Firms exhibit poor email management skills

Eighty percent of customers surveyed by web hosting firm Fasthosts said they were disappointed by slow email response times from UK companies, and 90 percent said this delay could directly lead them to choose a competitor. The Customer Service Email Study found that 90 percent of respondents admitted to being more brand-loyal and more likely to increase spend with a company who responded to their queries swiftly, with the average consumer prepared to wait no longer than 24 hours for a reply to an email query. Fasthosts chief technology officer Mark Jeffries surmises that the results could be explained by poor email management and training by many firms: over 60 percent of firms surveyed said they had no training on issues such as email management techniques, email etiquette, or data retention law. For more on this story read Vnunet.com.

Irish consumers shun online banking

Online banking is used by as little as 14 percent of Irish adults, according to a new survey on the subject of 'Technology in Banking' by Halifax. Around 57 percent of Irish adults have access to the internet on a daily basis, and the survey found that 65 percent of these do not use online banking. Ireland's low broadband penetration rate and continued concerns over the security of online banking services are likely contributory factors to the low rate of online banking usage. The highest penetration of online banking was seen in the 35-44 age bracket, with 44 percent of internet users in this group conducting banking via the web. The most common transactions carried out by those using the services were balance checks (78 percent), bill or credit card payments (45 percent) and money transfers (38 percent). For more on this story read ENN.

Online shoppers not influenced by networking sites

Social networking sites have little influence over the online shopping habits of consumers, according to a survey conducted in the US by Jupiter Research, which revealed that just 12 percent said they would buy more than they planned to after visiting a social networking site. Interestingly, 57 percent of e-shoppers said they know exactly where they are going to make a purchase and go straight to that site, and only 3 percent said they use blogs as a route to online retailers. David Schatsky, president of Jupiter Research, said firms have a tendency to gravitate towards the latest way of "getting noticed" without knowing if this approach will work. He advised retailers to evaluate what is effective to make a stronger impact, rather than just following a trend. For more on this story read Silicon.com.

Firms fail to effectively manage IT risk

While companies are more concerned that their IT systems will fail than that they will suffer terrorist attacks or financial risk, the majority do not effectively manage their IT risk. That's according to a new Economist Intelligence Unit report based on a survey of 145 senior executives worldwide. A mere 13 percent of the respondents said they have a comprehensive IT risk management structure in place. And while respondents said they believe senior management is aware of the financial risks associated with IT failure, just 11 percent describe their company's handling of IT risk as "highly effective". Ironically perhaps, given the results, IT systems failure is cited as the greatest business risk by 27 percent of respondents, 6 percent more than the next highest risk, eSecurity breaches. For more on this story read Finfacts.

Working away: protecting your data on the move

Outsource your IT headaches

Case study: Larsen Water Management

Add payment functionality to your website

Grand Hotel, Malahide, Dublin, July 26
This half-day seminar aims to provide participants with ideas on how to transform their company website into a tool for sales lead generation. Advice will be provided on how to design and build effective internet marketing campaigns. The programme is presented by the Small Firms Association's National Centre of Excellence, with sponsorship by FAS.

This is a handy Wi-Fi hotspot locator from mobile broadband advertising company JiWire. The site claims to have details for over 150,000 hotspots in 136 countries in its wireless broadband directory. Users can search for a hotspot near a specific address or at a particular airport. Detailed information is available for most hotspots listed, including the name of the service provider, pricing, and a map of its location.