Not Necessarily the News

OVERHEARD...

“I’d like to see providers go to performance-based contracts.”
— PlanetOne Communications’ Ted Schuman at the Fall 2007 Channel Partners Conference & Expo discussing agents earning contractual revenue protection

Metermaids everywhere are now standing in the employment line thanks to a new smart parking meter from Photo Violation Technologies Corp. (PVT). What the company calls “the world’s friendliest parking meter” can actually call a customer to let him or her know that the time on the meter is low. The PhotoViolationMeter (PVM) lets you pay with a debit or credit card (and also accepts change, if you have some), but if you also provide your telephone number, the meter will call you, and you then have the option of remotely adding more minutes through your cell phone. As an added bonus, the PVM acts as a wireless hotspot for mobile workers or first responders. The smart parking meters are currently installed for a testing period in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Niagra Falls, N.Y. The company reports they’ve already earned top marks from users during a test run in San Francisco.

Many consumer product makers are turning out “pink” versions of their wares with proceeds benefitting breast cancer awareness programs. Avaya Inc. is the first to bring this movement to the workplace. The business telephone system maker is offering pink faceplates for Avaya 9600 Series IP Deskphones that showcase the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer pink ribbon. $5 from the sale of each faceplate goes toward the society’s breast cancer awareness, research, patient service and advocacy programs through December 2008. The pink faceplates can be ordered individually or in boxes of 25 for $25 each faceplate for new or existing Avaya one-X Deskphones with model numbers 9620, 9630 or 9640.