The minefield of selecting an email provider for your kids

With the wealth of technology now dominating our daily lives it is no wonder that children are being influenced by it an ever earlier age eager to use and understand the latest tech that we are dumb founded by.  No instruction manuals for them but pure intuition to understand how things work and stretch the capabilities from the off.  This junior digital journey inevitably leads to a desire for them to own their own kit rather than be dependent upon you for access to this capability and at this point key decisions cascade over you in a flash. Which device?  How much to spend? How to prevent downloads? How to enable downloads? How to control usage? The list goes on. One such issue is deciding if they are to have their own email address on the electrical marvel. There are many free and paid services allowing parents to monitor use and restrict access to inbound and outbound content. Configuring the account with under 18 restricted access is straight forward enough and then limiting to certain email accounts inbound and outbound also readily available. With all these controls you can set them up in safety. That is until they know more than you and get round this in ways you didn't even know existed. 

Getting omni channel customer experience right

The UK continues to be extremely demanding in its needs for digital maturity with customers expecting a great deal from companies when it comes to digital interaction. Websites need to be responsive and we expect email and SMS as standard alongside conventional phone interaction. We also increasingly want webchat alongside our web usage with options to sign on and communicate through social media with authentication from our Facebook account. This multi-channel universe creates huge issues for companies as they try to keep pace with communications between channels and safe guard the customer from having to authenticate each time they switch through channels, e.g. Proving who they are in webchat but electing to switch to the phone and not expecting to have to go through this all over again. Getting this right and creating real omni-channel engagement means building this into the system architecture from the ground up and considering how you will move customer information between channels real time so you know that it is Jim Brown on the phone and he has been browsing for a new iPhone but has previously looked at Samsung and has been asking questions of the webchat team on 4G compatibility. Omni-channel means all this information is effortlessly moving between channels and the customer golden record is key and moves between them picking up fresh details at each step to help make the experience as epic as possible for our customer who is blissfully unaware of the complexity behind their omni channel euphoria. 

The British national health service - still something to be proud of?

In the uk we enjoy a national health service that provides healthcare for all irrespective of wealth or status. A cornerstone of British culture for decades which is the envy of many other parts of the world. This "free" healthcare is funded from the state through taxes that allows you to receive treatment without first providing any proof of payment. But is this still such a pillar of wonder or is starting to fade around the edges. Using public healthcare over the past year has seen it glowing as a marvel and grovelling as a disappointment. Yes we provide healthcare for all but the empathy and compassion seems to be lacking in a number of areas where you feel bad news would not be handled in the most delicate way and fail. The customer experience of the NHS varies wildly and it needs better support to ensure the right people are available in all aspects of the job not just the critical areas. 

iPod touch 5th generation customer review

The 5th generation Apple iPod touch (www.apple.com) continues to dominate the personal mp3 market with a device that goes well beyond being a music player. The device is available in three formats. A 16gb size that has stripped back the forward facing camera and available in black or silver. A 32gb device with a forward facing camera in a range of colours or the mighty 64gb device that is the same as the 32gb spec but with increased memory. The 5th gen all use the lightning bolt adapter with increased capacity allowing faster connectivity. This however is of less value than the wireless capabilities with the iPod touch more frequently connected via a wireless network than hard wired to a computer. They are incredibly slim and near weightless meaning a case is a must to preserve the integrity of something so beautifully crafted but delicate. The speed of the processing effectively means you have a mini computer in the palm of your hand capable of multi tasking handling even complex video editing functionality while simultaneously streaming music wirelessly and polling your email provider for updates. Battery life is relatively poor due to the perfect resolution screen and processing demands so don't stray too far from a power source. Wireless charging would be a nice addition but currently not available. Airplay and full access to the App Store are all fully featured on the touch opening the gateway to millions of applications. Favoured by kids this marvel should not be discounted as a toy but a powerful iPhone equivalent minus the 3G phone functionality. Epic in every sense and too good for the kids! 

Sports physio's - medical science or modern day witchcraft?

The human body is a hugely complicated system of parts that is beyond most of us to understand. Regularly pushed beyond its limits by modern life we generally take most of it for granted. That is until it stops us in our tracks and those grand plans for your next sporting milestone have to go on hols while you struggle with an ache, pain, pull or tear. When these moments strike us it is often the job of the sports physio to put us back together and get us going again. These qualified professionals with certificates on their walls decipher these signals from our bodies and translate them into fixes with little help from us. They watch us move and probe at muscles quickly able to identify that some previously unknown body part is now misbehaving and needs some attention. How they do this is either the amazing world of science or their sixth sense witchcraft skills coming to the fore as they bend us back into shape and highlight how we have been abusing our bodies for the past decade. Epic. 

Bicycle servicing - more expensive than your car

My early days of car ownership were a delicate balancing act to manage enough cash to keep my car on the road with thoughts of how to buy enough petrol next week at the forefront of my thinking. As a result car servicing and repairs was generally conducted with a lowest cost wins evaluation. Anything I could do myself was done and any garage that undercut the rest irrespective of quality was the winner. As a result car expenditure was minimal although even with this Scrooge like approach on more than one occasion I had to concede and give up my motorised transport. Nowadays I seem to be the same process with my road bike, the pedal variety!  My road bike is used for training through the winter and then for triathlon races through the summer where I curse my lack of prowess on the bike and wish for lighter and faster kit. My bike now needs looking after which means a regular trip for a service which is becoming an increasingly expensive encounter. General service = check. Cable replacement = check. Group set replacement = really???!  What I had in my mind as a £50 check up quickly spirals into something approaching £500. When did my bike start costing more than my car.  Epic in its ability to empty my wallet! 

Vivanta by Taj hotels across India

Travelling in India is a unique experience. The sights, sounds and smells are quintessentially Indian that are ever present from the moment you arrive at the airport and move through security. The road networks in Southern India are to the uninitiated traveller utter chaos with five lanes of traffic negotiating a single track road with minimal incident although maximum use of the horn. The surrounding buildings place beautifully ornate three story homes next to dust bowls with only a shack present.  Setting the scene for a stay in India makes it potentially a nervous decision when choosing a hotel where the local landscape appears a completely different world. Enter a chain of luxury hotels appealing to business and holiday travellers alike with Vivanta by Taj (www.vivantabytaj.com) that is a chain of hotels owned no surprises by the Tata group who see to have a stake in most of  India's infrastructure. The hotels are generally 5 star and seeking to cater for all needs with well appointed rooms with catering accommodating local and international cuisine. With pools, gym and wifi available it is easy for a business traveller to forget where they are and maximise the value in any stay. Security on face value is tight with walled perimeters and guards checking the underside of cars and metal detectors for bags and guests. This is the result of a bombing previously on the chain where they now take this more seriously. That said it is only a token effort and in six days of staying I set the metal detector off daily without any enquiry. The hotel is what you need though with quality rooms and all the facilities you would expect. Epic?  It is certainly enough. 

DPD failing to deliver

DPD ( dynamic parcel distribution - www.dpd.co.uk ) are a courier service owned by Geopost providing parcel delivery services for commercial and direct customers. A recent experience of DPD has shown their customer journey handling has some major holes in it. A parcel was due to be delivered and the day prior to delivery I received an SMS and email asking how and where I would like the parcel delivered allowing me to respond by SMS or log into a customer portal for more options. So far so good. Excellent to be given notice of a delivery and excellent to be given choices in terms of where to have the delivery made complete with a reference number to use. Selecting to have the parcel held at their local depot I chose an evening collection time when I would retrieve the parcel. All good and meeting customer needs. On the day of delivery I received an email alerting me that the parcel was in the depot for collection as requested. Superb customer contact and building confidence in the delivery. Upon reaching the depot I was informed that the parcel was flagged as damaged on the system and what would I like to do. Upon asking when it was damaged was told it was updated as damaged when it reached the depot first thing this morning. Taking a look at the parcel it was in no shape to be accepted with half the box torn off and missing with the interior showing sign of serious damage and some of the contents missing. Clearly not acceptable for a customer collection. When asked why I hadn't been notify received the generic "it's the computer" that someone absolved them of responsibility. Why not notify the customer straight away of the problem and save them time and travel to come and find out late when the end outcome is fairly likely. For epic customer experience the customer needs to be kept informed and given control of the journey. DPD. Epic fail. 

Feeling small in Dubai international airport

Travelling long distance to many destinations requires a connection with a quick stop in Dubai. This vast airport serves more than 65 million passengers each year and continues to expand. With traffic of this nature the scale of the airport is frightening with the bulk of the airport in one location unlike the sprawling multi terminal approach taken by London heathrow airport. Dubai features dozens of business lounges, trains, terminals and more shopping than you can enjoy in Westfield. As a passenger flowing through this ocean it is easy to feel very small and overwhelmed by the scale as you hunt down your terminal number rushing along with the rest of the army of daily passengers including families braving this madness with small kids on tow at early o'clock. The airport is spectacular and even more so by the multitude of modern planes dotted around its perimeter. Dubai international airport epic in its size. 

The Emirates quality chauffeur service

Travelling long distances by planes means lots of waiting around and generally not the best way to spend your days. Emirates (www.emirates.com) work to ease your pain with a quality service for those lucky enough to secure business or first class tickets. A chauffeur service is available to help you begin your journey on the right foot and end it without any return to home trauma. With airlines under pressure to improve their offering this is certainly the way forward. With a Mercedes door to door and no waiting around elongating your trip. Emirates helping make things more epic. 

Running shoes dilemmas

The sport of running is a past time accessible to the masses with low entry costs and high availability of facilities - you can run straight from your front door!  With marathons looking many will have been training for months in preparation for the big run ahead of them and hopes for personal bests as important as hopes for making it round without incident. The key component in these events is the running shoe with hundreds of different styles on offer from minimalist to complete support. Anyone serious about this will have headed to a decent running shop and has their run assessed on a treadmill with a gait analysis video giving them accurate advice on which shoes are best. But what if this goes wrong?  I went through this earlier in the year and were convinced to adopt a different shoe to my normal selection based on what would suit me best. Three months later and after three separate injuries I have had enough and reverted to my favoured brand of shoe and exact model in the hope I will suffer no more injuries.  I may be wrong and it will be the same with my new shoes but I'm happy to blame my tools and cling onto the hope that a return to a classic will be the answer to all my problems!  Epic customer experience sometimes means sticking with what you know. 

Check-a-trade helping you track down reliable professional services

Many of us thrash around our homes proving our DIY mettle but there comes a time when every man must admit defeat and recognise his limitations. While the prospect of putting up a shelf sees us fire into action and strap on our tool belt the thought of fixing a leaking roof is not something we feel so compelled to tackle. In these instances our lack of knowledge also hinders out capacity to select any help in these matters as we pour over the internet trying to meaningfully compare tradesmen. This is before we even try and find out about their availability. Thankfully check-a-trade (www.checkatrade.com) is at hand with real life reviews of local people able to help us find that diamond in the rough and the right man for the job. So if your roof has flown off head to the site and see what people like you think of the various companies on offer and select with confidence. 

iTunes iMatch woes

iTunes introduced iMatch as a cloud extension to iTunes allowing you to have access to your full music library from any device streamed from the cloud. Brilliant?  I have written an earlier blog on this but felt worth revisiting as there is one major issue that people are experiencing with this. How to remove songs that are local to your device?  Many iPhones and iPods only have a limited memory of 16GB so managing your data usage is important to juggle music and apps and any other data hungry resources. This left Most of us regularly deleting and refreshing what we had on the device to manage the memory restriction. Problem is no with iMatch you can't delete tracks from a sync to your computer. The option has been removed. What this means is that you need to remove them locally from your device by selecting with a swipe from right to left and then delete. A bit more cumbersome but still an option so if you have battled with this. A solution is at hand. Epic step forward or backward? 

Zoopla for planning how to spend that lottery win

The classic long journey conversation of how to spend your lottery winnings always includes a chunk of time dedicated to your dream home and all the details down to where the pool will be located. This fantasy planning can be greatly aided by zoopla (www.zoopla.co.uk) that can help you find homes and prices for dream properties to let you know just how big a lottery win you need to make.  Go running down a picturesque lane where the houses are all hidden from view in idyllic settings. Whack the address into zoopla and find out how far out of reach that home is the. Head straight to the newsagent and purchase your trusty lottery ticket ready to wallow in misery on Saturday when no surprises you don't win. But the service of zoopla in understanding this dream is hard to knock and something that would have taken days of research in the past. The data and availability of this through the likes of zoopla is epic and we should not fail to recognise this. 

Amazon local - does anyone know what this is?

I have been an amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) customer for a number of years not put off by documentaries showing the pressures of the workforce but sold on the range of products and price. The store and corresponding services have grown beyond recognition from the original offering swallowing up businesses along the way. Since the start of this year I have seen a new product splattered all over my inbox from amazon for Amazon local. Why I have started receiving these emails I am not sure and the value proposition is not clear I assume it is more of the groupon type discounts that I steer well clear of. As a frequent amazon customer I would have expected them to value the position of the brand and not want to risk this with an existing customer base but they seem to have decided to start pushing this new service uninvited. As it is clearly still amazon I will associate it with the main company but at the moment as I have no idea why I am getting this or how it meets any consumer need I have the only impact it is having is annoying me and threatening the value I put on the main amazon brand. Epic fail.