Archive for July, 2010

Custom Toll Free Launches 1-800-CUT-TREE Website: New Nationwide Marketplace for Tree Service Providers

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

SEATTLE, Wash. – July 28, 2010 – Custom Toll Free, a national leader in search, marketing and provisioning of vanity toll free numbers, announced today that it is increasing its services offered by launching its first comprehensive “single number” online platform for a vertical market – the tree service industry.

The new website, 1800CutTree.com, complements the existing 1-800-Cut-Tree vanity toll free number and provides an online marketplace for tree care providers throughout the U.S. The site will link consumers to arborists providing a wide variety of services, from pruning and trimming to emergency tree care, health and maintenance to professional tree removal.

“1-800-Cut-Tree has proven to be a very recognizable and easily remembered toll free number – one that has generated a great number of referrals to tree care businesses across the country,” said Michael Evans, president of Custom Toll Free. “Now we’re taking that concept one step further by creating the industry’s most advanced online marketplace.”

Evans said that the website allows consumers to use a simple interactive map to locate one of the dedicated tree service providers in their area. Then they fill out a brief form describing their tree needs, and the request is routed to the nearest professional 1-800-Cut-Tree service provider.  There is no cost to consumers to use the site.

Each of the tree care professionals specializes in slightly different areas of service. Many have professional certifications from the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) or are accredited members of the TCIA (Tree Care Industry Association), are members of the local Chamber of Commerce and Better Business Bureau, and have won awards and other recognition.

For tree care companies, the new www.1800CutTree.com online marketplace platform can mean increased business and greater credibility from consumers. Statistics show that using a toll free number in marketing increases response rates approximately 14 percent.  That return on investment will only be enhanced with the accompanying website platform.

Evans said Custom Toll Free is planning a number of sales, marketing and advertising promotions around the new tree service website in the coming months. Additionally, he said, tree care providers can use the website address with their toll free number in their own print and radio ads, as well as on their company trucks.

Besides linking to professional tree care service providers, the new website offers a wide variety of content including tree care tips, helpful information about trees, and a blog to share information with consumers and enable homeowners and others to ask questions about tree care issues.

For Custom Toll Free, the vertical market website opens up a promising new line of business and revenue stream.

“This kind of industry-wide online marketplace offers many benefits to both buyers and sellers of consumer services, and Custom Toll Free is in the perfect position to bring the two parties together,” he said. “We expect this to be just the first of many such online platforms that will complement our toll-free numbers and create additional value for our industry partners.”

For more information on becoming a 1-800-Cut-Tree provider or to find an arborist in your area, please visit www.1800CutTree.com.

About Custom Toll Free
Custom Toll Free is a national leader in the field of web services and marketing with vanity phone numbers. Custom Toll Free provides clients number search and location, market consulting, direct response services and e-commerce technology solutions for marketing and telecommunications companies nationwide. For more information, please visit www.customtollfree.com or call customer service phone number 1.800.CUSTOMIZE.
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Surviving Merger Integration

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Merger integration is the combining of two organizational branches to form a new one. This is often done to combine the tasks and offices of two or more branches because the organization sees no further reason to keep them separate. Sometimes merger integrations occur between two organizations themselves, as a result of a purchase of one of the organizations by the other. As early as the rumor stage in a merger, talk of the integration will surely cause a lot of activity among the members – and mostly on a negative note. There are some actions, however, that organizations can take to survive a merger.

Many mergers fail, and that is a sad fact. But there are four simple keys to surviving merger integration, as presented by Booz-Allen & Hamilton. These tasks are to be taken up by the CEO of the organization(s) affected, and planning should begin as soon as realistically possible

The first key step in surviving merger integration is to communicate the shared vision of the newly-merged entity. Uncertainty as to the future of the formed organization and their continued roles in it is sure to arise among the members of the organization, and having a specific vision to convey can help put nasty rumors to rest. All parties that are affected by the merger have the right to know what the new vision of the organization really is. As leaders, CEOs must be aggressive when it comes to communicating this vision. It is very important that the vision is shared among all departments involved in the merger so that it is easier to work with one another.

The second key to surviving merger integration is through making the right choices. In any merger, hard choices and decisions must be made. These early decisions are crucial to creating value for the merged organization. One cannot let any decision pass without choosing, whether it be which members are to stay and which are to leave or how best to cut expenses, organizational heads must choose wisely or risk failure with the merger.

The third key requires the merged organizations to work simultaneously. It is imperative to eliminate any kind of competition between parts of the newly-merged entity. For this to happen smoothly, there must be a monopoly of power. The CEO must not hesitate to show that the two organizations have been merged and the first goal to achieve is to learn to work together. There is no room for competition when there is a strong leader overseeing the integration process.

The fourth key is for organizational leaders to continuously work together and have a strategic plan. A strategic plan is very important in merger integration. From the beginning of the merger process, the way the two organizations are planning to work as one strategically is one of the very key to surviving the integration and turning the new entity into a thriving business.

Merger integration is feared most of the time because the future of each involved party is very unclear. Many merger integrations fail due to poor planning, lack of vision, or internal conflict and competition, but there steps CEO’s can take to help avoid these issues. The leaders of the organizations play the most crucial role in a merger, setting the path of the new organization by defining its new vision and taking steps to ensure the members are informed and cooperating.

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The Booming Business of Telecom Mergers

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

It seems there is no stopping mergers in the telecom industry. With the speed of technological advancement in the way we communicate today, telecom companies are in a constant lookout for other entities that have more advanced or complementary technologies and can give them the competitive edge.

With the advent of VoIP and other technological breakthroughs, no CEO would want to be caught sleeping on the job, unable to swiftly respond to the changing times. They need to keep up with the growing sophistication of a market that demands better access to information and communication through mobile broadband.

Telecom companies are also looking for mergers to beat out competition in accessing both developing and existing markets for new sales opportunities and a bigger market share. In fact, all the major telecom companies in the U.S. are products of such mergers that have been happening since the Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996. Even small companies are in on the action. With the decline in traditional telephone users, rural telecom companies are finding the need to merge to cut down costs and diversify their services to stay in the game.

The same is true in the global market. Even the richest man in the world, Mexican Carlo Slim Helu, consolidated his three Latin American telecom companies just this year. He is also poised to box out Spanish company Telefonica in grabbing a bigger share of the growing wireless broadband market in Brazil.

Not all mergers, however, have proven to be fruitful. Take the textbook case of the AOL and Time Warner deal made to establish online media. The $350 billion deal is, to this day, the largest merger in the U.S. Needless to say, it fell down face first. Critics have different views on the deal gone bad, from failure of assimilation and execution to overpriced AOL value. But one thing is clear, it is estimated that both companies are now only about 1/7th of their value before the deal. Employees are also wary of such mergers, which could mean their jobs when organizational consolidation takes place.

But this will not stop telecom companies from sniffing out potential merger deals. Telecom mergers are not only essential for companies to stay in the game, but often prove to be a goldmine in new sales opportunities, not to mention increases in share values. Mergers might have slowed down during the economic downturn, but they are expected to pick up once the economy has recovered from its slump. Besides, who knows what new communications breakthroughs technological geniuses will think up next.

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Telephony Statistical Industry Overview

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

In telecommunications, telephony is the technological advancement of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or other information between distant parties. It basically uses the features of a standard telephone, namely a receiver and transmitter. A more advanced way of transmitting information is through internet telephony, telephony using the internet instead of the historical telephone. This makes long-distance data transfer less expensive, and because of the globalization effect we are experiencing in today’s technological era, the industry overview in telecommunications shows us that telephony is indeed a strong industry today.

The telephony industry overview tells us that more and more people rely on telephony as a means of communication and data transfer. Aside from being the traditional way of transmission, telephony is still the easiest way of communicating data. The telephony industry overview suggests that through time, subscribers increase in number even if carriers remain constant, especially at the wireless telephony level. The telecommunications industry overview also shows us that the number of data transmissions through traditional telephone use has declined since 1996. Plenty of factors may be held responsible, but the most obvious fact is the use of the internet for data transmission as a cheaper option, especially when the sending and receiving parties are on different continents.

Internet telephony is gaining more users every day. Aside from costing less, internet telephony innovation also grants users a wider range of ways to transfer data from one party to another. The use of ISDN and DSL have increased the amount of traffic that internet telephony can handle, thus providing better service to customers, which in turn leads to a more dense market. Digital telephony and IP telephony (the use of TCP/IP protocol on the internet) are also innovations in the industry, again reducing costs while at the same time providing better service.

The trends in the industry overview of telecommunications tell us that more advanced ways of data transmission are more appealing options to consumers today. Not only are these methods easier, but these advanced technologies are surprisingly cheaper as well. Despite the same number of carriers or telephony service providers, the industry overview also tells us that there has been increased consumption of their services in terms of traditional transmitter-receiver communication by subscribers because it is still used for immediate occasions. This trend in the telephony industry is expected to continue throughout the next few years as telephony services are expected to continue to decrease in price.

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