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“Cisco@25, Cisco In 25″ Video Contest Official Guidelines Cisco Invites You To Enter the Cisco@25,CiscoIn25 Video Contest Enter the “Cisco@25, Cisco In 25″ Video Contest September 1, 2010 To participate in the “Cisco@25, Cisco In 25″ video contest please read the …

My Internet connection over Comcast had been having issues for months, but I was unwilling to face the dreaded tech support phone tree. So I complained – to myself – and continued to suffer.

One day, I was frustrated enough to take my complaints to Twitter. It took just two tweets for @ComcastBonnie to respond. She tested my connection remotely and found it was weak. Not long afterwards, tech support came out, the connection was fixed and I was a very happy customer.

As a member of Cisco’s Social Media Communications team, I’m well aware of the power of social media. This week, I had the chance to explore how social media is changing customer service – and how customer service needs to evolve – with two experts: Comcast’s Martin (Marty) Marcinczyk, vice president, National Customer Operations, and Cisco’s John Hernandez, vice president and general manager of the Customer Collaboration business unit.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA – Aug. 30, 2010 – Cisco today announced its engagement with UST Global, a leading provider of services and solutions for Global 2000 enterprises, to transform UST’s upcoming campus, in Thiruvananthapuram, into a smart and intelligent campus with Cisco’s Smart+Connected Real Estate solution. Cisco® Smart+Connected Real Estate solutions converge building, …

August 27, 2010 For more than 40 years, Executive Planning International Life Insurance (EPILI) has offered innovative strategies to help clients meet their financial responsibilities. The company offers a wide variety of financial services, including life and health insurance, tax strategies, corporate planning, and executive benefits. EPILI has earned a reputation for personalized, …

Karen Snell  spoke to the challenges of broadcasting live 5-10 years ago (“back in the day” in tech years) in her May blog post. Today, with a laptop, internet connection, and a Canon GL2, we are live streaming machines. Watch how we setup Talk2Cisco and re-purpose this content across our social networks.

When schools recently opened in New Orleans this year, Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS) Principal Colleen Winkler asked one of her first graders if she could write her name. The child said, “No, but I can text it.” Schools have always been the center of our communities, and there is no clearer illustration of the central role that technology is taking in our lives. 

Five years ago, Cisco and the Jefferson Parish Public School System partnered in an effort to rebuild the schools following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. JPPSS superintendent, Dr. Diane Roussel, had the foresight to see that technology could transform teaching and learning and keep students engaged. Just days after Hurricane Katrina, with most schools decimated and 28,000 students displaced, Cisco, Jefferson Parish and partners from the private, public and education sectors came together to help. Within one month, Cisco committed $80 million to create the 21^st Century Schools initiative to help transform the education systems of eight districts in Louisiana and Mississippi. Shortly after our employees, through the Cisco Leadership Fellows program began working side-by-side with JPPSS employees to transform the district’s technology infrastructure. 

Five years later, the results are impressive.  From 2006-2009, math scores throughout the Jefferson Parish Public School district jumped more than 10 points and English scores jumped 7 points.  Dropouts are down by half with dropouts recorded at 167 in 2006 and only 80 in 2009.  Enrollment is up more than 35 percent. 

In this post I’d like to bring your attention to an amazing solution developed by our partner ICT Wortell in the Netherlands. The solution, called ikpraat.nl (“I Talk” in English), is a secure, virtual communications environment on the Internet developed for people with mental limitations. The application, built on Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Communications Server, provides a simple UI that enables users to initiate email, instant message or video chatting in five easy steps.  Many of us take these types of communications for granted, but they have not always been within everyone’s ability to use. In the video, we meet Roseanne, who now uses Office Communications Server to stay in touch with her brother.  Having access to daily communication with loved ones is making a huge difference in these user’s lives.

Wortell, Microsoft Netherlands, and healthcare facility deHartekampgroep collaborated on the development of this communications solution. Using Microsoft SharePoint Server, they created a simplified, customizable user interface that makes it easier for people at different developmental levels to access the capabilities of Office Communications Server and Exchange Server.

I particularly like this story because it shows how relevant technology can be for improving people’s lives. So many opportunities exist to help people become less isolated in both their personal and professional lives through these technologies. When Wortell took advantage of the easy integration of Office Communications Server with other Microsoft software products, they created a solution that filled a gap and redesigned communications processes to make a huge impact on people’s lives. Creating these types of solutions provides a terrific opportunity for partners to develop deeper relationships with their existing customers and expand their customer base.

Watch the video case study

Kind regards,

Rainer Podjoutomo

Product Manager, Office Communications Group

When schools recently opened in New Orleans this year, Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS) Principal Colleen Winkler asked one of her first graders if she could write her name. The child said, “No, but I can text it.” Schools have always been the center of our communities, and there is no clearer illustration of the central role that technology is taking in our lives. 

Five years ago, Cisco and the Jefferson Parish Public School System partnered in an effort to rebuild the schools following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. JPPSS superintendent, Dr. Diane Roussel, had the foresight to see that technology could transform teaching and learning and keep students engaged. Just days after Hurricane Katrina, with most schools decimated and 28,000 students displaced, Cisco, Jefferson Parish and partners from the private, public and education sectors came together to help. Within one month, Cisco committed $80 million to create the 21^st Century Schools initiative to help transform the education systems of eight districts in Louisiana and Mississippi. Shortly after our employees, through the Cisco Leadership Fellows program began working side-by-side with JPPSS employees to transform the district’s technology infrastructure. 

Five years later, the results are impressive.  From 2006-2009, math scores throughout the Jefferson Parish Public School district jumped more than 10 points and English scores jumped 7 points.  Dropouts are down by half with dropouts recorded at 167 in 2006 and only 80 in 2009.  Enrollment is up more than 35 percent. 

WHAT: On Wednesday, Sept. 1, Martin Marcinczyk, Comcast vice president, National Customer Operations, and John Hernandez, Cisco general manager and vice president, Customer Collaboration business unit, will host a virtual discussion. Topics will include: The evolution of the traditional contact center into a more collaborative environment. The increasing use of social media tools …

August 30, 2010 By Dave Trowbridge Alchemists long sought a hypothetical substance called alkahest, possessing the power to dissolve anything. The IT world has found it. It’s called virtualization, and it’s driving the cloud computing phenomenon. Just as with alkahest, for which no container would suffice, virtualization is well on its way to dissolving the data center itself.  …