Did you just get back from vacation? You missed a busy week in technology. The first thing you need to know: Facebook and Google dominated the headlines. Let’s get on with the list. READ MORE
Savvy shoppers have a lethal trick to get the best deal out of a company. It’s euphemistically called “dialing for dollars.” In short, it means calling repeatedly for the best deal knowing the price will vary depending on which operator places the order. A recent example of this that made headlines was a dustup between Dell Computer and a popular blog called “The Consumerist” that published inside tips from a former Dell employee of how to best manipulate Dell operators to get the best prices. Dell threatened legal action if the blog didn’t take it down and then backed down in the wake of all the bad public relations that ensued. So, how does this happen? It’s a failure to manage unified messages (like the prices) when dealing with customers. It’s also a good reason for a growing business to go ahead and invest in a centralized call center that can better control the customer-facing end of the enterprise. Call centers coordinate customer contacts “Call centers clearly still have holes when it comes to things like ‘dialing for dollars,’ but, it’s the best way to minimize those holes,” says Chip Gliedman, an analyst from Forrester Research. Perhaps better known as “call centers” Gliedman prefers the more all-encompassing term “contact center.” And with good reason. “There’s been an explosion in recent years of ways people interact with a company that goes far beyond phone calls,” he says. “Now, of course, it’s also through the website, e-mail and instant messaging just to name a few.” Keeping your communications with customers consistent is just one reason to invest in a contact center. Here are other benefits to taking the plunge: Aggregating market intelligence. Tracking feedback and purchasing patterns is a great way to better understand your customer base. Putting customer interaction management under one department. One of the greatest sources of confusion in customer interaction is the disconnect between phone operators (typically managed by sales) and the website (typically managed by marketing). Sales and marketing have two distinct goals. Sales wants to close deals. Marketing wants to gather intelligence. A contact center should answer to one department, likely sales, for the sake of consistency. Greater flexibility and speed in dealing with customers. A contact center is one-stop shopping to get the word out on special promotions or ramping up for the busy seasons. Setting and implementing policy. What kind of commitment should a company make to its customers regarding the time it takes to respond to an e-mail, process an order, handle a return, or deliver a product? Whatever the policy is, all customer-facing representatives need to be on the same page. Centralization is the best way to achieve that. Setting up a contact center In recent years, launching a contact center has become much easier for the small to mid-size business. Software as a service (SaaS) is the biggest reason why. A company no longer has to make a big upfront investment in infrastructure. SaaS enables a business to just rent all the technology by the year or even by the month, as needed. Even the phone switch is now available as software on a subscription basis. Not only is there greater flexibility in committing to the technology, the software has become more innovative and easier to use, as well. “Traditionally operators have to go back and forth between at least two screens of information; one coming from the website and the other from the [customer relationship management] (CRM) system,” says Jason Bloomberg, a senior analyst from Zapthink, an IT advisory firm based in Baltimore, Md. Bloomberg says that some companies are starting to build mashups — hybrid software that combines two or more applications — of the website and CRM systems into one interface. “These mashups are very easy to build,” he says. The big question: In-house or out-of-house Although contact centers have become easier to implement and use in recent years, it’s still a big commitment. A business owner has to consider whether it makes better sense to keep it under the corporate roof or farm it out to the pros. Either way has its pros and cons. Keeping it in-house. Most growing businesses usually go this route, at least in the beginning. Pros: The business retains better control of the information. It’s run by company employees who are more invested in the values and mission of the business. Cons: It costs more. It’s less efficient to set up a contact center from scratch than to hand it off to a professional contact center that already has the infrastructure to hit the ground running. Outsourcing. “When a company grows to the point of 10, 15, 20 employees handling their contact center, that’s when it’s time to think of outsourcing the whole thing,” says Gliedman. Pros: It’s cheaper, especially when dealing with larger volumes of calls and requests. It’s turnkey with no staffing or equipment. It’s easier to scale up and down during promotions and seasonal variations. Cons: There’s more lag time implementing changes or responding to customer feedback and complaints. Because now, there’s a middle man. The outsourcing company is often motivated more by keeping costs down then keeping customers happy. For the business owner still manning the phones with a couple of employees and a part-time webmaster, a contact center may seem like a distant problem. But that’s not always the case. “When the number and types of contact are at the point that it’s more than one full-time employee can handle, then guess what? It’s time for a contact center. Otherwise, you’ll have customers falling through the cracks,” says Gliedman.
While the business world races to catch up with Web 2.0 applications like wikis, RSS feeds, and widgets, the “next thing” is already here and starting to catch on fast: mashups. “It’s the next natural step of the Web,” says Jason Bloomberg, a senior analyst from Zapthink, an IT advisory firm based in Baltimore, Md. Mashups are a hybrid genre of Web applications that borrow from two or more other Web applications or data sources and then literally mash them up into one unique application. For example, a company called Infopia has developed a mashup that eBay sellers can use combining the data from their online stores with the tools of Salesforce.com, such as customer relationship management (CRM), inventory management, and online performance analytics. Anyone can do it The beauty of the mashup is how easy it is to build them. It’s basically a three-step process: Choose the data sources or applications you want to mashup. This can be any combination of an internal database with a widely used application programming interface (API) from a source like Amazon.com, Google Maps, Flickr, 411Sync, or eBay. There are countless other APIs available to mix and match. Other ways to access data include Web feeds, like RSS, and screen scraping. Screen scraping involves using a simple program that “scrapes” data from the display output on a website. Take a feed from each source and aggregate it into one mashup. This may sound like the most intimidating step. It’s not. “Actually, finding the tools to build the mashup is easy. It’s more difficult finding the data,” says Bob Braver, president and CEO of StrikeIron, a data service company based in Durham, N.C. Some of the most popular mashup tools and servers include Yahoo Pipes, Microsoft Pop Fly, and Kapow Technologies. Google has a mashup editor in beta, as well. All are easy to use for the non-techie. Host it. You’ll need a domain host or Web server technology that supports server-side scripting technologies like PHP or Ruby on Rails. Many mashup authors are using a company called Dreamhost. It’s cheap, well reviewed by customers and is easy to use. Mashups may be good for business Like social networking sites and other Web 2.0 trends, it’s consumers that tend to be the early adopters with the business community coming along eventually. The same seems to be true with mashups. Some of the most publicized mashups include Weather Bonk, a mashup site that combines Yahoo! Traffic with Google Maps and various weather feeds that come up with one page featuring live traffic cams and a weather map customized by location. Another popular site is 1001 Secret Fishing Holes, a mashup of Google Maps with a variety of database feeds from sources like the National Park Service, campgrounds and wild life refuges. However, it is the business realm where mashups will likely have their greatest impact. It’s already starting to happen. Jason Bloomberg from Zapthink sees the following trends in business mashups: Data visualization. So far, this means leveraging geographical information with other data feeds. Google Maps, by far, is the most popular API used in mashups. Imagine, for example, combining Google Maps with a realtor’s feed of multiple listings in her market, combined with school district borders and educational rankings. Credit card processing. A popular mashup with online retailers is mashing up external credit card processing from the banks with internal e-commerce orders. Call center applications. Customer representatives taking calls and following up on orders by phone typically are staring at more than one screen: one of the website and the online order, the other displaying the CRM screen. Bloomberg says he’s seeing more online retailers mashing up the two (the e-commerce component with the CRM) into one view, one screen. Turbo charge your Web analytics Another area business mashups are showing promise is in Web analytics for e-commerce sites. Mashups can be used to combine Web traffic data from your site with, for example, the marketing data feed from Dunn & Bradstreet, a leading provider of marketing, credit, and purchasing information. “By mashing up the two, you can look for trends like who visited your site, but didn’t buy anything. You can also use mashups between Web analytics and mapping APIs to geographically plot your Web visitors,” says Braver. Mashups and the IT department Hybrid Web applications tailor made by the user? That sounds like the makings of a migraine for the IT department. Issues to be considered include security and integration with other applications on the company network, just for starters. However, most IT managers have already learned from the proliferation and easy access of Web 2.0 tools that they’re fighting a losing battle retaining control of what online tools employees use. Braver offers the following advice to antsy IT directors: “Think of it as experimental. If the mashup proves beneficial to the business, then IT has a prototype to take and perfect.”
While the business world races to catch up with Web 2.0 applications like wikis, RSS feeds, and widgets, the “next thing” is already here and starting to catch on fast: mashups. “It’s the next natural step of the Web,” says Jason Bloomberg, a senior analyst from Zapthink, an IT advisory firm based in Baltimore, Md. Mashups are a hybrid genre of Web applications that borrow from two or more other Web applications or data sources and then literally mash them up into one unique application. For example, a company called Infopia has developed a mashup that eBay sellers can use combining the data from their online stores with the tools of Salesforce.com, such as customer relationship management (CRM), inventory management, and online performance analytics. Anyone can do it The beauty of the mashup is how easy it is to build them. It’s basically a three-step process: Choose the data sources or applications you want to mashup. This can be any combination of an internal database with a widely used application programming interface (API) from a source like Amazon.com, Google Maps, Flickr, 411Sync, or eBay. There are countless other APIs available to mix and match. Other ways to access data include Web feeds, like RSS, and screen scraping. Screen scraping involves using a simple program that “scrapes” data from the display output on a website. Take a feed from each source and aggregate it into one mashup. This may sound like the most intimidating step. It’s not. “Actually, finding the tools to build the mashup is easy. It’s more difficult finding the data,” says Bob Braver, president and CEO of StrikeIron, a data service company based in Durham, N.C. Some of the most popular mashup tools and servers include Yahoo Pipes, Microsoft Pop Fly, and Kapow Technologies. Google has a mashup editor in beta, as well. All are easy to use for the non-techie. Host it. You’ll need a domain host or Web server technology that supports server-side scripting technologies like PHP or Ruby on Rails. Many mashup authors are using a company called Dreamhost. It’s cheap, well reviewed by customers and is easy to use. Mashups may be good for business Like social networking sites and other Web 2.0 trends, it’s consumers that tend to be the early adopters with the business community coming along eventually. The same seems to be true with mashups. Some of the most publicized mashups include Weather Bonk, a mashup site that combines Yahoo! Traffic with Google Maps and various weather feeds that come up with one page featuring live traffic cams and a weather map customized by location. Another popular site is 1001 Secret Fishing Holes, a mashup of Google Maps with a variety of database feeds from sources like the National Park Service, campgrounds and wild life refuges. However, it is the business realm where mashups will likely have their greatest impact. It’s already starting to happen. Jason Bloomberg from Zapthink sees the following trends in business mashups: Data visualization. So far, this means leveraging geographical information with other data feeds. Google Maps, by far, is the most popular API used in mashups. Imagine, for example, combining Google Maps with a realtor’s feed of multiple listings in her market, combined with school district borders and educational rankings. Credit card processing. A popular mashup with online retailers is mashing up external credit card processing from the banks with internal e-commerce orders. Call center applications. Customer representatives taking calls and following up on orders by phone typically are staring at more than one screen: one of the website and the online order, the other displaying the CRM screen. Bloomberg says he’s seeing more online retailers mashing up the two (the e-commerce component with the CRM) into one view, one screen. Turbo charge your Web analytics Another area business mashups are showing promise is in Web analytics for e-commerce sites. Mashups can be used to combine Web traffic data from your site with, for example, the marketing data feed from Dunn & Bradstreet, a leading provider of marketing, credit, and purchasing information. “By mashing up the two, you can look for trends like who visited your site, but didn’t buy anything. You can also use mashups between Web analytics and mapping APIs to geographically plot your Web visitors,” says Braver. Mashups and the IT department Hybrid Web applications tailor made by the user? That sounds like the makings of a migraine for the IT department. Issues to be considered include security and integration with other applications on the company network, just for starters. However, most IT managers have already learned from the proliferation and easy access of Web 2.0 tools that they’re fighting a losing battle retaining control of what online tools employees use. Braver offers the following advice to antsy IT directors: “Think of it as experimental. If the mashup proves beneficial to the business, then IT has a prototype to take and perfect.”
PowerSellers is a distinction made by eBay itself. It happens automatically when sellers reach a certain level in monthly sales and positive feedback on a consistent basis. Sales requirements range from bronze ($1,000/month), then silver ($3,000/month), gold ($10,000/month), platinum ($25,000/month) to titanium ($150,000/month). Feedback has to consistently stay above the 98 percent positive range. There are now 1.3 million people who claim eBay as either their primary or secondary source of income, according to AC Nielson International, the New York-based market research firm. The PowerSellers are a formidable crowd. “EBay is a $40 billion dollar a year market,” says Sucharita Mulpuru, a senior analyst from Forrester Research, a Cambridge, Mass. research firm. “ A lot of that business, easily more than 20 percent of it, goes through the PowerSellers.” For the other 80 percent of sellers on eBay, not to mention those thinking of launching an eBay business, here is some advice on how to make it as a PowerSeller. Keep your ducks in a row Remember that there were small businesses long before eBay and there are likely to be small businesses long after eBay. Diversify and make sure that eBay is only one of many channels you use to generate sales of your product or services. “I like to have a lot of legs under my table,” says Tyler Higgins, a platinum PowerSeller of Laverne, Calif., who peddles cosmetics and fragrances from the online auction site. “I like the fact that my business isn’t just eBay. I have a wholesale and retail branch of my business outside of eBay. If one aspect of my business suffers, the other legs hold up the table.” PowerSellers need to follow the same basic rules that make any business successful. Sell products that you believe in. “Pick a product that you’re passionate about,” advises Barbara Dimoush, a gold PowerSeller from Atlanta who sells party favors and décor. “You need to be able to sell yourself, as well as the product.” But Powersellers advise newcomers to go slow, take baby steps, and don’t expect the business to take off without some glitches. The customer is always right On eBay – and the Web in general – customer feedback can make or break your business. Word spreads like wildfire online. People write blogs and, on eBay, they leave customer feedback. Customers often scour that customer feedback before deciding whether to trust a seller or not. In other words: Character counts. One of the easiest ways to generate positive feedback is to remember that the customer is always right. “Work with your customers. Treat them the same as you would in a traditional retail business,” says Telly Krousaniotakis, a platinum PowerSeller from Baltimore, who sells refurbished computers and printers. “Whether they’re spending thousands of dollars or buying one ten dollar item, treat them with respect. I depend on my repeat customers. Fifty percent come back.” The most common comment customers leave is about how quickly they received a purchase. “Ship quick,” says Dimoush. “It’s the quickest way to build up your positive feedback. By far, it’s the most popular comment you see on anyone’s feedback. I ship within 24 to 48 hours every time. That’s what customers seem to appreciate most.” EBay is not for every business Not every business that hangs its shingle on the eBay site is going to succeed. More importantly, times are changing and the competition is cut throat. “EBay is not what it used to be,” says gold PowerSeller Jerome Coudrier, who sells tiki-themed products from Oahu. “It’s way more competitive and there’s too much cut-rate pricing at the cost of quality. The other thing about eBay is you never own the customer. EBay does. That’s the big downside. The customer may never find you again. They know eBay, and not necessarily you.” Some businesses are not going to see a growth curve similar to eBay’s own. “It’s not a quick buck,” say Paul and Heather Jones, gold PowerSellers from West Linn, Ore., who sell scrapbooking and card-making supplies. “But it’s a great way to fill the holes in your family budget.”
Let’s be real. The reason that cell phones, BlackBerrys, and other hand-held gadgets of all descriptions have taken over the civilized world is not that these things are convenient, useful, and occasionally life-saving business devices. (BlackBerrys, in particular, have worked in a number of recent disasters when cell phones have not.) No. It’s because they are cool. They have lights. They have buttons. They go boop and beep. Our limbic systems respond to these cues powerfully; possibly our tree-dwelling ancestors felt something comparably righteous when they first used their opposable thumbs to pick up sharp stones or stout sticks. Yes, they thought. With this I can rock out. With this I Am Somebody. Nowadays all the dreariest corporate type need do is whip out his Treo or GPS phone in the airport and for a second he is no longer a 21st-century Babbitt. He is Captain Kirk or Flash Gordon. A high-tech swashbuckler. Not something to be dismissed lightly. It is no accident that the semipermanent crouch of folks scanning their PDAs has come to be known as the “BlackBerry prayer.” Naturally the arrival of something as spiritually heavy, as species changing, as this has not been without dislocations. A lot of us not only groove on our PDAs, we can’t put them down. Robbie Blinkoff, principal anthropologist and managing director of Context-Based Research Group in Baltimore, asks: “Why do you need to send me a BlackBerry e-mail about a phone call next week? Why do you need to check your e-mail at 1 a.m. after leaving a bar on a Friday night?” The answer, Blinkoff says, is “technology changes so fast, but our behavior changes slowly. The technology leapfrogs our behavior and we have to go back and fill in the gaps. Every technology does this. Look at cell phones. People now know when it’s okay to pick up a call and when to put it down. That hasn’t happened yet with PDAs.” And then there are those who fret about the damage, social and physical, wrought by what they half cleverly refer to as “Crackberries.” They lament the decline of public manners and predict that poor thumb-typing habits could cripple a generation raised on text messaging and Game Boy playing. A small price to pay, it seems to us. On the facing page are four of the newest, most advanced thumb-cripplers on the market. (Check your wireless provider for availability and prices.) We’ve labeled them according to what kind of high-tech swashbuckler will find them most desirable. And while they’re all different, any one of them will make you look really cool. The CEO RIM BlackBerry 7100g
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on making travel reservations on the Internet. This week: Tricks and Tips. Next week: Rhonda reviews the leading online services. When a company gives you truly bad service, wouldn’t you like to tell the world? I recently received such bad treatment from an on-line travel service that I decided to use this as an opportunity to discuss the ups and downs of booking travel on the Internet. This week I’ll provide general on-line booking tips and tricks. In my next column, I’ll review the leading on-line travel services. I travel a lot on business. I’ve used – or checked — all the major travel sites: the airlines’ Web sites, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, etc. Overall, I’ve been pretty satisfied. Most people judge an on-line travel service by: availability of low fares ease of use overall look-and-feel. Remember one other critical factor: customer service. Sooner or later, you’ll have a problem — flights cancelled, trips rescheduled. You’re going to have to deal with the travel service rather than the airline. If they don’t offer adequate support, you’ll have the kind of problem I had with Cheaptickets.com, owned by Trip Network, which also owns Trip.com. The morning after I booked a flight I realized I had made a mistake on the time. I immediately called Cheaptickets, which announces they’re open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A salesperson told me only customer service could deal with a ticket once booked. I waited on hold for 47 minutes and still couldn’t reach anyone in customer service. Finally I sent an E-mail to the E-mail address provided. I called again the next day. Once again, I couldn’t reach customer service. Once again, I spoke to a salesperson who couldn’t help me. Finally, the third day, I reached a customer service supervisor, who said no one could help me. Why? Because I failed to contact them within 48 hours of booking! I explained I’d spent two days trying to reach them. I could pay for the ticket or challenge the charge with my credit card company! Moreover, this supervisor told me they have more than 2000 E-mails backed up and a typical time on hold is between 20 to 40 minutes. When I spoke with Kate Sullivan, Manager of Corporate Communications for Trip Network, she was apologetic. “There was no excuse for this kind of treatment. It’s substandard to the kind of customer service we try to provide?The volume we’re experiencing is very unusual for this time of year.” However, Cheaptickets was the exception. I’ve used many travel services successfully. Whatever online site you use, here are a few tips and tricks: READ carefully: Some sites automatically include neighboring airports (e.g., Newark for New York, Baltimore for Washington, DC). Make certain you’re going where you want, when you want. Click around: No one site seems to consistently offer the best fare. Some sites have arrangements with travel consolidators or other discounters. Try other routes: Using a nearby airport or breaking one long trip into two shorter ones, may be much cheaper. For instance, booking one roundtrip flight from San Francisco to San Juan, Puerto Rico (via New York) was hundreds of dollars more expensive than booking two separate flights (SFO-JFK) and (JFK-San Juan) though I was on the same flights! Check the”"vacation packages”: On Expedia, I once booked a flight, hotel, and car rental to Houston cheaper than the flight alone. Get a seat: I can usually get a good seat when I book on the American Airlines site. When I book through a third-party site, I may not get a seat assignment at all. You can call the airline for a seat assignment no matter what service you use. Watch out for nasty surprises: United Airlines won’t allow seat upgrades on some discount Web fares. Last minute limits: Some sites won’t book flights within one to five days of travel. You can often find last minute fares cheapest on the airlines’ own sites. Check non-travel sites: As a Costco member, I can often get cheaper car rentals at Costco.com than on a travel Web site. When you find a great fare, grab it! It may be gone next time you check. Finally, be patient, especially on a dial-up connection. This all takes a long time. I sure miss my old travel agent! Copyright Rhonda Abrams, 2002 Rhonda Abrams writes the nation’s most widely-read small business column and is the author of The Successful Business Plan and The Successful Business Organizer. To receive Rhonda’s free business tips, register at www.RhondaOnline.com.
Web Awards: Marketing Using a formidable sense of their customers, Earth Treks and Merriman Capital keep their visitors coming back for more. Most people can only imagine what an attempt to reach Mount Everest’s 29,035-foot summit is like: laboring to find oxygen, battling snow blindness, tunneling through 60-mile-an-hour winds. But a climbing center and professional-guide service based in Columbia, Md., is doing everything it can to bring the experience home. Since 11-year-old Earth Treks Inc. ( www.earthtreksclimbing.com) launched its Web site, in 1999, the guides on its seminannual expeditions — from Ecuador’s Cotopaxi volcano to the Himalayas’ Mount Everest — have regularly posted journal entries online from on high, detailing the travails of their excursions for anyone who wants to read about them. “Eighteen hours of snowfall make Camp 2 a living hell,” reads one E-mail entry sent from an Everest trek last year. Notes another from the same climb: “Most of us picked up on news from passing climbers that someone had taken a fatal fall somewhere between steps 1 and 2, a somber note to close the day on.” That Earth Treks’ revenues have nearly doubled over the past two years isn’t surprising, given that the company has matched its marketing efforts to its customers’ mind-set. People who are into climbing are fascinated by the challenge and the exhilaration of the endeavor. They are also drawn to communities of like-minded individuals. By inviting its Internet audience along on its adventures, Earth Treks not only generates a sense of camaraderie online but also creates the perception — among both serious mountaineers and hobbyists — that the company gets it. Moreover, Earth Treks has built into its marketing strategy programs to cultivate its next generation of customers. With the aid of two Baltimore-area teachers, company founder Chris Warner recently started Shared Summits, an online program that enables local students, ages 6 to 18, to follow his staff’s adventures while earning academic credit. In addition to learning about different cultures, geography, leadership, and teamwork as expeditions unfold, students can also E-mail the climbers, view digital photos, and check out real-time videos of the trip, shot by guides and streamed by satellite with the help of partners that provide IT and financial support. What’s the question that students most often ask Warner in their E-mails? “How do you go the bathroom up there?” he says, laughing. (The answer: using suits with front-to-back zippers for easy access.) Earth Treks invites visitors on adventures both outside its walls, in the Himalayas, and on them, at its indoor-climbing center in Columbia, Md. Warner says that the program has received “tremendous response” from current customers and from the community at large, in the form of coverage in local media such as the Baltimore Sun. For example, on Warner’s last trip to Mount Everest — a successful attempt to reach its peak in May — the CEO received 483 E-mails from children in suburban and urban middle schools. And largely as a result of the media exposure, 50,000 visitors logged on to the site on the day that he reached the top. Of those visitors, 20,000 have signed up to be notified automatically whenever Earth Treks posts new journal entries. Sales are soaring, too; they reached $1.4 million in 2000. The company is fielding a record number of inquiries from people who want to scale the world’s highest mountaintops, and revenues for the indoor climbing center have jumped by nearly 40%. Among the new customers are families hosting their children’s birthday parties at Earth Treks and youngsters signing up for the Youth Rox climbing program, in which kids age 10 to 14 learn how to scale the gym’s more basic mountains under the supervision of instructors. Needless to say, Earth Treks has made back many times over the $3,000 it spent to launch its site and the $7,200 it spends a year on its Webmaster, Warner’s sister-in-law. Show me the money Though dramatically different from Earth Treks’ site in look and feel, FundAdvice ( www.fundadvice.com) is thriving for the same reason as its fellow Web Award winner: its marketing reflects the personality of its particular audience. The site, which is sponsored by 18-year-old Merriman Capital Management Inc., a $3-million Seattle-based investment-advisory firm, targets investors who are seeking financial advice from a dependable source. Aware that investors are looking first for security, FundAdvice’s top priority is to establish credibility. One way it does that is by providing a link to SoundInvesting.com, the online arm of a one-hour investing show that airs in Seattle on Sundays and often features commentary from Paul Merriman, Merriman Capital’s president. After downloading the appropriate streaming-media software, visitors not only can hear audio clips from the most recent program but also can tap into an archive of the shows that have aired during the past five months. Another way the site establishes credibility is through links to some of Paul Merriman’s distinctions, including press awards that FundAdvice has garnered and mentions of the high-profile publications that have quoted the president (nine), the national TV shows on which he’s appeared (five), and the three investing videos he’s produced. FundAdvice also works to tackle the mystery of how money managers actually manage money — an issue that often goes unaddressed, to the frustration of many investors. Specifically, the site gives visitors an overview of Merriman Capital’s investing philosophy by providing them with five “model portfolios” that the company, which manages more than $300 million in assets, has designed. Based on algorithms devised in part by Merriman himself, each model is aimed at a different type of investor, ranging from the conservative to the aggressive. The algorithms anticipate how the market will change based on past movements that seem likely to persist. Accordingly, two to four times a year, the company shifts its clients’ portfolios among the funds that it believes will optimize their returns. Perhaps most startling about FundAdvice, however, is its glaring honesty. Any number of Web sites offer advice for novice investors. What distinguishes FundAdvice is the forthrightness with which it addresses topics that beginners are eager to learn about but are often shy about broaching — topics like “How can I save myself from taxes?” and “Do dividends increase my 401(k)?” Other links connect to the more than 100 articles Merriman has written about investing and to outside sources, including Amazon.com, U.S. stock exchanges, and — surprisingly — Hoover’s Online, Lipper, and other financial-information providers. “I’m happy to provide our visitors with whatever information they need,” says Merriman of the rationale behind giving visitors a gateway to other financial sites. “The reality is that even after you show people how to do something, they’re still likely to ask you for help.” In fact, since its launch in 1998, FundAdvice has enticed 25,000 people to sign up for a monthly E-mail newsletter concerning the site and its themes, Merriman says. “It’s like getting to propagate your name to 25,000 people monthly and make money on the deal,” observes Larry Chase, publisher of E-mail newsletter Web Digest for Marketers. “It costs $1 per 1,000 E-mails, roughly,” says Chase of the cost to send Web Digest to 175,000 E-mail boxes monthly. “For lead generation and prospect conversion, you can’t beat it. If you aren’t making money, you’re at least reducing your costs in getting your name out.” Merriman Capital has the good fortune to be making money off the effort. Launching FundAdvice cost just $2,000, and annual expenses — including Webmaster’s compensation, promotional costs, and hosting charges — come to some $100,000. But the site has already brought in assets of $40 million, says Merriman, and revenues have jumped by 23%. Of the 583 prospects who contacted Merriman Capital in the first half of 2001, he says, 251 came from the Internet, and 147 of those became clients. Different strokes The marketing philosophies of Earth Treks and FundAdvice may be similar, but how they play out couldn’t be more different. At Earth Treks, where community is key, Warner must constantly update the content to give people a reason to come back. At FundAdvice, where stability is paramount, Merriman concentrates on arming visitors with the kind of sturdy information that will lead them to entrust their assets to the company. “We aren’t as interested in getting people to come back on a daily basis,” Merriman says. “We want the site instead to be instructive.” Through their divergent approaches, the two companies reach a common ground: both ultimately inspire confidence in the public. As Web Awards judge Marcia Yudkin observes, “At both sites, the links work, the layouts are attractive, and everything about the sites functions the way it is supposed to, which isn’t true of many sites.” The proof is in the payback that both companies are seeing. And it’s not on just the financial level. “Of the feedback we get, many people say they see us as honest presenters of information,” says Merriman. “It’s a good feeling.” Warner voices similar sentiments. “Putting myself in the shoes of a 12-year-old student and understanding what gets him or her excited? That’s powerful.” Constance Loizos is a San Francisco-based writer. Copyright © 2001 Constance Loizos. The 2001 Inc Web Awards The Best Small-Business Sites in America The 2001 Inc Web Awards: Winners A Web Strategy Runs Through It Traffic Magnets Duh-sign of the Times Home Groan Many Happy Returns Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.
Best of the Web Dining guides can steer busy executives to the perfect restaurant. But not every site provides a four-star experience Forget the guidebooks and the regional magazines. Whether you’re seeking a bistro in Baltimore, a steak house in Silicon Valley, or a cafà in Cincinnati, the Web’s the place to turn for the hottest, freshest dining data available. Right? Well, not exactly. True, there’s a smorgasbord of online restaurant guides, covering big cities and small towns in every state (and, in a few cases, overseas locations as well). But the quality and quantity of the information that those sites dish up varies as widely as the places they promote. We set out to identify the best online dining guides for busy executives seeking a quiet, elegant spot to close a business deal or a beer-and-pizza joint halfway between an airport and a hotel. We eliminated several sites that seemed too regional, too specialized, or too limited. That left us with nine major dining guides, all of them searchable and many with extras such as online reservation systems, free recipes, and driving directions. Then we recruited four CEOs who dine out frequently to assess the sites for us. We asked them to sample broadly from the Internet buffet, using the guides to look up their favorite restaurants and to find new ones. Their conclusion: like the restaurants themselves, online dining guides have their specialties. Even the best guides won’t necessarily please every palate. As John Diehl, the globe-trotting CEO of a Chicago-area high-tech company, puts it, “No single site has it all.” That’s undoubtedly why our reviewers — with their widely divergent tastes — made their top picks from all over the menu. For Seattle PR executive Bob Silver, it was a toss-up between Citysearch, with its elegant design and comprehensive content, and the clean, almost spartan Zagat site, Zagat.com, with its best-in-class search engine. “Citysearch is lush, rich, and flavorful, like an evening visit to a Parisian supper club,” said Silver, who tests new recipes on friends and relatives on weekends. “Zagat is a trip to a delightful Asian restaurant that is spare in its surroundings but deliciously surprising and satisfying.” Rob Marler, a Florida E-tailer who dines out about seven times a week, also recommended Citysearch, saying it had “a lot to offer” and was “easy to navigate.” Manhattan marketing executive Jill Gabbe, who reads cookbooks for fun, praised Zagat.com for its “high-quality, reliable information” and Menus.com for its online reservation service and restaurant menus. Diehl, who spends more time in restaurants than in his kitchen, gave kudos to DineSite.com for both its design and its wealth of content on topics such as wine selection, etiquette, and regional cuisine. What’s more, he called Fodors.com the best guide for finding restaurants overseas. On the downside our four critics complained that some E-guides — including two that we subsequently dropped from our survey at their recommendation — simply listed restaurants without critiquing or rating them. “I could find the same information in the yellow pages,” sniffed Marler. Other sites, including some that made our final cut, sometimes forgot to use the Web’s special ingredient: the capability to constantly update content, adding new establishments and removing the listings of restaurants that had closed. Overall, though, our panelists believed that the best of the online dining directories were a helpful alternative to traditional hard-copy guides. But Gabbe, our New York tester, will also rely on her tried-and-true method of selecting a dining spot: “I’ll ask a friend or have the person I’m meeting with make the call.” Citysearch What it’s good for: Speedy searches of comprehensive listings, especially for big cities. Don’t waste your time if: You’re looking for nearby suburban restaurants; one user’s search returned listings up to 40 miles away. What our CEOs had to say: “Wow! This site has it all: great content, speed and ease of use. … the filet mignon of dining guides.” “Sleek, attractive site. … I really liked the sidebar descriptions of atmosphere and price.” CuisineNet What it’s good for: Basic restaurant listings, supplemented with customer reviews and food-related articles. Don’t waste your time if: You want the latest information or the most independent restaurant critiques. What our CEOs had to say: “It included reviews for a restaurant in my hometown that was bulldozed a year ago.” “The site’s proprietary content has a chamber-of-commerce feel to it.” Dine.com What it’s good for: Customer reviews, including many for establishments in small communities. Don’t waste your time if: You frequent only spots that are recommended by professional restaurant critics. What our CEOs had to say: “What a list! Even a small town of 900 people had its restaurants listed.” DineSite.com What it’s good for: Listings for communities of all sizes, book reviews, and customer comments about restaurants. Don’t waste your time if: You want comprehensive, detailed restaurant reviews. What our CEOs had to say: “The best of the bunch. I will bookmark this one.” “The basic information is fine. But the site lacks depth and detail.” Fodors.com What it’s good for: Basic info on a limited number of restaurants in major cities. Don’t waste your time if: You want a list of every eatery in town; the site features selected listings. What our CEOs had to say: “The only guide with restaurants in international cities.” “Search by Name feature is hard to find.” (Editor’s note: The site features an alphabetical listing called Sort by Name but doesn’t provide the capability to search by a specific restaurant name.) Food.com What it’s good for: Finding and ordering food for delivery or takeout. Don’t waste your time if: You’re interested in going out for dinner. What our CEOs had to say: “A couch potato’s dream. … If I need to feed the football fans but can’t leave the television, this is where I’d turn.” Menus.com What it’s good for: Easy, effective searching through well-packaged information. Don’t waste your time if: You’re in a hurry or seeking something very specific. What our CEOs had to say: “A large array of conveniences for the busy executive.” “It loaded very slowly.” “When I looked for a French restaurant near my home, I was given 53 choices — none of which was a French restaurant.” RestaurantRow.com What it’s good for: Searching extensive listings; making online reservations. Don’t waste your time if: You object to a stripped-down, bare-bones presentation. What our CEOs had to say: “By far, the most extensive online database, in terms of restaurant listings.” “Several of the restaurants I searched for by name were not found.” “Charges nearly $5 per reservation made online; I don’t know why someone would bother if they have a telephone handy.” Zagat.com What it’s good for: World-class searching using lots of criteria, including relatively rare options such as Open Sunday, Fireplaces, and Visitors on Expense Accounts. Don’t waste your time if: You’re not a fan of the Zagat approach, which bases reviews and numerical ratings on standardized surveys filled out by volunteer diners. What our CEOs had to say: “Great searching ability that is very logical.” “Gives you the quick skinny on a huge inventory of restaurants. Bookmark it.” Our panelists John Diehl, CEO and president of PrairieComm Inc., frequently dines in major cities worldwide. His company, based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., develops chip sets and embedded software for wireless devices. His favorite menu choice: Chicago-style pizza. As a longtime New Yorker, Jill S. Gabbe knows all too well the importance of finding just the right spot for a business meal. Gabbe is a partner at the Gabbe Group, a Manhattan consulting company specializing in public relations, marketing, and brand development. Her favorite menu choice: elaborate chocolate desserts. Rob Marler viewed our sites both as a frequent diner and as a Web executive. Marler is president of DirectWireless.com, which sells cell-phone accessories online and in its store in Maitland, Fla. His favorite menu choice: seafood. Bob Silver is president and founder of the Silver Co. of Seattle and Orange County, Calif., a public-relations agency serving high-tech companies. Silver, who lives on Washington’s Bainbridge Island, believes he’s found the perfect recipe for pepper-crusted grilled king salmon. His favorite menu choice: crab cakes. Anne Stuart is a senior writer at Inc. Technology. The savvy entrepreneur’s guide to online dining sites Strengths Weaknesses Likely beneficiaries Content quality/quantity Citysearch Extensive listings; nightlife, arts, and entertainment info Little for suburbanites Domestic business travelers to major cities Mostly good CuisineNet Good search engine; customer reviews Skimpy listings; some outdated information Locals, some travelers, amateur restaurant critics Poor to excellent Dine.com Extensive listings, including small cities; customer reviews Volume can be overwhelming; some listings skimpy on details Domestic business travelers Good DineSite.com Small-city listings; additional content on wine selection Too little color; content could be livelier and more current Domestic business travelers, amateur critics Mostly good Fodors.com International listings; links to other travel pages Limited, somewhat predictable listings Frequent leisure travelers (domestic and abroad) Good Food.com Good design; online ordering for takeout and delivery Unrefined search capability provides too many results Locals who want to order food online Fair to excellent Menus.com Online reservations; complete restaurant menus Inconsistent amount and quality of information across entries Anyone; intermediate Web users Poor to excellent RestaurantRow .com Huge database; good search capability; online reservations Odd design; tough to navigate at first Anyone Fair to good Zagat.com Powerful search capability; customer reviews Refining search can be tricky at first Fans of Zagat diner-survey format; travelers Mostly good Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.
Money What your phone company won’t tell you: these new Web sites promise to shrink your long-distance and wireless bills Dr. JoAnne Duffy knows how to scout out a bargain. She finds 10-foot Christmas trees for $35, bargain-basement prices on designer suits, and two-for-one airfare deals to Ireland. This Baltimore-based clinical psychologist honed her shopping skills in the 1980s when she was a cash-strapped graduate student. But today, when it comes to buying cell-phone service, she’s mystified. Duffy, who racks up monthly phone bills of about $150, says she’d like to investigate which cellular plan is best but that as a private practitioner she’s pressed for time. Case in point: she recently spent 40 minutes on the phone with Bell Atlantic Mobile — almost as much time as she spends with a client — regarding a $25 charge on her bill that she didn’t recognize. Needless to say, Duffy can’t afford many more 40-minute bill problems. “My Ph.D. didn’t cover cellular science,” says Duffy. When she shops for other items, Duffy knows what she’s looking for and can determine if she’s getting a good deal. With cell-phone service, though, she’s not sure if she should be comparing monthly rates or price per minute. It shouldn’t take a Ph.D. to figure out a telephone bill. Yet Duffy and countless business owners find themselves lost in a maze of roaming charges, peak and off-peak rates, and activation fees. Long-distance plans are no better. The recent onslaught of long-distance price wars has left most people confused about whether to choose Sprint Nickel Nights or AT&T’s One Rate 7¢ Plan — or service from a less well known long-distance reseller. A new breed of Web sites wants to help small-business owners ascertain how to get the best deals on everything from wireless to long distance to calling cards. Point.com, Decide.com, eSpoke.com, LetsTalk.com, Telezoo.com, Telstreet.com, Simplexity.com, and others that are popping up as fast as you can say “venture capital” provide free search engines into which customers enter information about their monthly calling habits. The sites then recommend wireless or long-distance plans that should suit a customer’s specific needs. Customers can order many of the recommended plans right on the sites. And they may well want to do so to cut down on one of the biggest expenses small businesses incur. The Yankee Group reports that businesses employing from 2 to 99 people spend an average of $220 a month for phone service; businesses with 100 to 499 employees spend about $2,800. Larger companies can spend less per employee, since they can negotiate better deals directly with carriers. Smaller businesses don’t have that luxury. “By just being on the wrong plan, you could end up leaving literally hundreds of dollars on the table,” says Roy Prasad, president and CEO of Decide.com. When Carol Newton visited eSpoke.com, she discovered she was leaving more than $500 on the table every month. The CEO of Priority Search Partners, a $2-million Redondo Beach, Calif., company that matches IS professionals with contract and permanent work, Newton was spending about $700 a month on long-distance calls. For only $165 she could get the same service from UniDial, a carrier that eSpoke.com identified. Newton had never heard of UniDial, but the eSpoke site informed her that the service provider, which has 230,000 customers and $215 million in revenues, resells service from MCI, Sprint, and others. “We figured, they’re solid; they’re not going to be disappearing tomorrow,” Newton says. She estimates that by switching carriers, Priority Search Partners will save from $5,000 to $6,000 yearly. She’ll use some of the savings to get a toll-free number. We chose to test the best of the dozen-plus sites that purport to help customers make informed telecom choices. With assistance from Michael Lauricella, an analyst at the Yankee Group, we first compiled an extensive list of sites. We narrowed the list by choosing only those sites that were already up and running and through which customers can purchase some services. We eliminated all sites backed by telecom companies, because those sites typically sell plans from only one or two carriers. Finally, we eliminated any site through which we could not contact a human being, figuring that if the site didn’t return our E-mail messages or phone calls, it probably wouldn’t return yours either. To test the sites, we ran the phone bills from a variety of growing businesses through the sites’ search engines and came up with recommendations for economical calling plans. The wireless sites that made the cut are Point.com, Decide.com, LetsTalk.com, Simplexity.com, Telstreet.com, and Telezoo.com. Similarly, Decide.com, Simplexity.com, eSpoke.com, and Telezoo.com made the cut for long-distance service. Some of the sites also compare Internet services and calling cards. (See “The Players,” below.) To provide services free to Internet surfers, the sites charge some or all of the carriers listed in their search engines. When a customer signs up with a carrier at a particular site, the carrier pays the site a one-time referral fee or 5% to 20% of the customer’s monthly bill. Execs running these sites are quick to point out that even though the sites make money from service providers, they remain unbiased. (The execs make that claim despite the fact that some carriers pay higher commissions than others, making it tempting for a site to recommend one carrier’s offerings over those of its competitors.) And some sites, in an effort to be completely neutral, list a huge gamut of offerings, regardless of whether the carriers are paying clients or not. ESpoke.com, Simplexity.com, Telezoo.com, LetsTalk.com, and Telstreet.com carry only service providers with whom they’ve negotiated agreements. Decide.com and Point.com, on the other hand, carry plans from a wide range of service providers, whether or not they take commissions from them. “We have the largest database of all the available plans, whether we have a business relationship or not,” says Decide.com’s Prasad. (Decide.com’s claims of neutrality were true: in our tests, both Decide.com and Point.com recommended some providers that don’t pay any commissions to their sites.) Another variation among the sites is ease of use. All the wireless sites examine how many minutes a customer requires and how much he or she wants to spend. Telstreet.com and Simplexity.com pull up plans based on those two factors and the customer’s location, but it’s up to customers to discern which plan best fits their needs. In addition to using minutes and price as criteria, Point.com also asks customers to choose between analog or digital service and to select features such as prepaid plans, no cancellation fees, or a one-year service contract. At LetsTalk.com, customers can sort by features such as voice mail, caller ID, text messaging, and E-mail services. Decide.com was the easiest site to use. It poses a series of questions including what percentage of calls are long-distance and what percentage of calls the customer places outside the home-service area. Then it recommends up to 10 plans, listing its top recommendation first. Decide.com and eSpoke.com allow for quick comparisons or detailed comparisons of individual calls on long-distance bills. The easiest and most accurate way to evaluate long-distance bills is to plug in the number of interstate, intrastate, off-peak, and peak minutes from a recent phone bill. Plugging in individual phone calls at both sites is time-consuming, however, and in our trials turned out to be a less accurate method of evaluating total cost. ESpoke.com seems to understand that this process can be cumbersome. To make the process easier, it offers a service through which customers can fax or mail in their most recent long-distance bill; eSpoke.com will analyze the bill within an hour of receiving it and send its results out by E-mail. While most of the sites let customers figure out how much they can save on wireless or long-distance phone bills immediately, Telezoo.com and Simplexity.com offer “request a quote” services. To use those programs, submit your phone bill or your calling requirements to the site and request bids from a variety of carriers. Such a service can be ideal for companies with complex and costly telecom needs. Elias Shams, Telezoo.com’s chief zookeeper (yep, that’s what this company calls its CEO), says companies that spend more than $1,000 per month are most likely to benefit from requesting quotes. Take Timothy Wierbinski, for example. When the communications engineer needed to order a T1 line from Hawaii to Alexandria, Va., he didn’t know whom to call. Wierbinski, who works for Science Applications International Corp., in Tyson’s Corner, Va., turned to Telezoo.com and entered his request. “Within an hour somebody from Telezoo had called me back to get more details,” he says. The carriers, unfortunately, didn’t respond as rapidly as the Web site had; it took a couple of weeks for Wierbinski to receive a few bids. In the interim, he found Hawaiian carriers listed on Telezoo.com and called them himself. Regardless of which services they offer, all the sites provide easy-to-reach customer service. Telstreet.com, LetsTalk.com, Simplexity.com, Point.com, and Decide.com have toll-free numbers. The two sites we tested that don’t have toll-free numbers offer cyberservice: Telezoo.com provides online support through LivePerson.com — a real-time chat application. Customers click an on-screen button and choose a customer-service rep. It took less than a minute for the rep to join the online chat; he answered our question (about the request-a-quote service) immediately. ESpoke.com provides support only by E-mail but answered our question within an hour and a half. Both Telezoo.com and eSpoke.com list the phone numbers of corporate headquarters so customers can call (albeit for a fee) if need be. To take these sites for a test-drive, Inc. Technology asked three growing companies — MBA FreeAgents.com, WebCT, and eOriginal — each to submit one month’s long-distance phone bill. We plugged the information from those bills into eSpoke.com and Decide.com. (Simplexity.com’s long-distance portion wasn’t yet operating at press time, and we didn’t use Telezoo.com since it doesn’t offer any immediate price-comparison tools.) In addition, we entered information from one of eOriginal’s cellular-service bills into Simplexity.com, Telstreet.com, Decide.com, Point.com, and LetsTalk.com. (See the charts below.) MBA FreeAgents.com places experienced MBAs with start-up and other companies that need high-level employees. MBA FreeAgents.com is a fast-growing company with three full-time employees and seven part-timers. CEO Rob Steir works from his home in New York City and spends about $235 a month on long-distance calls with MCI WorldCom. When Steir first signed up with MCI WorldCom, he snagged a 12-cent-per-minute rate. At the time, Steir recalls, the provider promised 10,000 airline miles along with a 20% rebate if he stuck with the plan for a year. Steir knew there were cheaper per-minute rates available, but he resisted the advances of other carriers because he figured he was getting a good deal with the rebate and the miles. At year-end, however, MCI gave him only the airline miles, saying that he had chosen that option over the rebate. Steir says he feels misled by MCI, especially since his 20% rebate would have amounted to about $250 — more than a month’s long-distance bill. As a result, Steir was more than ready to dump MCI for another provider — if he could find a better deal. (An MCI spokesperson says that Steir’s account is being credited to correct the error.) And did he ever find a deal. ESpoke.com pulled up the lowest-priced plan — $102.24 per month, through a carrier called RSL Communications. Decide.com came in slightly higher, with a total estimated monthly cost at TTI National Inc. of $114.01. Those sites take usage patterns into account and occasionally turn up surprisingly useful information. For example, Decide.com also lists MCI WorldCom’s 5¢ Everyday plan — which might seem like a bargain. But after analyzing Steir’s calling pattern, Decide.com estimated that MBA FreeAgents.com would spend $283.13 per month with MCI WorldCom — no bargain at all. A larger company like WebCT, which builds systems that colleges use to create online classes, has more complex telecom needs. The company more than tripled in size, from 60 employees last fall (split between offices in Peabody, Mass., and Vancouver, British Columbia) to more than 200 today. The company counts millions of student users in 100,000 courses at 1,100-plus colleges and universities in more than 40 countries. “From a sales perspective, we need to make a high volume of calls around the world, 24 hours a day,” says Peter Segall, vice-president for sales and strategic partnerships at WebCT. “We need a plan that’s flexible enough so that as we see patterns about time of day emerge, or we see patterns about regions emerge, we can minimize our expenses by getting discounts in those categories.” In addition, because it’s growing so quickly, WebCT doesn’t want to get locked into any long-term contracts. Currently, WebCT uses Bell Atlantic for its in-state toll calls and American Long Lines for its state-to-state and international calls. The company spends about $1,347 a month on in-state, state-to-state, and international calls for its headquarters in Peabody. ESpoke.com came up with the cheapest deal — RSL’s Alliance plan, which would cost WebCT $986.38. Still, that may not be the best that WebCT can do. Bobby Martyna, president and CEO of eSpoke, says its site is optimized for companies with fewer than 20 employees. (Decide.com says it can handle phone bills from companies with up to 100 employees.) Since WebCT receives complicated 70-plus-page telephone bills each month, it might benefit from the customized bids that Telezoo.com and Simplexity.com offer. EOriginal Inc. is a four-year-old company that has developed a patented process for creating what it calls “electronic source documents” — digital versions of birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and so on. At the end of last year, eOriginal had 25 employees. This year the company expects to grow to more than 60 employees and about $12 million in sales. Doug Trotter, eOriginal’s CEO, says his company looks for the cheapest long-distance service possible for its headquarters, in Baltimore. Last fall eOriginal spent about $133 a month on direct-dial long distance with AT&T and used its teleconference service once, for a cost of $90. Again, eSpoke.com found the cheapest plan: RSL came in at $81.16 per month. Both eSpoke.com and Decide.com also pulled up TTI’s Month-to-Month plan, but eSpoke.com estimated the monthly cost would be $83.76 while Decide.com estimated that same plan would cost eOriginal $96.13. Unfortunately, neither site compares teleconferencing services. Simplexity.com promises to do so later this year. Ultimately, Trotter feels his cellular service is more important than his long-distance plan. He’s looking for high-quality cellular service for his senior executives, general managers, and sales force. All senior staffers at eOriginal are converting to one-rate national plans. “We’re getting really large telecommunications bills from hotels when we’re traveling,” says Trotter, adding that, as more and more employees download E-mail on the road, the bills are mounting. “Normal direct dial on a computer without an 800 number can run you up to a couple hundred dollars an hour in a hotel room,” he says. EOriginal founder and executive VP Stephen Bisbee already uses AT&T One Rate service from AT&T Wireless Services and pays $149 for 1,400 minutes a month. But Bisbee, who used the phone for only 300 minutes in December 1999 (the bill we used), is obviously overpaying for a plan he doesn’t need. Simplexity.com, Telstreet.com, Decide.com, and Point.com all recommended AT&T’s Digital One Rate plan, through which Bisbee could get 300 minutes for $59.99 a month. LetsTalk.com recommended Sprint PCS’s Free & Clear 500 plan, which would give Bisbee 500 minutes for $50. Even the pros admit that comparing wireless plans is no simple task. Without a Web site to help buyers navigate roaming charges and off-peak bundles, it’s next to impossible. “My guess is that the majority of the people in the wireless area are on the wrong plan, just because it’s hard to understand,” says Decide. com’s Roy Prasad. But by investing about half an hour — and a little patience — in these sites, most consumers should be able to turn the odds in their favor. Even those customers with a Ph.D. Rachael King is a freelance writer based in Hoboken, N.J. Test-Drive: Long-Distance Here are the plans currently in use by our three companies compared with the Web experts’ recommendations: COMPANY DECIDE.COM ESPOKE.COM MBA FreeAgents.com MCI WorldCom MCI One for Small Business Extra $235.35 per month TTI National Term plan $.069 per minute $114.01 RSL, Alliance plan $.069 per minute $102.24 WebCT Bell Atlantic/In-state American Long Lines/Interstate, Intl. $1,346.90 per month TTI National MTM promo $.069 per minute $1,201.89 RSL, Alliance plan $.069 per minute $986.38 eOriginal AT&T $133.35 per month TTI National MTM promo $.069 per minute $96.13 RSL, Alliance plan $.069 per minute $81.16 Test-Drive: Wireless We put the wireless plan used by eOriginal’s Stephen Bisbee to the test at five different Web sites. Here are their recommendations: WIRELESS CUSTOMER WIRELESS PLANS Stephen Bisbee AT&T One Rate plan is 1,400 mins./$149 currently uses 300 mins. Simplexity.com AT&T Digital One Rate 300 mins./$59.99 Telstreet.com AT&T Digital One Rate 300/$59.99 Decide.com AT&T Digital One Rate 300/$59.99 Point.com AT&T Digital One Rate 300 /$59.99 LetsTalk.com Sprint PCS Free & Clear 500 500/$50 The Players DECIDE.COM What it compares: Wireless, long-distance, prepaid calling cards Site launched: September 1999 Funding: $20.5 million in 1999 from Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Morgenthaler, Information Technology Ventures (ITV), and J.F. Shea & Co. Customer service: 800-792-3890, M – F, 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. Pacific time; Weekends, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Pacific time LETSTALK.COM What it compares: Wireless Site launched: December 1999 Funding: $20 million in 1999 from Brentwood Venture Capital, Accel Partners, HIG Capital Management, and Goldman Sachs Customer service: 877-825-5460, M – F, 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. Pacific time POINT.COM What it compares: Wireless Site launched: May 1998 Funding: $18 million to date from private angel investors, Oak Investment Partners, IDG Ventures, and Kirlan Venture Capital; and $3.5 million from Staples Customer service: 888-764-6877, M – F, 6 a.m – 7 p.m. Pacific time; Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Pacific time SIMPLEXITY.COM What it compares: Wireless, long-distance, calling cards, and 800 service Site launched: January 2000 Funding: $28.5 million from ABS Capital, Best Buy, and Novak Biddle Venture Partners Customer service: 24-hour service, 800-321-8552; 877-868-2652 (fax); customerservice@simplexity.com ESPOKE.COM What it compares: Long-distance. Internet service providers and digital subscriber line (DSL) to begin this month Site launched: November 1999 Funding: At press time, the founders had bootstrapped $500,000 and were closing their first round of financing. Customer service: customer-service@espoke.com TELEZOO.COM What it compares: Long-distance, wireless, local, teleconferencing, DSL, Internet service providers, ATM, frame relay, Web hosting, and more Site launched: March 1999 Funding: $3 million from Lazard Technology Partners Customer service: Online chat, M – F, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Eastern time TELSTREET.COM What it compares: Wireless Site launched: September 1999 Funding: $17 million Customer service: 877-947-3537, M – F, 8 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Eastern time
