Archive for June, 2010

Webinar: Using Ribbit and EchoSign to increase salesforce productivity

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 | located in Events, Productivity, Tips and Tricks | 3 Comments »

Ribbit is partnering with EchoSign and CustomerThink to provide a free webinar taking place on July 8th that will highlight how on-the-go sales reps can boost productivity. Spend your time selling, not filing paperwork.

Live demonstrations will show how reps can:

• Call in meeting notes and sales updates from the field instead of typing into Salesforce.com
• Get out of “voicemail hell” with voice-to-text call transcriptions
• Use voice integration with Chatter, a new collaboration tool from Salesforce.com
• Send contracts from Salesforce.com to increase sales productivity and…
• Enable customers to sign contracts electronically from smart phones, to shorten the contract signing process.

While demand may be picking up, competition will continue to be intense. Join us for one hour to learn how to free up more sales time to drive revenue, not busy work.

We hope you will join us for this webinar. Registration is free.

Team Ribbit represents at Cloudforce

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 | located in Events | No Comments »

Check out more photos from the San Jose event and several from photos from the Dallas event.

SMS – the growing new wave of communication

Thursday, June 17th, 2010 | located in SME Trends | No Comments »

SMS, or simple message service, lives up to its name – it’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to communicate. Its efficiency and availability make it one of the most highly used modes of communication worldwide.



The future of SMS is bright, as it seems to only be trending upward, with usage growing exponentially over recent years.  While the simplicity, reliability, and affordability of SMS have made it an attractive option for mobile users, emerging trends will ultimately spur its growth over the next few years.  Businesses are finding an ally in SMS for machine-to-machine applications, allowing data and updates to be sent from locations that are not fixed, such as moving vehicles with GPS systems.



But there’s a downside: just as businesses are capitalizing on the reach afforded by SMS, so are spammers.  Spammers have the capability to reach many more unwilling “customers” than ever before through the use of SMS.  That’s great news for spammers, but an annoyance for the rest of us.  Nevertheless, spamming will play a large role in the growth of SMS.



Flat rate billing plans and personalization services for SMS are also making it a desirable option for communicating in real time.  For a more detailed review of these growth trends, check out this article.

One of the most important advantages of SMS, though, is that it is often available when other voice services are not.  When calling is not an option because of service disruptions, SMS may be the only way to stay in touch.  It is one of the few reliable ways to communicate during emergencies. The power and reach of SMS was demonstrated during the recent devastating earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.  When these catastrophes crippled voice networks in these countries, friends and family members were still able to connect via SMS. This articleoutlines how SMS is able to survive when carrier networks are damaged.

With all of its efficiency, reach, and popularity, SMS  seems like it will be next big vehicle for marketing.  What’s interesting, though, is that SMS marketing really has not yet taken off. There are some companies like Waterfall Mobile that are providing valuable services with SMS ,such as sending out messages to skiers with weather updates.  Airlines are also using SMS to send out updates to customers regarding flight delays and gate changes.  But what is really surprising is that there aren’t more companies using SMS as a way to gain new clients, market their products, and engage their customers. It’s easy to see the value of using this simple, far-reaching mode of communication –  so what are they waiting for?

A Mobile Dessert I’m Anxiously Awaiting

Friday, June 4th, 2010 | located in SME Trends, mobility | No Comments »

My summer resolution is to replace my Blackberry RIM 8320 mobile phone.  I’ve had this phone for a couple of years, and it’s done a respectable job of handling my corporate Outlook email, calendar, and address book needs.  Despite this device’s solid messaging abilities, I’m looking for a replacement because I’m tired of its “Flintstone”-like Internet browser and its limitations.  Recent smartphone browsing developments make my Blackberry’s tiny screen, sluggish browser speed, and miniscule application market replacement-worthy.

Replacement Criteria

Here’s what I’m looking for:

• A device that handles integrated voice, email, calendaring, and address book at least as well as my old Blackberry.
• A smartphone with the largest possible screen that will fit into my pocket.  It should also support Internet browsing at or close to broadband speeds via WiFi or a carrier’s mobile network.
• A smartphone brand that supports more than 10,000 third party applications — a healthy, growing number of third party apps bolsters my confidence in the platform’s functionality.

Given these criteria, my decision boils down to a smartphone that’s either on the iPhone or Android platform. While iPhone is compelling because competitors have had to perform more than a few iterations to even approach its functionality, and the new 4G IPhone is due to be released soon,  there’s good reason to consider Android in my selection process.

Top five reasons I’m considering the newest Google Android Platform smartphone:

Google is releasing FroYo (Android version 2.2 – with a code name short for frozen yogurt) this summer on phones and carrier networks yet to be determined.  In addition to meeting all my criteria above, FroYo is a significant upgrade for the Android platform, offering speed and phone capabilities that exceed or equal those of the iPhone.   My list of top FroYo capabilities includes:

1. Ability to store Android apps in SD memory. Storing apps outside core memory frees the device to easily add apps that constrained earlier versions of Android, which required them to be stored in core memory.
2. Access to 50k applications in Android’s app market. The platform also has automatic upgrade capabilities.
3. Speeds of 2x-5x faster than Android v2.1 with a  browser that’s 2x-3x faster. Speed improvements enable Google to claim FroYo will be the fastest mobile browser in the market when it is released.
4. Support for Flash 10.1 and AIR from Adobe. FroYo users will be able to access video clips in the most common video format on the Internet (unlike iPhone, which refuses to support the Flash format).
5. Tethering. FroYo users can connect their phones to their PCs/Macs to access WiFi or the carrier’s network − try that with an iPhone.

Looking forward to tasting some FroYo this summer!

Ribbit heading to Cloudforce in Dallas and San Jose

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 | located in Events | No Comments »

We are putting on our comfy shoes and doing our stretches as we prep to wo/man the show floor at the upcoming Cloudforce events in Dallas (June 15th) and San Jose (June 22nd).

If you are planning on attending one or both of these events, we hope you will stop by the Ribbit booth and say hello.