Stories about: eMotion

Although speech recognition software has been around for several years, call centers are now applying analytical software on top of speech tools to give supervisors a way to coach and critique call center agents who handle disgruntled customers.

Director of Microsoft platform technology strategy, Bill Hilf was going to face a crowd of open source enthusiasts at the Linux World conference in Sydney next week, but pulled out. His talk, about managing Linux in a mixed environment will instead be presented by Microsoft New Zealand's chief technology officer, Brett Roberts.

Multimedia developer Jered Cuenco calls it the "gray box application" phenomenon: when a developer, befuddled by a graphic designer's computer-drawn mockups and unclear instructions, comes back with a prototype full of generic gray buttons, plain white backgrounds, oversize headlines in blinking Times New Roman text and other such crimes against user interfaces.

The continued commercialisation of Linux is helping Microsoft defend its Windows patch against the rising tide of open source, claims the head of Redmond's competitive strategy efforts.

Despite the big marketing and branding bucks vendors spend to win and retain IT customers, IT managers claim they have little loyalty to vendors.

I've been scammed, spammed and flamed, endured cutesy pet pictures and nasty pictures from people with names like Tammy Tushbottom. I've been offered thousands of dollars to assist Nigerian officials import goods. I've been told that someone loves me, just open the attached file. Every day I get dozens of e-mail messages relating to my work. Does this sound like your world?

Talk on the campaign trail can get pretty rough, especially when the debate pits open source against Microsoft Corp. software. But now, Microsoft says, the gloves are back on, though the company has pledged to take the invective out of its talking points about Linux and open-source software.

Having called Linux and open-source software a cancer, un-American and bankrupt, Microsoft now plans to focus on facts instead of emotions, the company's competitive strategist said Thursday.

Managers attract paper like bees to honey - except honey is sweet and papers are stifling. Even in this age of high-tech, most of us have stacks of paper on, about, under or adjacent to our desks. If you're like me, you'll draw the line at some point, then spend considerable time cleaning up the mess. Then, unfortunately, you wonder where you put everything - or if you threw it out in a fit of "effciency."

Disaster recovery planning is like insurance - you buy it hoping you'll never need it - so IT executives can best sell it to the board of directors using the approach that sells insurance: fear and emotion.

Macromedia Inc.'s chief software architect Kevin Lynch detailed the company's strategy to enhance Internet communications here on Thursday.