Home Telecide

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy
or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy


I don’t know about you, but I have been way busier than normal, although locked down at home, like most of the rest of the British Isles. I have been completing Social Housing process reviews, helping with new contractor systems and manipulating vast amounts of asset survey data. I can't grumble, its all keeping me in, away from harm😉.

I have read conspiracy theories about the Bible book of Revelation mentioning that near the time of reckoning, all men, small and rich, slave or free, will need to accept a stamped image in their right hand or on the forehead, to exist or trade.

These are often interpreted as a mouse and a screen. Indeed these last few weeks, a screen and mouse has been invaluable, if not essential for doing all work.

I have Zoomed, Skyped with TEAMS, GoToMeeting’ed, as well as some others, which were a nice alternative adventure. That’s how I get my kicks these days, keep ‘em coming!

The 'utopian dream' they sold us

I thought it was definitely worth a post on this, as I have had so many conversations and experiences shared with me. Now I am quite regimented and organised, so up at 8am, in the shower and dressed. I cannot be sure that everyone I teleconference with have pyjama bottoms on, but they tend to have had something reasonable on from the (webcam) waist up. But how do you transition from not working to working? One article I read, suggested putting some shoes on, helps with the transition to starting work. A bit like putting a tie on for a meeting I suppose. Give it some consideration, see if it works for you.

Security with some of these video apps is generally in the config and these are pretty well thought out and secure. Stories of Zoom being a ‘security risk’, is more about new users going with initial default settings, than any inherent weaknesses. Lock down your settings and prevent instances of Zoombomber trolls, having fun at your expense.

"Get Down" Rover!

Another vexing issue is your webcam background. Now Skype does allow you to blur it, but that does not seem to be enough for some. Although behind some folk appears to be a bed headrest or perhaps a DIY S&M dungeon. With Oxfam shops closed, its not the right time, the bus has been missed, to grab some highbrow literature, to populate that IKEA Billy Bookcase behind you, with Penguin Classics.

Maybe we are learning just a bit too much of our work colleagues home décor, or that kids playroom hastily converted to home office lately. Always have some idea where the rest of your family or pets are, while you are on the call. Consider locking yourself in a box room if you can!

Good advice from an MP, who many can learn from

Some of us have the whole family at home, which clearly can be a blessing, as well as an occasional curse! You don’t always want to share a crumpet with melted cheese just passed to you, with your customer. Personally, I wouldn’t mind, but with advance planning, I would generally pop a special one in the toaster for them. How do you keep their noises at bay, when trying to focus? Well, help is at hand, particularly for some of us who spend some time in coffee shops, linking our VPN to the free WiFi and stretching a Flat White and an Italian Amaretti Di Saronno Biscuit, out for a couple of hours. Try this link or similar, for a good hour of ambient coffee shop sounds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaGrHUekGrc

That may work for you. There’s also, French café in the rain, magical tearooms and for my customers in Scotland, this lovely small café with three hours of close conversation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CL6OH7Fod4

Look at the state of that water damaged ceiling 🤔

We are used to attendees dropping out of video conference calls. This can be due to the primary system being overwhelmed, or maybe local connections from home, suffering some contention. I have been on calls where video or sound can be lost for a while. One story a director from an organisation I work with, shared a sorry story of a solicitor joining a call, who only had video.They had to write stuff down on post-it notes and show it to the webcam. Unfortunately, everyone else saw it reversed and needed a mirror to properly understand it. Remember folks you can generally always phone in, to save some of these embarrassments.

I am intending to check-in on a local supplier as this situation unfolds and will add a blogpost from their perspective if possible. Suppliers and providers all need to think and work differently, to help staff cope, with hat is becoming the new normal.

Rest assured, we will no-doubt know each other a little better after this is all over. I hope it does bring us all closer. We will beat this together, one conference call at a time.


Related Post: Credit Unions - Why generally so far ahead of Social Housing providers, on self-service?
 

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

The Tubes - Telecide.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plenfific,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, ...
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Personal Feeling

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy
or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy


I bet like me, you are a frequent user of Amazon and perhaps eBay too.

On these platforms we pretty much know the commodity or product we are after.

It’s specification can be pretty well checked, known or investigated in advance.

Therefore it’s natural to feel you can trust to buy from just looking at a few photos or camera angles, to confirm we are buying the right thing.

What about software applications?

Would you be happy spending £60k upwards on a solution, just from a PDF or a remote Webex?

I and I am sure you have coming confirmed requirements or investigated product via webinars. It does make perfect sense in the modern world and can cut down on the miles travelled and the size of the carbon footprint. Essential these days if we are even going to make a start on saving the planet.

Indeed, I have experienced a few demos, where a number of ‘suited & booted’ chaps (all men, natch), have rucked up, with one guy flying in especially from Dublin. The latter, who was 30 mins late, said maybe 3 sentences, including his title, which had ‘business development’ in amongst many other fine nouns describing his rank and status. When they left, my client asked, ‘WTAF was all that about’? My only suggestion was that they thought that would help the prospect feel good.

That was going too far I thought.

A few weeks ago, I had a strange experience, from the other end of the demo spectrum.

In a process where a demo was always outlined as needed and slots defined well in advance, at a named location, one good sounding prospect called me up. They said they were selling a SAAS (Software as a service) offering, so had stopped doing face to face demos and just do it all by webinar. This was a solution that came with a couple of dozen implementation days and might have been a 5 year deal, with a potentially expanding organisation.

I let them know that all other bidders were coming to see us and reminded them that they were only about 60 miles away. Worth the trip I thought for a £60k+ gig. Even my Mancunian powers of persuasion were insufficient to tempt them out of their cosy office. I was as disappointed as my client too.

Their attitude was that the implementation, SAAS or not, was expected to be a journey and meeting the supplier face to face was very important. Indeed, we would be meeting sales people, who are generally the most optimistic and flexible folk. Implementers are often more downbeat, particularly when they ponder, ‘I am not sure you bought that’ etc. A member of the evaluation panel reflected my exact thoughts. If the salesman was not interested in us at this early stage, how interested might the implementers be later ,if we choose this solution?

Needless to say, they didn’t demo and unfortunately had to be dropped from the opportunity.

People still do at the end of the day, buy from people. A demo and how the supplier & it’s sale is communicated, can make an enormous difference. I have heard of many unfortunate stories & witnessed a few myself where a misogynistic comment or an insult to tenants/residents, while s board member was on the evaluation panel, has resulted in low demo scored & one supplier (who was leading until then), being ejected from the process.

Please feel free to add your thoughts and experiences, below in the comments.

I fully believe that prospects buy solutions from people better in a face to face scenario and that tells you much about how the future scenario of the relationship might pan out. Do seek help to incorporate good testing of functionality in your evaluation, as without that, all the supplier warm words in the world, will not make your project fly.

I don’t think you can sell solutions via automated emails & cold calls either. That does not seem to satisfy many people at all.

Related Post: Think carefully when you design your self-service, what will your customers do next?  

 

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Audioweb - Personal Feeling.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS Housing,NPS Job Manager Mobile,NROSH,Natural,Neighbourhoods and Communities,Nintexworkflow,Northgate,Northgate Codeman,Northgate Public Services,Notice, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,OJEU Limits,ORS,Ohms,OmFax,Omniledger,One,OneAdvanced,OneServe,Open source,OpenContractor,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Options,Optitime,Oracle,Orchard,Outsource and outsourcing,OutSystems, PIMMS,PIMSS Data,PM,PRINCE2,Paloma,Pamwin,PanConnect,People Value,Peoplevalue,PfH,Pick,PlanForm,Planned maintenance,Plus,Portfolio Management System,PowerObjects,Pro,Pro-Points,Prodo,Progress,Promaster,Propoints,Proval,Providers,Pyramid, QL,QuantSpark,Qube,QLX,Qlikview,QueryView,Queryview reporting,Quiss, RM865,ROCC,RPs,RSL,Rave,ReAct,Reality,RedkiteCRM,Red Olive,Registered,Registered Social,Rent Increase,RentSense,RentSenseLite,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,RobotAutomation,Rocket, Salesforce,Salesforce.Org,SAP,SASSHA,SDM,SHBVN,SM,SOTI,SP,SQL,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting,SQL Server,Saffron,Safron,Saturn,Scenario,Scotland,Scots,Scottish,Scout,Sequoa,Serengeti,Serros,Server,Service,Services,Servitor,Sharepoint,Sim,SimPro, Simdel,Simdell,Slash and Burn,Social Housing ICT,Social Housing Software Applications,Social Media,Software,Software solutions,Spotlight Service,Spotlightservice,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic,SunAccounts,Sunguard,Surveys, Swordfish,Sx3,Symatrix Human,System alignment,Systems,Systemwise, T-Files,TEAMS,TED,TFiles,TP Tracker,TSG,Tagish Casework,Tagra,Task,Technologies (India) PVT Limited,Telecetera,Template,Terminal Services,That,Three Star,Today,Tony Smith,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT,TonySmithHou,TonySmithHousing, ,TonySmithHousingITguy,Total,Total Mobile,Totalmobile,Trace,Tribal,Twitter, U2,UC,UK,UK Housing,Ukhousing,UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,United Kingdom,Universal,Universalcredit,Universe,Unrest, Valueworks,Van Stock,Vantage,Vantage Sentinel,Version,Virtualisation,Visualmetrics,Voice,Voice and data,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Wheatley,Windows Server,Workflow and,Work Hub,Works Connect, XML,Xen App,XenApp,Xmbrace, ...
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