Language in Pennsylvania

Language Services Associates (LSA) has been awarded a one-year contract by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide Over-the-Phone Interpretation (OPI) and Document Translation, Web Site Localization services. The contract, formerly managed by Language Line, offers three one-year extensions and has an anticipated value of $4 million per year. According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.5% of the U.S. population, and an estimated 1,080,279 Pennsylvania residents, speak a language other than English at home.

Missing girl found

When a nine year old local Sandy girl was reported missing in this Salt Lake City suburb in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains, the Sandy Police Department (SPD) was able to use the department’s new state-of-the-art wireless mesh video surveillance network to track her path. The system allowed the department to survey a vast portion of the city which narrowed the search area and decreased the time it took to locate the girl and return her to her family. The surveillance system, which was deployed by Salt Lake City’s AlphaCorp Security using Firetide wireless infrastructure mesh equipment, was initially installed by the SPD to monitor the town’s main State Street corridor, parks and business districts. Because the wireless network has been a resounding success for the community’s public safety goals, the network is building upon the interest from other municipal groups as they realize its value. (Sandy Police Chief Stephen Chapman.)

VW dealership

Riverbank Volkswagen, a family-owned VW dealership, has deployed MegaPath’s Duet™ service to improve productivity and customer service. Riverbank VW is leveraging Duet to share and access corporate data, as well as improve customer response time and satisfaction by ensuring network uptime to process and quickly respond to Web site leads. Duet leverages MegaPath’s all-optical MPLS network to deliver a low-cost, high-speed Internet and full-featured voice service bundle that is ideal for small-to-medium sized businesses. Duet includes productivity features found in enterprise voice and data solutions without the staffing requirements or investment in network and telephony needed for customers to deploy their own infrastructure. (Andrew Goldstein, President of Riverbank Volkswagen.) www.riverbankvw.com.

American Eagle Outfitters' customer care

GSI Commerce Inc has signed a multiyear agreement with American Eagle Outfitters to continue providing customer care services for the American Eagle Outfitters, aerie, MARTIN + OSA and 77kids brands. GSI will provide additional customer care services under the expanded agreement. American Eagle Outfitters ranks No. 54 in the list of Top 500 online retailers recently published by Internet Retailer.

Kay's Gold Exchange Program

Kay Jewelers has selected Refinement Services LLC to provide online support for its Kay Gold Exchange Program. Refinement Services LLC is a developer of a specialized web-based gold-buying transaction-management platform. Kay Jewelers selected Refinement Services LLC in part because their video processing method and customer notification system supports the customer needs of functionality and transparency through the entire transaction and payment process. Kay Jewelers is owned by Akron, which operates 1,401 stores in all 50 states. (Mark Light, Kay Jewelers President and CEO.)

Increased conversions and average order size

Fabric.com, the online fabric store, has increased conversions and average order size by implementing a lifecycle email marketing program through Silverpop, the provider of both email marketing and marketing automation solutions specifically tailored to the unique needs of B2C and B2B marketers. The retailer utilized the Silverpop Engage platform to initiate an email lifecycle campaign and a shopping cart abandonment program. Both strategies were designed to create a more relevant dialogue with customers. The lifecycle campaign more than doubled open and click-through rates, and conversions increased by 43 percent. Additionally, the cart abandonment emails resulted in a 20 percent increase in average order size. (Melanie Coombs, e-mail marketing manager, Fabric.com.)

48 million households pay bills online

The number of US households paying bills online will grow from 48 million this year to 63 million by 2014, according to a forecast by Forrester Research.

Personal robots market will grow from $1.16 billion in 2009

According to the study “Personal Robotics 2009: Task, Security & Surveillance/Telepresence, Entertainment and Education Robot, and Robotic Components Markets Through 2015” (http://www.nextgenresearch.com/research/1004160-Personal_Robotics_2009), the global personal robots market will grow from $1.16 billion in 2009 to more than $5 billion in 2015. The majority of such robots in 2009 are entertainment robots -- toys -- and single-task robots, such as vacuum cleaners or floor washers.

Predictive analytics and email services

Perricone MD, a leader in prestige skincare, is realizing improvements to both revenue and profitability by using iPost’s predictive analytics solution and email services to re-engage dormant customers. By segmenting customers based on level of engagement, Perricone MD is re-invigorating relationships – and sales – with both latent and active customers. (Neil Kjeldsen, vice president of eCommerce at Perricone MD.)

Prestige products are prone to counterfeiting. One-to-Watch: Naultilus' unique holography revolutionizes overt and covert solutions for brand and print security. http://www.nautilussecurity.com

Massively multiplayer online games

Gazillion Entertainment, a leading developer, publisher and operator of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, is using RTView enterprise-wide across all projects to monitor and analyze gameplay. The Gazillion studios are taking advantage of the flexibility of the RTView platform to provide their varied teams with customized, real-time visibility into the multitude of different events that impact their customers. RTView currently provides Gazillion’s studios with real-time visibility into critical play habits (via advanced interfaces such as heat maps), game service and safety events, and conversion activities – those activities that highlight play habits that will most likely result in conversion to full-paid subscriptions.

For MMO games, the ability to respond to customer interests in real time can be the difference between a successful property and one that reacts too slowly and fizzles. Understanding gameplay – knowing where critical players are at any given time and how they’re interacting with the property and organization – is of paramount importance. There are a myriad of requirements from different departments to understand customer gameplay. For example, requirements vary widely for game designers during play test sessions, marketing executives during promotional periods, and customer service representatives during in-game events. The flexibility of the RTView platform enables Gazillion to provide these different teams the right level of visibility to the right information in real time. Moreover, by combining the millions of real-time gameplay events with data sources from billing, customer service and other systems, RTView can provide all team members with the full picture of a player’s experience.

One-to-Watch: Operator of computer-based gaming centers enhance customer loyalty and optimize profits with software from Game the World. http://www.gametheworld.com

3-D facial modeling technology

Big Stage Entertainment, Inc., platforms for consumer projection of self into digital life, has licensed its proprietary 3-D facial modeling technology to Virtual Space Entertainment for their new high definition, photo-realistic 3-D virtual universe, Blue Mars 2150. Blue Mars 2150 launches August 2009 with support to follow from innovative interactive museum exhibits, television and a million dollar race around a transformed virtual planet that is ready for colonization.

Predictive analytics software at Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company has turned to Predictive Analytics to gain a complete view of customer attitudes and preferences about its products. By using SPSS Inc. Predictive Analytics Software (PASW), Procter & Gamble is able to gather and analyze direct feedback – harnessing the vital Voice of the Customer to improve marketing research and brand evaluation. Procter & Gamble (P&G) manufactures well-known brands including Tide, Pampers, Pantene and Crest products. (Patrick Hogan, consumer research solutions manager for global business services at P&G.)

68 percent of households play...

68 percent of American households play computer or video games, according to research from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. The number of households playing games increased three percent over 2008.

Other findings of the survey include: 42 percent of American homes have a video game console; adult gamers have been playing for twelve years on average, a decrease from 2008, an indication that more Americans are picking up video game controllers for the first time; the average game player is 35 years old; 78 percent of parents believe that the parental controls available in all recent video game consoles are useful; only 45 percent are rated ‘E’ for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board; and, 43 percent of online game players are female.

In addition, the report includes statistics about the high level of parental involvement in video game play. 63 percent of parents who have children under 18 with a gaming console in the home believe games are a positive part of their children's lives. Those parents are present when games are purchased or rented 92 percent of the time and report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play 91 percent of the time.

The research was conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and gathered data from almost 1,200 nationally representative households that have been identified as owning either or both a video game console or a personal computer used to run entertainment software.

The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. www.theESA.com.

New York Lottery

The New York Lottery has awarded Multimedia Games a contract extension for the operation of the central determinant system for video lottery terminals (“VLTs”) throughout the state. There are currently approximately 13,000 VLTs installed at 8 facilities in the state. (Gordon Medenica, Director of the New York Lottery.)

In-store photo processing at CVS

CVS/pharmacy has signed an agreement naming Kodak as the national chain’s provider of in-store photo processing systems, including the KODAK Adaptive Picture Exchange (APEX) dry lab system, KODAK Picture Kiosk, and Kodak Service and Support. In 2008, CVS/pharmacy was the first national retailer to offer customers both KODAK Picture Movie DVDs and Photo Books. These photo processing products turn customers’ photos into hard-cover books and movies in minutes using the KODAK Picture Kiosk. Both of these products are now available in more than 5,600 CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide. (Grant Pill, Vice President, CVS/Pharmacy.)

CVS/pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Caremark Corporation, is America's largest retail pharmacy. The Company operates more than 6,900 CVS/pharmacy and Longs Drugs stores. www.cvscaremark.com.

Personal prescription history at Walgreens

Walgreens has reached an agreement with Microsoft to provide pharmacy patients access to their personal prescription history through Microsoft HealthVault, a Web-based platform that helps people gather, store and share health information. In addition to prescription information, people can use HealthVault to store copies of their health records obtained from their other providers, insurance plans, government or employers; upload information from health and fitness devices; and share information with health care providers and trainers. (Don Huonker, Walgreens senior vice president of health care innovation.)

Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2008 sales of $59 billion. The company operates 6,783 drugstores in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Walgreens Health and Wellness division includes Take Care Health Systems, the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 715 locations throughout the country.

e-Commerce for The Container Store

The Container Store, the retailer of storage and organization products, has selected Broadleaf Commerce as its eCommerce solution. The Container Store selected Broadleaf Commerce for its low cost, extensibility, and leading edge framework and technologies. By using this solution, The Container Store will be better able to manage their online catalog and shopping cart, provide customers with a more user-friendly online shopping experience, and reduce their costs. Credera, a business and technology consulting firm based in Dallas, has been selected to implement and customize the solution for The Container Store. (Tom Birmingham, CIO with The Container Store.)

The Container Store, founded in 1978, is the nation’s originator and leading retailer of storage and organization products. The retailer offers more than 10,000 solutions designed to save space and time in each of its 47 nationwide locations and online at www.containerstore.com. Sales for fiscal year 2009 will exceed half a billion. The Container Store is privately held.

Email marketing for Dave & Buster’s

Dave & Buster's, Inc. has selected ExactTarget to power the email marketing campaigns for its more than 50 entertainment/dining locations across the United States and Canada. Dave & Buster’s, an upscale dining and entertainment concept that features a signature menu along with electronic and interactive games, is now using ExactTarget’s Enterprise Edition software to automate and streamline its email marketing efforts with advanced email technologies such as event-triggered emails and localized content. (Diana Rhodes, Dave & Buster’s loyalty and online marketing manager.) www.daveandbusters.com.

Parent notification services

The Texas Region 17 Education Service Center (ESC) has partnered with SchoolReach, one of the parent notification services used among K-12 schools in the United States. Through the partnership agreement, the SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact system will be made available to the service center’s member schools at an exclusive discount. The service center is an organization created to provide services to schools in Region 17, which encompasses the 20 counties surrounding Lubbock, Texas. (Kyle Wargo, executive director of ESC 17.) www.esc17.net.

Electronic Arts may disclose material developments

John Pleasants, Chief Operating Officer of Electronic Arts will present at the William Blair 29th Annual Growth Stock Conference on June 10, 2009. During the course of this event, Electronic Arts may disclose material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet under four brand names: EA SPORTS, EA, EA Mobile and POGO. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies.