John Jamison's Profile

At Blackboard we’re expanding your teaching and learning technology choices.  We’re opening up the Blackboard Academic Suite and enabling connections to different course management systems through a new technology called The Learning Environment Connector, which is being developed as part of Project NG, Blackboard’s multi-year, multi-release project to deliver a next generation teaching and learning solution.  And while we believe that our course management system is the best solution for most instructors, we want you to have the ability to experiment, and to have the teaching and learning choice that you need.

Imagine a world where students go to a single URL and connect to their course regardless of which course management system it is hosted on.  Dashboards consolidate information for users from these many systems.  Administrators easily access accounts and information across these systems; thus simplifying helpdesk operations.  The Learning Environment Connector makes this world possible.

P is People. Don't start a social strategy until you know the capabilities of your audience. If you're targeting college students, use social networks. If you're reaching out business travelers, consider ratings and reviews. Forrester has great  data to help with this, but you can make some estimates on your own. Just don't start without thinking about it.

O is objectives. Pick one. Are you starting an application to listen to your customers, or to talk with them? To support them, or to energize your best customers to evangelize others? Or are you trying to collaborate with them? Decide on your objective before you decide on a technology. Then figure out how you will measure it.

S is Strategy. Strategy here means figuring out what will be different after you're done. Do you want a closer, two-way relationship with your best customers? Do you want to get people talking about your products? Do you want a permanent focus group for testing product ideas and generating new ones? Imagine you succeed. How will things be different afterwards? Imagine the endpoint and you'll know where to begin.

T is Technology. A community. A wiki. A blog or a hundred blogs. Once you know your people, objectives, and strategy, then you can decide with confidence.

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• Implications to Customer Relations: The paradigm for customer service has changed little over the past half century. A disappointed customer picks up the phone and calls for support when needed. The biggest changes in customer service technology have been the use of email and online chat (which benefits consumers) and IVR menus (which annoy most consumers.)
  
  A new way of managing customer relations is going to develop rapidly in the coming years. Rather than consumers taking their time to ask the company for assistance, the company will take its time to monitor consumer discussions for opportunities to offer help. Today, a complaint posted to a blog, bulletin board, or Twitter is likely to do nothing but encourage dozens of responses that are a variant of "That company sucks." But soon, with customer service personnel monitoring social media, the first response could be a helpful solution posted by a company representative or even a direct dial phone number offered for immediate assistance.