B Broadway Cafe | Networks, Telecommunications, and Wireless Computing/ Customer Relationship Management/ Systems Development | | The following report provides a comprehensive analysis of Networks, Telecommunications, and Wireless Computing/ Customer Relationship Management/ Systems Development regarding the Broadway Café. | | | |

Contents:

1. Introduction – p3 2. E-coupons vs. Paper coupons – p4 3. Risks involved with m-coupons – p5 4. Privacy Issues – p6 5. Benefit of tracking response rates of m-coupons and forwarding by customers – p7 6. Virtual world business in the real world – p9 7. Customer relationships in a virtual world – p10 8. Virtual Customer Service Strategy – p10 9. Difference in Supporting Second Life Customers vs. Real and Web Customers – p11 10. Security and Ethical Issues Regarding Second Life – p12 11. Pros and Cons of Using an Employee to Build you a Custom System – p13 12. Pros and cons of using of purchasing a COTS – p14 13. A Smooth Transition with Older Employees and the New System – p15 14. Conclusion – p16 15. References – p17

1.

Introduction:

Recently I have inherited a coffee shop from my late grandfather, the Broadway Café. The café is located in downtown Charleston, WV and offers many different kinds of specialized coffees, teas, a full service bakery, and homemade sandwiches, soups, and salads. Opened in 1952, the Broadway Café has enjoyed the benefit of being a local hotspot over its many years of operation. Although my grandfather was excellent at his craft, the café is in serious need at modernization.
The café is without any digital resources to track inventory, sales, customer service and marketing just to mention a few. The café has seen a decline in business in recent years and is very limited in its ability to compete. As the new owner/operator, I need to review any opportunities within networks, telecommunications, and wireless computing. It is my task to bring this declining café into the 21st century, and flourish competitively. Furthermore, I will evaluate the café for the implementation of an effective customer relationship management and systems development strategy.
Through this analysis, the café must create a virtual environment or service that customers hold at a greater value then our competitors, creating a competitive advantage. Considering the risk posed by security and ethical concerns; I must evaluate the current position of the café in the digital market. Moreover, careful consideration must be given to the advantages provided by an effective m-coupon model to allow the Café a chance to compete in this digital age.

M-coupons vs. paper coupons:
In today’s economy, consumers are looking feverously for the best deals available. With many of us feeling the pinch in our wallets, coupons are an attractive marketing solution. However, considering the robust mobile market, one solution available that can create a competitive advantage is mobile coupons. M-coupons provide a cost effective alternative to reach our customers on the go. They can be designed for a specific audience, targeting the consumers our company needs. M-coupons offer a higher redemption rate compared to their paper counterparts, allowing for the increased sales traffic. Furthermore, m-coupons can be activated by consumers when they pass by your shop.
Many of the strength involved in m-coupons center around their flexibility, and the fact that most consumers always have the mobile device with them, so they don’t need to carry the paper counterpart with them. According to “"Mobile Coupons: Strategies & Forecasts 2008-2013": "We believe that merchants will see targeted, quick one-to-one marketing campaigns via mobile coupons as a valuable marketing weapon,” said Howard Wilcox, Author of the Mobile Coupons report. “Considering that mobile coupons offer much better redemption rates and are more cost effective, they represent a win-win approach for innovative retailers." (Naik , 2009)

Furthermore, m-coupons offer a great “green” solution to printing resource consuming paper coupons. This is a fact that adds market value, not only for the environmental impact but also the marketing image provided. Eco-savvy customers will enjoy the added benefit of reducing their carbon foot print while enjoying the savings.
Risks involved with m-coupons: In order to implement a new telecommunications marketing system at the Broadway Café, we must carefully examine some to the risk included. Some issues quickly arise when considering sending coupons directly to your customer’s mobile device. How does the customer feel about the Cafe “invading” their private mobile territory, and does this messaging service cost them in monthly fees? In addition, how does the Broadway Café address the fact that there is no tangible way of removing these m-coupons from circulation, exposing the café to the risk of multiple redemptions per customer? As powerful of a tool as m-coupons can be, the last thing the Broadway Café wants in a telecommunications campaign is to annoy their valued customers. Just because the Cafe customers may have filled out there cell phone number somewhere within our e-business model, does not mean they want to be texted e-coupons. This was a dilemma that Virgin mobile faced when trying to insert ads into services their customers were already paying for. To counter this anxiety, Virgin Mobile USA created an ad service called “Sugar Mama”.
The program asks Virgin users to opt in to view ads, either on their handsets or online. And in the year since its launch, Virgin USA has persuaded almost 7% of its 4.8 million subscriber base — or about 330,000 users — to join the Sugar Mama audience, according to company reports. On the handset, Sugar Mama sends advertiser-sponsored text messages to registrants' phones about twice a week (at no message charge to the user.) They then respond to the text message using a key phrase to show that they read it, such as “sandwich” for a Subway-sponsored text. (Quinton, 2007)
Allowing the Broadway Café’s customers the ability to opt into this mobile service will help create a customer who is satisfied in the service along with greater potential for redemption. A safeguard against the risk of multiple redemptions on one coupon is a high concern to the Broadway Café. We want our customers to enjoy the savings our m-coupon’s provide, while the café enjoys the statistically increased chance of multiple purchases and impulse buying. Since the coupons are not tangible, a solution is needed to retrieve the m-coupons from circulation. Best practices require all promotions to have a hard expiration date, training staff on the promotion and the redemption requirements and tracking the redemptions, usually with a designated "promo" key on the POS or register. Adding unique coupon codes is another affordable way to track redemption although it requires your staff to record the code manually it is a deterrent to possible abusers. The recent development of QR code scanning apps you can now download to your smart phone will be the solution to overcoming the issue. (Munson, 2010)
Privacy issues: Of course, with any location-based service (LBS), there are some key privacy issues to consider. Most consumers are understandably sensitive to the idea that there personal information being used by a merchant to target their spending habits. The Broadway Café must reassure their customers with a clear privacy policy, while implementing the benefits of a LBS e-coupon system. There are some legal issues to consider in the implementation of a LBS m-coupon service. Governments are becoming increasingly involved in protecting the privacy rights of consumers.
With the passing of the Can Spam Act in 2005, it became illegal in the United States to send any message to the end user without the end user specifically opting-in. This put an additional challenge on LBS applications as far as 'carrier-centric' services were concerned. As a result, there has been a focus on user-centric location-based services and applications which give the user control of the experience, typically by opting in first via a website or mobile interface (such as SMS, mobile Web, and Java/BREW applications). One implication of this technology is that data about a subscriber's location and historical movements is owned and controlled by the network operators, including mobile carriers and mobile content providers. (Wikipedia, 2008)
Asking the customer to opt-in to the LBS m-coupon promotions helps alleviates the Café from some of the legal and privacy concerns. With such a system in place, the Broadway is left if a pool of motivated customers to solicit with its e-coupons. In addition, the customer opting into the service and providing their personal information with consent helps engage the customer in their own privacy management.
Benefit of tracking response rates of m-coupons and forwarding by customers:
One of the chief benefits of the e-coupon system is the ability to data mine the information collected. As the Broadways customers interact with this system, valuable knowledge will be gathered in the process. Using data mining tools will help find patterns, relationships, and help predict future behavior and guide decision making (Blatzman, Philips2010). The ability to understand the rate of response of the customer as it applies to a specific promotion type and launch time is important. The Broadway Café wants to know what e-coupons are most affective and when to send them. Furthermore, tracking the response time provides indicators to what our customer buying trends are in relation to m-coupons delivery. Some common forms of data mining can be applied to the information collected for e-coupon response rates. Cluster analysis helps group the customers with similar behavior traits concerning response rates. Understanding the response rate of customers clustered for related lunch patterns at the Cafe will lead to a much more targeted coupon promotion. Information gathered through response rates will also help in forecasting business decisions. The correlation in e-coupon launch to response time and frequency could provide insight into inventory or staffing needs. According to companies like Quantrix, which delivers business modeling and analytics solutions to the over 900 customers in 50 countries, accurately modeling customer response to campaigns allows managers in product development, finance, supply chain, purchasing, capacity planning, and other departments to plan and operate more efficiently (Quantrix, 2010). Another facet of the m-coupon system is providing our customers the ability to forward their m-coupons to friends and family. Sharing the coupons to different users will create a web of information to analyze. This broadens the depth of m-coupon promotions without any extra effort by our Café. Using a word-of-mouth approach via the customers through the m-coupons system is a real advertising advantage. Furthermore, the forwarded coupons could be arranged to automatically opt-in the recipient upon their redemption. This automatic feature will allow the promotional base the ability to grow without added expense to the Café. Multiplying the m-coupons customer base through forwarding promotions gives the Café a broader amount of data to mine.
Virtual world business in the real world: As the Broadway Café looks for avenues to grow in the digital community, one area of increased interest is a virtual presence within social sites like Second Life. Users log into Second Life’s software from the PC’s and traverse endless landscape or cityscapes, connect with friends, design homes or meet to conduct real business. Second Life offers participants a complete virtual life, right down to a virtual economy. Gamers use “Linden dollars” as currency in the game to buy anything imaginable; from clothing and housing for your avatar, even the ability to sell your virtual products. Second Life offers a currency exchange within the game for users to switch out their real hard currency for linden dollars. Second Life is one of many different type of multiplayer open world games available today. No longer are video games two people linked by one system, but thousands of people engaged in a virtual world. This type of open world environment offers tremendous opportunities for corporations to become involved. Many, if not all, of the physical marketing techniques available can be directly implemented into a virtual game like Second Life. Furthermore, Second Life’s built in economy allows users and businesses to create products:
Second Life hurls all this to the extreme end of the playing field. In fact, it's a stretch to call it a game because the residents, as players prefer to be called, create everything. Unlike in other virtual worlds, Second Life's technology lets people create objects like clothes or storefronts from scratch, LEGO-style, rather than simply pluck avatar outfits or ready-made buildings from a menu. That means residents can build anything they can imagine, from notary services to candles that burn down to pools of wax. (Hof, 2006)
Customer relationships in a virtual world: Establishing a business presence in a virtual word present’s the opportunity for the Broadway Café to do things that may be limited in the physical word. The virtual medium will allow the café to address scale and the impact of a large design presence to attract customers. The customer relationship within Second Life store front needs to present close attention to detail, just as much as within the physical café. Since this is occurring within social game network, the café must capitalize on its natural meeting environment. The Broadway Café could branch into a virtual business or social meeting ground, just as it is in “real life” The relationships we establish with our customers through a virtual medium should mirror the outstanding reputation we have created within our community. It will be just as critical to have prompt and cohesive customer service in the virtual community, as it is within the real physical community. Second Life’s resident’s expectations are high in reference to design and customer relationship quality. The Café must not fall short of goals it sets with the relationship created within a virtual interface.
Virtual Customer Service Strategy: The Broadway Café must pay careful attention to the logistics involved in managing a virtual presence in mediums like Second Life. A half-hearted attempt will flop in the virtual world just as much as within the physical word. Time management within staffing must be addressed in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) planning.
The effort to establish a presence in Virtual Worlds should be supported by top management as a strategic part of the company's CRM plan. Having top management support will help allocation of appropriate resources to make the strategy most effective. Companies like STA Travels have realized the need to hire full time employees in their virtual store in order to attract and engage customers. Employees (both RL and virtual) should be trained to use the environment to interact with and serve the customers. In order to attract customers, companies may need to promote their virtual presence by holding in-world events and offering incentives. (Lakshmi, & Mousavidin, 2007) A sound virtual customer service strategy is a critical measure for the development of a successful market presence. A mismanaged relationship or a store front void of a cohesive and current presence is much more detrimental then not engaging in it at all.
Difference in Supporting Second Life Customers vs Real and Web Customers:
Addressing the way in which Second Life customer differ from traditional, or even web, customers should be noted. Although the Cafe must pay close attention to the details of its presence, some areas within a virtual customer relationship will always remain different. Foremost, the opportunities to physical interact with the customer, which allows the café to showcase it quality staff. Establishing a mood or tone within your brick-and-mortar store is hard to duplicate virtually. In addition, while the virtual storefront allows the Café to promote events and coupons, the customer will never be able to interact with the product. However, Second Life offers a key advantage that other website interactions lack. A Second Life storefront offers more than just information to read, its more about giving a place for the customer to visit and interact. The virtual storefront enables the Café to place a visitor in an social environment, adding a presence that is not replicated in a web site.
Security and Ethical Issues Regarding Second Life: As with all digital or virtual interfaces, there are security and ethical concerns regarding Second Life. Safeguards need to be considered within the Broadway’s storefront to insure all content is authorized.
Second Life features a built-in digital rights management system that controls the movement of textures, sounds, scripts, and models with the Second Life servers at Linden Lab. Residents who copy content belonging to other users face being banned from Second Life, but Linden Lab has so far never sued any of these users for copyright infringement; since the resident creators (and not Linden Lab) retain ownership of the rights, it is not clear whether Linden Lab would legally be able to do so. (Wikipedia, 2010)
The effort put into the virtual storefront must be protected from any rivals infringement, considering that there is a high and increasing level of rivalry among our existing competitors. In addition, the security concerns of any visiting virtual residence should be clearly addressed in a customer privacy policy. Many users within a virtual world can feel a sense of detachment from consequences of their actions in the “real world”. This issue alone can raise some serious concerns from an ethical perspective. Some of the problems worth noting are: multiple identities, identity deception, illicit materials and general breaches in privacy. The Broadway Café must also pay close attention to any type of harassing actions within the virtual environment by Second Life residents. Furthermore, unauthorized use of someone’s digital information, passwords, intellectual property or trademark infringements should not be tolerated.
Pros and Cons of Using an Employee to Build you a Custom System: Using an existing, tech savvy employee, to develop our own time and attendance software provides some positive opportunities worth analyzing. First, in-house creations often cost less to develop than outsourcing. Our café employee will cost dramatically less per-hour than an outsourced software engineer. The café’s management will be able to work directly with the development, creating a reduction in production time. Should trouble arise, the employee will be on hand to offer tech support, reducing maintenance time. Furthermore, allowing an existing employee the opportunity to work outside his/her normal positions allows for broader integration of employees talents. Utilizing existing talents within the Café’s existing payroll should always be a top priority. However, depending on one employee for critical management tools can have some drawbacks. One of the chief negative aspects of depending on an employee to develop management software is the retentions of that employee. What is to keep the employee from simply quitting the potion in mid-development? Should the Café consider an contractual agreement to insure the employees long term intentions? The Café needs to carefully examine the background of the employee’s technical knowhow, just because you helped your uncle put on a roof doesn’t make you a carpenter. Assuming the employee has proven himself qualified for the responsibility, safe guards must be considers concerning other employees privacy. Software architects involved in time clock management are afforded a lot of sensitive knowledge regarding staff, and having a fellow coworker involved within this development must be affectively addressed.

Pros and cons of using of purchasing a COTS: Most of us are very familiar with purchasing commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) programs to meet are computer needs. Software such as Turbo Tax, Quicken and Photoshop are robust and very capable programs. The idea of hiring a software design firm to engineer the needs of a small business seems daunting. Purchasing COTS software helps reduce the amount of development time involved with custom software design. The trail phase of implementing custom software, while ironing out details along with training staff could become a major pitfall. The time involved in launching COTS business software is drastically reduced versus a custom design version. Once bought and installed most of the up-front time invested is in employee training. Furthermore, if you are already managing your employee data with programs like Microsoft Excel, most COTS time management software would be able to directly import this data. While these facts are clear reasons to seriously consider purchasing COTS software, there are some reasons to be hasty with this decision. I question worth investigating when reviewing COTS software is how does it interface with the needs of my company? Is the software capable of handling the demands of my specialized company at the level I need? While COTS software is fast to implement, it will always be a “cookie-cutter” approach to the Broadway Café’s time management needs. The advantage of a turn-key custom software approach is that you receive a solution that directly addresses all of your particular needs. Moreover, technical support is another issue worth considering. COTS systems often have a reputation of subpar technical support, an issue that’s often void in custom designed software. Also worth noting is how current is the COTS software, and how long is the cycle period before it becomes obsolete?
A Smooth Transition with Older Employees and the New System: In today’s technology driven business environment, a fluid transition from a legacy system to an updated software and hardware is crucial to maintain strong competition. Regarding the Broadway Café, who has employees that range the age spectrum, a carful approach is necessary. The Café’s archaic time management procedure has been in place for decades. For our older, less tech savvy staff, it is all they have known. As with most change, there can be a serious resistance to new procedures. Early notification, training and gradual deployment can help reduce some of the problem often encountered with a transition from legacy system.
Telling people early on that they will be transitioning to a new application or a new version of a current system will help them get used to the idea. Also, this will give those truly motivated individuals in your organization an opportunity to research the new system and prepare for the transition. Train employees about how the new system will work during company sponsored workshops. This might seem like an extra complication and a waste of valuable IT workers' time, but every hour devoted to training will more than pay for itself since it will potentially reduce the number of technology related errors that your employees make in their daily work with the new system and can potentially reduce the number of calls to IT for assistance. Deploy the new system, but keep the older one running in parallel until you make sure that the individuals in your organization are using the new system. This will allow you to monitor how the new system performs and if things are not going as you had hoped, can allow for a smooth transition back to the legacy system. (Dominick, 2010)
As with most transitions, regardless of age and aptitude, careful planning and consideration will pay off in the long run.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, many avenues of approach using a digital outlet remain available to the Broadway Café. An implementation of m-coupon system with LBS promotions is an attractive tool for an increase in sales with data mining potential. However, careful consideration of security and ethical use most be reviewed. A virtual storefront within social media outlets like Second Life also presents potential for growth. Virtual customer interaction must be tightly monitored to maximize the benefits. A move from legacy payroll and time management systems is extremely important in remaining fluid in our digital age. Analyzing choices between in-house development or COTS software procurement establishes some clear questions worth noting. Above all else, the Broadway Café recognizes the importance of changing many key business functions to regain an competitive advantage within the local market and beyond.

References: * Naik , VN. (2009, MARCH 20). m-coupons expected to increase, according to study . Retrieved from http://www.astricon.net/topics/broadband-mobile/articles/52731-m-coupons-expected-increase-according-study.htm * Quinton, BQ. (2007, October 1). Virgin territory. Retrieved from http://promomagazine.com/interactivemarketing/marketing_virgin_territory/ * Munson, bm. (2010, November 7). The mobile coupon what's the bang for the buck?.
Retrieved from http://foodservice.com/articles/show.cfm?contentid=19550&CTID=1&title=The%20Mobile%20Coupon%20What's%20the%20Bang%20for%20the%20Buck * Wikipedia, Initials. (2008). Location-based service. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_service#Privacy_issues * Quantrix, Initials. (2010). Response curve model. Retrieved from http://www.quantrix.com/Response_Curves.htm * Hof, rh. (2006, may 1). My virtual life . BusinessWeek magazine, Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm * Lakshmi, GL, & Mousavidin, EM. (2007, November 1). vcrm: virtual customer relationship management. Retrieved from http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/operations/8889116-1.html * Wikipedia, w. (2010). Criticism of Second Life. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 8, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Second_Life * Dominick, MD. (2010, November 23). How to replace a legacy system. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_7543194_replace-legacy-system.html