2016 Clos La Coutale Cahors Red

Old loves they say, die hard. And when it comes to wine, there's no older love of the rare, obscure or esoteric wine in my past than the wines from Cahors in France.  Long before the Argentines were selling Malbec by the ton and making headway in the USA for well priced, well made and … Read more

Contact Centers Analytics and Wait Times

I just read a fascinating and very logical article about contact centers and wait times published by Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. If call centers or contact centers are core to your business, or if you've ever waited on hold to get help or support, it's a must-read. With algorithms and analytics at the core … Read more

HBO vs. Netflix – A Battle of Movies, Not Words

HBO's new chief Bob Greenblatt says Netflix doesn't have a brand. What a juvenile statement and one that is more fighting words than facts. Not only is Netflix a brand, its multi-generational, it's the brand that has replaced HBO as the "other place to watch."  For starters Netflix knows more about its' audience than HBO … Read more

Apple And San Diego

Apple is repeating a proven strategy in it's move to add 1200 or more jobs to a new office campus it plans to build in San Diego, not far from Qualcomm. The decision to go there, and establish a mobile chip engineering team is well timed, as Qualcomm has been laying off and shedding bodies … Read more

Google Fi, Duo and Voice

I've been a user of Google Fi for a few years now. I've also been a longtime user of Google Voice and Hangouts. Of late, I've been experimenting with Duo, Google's version of Skype meets Apple's Facetime. Like Skype, Duo let's you make outgoing calls, presenting your choice of numbers, much like Skype. Like Facetime … Read more

The MWC Hangover

Maybe it's being able to view Mobile World Congress from afar, but after getting past the 5G hype and "foldable" mobile phone news, for someone who has been around mobile and telecom for over 20 years it feels like a hangover where the bartender drank up what wasn't. For starters the news felt really lightweight. … Read more

Google and Sprint and 5G

Google and Sprint have a very interesting past when it comes to telecom, which is why the announcement about Google Fi and 5G via Sprint is really interesting. Looking back at history, Google and Sprint became friendlier when GoogleVoice numbers were first made usable as the primary mobile number on Sprint's wireless network. That ended … Read more

Want to Tango? Say Hello to the EVNO

We've all heard of the MVNO, the acronym for a mobile virtual network operator. They took a while to take off, and have had their ups and downs all over the globe. In some markets they have done well, in others not so well, and in the end, any have either shut down or simply … Read more

Your Should Ventoux Too

Wine makes people friends. For many years I have been a fan of the wines of the Ventoux. Chateau Pesquie was the first Ventoux wine I ever tasted back in the 90s, and then via my friendship with Nicole Rolet of Chene Bleu, the many visits to her family winery, and then our joint work … Read more