about the esoteric elements of communications strategies – it’s just a ‘back to basics’ that may help you avoid embarrassment or even disaster!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Finding Time for an Internet Marketing Seminar

TAD — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:51:50 +0000

Given the heavy time demands of most businesses, it can be hard to find time to commit to taking even a short break from the office in order to attend an internet marketing seminar. With so many distractions and urgent situations awaiting attention, you might wonder how anyone makes time for regular meals, let alone for developing their skills and training. There are many reasons why people feel it’s a wise investment to attend an internet marketing seminar, not least the usual return on investment of their time and money when they can dramatically increase the effectiveness of their website. But how to make time in the first place? Here are a few top strategies for finding a little more time in your day.

Planning Ahead

In order to take time off, whether it’s a few hours, a morning, or even a whole day, it’s important to plan ahead and make sure your usual targets will be met a little earlier. Whether you work to weekly or monthly deadlines, it’s often possible to organise your tasks for quick completion, or ordering them to maximise your efficiency. Try completing similar tasks together in order to speed up the process, ensuring you have a little free time to attend that internet marketing seminar.

Delegate

Although it’s easy to assume responsibility for projects, sometimes sharing your workload can free up a surprising amount of time – for example, ensuring someone else is available to handle incoming communication in the office for a day can help keep you focused and on-track with your own work, or even allow you to escape for a day and dedicate some time to improving your skills. For maximum gains, an internet marketing seminar is usually best approached with a clear head and a ready notepad, so it’ll be a weight off your mind if you know work is being handled by able colleagues.

Avoid Multitasking

Whether you’re planning ahead to make your journey to an internet marketing seminar as smooth as possible, or even just trying to speed up your work in order to set aside enough time to attend one, a pitfall to avoid is multitasking. Although it seems a quick method, when it comes to getting substantial work done, multitasking often does more harm than good. In some cases it may result in more time spent finding and fixing hasty mistakes. It doesn’t mean that one project should be seen through to completion – that might be unfeasible in many cases – but setting a minimum amount of time for every task may be an unexpected help. Multitasking is also to be avoided during the internet marketing seminar itself – it’s hard to focus on learning while you’re worrying about situations back in the office.

Frequent Breaks

One piece of advice that’s often overlooked is to take frequent breaks. While it may seem less productive, it can help keep you focused and on-task over a longer period of time. Otherwise, your concentration lags, and can be a major barrier to productivity. A good internet marketing seminar will have breaks built into its structure, for questions, discussion and refreshments. You’ll be able to stay focused throughout the day – and ultimately, gain the most benefit from all your efforts finding time in the first place.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Photography: A Great Hobby on Courier Jobs

TAD — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:08:21 +0000

Courier jobs by their very nature demand a lot of time on the road away from home. For many, it’s one of the main reasons they go into the job in the first place. All that time to yourself, not having to be stuck in an office and the freedom of the open road can be very appealing. But it’s a good idea to have something to keep you interested whilst working on courier jobs, and a hobby like photography is the perfect activity.

The Perfect Hobby

So why is photography such a great hobby for people on courier jobs? Mainly because, due to the nature of your job, you are constantly travelling and seeing new things – perfect to capture in an image. You may go overseas on your courier jobs, but even if you don’t you will see more of the country than most people do.

Photography is all about creativity and you will have access to a huge variety of places to inspire you. Whether driving through big cities or tiny villages, you’ll see things every day that other people do not, and that will make your photography interesting.

From spotting an animal at the side of the road, to a picturesque sunset or a rare bird, you’ll have many opportunities on courier jobs to take great photos. But you don’t have to witness amazing things to take an amazing photograph. By using your imagination and seeing the things that other people miss, you can create some stunning photographs.

An Accessible Hobby

Photography is more accessible than ever before. Digital photography has revolutionised the market, and it’s now perfectly possible to buy a cheap digital camera that’s capable of producing high-quality pictures. As long as you have a computer, laptop or netbook, you can develop excellent photos all by yourself without the need for a dark-room.

A great place to start is your mobile phone. Many new phones come with a camera inbuilt, and some of them are actually of a very high quality. As you’ll have your phone with you on courier jobs, use it as a start and if you realise you enjoy it then you can always buy a dedicated camera.

evelop your Skills

Starting costs can be minimal, but as you develop your skills you may well decide to take your photography to a new level. This might involve buying a top-of-the-range SLR and, even though it will set you back a bit, the cost will definitely be worth it. It all depends on just how seriously you want to take your new hobby.

Try it Out

Give it a go next time you head out on one of your courier jobs. Wherever your job takes you, right across the country or just across town, keep your camera handy and you never know what interesting things you may be able to capture whilst on your job. It’s a great way to learn a new skill while you work, and you’ll have something to show for it at the end of the day.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier jobs and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier services and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Learn a Language on Courier Jobs

TAD — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:50:51 +0000

Courier jobs involve a lot of time on the road. There’s usually a fair few hours spent listening to the radio or your favourite CDs, or even playing games to pass the time. But with all that free time to yourself, you could be doing something that many people dream of doing but don’t get the time – learn a language.

The Perfect Learning Environment

If you think about it, you’re really in the perfect learning environment when you are on courier jobs. You’re on your own, no one can hear you and you’ve got no major distractions for large parts of the day. So you can listen, rewind, listen again, speak out loud, sing songs and pretty much learn a language in your own way without being embarrassed.

Large Selection of Courses

There are some fantastic language courses available now, and they don’t have to be too expensive. They range from free MP3 downloads to boxed courses containing numerous CDs. Nearly all language courses consist of an audio section, and some are completely audio based, so you can either listen to them on the CD player in the vehicle or download them to your MP3 player and listen whilst carrying out courier jobs.

Surprise Your Friends

You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn if you spend as little as one hour a day practicing a language. Within a month you’ll have the basics, and within a year you could be speaking quite happily in your new language. Of course, you could always put more than one hour a day into it whilst working on courier jobs and your skills will rocket.

You’ll certainly surprise a few people when after a few months they hear you speaking in a completely new language. You’ll also invoke the envy of more than a few people who will wish they had the time you have to learn such a great new skill. If you carry out courier jobs across the continent then you may also find plenty of opportunities to practice your new language.

Learn More than One Language

But why stop at one language? With all that time spent on courier jobs , you could easily mix them up and learn a few at the same time. Maybe focus on one to get the basics, then move onto another one to have a break. Or get to a good standard with one and then the second language is generally easier because you know the process.

Use Your Time to Your Advantage

Many people would love to have the time to dedicate to a real life skill such as learning a language. It will provide you with great satisfaction and improve your skill levels enormously. Working on courier jobs, you are in the perfect position to take advantage of it, so use your time wisely and see what you can achieve.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Paging Nature: Pagers and the Great Outdoors

TAD — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:16:05 +0000

In the swinging sixties, Nancy’s Cafe in East Anglia’s Cley was the place to be. However, the tiny cafe in a picturesque part of the British countryside wasn’t part of the singing, dancing free-love revolution, but rather a bustling hang-out for twitchers. Bird-spotters used to flood the phone-lines with news of rare spottings or congregate over coffee to pass on helpful hints to other enthusiasts. Fifty years later and technology has finally taken over and the must have gadget for all birdwatchers is the humble pager.

Pagers might not be the most modern of electronic gadgets, but it seems they have their place in ornithology. While the bulky mobile phone might lose signal, quickly run out of battery or disturb a nesting warbler, the pager is small, discreet and can be switched to vibrate. Worn on a belt-clip or simply carried in your knapsack, for ornithologists, the pager can serve as a network of UK birdlife and provide up-to-date information on all the rarest finds. Before pagers took over, birders had to phone a pre-recorded phone number for their information and, for many, that involved the inconvenience of having to find a local phone box whilst out and about in the countryside.

Most companies that provide pagers have a built in subscription service for birders and one particular company boasts that last year it sent subscribers around 800,000 messages. However, all ornithologists are different so before you sign up you can choose what sort of birds you’re interested in. You may be a die-hard birder or perhaps you are just someone that likes to dabble in a bit of ornithology now and then; whatever your level of activity is, the frequency of your updates will be governed by this.

In Dorset, pagers are also being used to track badgers. Because of their nocturnal habits badgers are the most difficult animals in the UK to spot; however, fortunately for badger watchers, the animals have terrible eyesight, so as long as you can keep quiet your chances of spotting them are pretty good. This means mobile phones are out and discreet pagers are definitely in. Badger watchers regularly send other enthusiasts information on possible setts and births via pagers, proving that the device is still popular among wildlife lovers.

With many species of bat set to become endangered in the UK, bat detectors are using their pagers to send updates and grid references to other bat-lovers and bat conservation groups. The idea is that this will enable them to create a nationwide database of all the areas in the United Kingdom that are abundant in bats, giving them some indication of which species need saving and which are more common in the great British countryside.

When it comes to nature it seems that newer technology isn’t always better technology. While mobile phones may come with flashy apps and unlimited internet access, when you’re looking for a trusty method of communication that doesn’t run out of signal or lose its battery power when you need it most, then pagers beat mobiles hands-down.

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a tele communications strategies company that has provided pagers and paging systems for organisations in the public and private sector for many years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Communications Strategies in the Schoolyard

TAD — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:19:16 +0000

Communications strategies aren’t just the domain of the business and technology worlds. Every day in so many ways, whether we are aware of it or not, we use communications strategies in order to properly manage our lives.

Education is a sector in which effective communications strategies are vital to the smooth running of both administrational and practical matters, as well as ensuring the safety of staff and pupils. Sometimes these strategies are high profile like loudspeaker or tannoy systems, but other forms of communication can be less obvious like video surveillance systems. Here are a few of the more common ways educational institutions keep themselves connected.

Pagers and Alerters
For the most part, it is not practical for teachers to be able to access emails or answer phones during lesson time, so many larger educational institutions equip their staff with pagers or alerters. These serve not only to connect administration and faculty staff, but also to ensure the security of staff and pupils. With access to instant communications strategies like these it merely takes the push of a button to enable assistance to be summoned if, and when, required. In the case of a panic button, which is often installed in classrooms, the alarm is completely silent so as not to draw the attention of any potential perpetrator.

Mobile Phones
Nowadays it seems like the mobile phone is not an accessory anymore, but more like a physical extension of the arm. Whilst most schools will ban the use of mobiles within the classroom, they are fighting a losing battle when it comes to texting. With their mobiles set to silent, students can send and receive text messages, surf the Internet and even order a pizza if they like, all under an unsuspecting teacher’s nose. While during class these particular communications strategies devices are used in a slightly more subtle way, at lunch-time it’s a different story. The playground is alive with the sounds of I-Phones and BlackBerrys, and well gone are the days when you had to search for your friend after class to meet up for lunch – now it’s just a matter of a quick text or two and you can have an instant picnic party!

Caught on Camera
While in years gone past many people saw the installation of video surveillance equipment as an infringement of their privacy, in modern times they have become a symbol of safety and security. While not strictly a communications strategy in terms of being able to send messages or speak, video surveillance is invaluable when looking at an integrated solution for an educational institution. Pictures can tell a thousand words, both in real time and in hindsight, and there’s no getting around the cold, hard truth of being caught on camera. But although cameras can be very handy in keeping order amongst the chaos of a student body, there are more important reasons for installing video surveillance – those of security. Cameras can prove a stern deterrent to any would-be intruders or potential criminals and, in the case of security, prevention is definitely better than a cure.

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading tele communications strategy company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategies for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Pagers on the Slopes

TAD — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:12:04 +0000

With the advent of text messaging pagers are less-common in our schools and workplaces these days, but on the ski slopes it appears that they’re making something of a comeback. Unlike your hi-tech smart phone with its hundreds of applications designed to entertain and amuse your friends, on the slopes pagers can be the difference between life and death. Of course, it’s not all serious; pagers can also have fun implications for your ski holidays. Here are a few ways that pagers have their uses on the slopes.

Avalanche Warning System

When pagers are talked about in ski resorts they’re often referred to as ‘avalanche beacons’. You’ll find that avalanche beacons are slightly bulkier than your average hospital beeper and this is because the buttons need to be activated in extremely cold weather. The usual avalanche beacon is a paperback-sized pager that helps with the search and rescue operation in the event of an avalanche. The alarm is more often used by professional skiers and snowboarders that are going off-piste, however, there is no reason that these pagers shouldn’t be worn by everyone taking to the slopes. In France, it currently takes the search and rescue team an average of 45 minutes to reach the site of an accident; in this time-frame approximately 75% of victims will be dead.

The avalanche beacon has two modes – transmit and search. In the transmit mode the victim trapped by an avalanche can emit a signal, which is then picked up by another pager switched to search mode. More advanced avalanche beacons used by professional organisations can also give an indication of distance and direction, to a range of 20 metres.

Restaurant Reservations

Anyone that’s ever been on a skiing holiday will remember how packed the resort restaurants get in the evening. It seems that as soon as darkness descends on the slopes, the crowds make their way to the restaurant – which can make getting a table hard if you don’t have a reservation. Luckily, the hospitality industry has found a solution to this and restaurant pagers have been introduced to many ski resort restaurants. The concept of the restaurant pager is fairly simple: guests are given a pager which alerts them when a table becomes free, so instead of queuing for a table outside in the snow, you can wait in a bar knowing that your pager will beep the moment a table becomes free.

Contact your Staff

If you’re staying in a serviced chalet, you’ll probably be given a beeper in order to contact your staff and, similarly, your staff will be able to contact you via your pager. If you’ve decided on a home-cooked meal cooked for you by your chalet maid, then she’ll be able to buzz you and let you know ten minutes before your casserole is due out of the oven. Likewise if you’ve left your children with an au-pair and find that the queues for the ski slopes stretch for miles, then with a pager you can contact the au-pair and let her know that you’ll be delayed. In the event of an emergency, your au pair can send you a discreet buzz on your pager letting you know that you’re needed back at home.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Communications Strategies with a Difference

TAD — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:51:39 +0000

We all know the most common communications strategies that are used in our everyday life: telephones, mobile telephones, pagers, walkie-talkies, CB radios and many others that we simply couldn’t imagine doing without. But there are literally millions of different ways, both verbal and not verbal, that humans and other living creatures communicate with each other. They don’t all involve electronic devices; here are a few of the more unusual ones we have uncovered.

A Gentle Touch

Most people are familiar with the poignant story of Helen Keller, a blind and deaf child, who was brought out of her life of isolation by the tender and patient work of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Miss Sullivan used the techniques of touch and feeling in her communications strategies to unlock Helen Keller’s dark and silent life. From the first moment of their meeting, when she spelled out the letters of the word ‘doll’ into Helen’s palm representing the gift she had brought her, Anne Sullivan was on her way to creating their very own private communications strategies. Within weeks Helen had had a major breakthrough and was able to name all the familiar objects in her limited world. Helen Keller became the first deaf and blind person to ever earn a degree, and she went on to become a world-renowned author and public speaker – all thanks to her dedicated teacher.

Equestrian Etiquette

Any animal owner can attest to the fact that they can communicate with their furry companions in many different ways and on many different levels. Dogs and other animals can learn simple verbal commands very successfully; but even without words, animals can often read their master’s body language and even their stance. One pairing in which non-verbal communications strategies are tested to their fullest extent is in the elegant art of dressage. Commonly referred to as ‘horse ballet’, the aim of dressage is to get the animal to execute a series of complicated moves, at the direction of the rider, in an effortless and relaxed manner. Dressage ranges from basic levels of movement right up to Olympic-standard programmes and even at its simplest, it is imperative that the communication between horse and rider is implicit. A skilled rider knows how to apply commands with a minimum of effort and a well-trained, even-tempered horse will respond in kind.

ET Phone Home

When it comes to extra-terrestrials and UFOs there are not too many fence-sitters; you are either a die-hard sceptic or totally convinced we are not alone here in this huge universe. One thing the believers must take credit for is their determination to developing communications strategies in order to talk to whoever or whatever is out there. From signalling the universe on giant homemade satellite dishes, right down to alleged telepathic mobile phone conversations with aliens, people have been claiming success for many years. As far back as 1952, Jack Sarfatti, a respected quantum physicist claimed he was receiving messages from aliens through his home telephone. He maintains that the wisdom imparted to him in these calls went on to assist his highly successful career.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Five Things You Probably Shouldn’t Do With a Pager

TAD — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:28:14 +0000

Do you remember the first time you were given your pager? It was probably during your first week of medical school and no doubt you were delighted with the responsibility! My, how times have changed. Sure, your pager is extremely useful but it beeps so much that you’ve probably at some point entertained thoughts of dropping it into the ocean, but why not use it as a secret weapon instead.

Beep Yourself Out of Meetings

If you’ve got an extremely boring meeting that you simply can’t get out of, why not use your pager to your advantage? Slip your flat-mate a fiver and ask her to send you an alert during the meeting. Then you can simply slip out of the room and have everyone assume that you’re attending to a medical emergency with one of your patients. That way you still look extremely professional, but you get to skip the boring bits. However, choosing to meet your friends at your local instead is not something that we suggest.

Impress Non-Doctors

It’s strange, but people that have never had a pager of their own seem to be a little obsessed with them – clearly pager envy is a real worry these days. Getting it out on dates is ingenious for two purposes. Firstly it lets your date know that they could be in danger of losing your precious company at any minute. Secondly, when you’re faced with a snooty sommelier who keeps trying to sell you ultra-expensive bottles of wine, a quick wave of your pager says I’m on call and hence can’t drink your flashy wine.

Use it for Fame

Are you feeling a little bit ignored and unnoticed? Are you worried that all your fellow interns may have forgotten your name? Simply take the batteries out of your pager and your name will be at the front of everyone’s minds due to countless loudspeaker announcements. Of course, you also run the risk of being at the forefront of many house doctors’ minds, so next time there’s a typically mundane job that needs doing you’ll probably be the intern that it goes to.

Ruin Romantic Moments

Are you going to watch a weepy movie with your friends? Why not take some evil delight in ruining the moment for them. Drop your pager into your bag without turning it off and watch your friends get more and more frustrated as you rifle around your backpack trying to turn it off. You can also use this technique to ruin the cinematic experience for all the other cinema-goers – they don’t call you a killjoy for nothing.

Show It Who’s Boss

Who hasn’t entertained thoughts of dropping their pager in the toilet? It’s not that we don’t appreciate the fantastic piece of technology at the end of our fingertips; it’s just sometimes we’re a little sick of being on call 24/7. So when you arrive home at the end of another sleepless night, frustrated at having been beeped on your pager a hundred times during the course of the day, simply fill the sink up with ice-cold water, take your pager out of your pocket, then remember how many lives that have potentially been saved because of it, and stick it back on your bedside table.

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a telecommunications strategy company that has provided pager and paging systems for organisations in the public and private sector for many years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

A Pager for My Pet

TAD — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:27:31 +0000

While giving a mobile phone to a dog is pretty useless, unless of course you want to see it chewed to smithereens, using a pager on your pooch could be a pretty good idea. Don’t believe us? Here are a few reasons why:

A Great Training Device

Some training collars still emit an electronic correction, which, although it works is perhaps a little archaic and cruel. If you’re looking for a training device that works then why not buy your pup a pager? A pet pager is quite simply an object invented to deter unwanted behaviour in Fido. If your dog is a bit deaf or easily distracted, then you can use the pet pager to control any misbehaviour that you see him exhibiting, or simply to get their attention. The pet pager is used by a lot of Dalmatian owners and breeders, as a common problem with this breed is that a large majority of the puppies are either born completely deaf or deaf in one ear.

The pet pager works in pretty much the same way as a human paging device, except rather than slip it into the back pocket of your jeans, pups wear it around their necks on a collar. You can then control your dog by using the handheld device. Everytime the device is pressed; the collar will either vibrate or emit a warning sound discouraging your dog from the behaviour until he learns to stop it all together.

Tracking Your Dog

You might think Fido’s in the garden catching a few rays, but what if he’s actually bolted off over the fence? If you live in North America there’s no need to worry as they’ve invented a simple pager device that tracks your dogs whereabouts via the internet to anywhere in North America. The system operates on standard paging networks so you’ll always know where your dog is at any given moment. If your pooch is prone to wander then you can request updates at specific intervals throughout the day or simply ask for reports on demand. These locations can be sent to your email, pager or mobile and you can even set up geo-fencing so that your pet’s movement can be restricted to a defined radius. Smaller tracking collars are available for cat owners and we’re sure the results will make for fascinating viewing – now if only somebody could make a mini video camera to go with them!

Pick Up The Old Dog and Bone!

Whilst training and tracking are fairly sensible reasons for wanting to get your pup a pager, we’ve now found a modern device that actually lets you talk to Fido. This hi-tech pager attaches to your collie’s collar and lets you talk to them, while they can bark back. So, if you’ve had a hard time at work and just need someone to talk to, why not pick up the old dog and bone and off-load onto Fido? After all, at least you can be sure that he won’t hang up on you.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

When a Pager Calls

TAD — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:13:05 +0000

We all know how handy a pager can be. For a start, where would emergency services be without them? But even in our day-to-day lives, the pager has become an invaluable tool to keep us connected, not only for convenience but for safety as well. But inevitably, things can get embarrassing if your pager sets off at an inopportune moment. So, if you’ve ever had an awkward situation with your pager, then read on and you may feel a whole lot better…

Hot to Trot
A fireman was on call while he headed off for church one Sunday morning with the family. Thinking he had put his pager on to vibrate, he settled in for the sermon between his wife and kids and a rather large lady on the other side. Suddenly the serenity of the service was shattered by the high-pitched shriek of his pager going off (no, not on vibrate), and the fireman got such a fright he was madly scrambling to get to his pocket to silence it and overbalanced into the large lady’s ample lap. Finally silencing the pager, the fireman looked apologetically to the vicar who asked dryly, “Do we all need to respond son, or just you?”

Short Back and Long Sides
An emergency ambulance driver tells the story of being in the barber shop half way through a haircut when his pager set off. With a road accident to attend, there was no time for symmetry and the fellow had to tear off in his ambulance with one side “short back and sides” and the other “not so short back and still lots of side!”

Do You Take this Woman?
One couple, who met in a hospital while both working as paramedics, were finally getting married after many years of dating. It was an outdoor wedding and, unbeknownst to the groom, his friends had secreted a number of pagers under a few of the chairs and one in his suit jacket. When it came time for the celebrant to ask if anyone objected to the wedding, the groom’s troublesome mates set off the first pager with an ear-splitting bleep. After the initial shock, everyone began to laugh and the ceremony recommenced, but every time the question was asked again, another pager was set off. Eventually the joke appeared over and the wedding went ahead. Just as the celebrant proclaimed the pair man and wife, the pager in the groom’s pocket went off and he looked at the message on the screen which read, “Congratulations, sorry you couldn’t be saved by the bell this time!” Boys will be boys.

Sisters Doing it for Themselves
The last tale is one that proves crime definitely doesn’t pay. A young woman who worked in hospitality often had to travel home alone late at night. One evening as she walked from the train the short distance to her apartment she was set upon by a man intent on robbing her of her handbag, phone and pager which was clipped to her trousers. However, the man got more than he had bargained for when she turned on him and pointed her pager directly in his face and pressed a button. The harmless looking pager was in fact a pepper pager, a nifty little safety device filled with pepper spray. The spray temporarily blinded the robber and the young woman was able to call for help. The man was arrested not ever knowing quite what had happened…

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Cradle to the Boardroom – Human Communications Strategies

TAD — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:12:02 +0000

By the time we humans morph into adulthood, most of us have realised that in order to get by in life to any degree of success, we need to learn how to communicate effectively – both in our working and personal lives. Many communications strategies develop naturally as we mature and become more aware of how our actions and reactions affect those around us, and in turn, their actions and reactions; but some kinds of communication has to be learned along the way and don’t necessarily come naturally. Human development can basically be divided up into four stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood and different kinds of communications strategies are learned at each stage along the way.

Infancy
For a tiny, helpless, completely dependent being, a baby sure has an effective way of getting attention. Right from birth there are inbuilt communications strategies between mother and baby using touch, smell, sight – and definitely sound. Unlike many other animals, the human stage of infancy is a relatively long one and the baby is completely dependent on the mother for its food, shelter and social contact. A mother learns to distinguish between the different kinds of cries and can instinctively determine whether the baby needs changing, is hungry or just plain wants some loving. As the baby gets to even a few months old, it has learned that it can act in a certain way and Mum will react in a particular way – baby’s first communications strategies are formed.

Childhood
Once a child gets to the stage of speaking he has already put in place many non-verbal communications strategies with Mum and the rest of his social circle. Pointing is a skill learned very early and one of the most effective ways of conveying the wants and needs of the child. After spending months listening and learning, baby is ready to start trying some of those funny noises himself and, once verbal communication begins, a whole new world is opened up. As well as being able to articulate themselves through words, the older child quickly learns the art of manipulating adults. Their communications strategies become more sophisticated as they begin to understand the concepts of reason and consequence.

Adolescence
Oftentimes there is a regression in communications strategies between parent and child once he reaches his teenage years. This is a time when a lot of communication is done physically rather than verbally; think slamming doors, rolling eyes and hunched and silent head-phoned ghosts reclining on sofas. On the plus side however, once a teenager has passed through the rebellious stage, communication can evolve into a thoughtful and thought-provoking conversation of equals.

Adulthood
Once a person reaches adulthood there are certain expectations from society; a job, a relationship, a contribution to the world. Through life experience alone, many communications strategies can be learned and utilised in order to meet these expectations and live a full and productive life. But it is in the workplace where most of the effective ways to communicate are learned. Simply by working their way up the career ladder one learns the different ways and means of getting what they want by saying and doing the right things at the right times; and surely, that’s really what communications strategies are all about?

By the time someone has worked for a lifetime and talked their way to the top, or back down to the bottom (depending on how hot-headed or principled they are), life has come full circle. They’ll probably feel like they’ve communicated enough and said and done it all, and will be more than happy to sit back in a rocking chair with a good book for company and go back to pointing…

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading telecommunications strategy company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategies for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Etiquette of Pagers

TAD — Wed, 26 May 2010 09:04:32 +0000

Anyone who has ever faced an emergency, been in business, or generally found themselves unable to communicate in the way they want to has probably considered the virtues of pagers. These little gems can literally save lives and their powers to do good should not be under-rated. But over the years sometimes pagers have gotten some bad press and fallen into the hands of users who are either inconsiderate or ignorant and make the lives of those around them a misery. Not everyone is as enamoured as you may be about the use, or misuse, of pagers and it is important to consider other people’s needs as well as your own. So, in the interests of a happy life we’ve compiled a list of a few little rules of etiquette for pager use.

If in Doubt – Don’t Take it Out!
There are some places in polite society where pagers simply don’t belong. If you’re going along to church, heading out for a night at the theatre or catching the latest blockbuster at the cinema, it’s probably a good idea to choose that night to leave your pager at home on charge.

Date Night not Mate Night
Taking pagers on romantic nights out is the ultimate no no. The last thing you want when you’re about to reach for her hand or whisper sweet nothings into the ear of your amour is for the ear-splitting beep of a pager ruining the mood. Nobody, least of all a woman, is impressed by being interrupted on a date. She will not only think you’re a prize show-off, she may even suspect it’s another woman and that could be the end of something beautiful before it’s even begun.

An Inconvenient Truth
If you must have your pager on at an important business meeting or event and you are expecting an important message, make sure you sit in an easy-to-exit seat so you can slip out and not disturb the rest of the delegates with your call-back. Of course, everyone will understand the importance of a pager message, but there’s no need to cause more of a fuss than necessary.

Prioritise, Prioritise, Prioritise
Get into the habit of assessing whether your messages are important or can wait. The worse thing you can do is become a slave to the beep and rush off to the phone every time you get a message. Pagers are a wonderful way to keep in contact but sometimes they can be misused by the sender as well as the receiver.

Feel the Vibes
The best way to make sure your use of pagers is as unobtrusive and people-friendly as possible is to keep yours set to vibrate whenever possible. You will be able to keep connected with everyone important while not disturbing everyone else important!

Use vs Misuse
Don’t fall into the trap of misusing your pager by giving the number out to every Tom, Dick and Harry. This may make it look like you are either putting people off by not giving them your phone number, or worse still, looking like a cheapskate that can’t afford a phone!

About The Author:

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a telecommunications strategy company that has provided the pagers and paging systems for organisations in the public and private sector for many years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Watch Out Watch Out! There’s an Elephant About

TAD — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:16:24 +0000

At LeadGenerators, we like to think our talents spread that little bit further than the average travel marketing agency. And this month, our PPC guru Vicky, has definitely proved us right!

No doubt if you were out and about in London yesterday, you might have noticed the odd elephant here or there. The reason for the influx? The Elephant Parade. An exhibit aiming to raise two million pounds that will go towards helping endangered Asian elephants, this parade has seen hundreds of well-known artists and celebrities picking up their paintbrushes to decorate the life-sized models, which can be found dotted around the city in various locations until the 4^th July.

Why our sudden interest in elephants I hear you ask? Well, our resident PPC expert Vicky Scott is an artist and illustrator and one of the elephants that has taken up pride of place in Covent Garden Piazza is hers! So you see, we’re more than just a travel marketing agency. Next time you’re passing through Covent Garden, be sure to give Vicky’s elephant a look and a hello!

For those who have not visited us, Vicky was also responsible for the artwork in our offices.

Take a look at her personal website to see more of Vicky’s work and her illustrations.

Communication Strategies of the Opposite Sex

TAD — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:41:40 +0000

They say that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, and at no point is this more obvious than where communications strategies are concerned. Relationships are rife with healthy debates about one party or other not responding, not paying attention, or even worse simply not listening. So what are the best communications strategies to use when trying to communicate with the opposite sex?

Knowing When Not to Communicate

The most important part of communications strategies is to know when not to expend your energy. For example, if you’re looking to have an in-depth conversation, or in fact any form of conversation with your other half, there is simply no point in trying to catch their attention whilst they’re mid playstation session, or during a football match. Equally, there is no point even attempting to interrupt a Sex and the City episode, or to expect anything other than a nod during a shopping trip. There are some occasions where no matter how many communications strategies you attempt, there is simply no getting through to your other half.

Knowing How to Communicate

No matter how close you get in a relationship, or even how closely you live with your other half, lack of communication can be a problem. We get so bogged down in the everyday conversations such as, ‘how was your day’ and, ‘what would you like for dinner’ that we forget that communication can often go a lot further than the pleasantries. In order to really keep in touch with your other half, communications strategies have to occasionally run a little deeper than everyday conversation. Whether you say it with breakfast in bed, a picnic in the park, a bunch of flowers, or even by relinquishing custody of the remote control for the evening, these little gestures are a great way of showing that the lines of communication are still open and also that they are in full working order.

Knowing How to Interpret

The most important part of good communications strategies in any relationship is learning to recognise and interpret your partner’s own distinctive way of communicating. As many women will be able to tell you, they can tell exactly what their partner is talking about simply by the tone of the grunt they emit. In the same fashion, many men will be able to gauge just how excited their partner is about something by the pitch and number of decibels of their shrieks. Whilst women may not understand the language of football, and men can never hope to figure out all the intricacies surrounding shoes and handbags, we can learn to interpret our partner’s responses all the same. Interpretation is key when it comes to communications strategies.

So, next time you start to feel as though you’re talking to a brick wall rather than your significant other, take a deep breath and count to ten, and remember that there are many different communications strategies that you can use – it doesn’t always have to come down to animated conversation.

About The Author:

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading telecommunications strategy company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategies for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Evolution of Haulage Companies

TAD — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:19:05 +0000

These days, haulage companies benefit from all sorts of new-fangled technology, which makes the lives of the drivers that little bit easier. With gadgets such as satellite navigation and mobile phones at their fingertips, the world of haulage has certainly evolved. But how did haulage companies survive in the days prior to modern technology?

Two-Way Radios and Walkie Talkies.

Today, it’s so easy for haulage companies to contact their drivers when they’re out on the road, however, it hasn’t always been so simple. In the days before mobile phones, people relied on two-way radios and walkie talkies to make contact, and to find out where to go next to pick up their next load. However, this radio contact would only work within a certain radius, meaning that it was only effective if haulage work took place at a distance of about twenty miles or less from the base. So, what happened if the driving took you further afield and outside of radio communication?

Phone Cards

Haulage companies relied as much in days gone by as they do now, on filling lorries with backloads, and pointing drivers in the direction they are to go in next. However, once out of radio range, this became rather difficult. To combat this problem, drivers would be sent on their way with a pre-paid or freephone phone card. Provided they could find a working phone box on the side of the road, this phone card would allow them to make contact with the base to find out whether there were any backloads in the area. The card would also eliminate the necessity to have pockets bulging with loose change for use in phone boxes. However, unfortunately the cards were linked to the phone number of the base only, so a quick natter with the wife was never an option.

Pagers

As time went on and technology developed, the invention of pagers certainly began to make life a little easier for haulage companies. Rather than scouring the towns and countryside for a working phone box each time they made a delivery, drivers could assume that if they did not receive a page, they were free to return to the base. Unfortunately however, if a driver did receive a page, they still had to find a phone box in order to call back and find out where they were to go next. Pagers cut out a lot of the legwork for drivers whilst they were on the road, however they did not rule out use of the traditional phone box entirely.

Maps

This way of working and never being quite sure where you were going to end up next must have wreaked havoc in the days before haulage companies had access to GPS systems and satellite navigation. Drivers would have needed to be kept supplied with up to date road atlases and street maps of every region they were likely to visit, as well as needing to keep a pen and paper in the cab to write down the addresses of their deliveries. It certainly sounds easier now that Google maps and Sat Nav can do the directing.

So, life has certainly got easier for drivers and haulage companies with the introduction of technology. Filling backloads and making extra deliveries is a whole lot less hassle when you don’t have to trawl the side roads for a working phone box.

About The Author:

Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry across the UK and Europe. It provides services for haulage companies companies to buy and sell road transport and freight exchange in the domestic and international markets

This article was provided by LeadGenerators, the smartest SEO agency in London.

The Different Types of Pagers

TAD — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:31:26 +0000

The technology around pagers can be quite confusing. Most seem to emit nothing more than a quiet buzz, but fans of hospital dramas will recall often seeing doctors receive text messages through to their pagers. So what exactly do pagers do, and how many different types of pagers are there?

The Beeper

Ever eaten out at a fancy restaurant and wondered just how the waiting staff knew the exact moment to serve you your pudding? Your waiter was probably using a simple pager known as a beeper. The beeper was so named because of the sound it made, alerting the waiting staff that your sticky toffee pudding was ready to leave the kitchen. Nowadays, although the pager is more likely to vibrate, the name remains the same. Beepers are most commonly used by waiting staff telling them that there is food in the kitchen waiting to be taken out. Theft-proof beepers have recently started to be handed out to customers at popular eating establishments in order to alert them when a table becomes available. Rather than just vibrate, beepers can also beep, light-up or use audio-signals.

Voice Tone Pagers

Voice tone pagers allow you to listen to a recorded message when phoned and are a little more sophisticated than the standard beeper. If someone needs to contact you in a hurry and relay an important message to you, then the voice tone pager is more reliable than a mobile phone. This is because the voice tone pager doesn’t suffer from the signalling or networking problems associated with mobile phones. When you receive a message, your pager will beep as normal and you can then listen to the recording and take the appropriate action.

Alphanumeric Pagers

Have you ever watched Scrubs and been confused by the pager antics? Just how does JD know its Doctor Cox that’s texting him and how does he know which number to call after receiving a page? It’s all very confusing! Actually all the staff at the Sacred Heart Hospital have alphanumeric pagers. An alphanumeric pager can receive messages of up to 80 characters and these can consist of both letters and digits; basically a more reliable form of a text message. In this instance the person responding doesn’t need to find a payphone, they can simply react to the text. This saves valuable time and therefore is the type of pager most commonly used in emergency services situations. As the most popular type of pager, they are available in a wide range of colours and contemporary styles; fans of Grey’s Anatomy may remember Cristina and Meredith fighting for a rather snazzy jewel-encrusted pager.

Numeric Pagers

A step down from the alphanumeric pager is the standard numeric pager. This pager has a small screen that can display up to twenty digits at a time. You may have seen hospital dramas, where doctors and nurses receive a page and then run to a lobby phone and dial the number presented on the screen. This number puts them in touch with a senior who informs exactly where they need to be. Pagers operate on a private paging network, which is set up for each customer’s site so there will always be coverage and reception isn’t a word ever used as pagers always work – that is their ‘raison d’etre’. A mobile phone works using GPRS (when it has a signal) and if a major incident occurs or the network is busy your message may be delayed or simply not get through at all.

About The Author:

This article was provided by LeadGenerators, the smartest SEO agency in London.

Talking to the Animals – Communications Strategies

TAD — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:30:28 +0000

As humans, we’re used to considering ourselves the master-race in pretty much everything from evolution to technology; but if we delve a little deeper into the lives of some of our planet-mates, in fact, we could perhaps learn a lot from our fine feathered, furred or finned friends. When it comes to communications strategies, we think we’re pretty clever really; what with some mind-boggling advances in technology which allow us to be in contact with virtually anyone, anywhere at anytime. Granted, it’s not too often you see a penguin with a pager, or a fox on Facebook, but animals have their own highly-evolved methods of communicating with each other, and some are stranger than others…

For the Birds

Have you ever wondered how that huge flock of birds flying overhead all suddenly swerve at the same time in exactly the same direction? How do they know in that split second to weave, turn or dart in a particular way? Much research has been done on the subject and there has been speculation about everything from ‘electromagnetic’ communications strategies through to some kind of eerie ‘thought transference’. However, it has been discovered that because of the way birds fly in such tight formations (often times in a ‘v’ pattern), even the slightest change in direction by just one member of the flock can result in a ‘ripple effect’ almost instantaneously. There are no leaders and the flock will respond to any member changing course, allowing for a greater ability to avoid predators or other dangers. This highly effective strategy spreads through the flock much more rapidly than can be explained by an individual’s reaction time. It has been dubbed by some observers as the ‘chorus line hypothesis’, likening it to the effect of dancers who can anticipate an approaching ‘high kick’ by actually being able to see it as it is coming their way.

Antennae – Satellite TV for Free?

In the weird and wonderful world of bugs and insects it seems that the stranger-looking the better! Some insects are so odd they almost seem like cartoon characters, and in our delight at their alien appearance it’s easy to forget that Mother Nature always has a master plan. When you’re a relative midget in a world of giants, effective communications strategies are essential for survival. Insects have highly evolved physical attributes which allow them to sense danger and attract mates; the most obvious of these is a good set of antennae. Insects do not have a well-developed sense of hearing so rely on their antennae to detect sound waves and amazingly, odours, from other creatures. Not only for detecting danger, antennae on animals such as butterflies have been found to be used for orientation, in relation to the sun.

Dolphins and Whales

For many years, dolphins have been accepted as one of Nature’s most intelligent creatures. Although stopping short of being able to talk to humans, dolphins certainly seem to be able to talk to each other. They have their own language and communications strategies based on a series of clicks, whistles and trills made by their unique blow-hole mechanism. Using this ‘echolocation’ system, dolphins are able to navigate murky waters and sense and warn others of impending dangers. They use a range of sound frequencies in their special language, with the higher frequencies being used for navigation and the lower for communication.

There are many more instances in the animal kingdom of communications strategies based on either the animals’ physical properties or their unique forms of body language. We continue to learn from these creatures and in fact, many of our own modern communications strategies are based on research gained in this fascinating field.

About The Author:

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading telecommunications strategy company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategies for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years.

This article was provided by LeadGenerators, the smartest SEO agency in London.

Three Tools That Make Social Networking Easier

TAD — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:38:06 +0000

Bit.ly

Your company, like ours offering travel marketing solutions online, probably has a Twitter account. You’ve read the How To guides and your posts are the right mixture of fun and informative, but how do you know anyone’s reading your links? Bit.ly is the answer, not only does it shorten your URL a la TinyURL but it also provides statistics on exactly how many people have clicked on the link that you tweeted. This helps you ascertain which links work and which ones don’t. For one of our clients, we found that posts about upcoming fiestas and festivals in their destinations received very few clicks. Whereas any posts that we had written about news stories and current affairs received plenty of clicks. The click-throughs are also analysed and we are able to see how many people are posting our links on Facebook or their Twitter accounts, and also what country the majority of the click-throughs are coming from.

Analysing our bit.ly data, we found that almost everyone clicked through to our links between 4.52 and 4.57pm. This would definitely show that most people logon to their Twitter accounts during the last ten minutes of the working day. Therefore, by moving our client’s posts to this time slot, we were able to receive far more clicks.

Technorati

As a company offering travel marketing solutions online, we write blogs on behalf of many of our clients. But here’s a scary statistic: there are more than 57 million blogs online. So how do you work out which ones are worth reading? A search engine specialising in blogs can help, and that’s precisely what Technorati is. Make sure that you add your blog to Technorati and not only will people be able to find you, but you’ll also start to reap the benefits. One thing that irks many SEO agencies about Technorati is that posts aren’t sorted by the keyword and instead are ranked on the time that they’ve been updated. But whilst keyword usage isn’t important, the words that you place in your tags are, as the indexing tool is based on how bloggers tag their blogs. So if you update your blog regularly and want more traffic, then make sure you list it onto Technorati.

Trending Topics/Hot Trends

Providing travel marking solutions online for a number of clients, we need to know what works and what people are talking about. For our US clients we use Google HotTrends to see the topics that people are searching for each week, we then try to include these terms in blog posts. For example, today’s Hot Topics are pigs and titillation! So writing a blog post on how titillating pigs are would get you extra traffic; well that’s the theory anyway! Google HotTrends has a UK subsidiary, but this isn’t shown on the home page. To access Google HotTrends UK you’ll need to click through on one of the American keywords, the UK HotTrends appear on the left hand side of the page in a column. Currently trending are Volvo and Australia, as many of our topics sell tours in Oz, we would tweet about Australia on Twitter knowing that people searching through the trending topics may pick up on this post. One of our clients specialises in courier jobs so a blog post about why Volvo vans are best for delivery work, would also be in order.

About The Author:

Frank Orman is the Managing Director of LeadGenerators, an SEO marketing agency providing travel marketing solutions online. LeadGenerators offers online marketing solutions to achieving first-rate sales conversions for your business

This article was provided by LeadGenerators, the smartest SEO agency in London.

Tech on TV – ER Doctors on Call

TAD — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:51:54 +0000

In U.S. hospitals, resident doctors are frequently on call for more than 80 hours a week, and in the long-running and award winning medical drama, ER, we get a sense of this burden and strain. The hospital asks a lot of the characters in the Emergency Room, with the County General paging system constantly interrupting the lives of its staff and their pager tones and ruining their day.

Their pagers wake them when they’re catching forty winks on a gurney in an exam room after pulling an all night shift. Their pager alarms send them racing along the green hallways to save a life. Our favourite doctors, like John Carter, Mark Green, Abby Lockhart and Greg Pratt, are at the hospital paging system’s beck and call to the point that their pagers have even become essential to the drama.

Paging Doctor Carter

In the second season, the intern Carter is elated to discover he has been nominated for his ‘match’ at County General, meaning he will be able to stay there for the next stage in his medical career. To celebrate, Carter jumps in a hot tub with a girlfriend and cracks open a bottle of champagne. That’s when their pagers bleep, calling them back to the hospital, but Carter is obviously tipsy and is unable to treat patients. For this transgression, he gets suspended.

Carter has to confess “I can’t believe I was that stupid to sneak off and drink on call.”
His loveable superior Mark Green then replies: “I can: you’re a medical student.”

Kerry Weaver & Authority

We continually see both the ER staff’s dependency on, and dislike of, their pagers; but early in ER’s eighth season there was an episode that shows how essential the paging systems are to the hierarchical chain of command in hospitals – at least in the world of the cult TV show.

Kerry Weaver is away from the Emergency Room dealing with personal issues, and when Doctors Chen and Malucci need her help and supervision over a failing patient, they bleep her pager over and over. Eventually Carter finds her in the cafe across the road, but it is too late and the patient dies. She then covers up her culpability by blaming her subordinates for the death. Malpractice suits, demotion, redundancies, and wrongful dismissal litigation then follow for the three doctors involved.

Heart Breaker

But there is one scene – one of the most memorable in the whole fifteen years of the show – where something as mundane as wireless technology is used as a climax to a heart-rending episode. After a long, hard, “Night Shift” (1997), paramedics wheel in a patient in critical condition, a ‘jumper’ pulled from the Chicago railway lines.

A nurse immediately gets on the hospital paging system to rouse the surgery staff covering the E.R.: Carter, Gant, and their superior, Dr Peter Benton. Benton quickly gets to work on the mauled body, which is so caked with blood that you can’t tell the clothes from the flesh. The room is noisy with agitated voices, frantic activity and the electronic tones of the machines. Carter rushes in to assist, but his troubled friend Gant does not show promptly and so Benton is quick to admonish his least-favoured intern.

‘Page him again’, and that’s when, in all the clamour of the Emergency Room, they begin to notice a ringing tone. One by one, they pause to locate the sound, and in that moment of stillness, a nurse pulls a ringing pager from the pocket of the suicide victim. The pager’s tone had been ringing for minutes unheard, and as it is silenced we learn that Dr Benton’s vindictive and sustained bullying of his overworked intern Gant, has had a fatal outcome. Chilling stuff.

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a telecommunications strategy company that has implemented paging systems and provided pagers for organisations in the public and private sector for many years.

Is There Someone Listening? Communications Strategy in Espionage

TAD — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:35:22 +0000

The communications strategies of secret agencies are in operation all around us. Huge amounts of top-level boffin brainpower are put into the creating and the cracking of codes and audio surveillance, but much of what they do is already known to us. Leonardo da Vinci practised cryptology in his writing to prevent prying eyes from understanding his diaries, and who can forget the famous victory of Enigma machine? The techniques of spies past and present can be found represented in our literature, history, cinema and even code-breaking word puzzles. How much of this secretive spycraft do you recognise?

Steganography

The classic clandestine communications strategy is one that most school children will be familiar with, if not be able to name. Steganography is the practise of hiding messages in a way that only the writer and the recipient know they are there to be read. The well known example is the invisible ink made from lemon juice, which many schools demonstrate in science lessons. When the ostensibly blank sheet of paper is (carefully!) held over a candle, or warmed with a steam iron, the ink browns and becomes visible, revealing the message.

Throughout history there have been a number of startlingly inventive uses of Steganography as a surreptitious communications strategy. In Ancient Ionia, the tyrant Histiaeus used the head of his favourite slave to send a message that would start a war. The slave’s head was shaved and tattooed with an important secret message. When his hair had grown back he was sent out as a messenger; hence the phrase ‘keeping it under your hat.’

Shortwave Radios

You might consider shortwave radios equally old hat, but they are not the outmoded spy communications strategy you might think, even in the age of the mobile phone and Internet. Apparently, if you tune into the right frequency you can hear still voices exchanging messages, and some websites even publish the frequencies (in kHz) to listen in on in each country. Of course, even if you catch an exchange of messages, and are able to translate it into English, you would still have to break the code.

Audio Surveillance

If you do decide to pry on spies, you won’t be the only one listening in. There are vast strategic communications agencies in governments across the world, especially in America, in which communications of all sorts are monitored to detect terrorist threats or to track known criminals.

This mass monitoring goes beyond the conventional police ‘wire’ or phone tap, with computer banks scanning for certain subversive or threatening keywords in intercepted email messages and phone calls.

With foreign powers in mind, apparently the majority of intelligence gathered is from open sources of information. According to the Navy Deputy Chief, only 1% of their intelligence originates from secret agents, with a further 5% from mysterious sources described as “semi-open”.

As well as listening in, it’s within the powers of governments to stop us talking to each other, too. Such a shady anti-communications strategy is mostly reserved for special targets that authorities are watching closely and are soon to apprehend.
With a cell phone jammer, it is possible to blanket a building or overload the local tower so that no one can connect to a network.

So when you can’t get a “No Signal” indicator on your mobile phone, bear in mind it could be the government blocking your calls!

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading telecommunications strategy company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategy for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years.

Communications Strategies that Bond and Bauer Rely On

TAD — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:15:31 +0000

In action-packed television series and big screen films such as 24, James Bond and Mission Impossible, federal agents are constantly relying on communications strategies to get them through their missions unscathed. We take a look at three of the best federal and secret service agents television has ever seen.

Anyone who’s ever watched an episode of the hit series 24, will know that if hero of the hour, Jack Bauer, doesn’t have a gun in his hand, then he is most likely shouting “damn it” into a mobile phone instead. Amazingly, at no point in any of the 8, 24 episode long series that have been made so far, does he run out of battery or lose signal. But even if that were to happen, it’s likely that CTU would have a communications strategy to cover it. The law enforcement agency can send almost anything to the phones of field agents, providing them with satellite tracking and static images of suspects at the touch of a button. If they don’t have access to a mobile phone, they can easily re-program satellites to locate their agents. With technology like that on his side, it’s no surprise that Jack Bauer is the most fearsome federal agent television has ever known.

007

As a spy, James Bond spends a lot more time under the radar than Jack Bauer, and as a result we certainly see him using the phone a great deal less. However, the communications strategies of the British Secret Service incorporate more than simply being able to communicate via mobile phone. Bond’s most impressive piece of communication technology surely has to be the mobile phone used in 1997 film, Tomorrow Never Dies; this phone could not only make phone calls, but incorporated a lock pick, a fingerprint scanner, a 20,000 volt electric security system, and a remote control using which he could not only start but also steer his top of the range BMW. Of all his gadgets and toys, this is arguably one of the most impressive Q ever managed to produce, and you can be sure that he didn’t design it solely with a communications strategy in mind.

Mission Impossible

You may not have seen all three films that make up the Mission Impossible trilogy, but if you’ve seen even one of the three, you’ll know just how important communication was to Ethan Hunt. After all, if he’d had his own communications strategies in place when his mother and uncle were falsely arrested in order to draw him out of hiding, he might have found a way to establish that they were safe and well. These films are a melee of disguise and deception, in which it’s impossible to know who to trust. You can never be sure that your phone calls are not being tapped into, that your networks are safe or that you’re not being followed. With all the spies and imposters on the loose in these movies, it’s no wonder Ethan Hunt relied so heavily on a good communications strategy to keep in touch with those he felt he could trust.

Agents such as Bond, Bauer and Hunt often find themselves in very difficult situations, where it is hard for them to know who to trust, and who to contact. Fortunately their respective agencies always have a communications strategy up their sleeves which can not only help them to deal with whichever disasters they find themselves facing, but can also help to keep them safe and out of trouble. I would certainly say that James Bond or Jack Bauer’s numbers are certainly ones I wouldn’t say no to having in my phone book!

Jenny Kettlewell is the Marketing Manager for Multitone Systems, a leading telecommunications strategy company. Multitone has implemented custom, integrated communications strategies for businesses and organisations in the public and private sector for over 75 years.