Hitting the spot - how far we'd go to help our clients!?

Here at UOE we're known for going the extra mile for our clients...so when Caroline Cusworth, Business Development Director was asked by one of her clients if she'd be interested in trying out one of their new services it seemed only natural to say "yes!"

The client in question? - a Doctor in London's renowned Harley Street - specialising in cosmetic surgery - nothing unusual there you think....until you find out that they specialise in.... G-Spot enhancement (if you don't believe us: http://www.profdartey.com/) or what is commonly referred to as the G-Shot!

The offer to be the first to have this new treatment in the UK was enough for Caroline to jump at the chance..."helping a client at the same time was nice too!" says Caroline...although we reckon she probably enjoyed her side of the bargain a bit more!

I guess now we really can say we will do anything with/for our clients....!

19% of staff steal office supplies

Nearly one in five (19 percent) workers report they have taken office supplies for personal use in the past year, according to a recent Spherion Workplace Snapshot survey. Of those who admitted to stealing office supplies, 21 percent felt guilty or regretted the act. In 2006, a similar Spherion survey found that 18 percent of workers reported they had taken office supplies for personal use.

Workers said the primary reason office supplies were taken for personal use was because they needed them (41 percent). Nearly one-third (32 percent) said it was because their boss/office manager said it was alright to do so, and 15 percent claimed the company will never miss them.

The most common types of items taken by workers were pens, pencils or rulers (25 percent) and paper, post-its or file folders (19 percent).

Of the age groups surveyed, younger workers (25 percent between the ages of 18-24 and 29 percent between 25 and 29 years old) were the most likely to have taken office supplies for personal use, while workers aged 65 and older were the least likely (nine percent) to have taken such items for personal use. Further, older workers feel it is wrong to take office supplies for personal use more so than any other age group, with 83 percent saying so.

Further research by UOE found that much of this theft is as a result of open access to stocks in on-site cabinets and cupboards. It was found that when online purchasing by the user replaced bulk general stocking of goods theft was reduced (as was per head expenditure) as over 75% of workers said they were conscious that their boss could see what they were ordering and would spot any over-ordering more easily.

Press 1 to report a crime - invalid entry - goodbye.

Just when you thought every possible organisation that could employ automated call-handling had done it...Thursday's London Metro newspaper reported that Police in the UK are considering a 'dial-a-crime' telephone service.

The metro reported: "Call centre-style automated phone systems with numbered menus should be brought in for victims to report crimes, police have been told.
The 'dial-a-crime' service would save money and ease pressure on police control room staff, an official report suggested.
It should be coupled with other 'self-service channels', such as internet sites with online forms, for users to give details of minor offences or report anti-social behaviour. "

I assume it won't be long before an offshore call-centre is handling our 999 service and will ask us to hold whilst he gives us a log-number to report a crime!

The benefits of online reporting and the like for minor (so-called petty) crime makes sense (although the mere fact that it just goes in a database presupposes the thought that at some time someone, somewhere will actually be accessing and using the information to actually solve a crime rather than just run a report for a statistical analysis.

In a time when the fear of crime is rising, it seems crazy that what little interaction between police and the public is to be eroded by unwanted solutions such as automated call-handling.

The idea was put forward by the Home Office-funded National Policing Improvement Agency on the basis that 'Well automated self-service interactions can cost as little as 15 per cent of costs, when compared to the costs of interacting with a live agent.' ....Well forgive me, but i quite like the idea of SPEAKING TO THE POLICE rather than leaving a voicemail!

As for the failed ASBO solution to cut anti-social behaviour, I suppose this would mean that the automated system could just send a text message ASBO to the trouble-maker....yep, that'll really save some cost....and probably be as effective as the current solution.

Loo-nar Mission

This week NASA launched a Loo-nar mission - to fix the toilet on board the International Space Station!

It begs the question why there is only one toilet on the entire station...surely a lack of planning(!) but also the extreme levels of adaptability that the astronauts on-board are required to handle. Plumbing, space research, quantum physics - is there nothing these guys and girls can't do?

NASA has since confirmed that the toilet is now back in action - so again another out of this world experience - a plumbing job that got fixed on time, first time....I guess you get what you pay for...although that has got to be the most expensive call-out charge any plumber has ever made!