Tag: North America

KIOSK announces bundled services for wireless kiosks

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Together with TeraNova Consulting Group and Nationwide CDMA Wireless Providers, KIOSK Information Systems is providing a bundled approach to wireless kiosk deployments.

According to a news release, KIOSK is partnering with TeraNova to manage full lifecycle requirements, including testing, staging and on-going support and management of the wireless solution.

Mobile Deployment support services via the KIOSK-TeraNova relationship include:
Site survey for connectivity
Network & equipment sourcing, activations management
Router configuration
Mobile broadband card activation and provisioning
Carrier contract and order management
Managed installation
Help desk support
Maintenance
Reporting and training
KIOSK says one of the benefits of deploying kiosks with integrated wireless capability is position flexibility. Kiosk placement is an essential element in customer adoption and solution ROI, but ideal pilot positioning can be somewhat elusive. Without the commitment and expense of hard-wiring equipment, clients can experiment to find the ideal “sweet spots” that provide maximum traffic and return.

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Postal Trendwatch Q3 2007

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

The Postal Service experienced both revenue and volume growth in the first three quarters of FY
2007. However, overall volume growth appears to be slowing. In particular, First Class Mail continued its historic decline.

The big question that remains is whether the strong growth in productivity and Standard Mail
can fill the gap left by shrinking First Class Mail.

Also, after six years of uninterrupted productivity growth, has the Postal Service finally reached a limit to wringing out more productivity gains?

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The state of Third-Party Logistics – 2007

Posted by | Nov 7, 2007 | |

A significant focus of the annual State of Logistics Outsourcing: 2007 Third-Party Logistics report this year is on the opportunity for improved collaboration between 3PL providers and users.

A recent study by consulting firm Capgemini, the Georgia Institute of Technology, DHL and SAP reveals that collaboration between companies and their third-party logistics (3PLs) is one of those areas for which both sides of the equation see benefits — but the application of the idea turns out to be a lot harder than the theory.

For the first six years of the annual State of Logistics Outsourcing report, which is based on a survey of 1,568 logistics executives from 61 countries, about 72 percent of the survey respondents described themselves as users of 3PL services. In the past four years, this number has increased to 78 percent to 80 percent.

The 12th annual 3PL report, released late last month, indicates the third-party logistics (3PL) industry is doing many things right. Most users are satisfied with the relationship, with 85 percent reporting that their logistics outsourcing efforts are successful. However, some users do report chronic problems with 3PL providers and a significant number of users say that 3PL information technology capabilities are insufficient.

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US Postal Service Sends Consumers a Holiday Greeting

Posted by | Nov 7, 2007 | |

Help is on the way. The U.S. Postal Service will mail 110 million greeting cards to households across the country this week, offering simple solutions for holiday challenges.

“Everyone can use a little extra help around the holidays. We know that customers want more choices and convenience to help manage their time, especially this time of year,” said Anita Bizzotto, USPS chief marketing officer and executive vice president. “The Holiday Guide is one more way for us to help families enjoy the best the season has to offer. Today’s holidays need today’s mail.”

This is the fourth year the Postal Service has created a special holiday guide for consumers. Unlike the guides of holidays past, this year’s guide is designed to look more like a greeting card. And instead of a series of quick takes on products and services, the card sends recipients to the Internet and usps.com.

The Postal Service website is like a Post Office that’s always open, available to customers at a time and place convenient for them. The card highlights some of the most popular services offered online that will give consumers something they can really use during the holidays.

In the time it takes to download a tune or a video onto an iPod, customers can:

– Pay postage
– Print shipping labels
– Request free package pickup
– Build personalized greeting cards
– Create holiday postage
– Order free, environmentally friendly packaging
– Find Post Office locations and hours

Customers also can check on recommended mailing dates to make sure packages arrive safely and on time for the holidays. First-Class Mail and Priority Mail should be sent by Dec. 20. The recommended date for sending items by Express Mail is Dec. 22. And the date for sending holiday cheer by Parcel Post, the most economical service, is Dec. 15.

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Newspaper Circulation Falls 3 pct, Audit Bureau Says

Posted by | Nov 6, 2007 | |

The circulation declines of American newspapers continued to accelerate over the spring and summer, as sales across the industry fell almost 3 percent compared with the year before, according to figures released today.

The drop, reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, reflects the growing shift of readers to the Internet, where newspaper readership has climbed, and also a strategy by many major papers to shed unprofitable or marginally profitable print circulation.

Among the nation’s largest newspapers, only a handful held their own or registered slight increases in overall paid circulation for the period from April 1 to Sept. 30: USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Houston Chronicle and The St. Petersburg Times. Most papers showed significant declines, both weekday and Sunday.

For the first time, the Audit Bureau released, along with the traditional circulation figures, numbers produced by Scarborough Reports that reflected the total number of readers, both in print and online, for more than 200 newspapers in their home markets. For many of those papers, this marks the first time that such an independent analysis has been done, providing a benchmark for future reports.

Newspaper industry executives said they hoped that the new set of numbers would put a more positive cast on newspapers’ prospects than the routinely gloomy paid circulation reports have done.

An analysis of 88 major papers showed that in the last two years, about half of them had seen no change in readership or had registered an increase, said Bob Cohen, president and chief executive officer of Scarborough.

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