Google Voice offers much promise. It’s just not quite ready for prime time.

You’ve probably already heard of Google Voice, but you might not be aware of what it is. Read more

Yes, sometimes in customer service, the customer is to blame.

I have a newfound appreciation for the people on the other end of the customer support phone lines at all those companies about which we have complained during the past decade. And we all complain — loudly at times — about the long wait times, the endless stream of prompts before we get to the live person, about reaching the wrong person who can’t help us and even about the thick accents that we have trouble understanding.

In the past, I have done customer support — both setting up small operations that take occasional calls, and even being a customer support rep myself. But that pales next to working in a company that does product support on a large scale. And lately, because my company has grown so fast, it has become one of them. (As all my friends say, “But that’s a good problem.”)

When you get hundreds of calls a week, you see patterns. Unfortunately, some of the patterns make people look less smart than I’ve always given them credit for.

Management of usernames and passwords comes to mind as the most common place for average people to show below-average intelligence. We all have them for our bank accounts, voice mailboxes and various other accounts. Some people, though, are just not smart enough to write them down. We encountered one guy who called us six times within a couple weeks because he kept forgetting his password. He, of course, didn’t think he forgot it. He blamed the system.

If you use a system only occasionally, you might forget it, and that’s fine. Most Web services have a way for you to instantaneously reset your password and receive it by e-mail. The link is usually right next to the login fields or perhaps on the page that indicates you didn’t login correctly. In most cases, it’s easy to find. It will say “Forgot password?” or “Having trouble logging in?” or something similar. All you need to do to get your password by e-mail is to click the link and then enter your username, screen name or e-mail address, so the system operator can make sure you are the right person. Then it sends you an e-mail with a new password or your existing password.

The process takes only seconds. Yet, there are people who call customer support instead and then complain because it takes too long. If you want it instantly, use the instant method.

There are lots of reasons for users to go brain dead. But the one that I find most interesting is that they’re in a rush, and they panic, because they didn’t give themselves enough time to learn how to use the system to do their tasks. The result is that they often try to offload some portion of their task to the customer support reps, most often expecting a tutorial on the spot.

No wonder so many companies hide their phone numbers and use lots of phone prompts before allowing the user to reach a real human.

Perhaps we can all identify with one or more of these behaviors. I know I have at times been quick to pick up the phone to ask for help. But now I know a little better. The person supporting you by phone is a lot like the cashier at the supermarket check-out. As soon as one shopper is through, another one is ready to go. The support personnel want to deal with people who at least try, not with those who turn off their brains before picking up the phone.

It’s a challenge for them, and for you, to think first.

Editor’s note: David Radin is a national radio show host and business consultant. You can reach him at www.megabyteminute.com.

In this case, it’s simply a cell phone that is pleasantly reminiscent of talk days long gone.

The Jitterbug phone from Samsung is a cell phone like none I’ve ever used.

It’s the perfect no-frills phone, because you can make calls simply and quickly without the usual distractions of most cell phones. As a basic phone, it’s reminiscent of the old standard desk phone. So it’s great for the technically challenged and for those who want no more than a way to call friends and family. Read more

Want to quickly access podcasts on a portable device without using a computer? Remember the name CastGrabber.

by David Radin

Many of us know that podcasts are recorded programs available on the Internet. In 2008, after all, 2.6 individual-episode podcasts were downloaded by viewers and listeners.

Most of those required a computer to do the download. While many of them were undoubtedly watched on those same computers, a growing number of podcasts are being synchronized to and consumed on portable devices like iPods, MP3 players and multimedia cell phones. (Why do you think the word pod is part of the word podcast?) Read more