t2 business solutions blog

Is Email Damaging Your Customer Service?

An interesting article on Training Zone explains how recent research by eService provider Transversal shows that email is the UK's worst channel of Customer Service.

Evaluating 100 top companies, the research showed that only 46% of emailed questions were answered adequately. Apparently, more satisfactory responses were received through automated online services and customer care centres.

Analysis shows that 63% of answers push customers to call a contact centre, and 47% pushed customers back to the website, generally on an information page without the answer to their enquiry.

If your company is having problems with customer service and you think your employees may need some training in this area, why not have a look at t2 business solutions training courses, everything from Modern Apprenticeships and Open Courses, to bespoke training created especially for your company needs.

Ffres - Welsh Student Design Awards

According to Design Wales the aim of the awards is to prepare students for working in industry by setting competitive briefs from professionals in a bid to showcase future Welsh design talent.

The winners, mentioned below, will each receive monetary rewards and year-long work placements. A great way for them to make a start in their design careers.

• University of Wales undergraduate Anthony Thomas for his fashion project for Peacocks;
• University of Wales Institute student Lucy Dixon for her textiles design for Ikea; and
• Joel Williams, of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff for his work on Gelert's industrial design brief.

Two students from Carmarthenshire College - John Paul Birch and Edward Manning - took top prizes for the HBOS graphic design brief and Rough Trade graphic design brief - Well done to all!

£100 billion a year spent on sick notes

An interesting article on Training Zone explains how £100 billion a year is being spent on sick notes in Britain - which is more than the entire budget of the NHS.

This study is the first ever review into the health of the working population and is has led to a call for urgent reform and a new approach to health and work.

Dame Carol Black, Director for health and work and publisher of the review Working for a Healthier Tomorrow, discusses out the challenges, including insufficient access to good work-related health support in the early stages of sickness.

Is your company losing out because of sick notes - are you part of the £100 billion costs lost every year? Have a look at the article to see what has been suggested to tackle these issues.

iPlayer for the iPhone

Yes the BBC have launched a version of their recent iPlayer video for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. This is the first time this iPlayer service has been available to portable devices.

Both the iPhone and iPod Touch can stream shows from the iPlayer website using thier wi-fi networks.

Anthony Rose, writing on the BBC internet blog, said: "We started with iPhone because it is the device most optimised for high quality video currently available. It displays the BBCiPlayer site and BBC programmes nicely."

It is also said that the BBC is currently working on other versions for more devices.

Read more here

To visit the BBC iPlayer website - click here

Teapot Worshipping Anyone?

  A Malaysian woman has been jailed for following a cult surrounding a giant teapot! An article on Metro tells how she was jailed one week ago after announcing herself as an apostate.

She was arrested in 2005 with 57 other followers of the cult and the teapot, which apparently symbolised water's purity and 'love pouring from heaven', was demolished by the government at the time of the arrests.

She has been jailed for two years for apostasy without willingness to repent - however, this is not the strangest part of all. She was previously imprisoned in 1992 for her teapot following ways!

Maybe it's time to follow something new...

Are You Wasting Your Employees IT Skills?

An interesting article published by ILM explains how new studies have shown the employers are not taking advantage of what is being called the 'Facebook Generation', and the IT skills they already have.

The research, held by Filemaker, showed that 82% of school leavers (16-18 year olds) felt confident about their IT skills when they entered work, but only 51% of these actually use these IT skills in their jobs.

However, on the opposite side of the scale, a separate study carried out last month by the National Computer Centre, found that employers were finding it difficult to hire IT staff with the right skills.  If you are one of these employers, it would be worth considering some additional training for your staff.

t2 business solutions provides tailored training to meet your specific needs. Have a look at the IT tailored training pages to find out more. There is also vocational training available in IT from t2, giving your employees a recognised qualification.

Give your screen its own personality!

Flip Visual bring you a wide selection of HD animated screen savers for both Mac and PC users - ScreensPro.

Their range of FREE and premium animated screensavers are of a quality that has never been seen before.

Install, for FREE, the Desktop software and products (which are provided on the website which are Virus and Spyware free), and off you go. Read more about downloading the products and how to use them here

There is a wide variety of topics you can choose from to give your screen a personality of its own, from natural scenes such as waterfalls and formation of clouds to very abstract pattern movements.

to view the website and the range of screensavers available click here