The Web Design Company Blog

I was recently hopping all over the net when I encountered yet another great addition to Twitter. This time it comes in the form of a CRM system. The design is an enhancement of Salesforce.com's Service Cloud application, which allows the monitoring and tracking of user information partaining to their products on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

In plain English, if you are a company and sell certain products; the new application will allow you to monitor conversation about your products that users are engaged in, and even allow you to engage in it if you so wish. With that kind of power, you can easily respond to any complaints or find out information on what makes your product good or bad, and therefore make it better and increase customer satisfaction.

Looking at it from a purely business point of view, this new addition to your existing CRM system is a must if you really plan to go above and beyond to please your customers. If you are an E-Commerce site, you will definitely know how difficult it is to get real-world accurate feedback from your customers partaining to your product, and through Salesforce's new Twitter intergration you will be able to extract that feedback. Going even further, I'm sure one can see the great potential for marketing an existing product or releasing a new product with lowered risk of "failure-to-launch".

From the "peanut-gallery" (me), I can't say I disapprove. It is a great opportunity, especially for new E-Commerce sites to get that necessary improvement information. The only possible fault I can see is that (like similar applications) this one probes and eavesdrops on conversations. I'm a big fan of my privacy online, and when it comes to praising or complaining about a product, I tend to report straight to the source. Yet, if you do not mind the product's supplier leeching information off your chats or even engaging your conversation, then all is well.

Unfortunately for business, Salesforce's Twitter intergration application is not yet fully completed; but don't worry, it's right around the corner so start budgeting for something that could potentialy put you up there with the best.

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I have been hearing a lot of buzz recently about all these wonderful new web browsers. People around me have full blown arguments about their preference of web browser, and it mostly ends up in shouting with no result. So like the little explorer that I am, I decided to look into it and maybe take someone's side. I checked out Google's infant Chrome, Microsofts's upgraded Internet Explorer 8, and Mozilla's new Firefox 3.

The most wonderful thing I found is that they are all FREE for download. Score! Firefox is open source to begin with, and it's good to see that Microsoft (not so much Google) finally catching on.

I'm a huge fan of Javascript and Google's Chrome marvels itself on being primarily Javascript orientated, which racks up the points on my list. Chrome also apparently makes web browsing faster, more fun and open. More open..? That raises questions in my mind about it's security. When I browse I'm rather open but there is a certain level of security that I like to maintain online.

Keeping to the norm, most people use Internet Explorer. Now apparently the new IE 8 is compatible with websites that were designed for older browsers, which as a web developer I think is really awesome. I surf old sites and new ones, and I really enjoy having the comfort of doing so without being prompted for upgrades to my browser so it can handle web content. On a more broad perspective, IE 8 makes web experiences faster, easier and safer. Safety is excellent from my point of view, as I don't like to be probed unexpectadly and unknowingly while browsing.

Jumping to Firefox 3; it is the latest upgrade to Mozilla's very popular Firefox web browser. The latest installment brags about being faster, safer and smarter. Smarter is a plus as I like my browser to do some of my work for me. The one aspect I have come to enjoy about Firefox is that is is highly customisable, allowing for a browsing experience on your terms. I dug further and came to realise that Firefox 3 has infact got the FASTEST response times out of all of the web browsers.

Overall, each browser has it's ups and downs; but they are all upgrades of their predecessors; and it obviously comes down to the kind of person you are. Personally, I would only use Google's Chrome late at night, to test it, seeing as it's still in it's infant stages and has a long way to go. For those of you who are accustomed to mainstream products and surf the web down a similar wave every day, then IE 8 will offer a slightly better surfboard and free wax. Yet for the indulgent person who engulfs in the new things on the Internet, and loves online exploration their own way, then Firefox 3 is your browser for the ultimate online experience.

Download them for free, check them out for yourself. Me... I'll stick to my customised Firefox browser.

Get Chrome 

Get Firefox 3

Get Internet Explorer 8

PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...

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