This week I attended the ACCE event in New Orleans and aside from my deep concern for New Orleans and the Louisiana economy due to the situation in the Gulf, I have to say, it was good to see so many folks turn out! BP even showed up! It is clear that even with the economy still bumping along, companies are passionate about keeping their customers. Judging from our booth traffic, they have a high degree of interest in bettering customer experience and increasing agent efficiency.

Yesterday I read an article by, Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, on the Huffington Post, debating whether we are headed for a "double-dip" recession or just a lousy recovery? It is an interesting debate with many self serving opinions on all sides. I am no economist and have never been a fan of Mr. Reich, but I have to say...when it comes to business in this era, it just doesn't matter! You and your team have got to play like the bottom is falling out everyday. Bad economy or good, recession or not. You've got to be at the top of your game!

Ok...I'll admit that I've been accused of being a gadget man! Sure, I've had my PDA's, GPS's and other electronic toys and yes I was a very early adopter of both the Blackberry and now the Droid. But let it be known, that today I feel the need to be like Paul Revere! Customer Experience Managers beware, The "Tablets" are coming, The "Tablets" are coming! And they are going to change customer experience and the demands on the service process for good.

So, if you read my recent blog, "The Tablet's are Coming!", you know that I firmly believe that these new and extremely portable devices will be changing the face of user mobility faster and in more ways than Cell Phones did in the '80's for personal use and customer support. Don't think so? Get your hands on an iPad for more than 5 minutes and then Check this out...www.flipboard.com I'm an even greater believer after leaving my laptop power supply home while on a 5 day trip. Given that I run the business in the cloud, I was able to do everything I needed to do...short of a little spreadsheet work (could have done it but it would have been more tedious).

I like experiments...in fact I love them. That's kind of how I got involved with Fused Solutions and SpiceCSM. Having grown up in Northern NY and having attended Clarkson University, I wanted to help revitalize an economy that hadn't weathered the transition from agrarian and smoke stack to technology very well. Its a long story but suffice it to say the last several years have been an interesting and fulfilling ride. But that is for a different day back to the experiment of sorts.

One of the biggest topics being discussed in today's call centers and customer service organizations is cost reduction. There are many different factors that go into a call center operating expenses, including everything from agent labor hours to technology costs, and even facility costs. Obviously some things are easier to control than others.