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 Saratoga Springs, NY (December 31, 2012)- Jolt Consulting Group, a provider of transformational business and technology services for the customer service industry, today released an updated whitepaper outlining the capabilities of a next generation service management platform.  The whitepaper is entitled, “Service Management 4.0 – The Future Service Management Platform”.

Service management systems have emerged as critical platforms that enable companies to better connect with customers and develop deep customer loyalty in a hyper-competitive global economy.  Strong service management platforms can provide a means of differentiating products, while at the same time handsomely contributing to the bottom-line for many profit-centric service entities.  Despite the investments many organizations have made in service management systems over the last 10-15 years, the rapid evolution of technologies that directly impact the business of service such as expanding mobile bandwidth, explosion of social media, and cost-effective application delivery models are forcing organizations who view service as a critical element in their strategy to consider the future needs of their service management platform.  Service Management 4.0 – The Future Service Management Platform outlines the key components that service organizations and technology providers to the service industry must consider as they think about future investments.

“Service Management 4.0 isn’t simply a blueprint driven by advancements in technologies that are interesting or cool”, stated Jeff Oskin, President of Jolt Consulting Group.  “Service Management 4.0 is driven by the fundamental belief that developing a closer relationship with your customers will enable greater customer loyalty and satisfaction, thus improving your bottom line, and this publication offers the service industry a blueprint to realize closer customer connections.”

A copy of the paper may be obtained from the Jolt Consulting Group website by clicking here.

About Jolt Consulting Group
Jolt Consulting Group is a provider of transformational business and technology services for a wide range of businesses within the customer service industry. Jolt Consulting Group enables service organizations, as well as technology providers targeting service providers, to operate more efficiently, accelerate their growth, and have a deeper understanding of their customers.  We provide a range of services from process consulting & optimization, to technology selection & deployment, to change management, to development of advanced eLearning capabilities, and large scale program management.  The result is the ability of our clients to achieve their strategic visions and realize greater levels of profitability and financial performance. Jolt Consulting Group possesses 20 years of practical experience running service organizations, as well as leading technology companies targeting the service industry. Jolt Consulting Group is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, NY. For more information visit our website, our blog or subscribe to our newsletter.

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Saratoga Springs, NY, June 29, 2012 - Jolt Consulting Group, a provider of transformational business and technology services for customer facing organizations, today announced a new offering designed to help service-based organizations better understand customer requirements and drive improved retention.  The new offering will aid customer-facing organizations seeking assistance in developing programs to better connect with customers in a rapidly evolving digital age.  This offering represents Jolt Consulting Group’s commitment to help organizations achieve service excellence.

The new offering focuses on helping service organizations obtain clarity on customer requirements as well as providing insight into why those requirements are critical to their customers.  More than a simple customer survey, the service is designed to help organizations holistically understand customer input across a variety of mediums, including social media.  The outcome of an engagement will be a deeper understanding of customer needs, coupled with improved customer retention.

As a means of introducing clients to the service, Jolt Consulting Group is offering interested organizations a free assessment so that they may obtain insight into potential improvements.  Interested organizations should contact Jolt Consulting Group by calling 1-877-249-6262 or emailing info@joltconsultinggroup.com

“Enabling organizations to improve their service operations and achieve long-term customer retention has been a bedrock principle of our firm since its’ founding”, stated Jeff Oskin, President of Jolt Consulting Group.  “This new service offering will help organizations struggling to gain visibility and insight into what is important to their customers and why those requirements are critical, especially across the numerous feedback channels now available in today’s market, including social media.”

About Jolt Consulting Group
Jolt Consulting Group is a provider of transformational business and technology services for customer facing organizations seeking to grow or evolve their business.  We enable organizations to better connect with their customers through comprehensive business analysis, effectively managing change, and by selecting and deploying enabling technologies. We provide a range of business and technology services aimed at producing tangible results that have a meaningful impact on our clients businesses. The result is the ability of our clients to grow their revenues and realize greater levels of profitability coupled with improved levels of customer satisfaction. Jolt Consulting Group possesses 20 years of practical experience running service-oriented organizations, as well as leading technology companies. Jolt Consulting Group is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, NY. For more information visit our website or subscribe to our newsletter.

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Saratoga Springs, NY, May 10, 2012 - Jolt Consulting Group, a provider of transformational business and technology services for small to medium sized firms, today announced an expansion of its’ capabilities into Brazil.  The expansion will enable Jolt Consulting Group to aid organizations seeking assistance in deploying enterprise and cloud-based software applications in the Brazilian market.  This expansion represents Jolt Consulting Group’s commitment to help small and medium sized businesses grow their operations by providing a vehicle for expansion in the Brazilian market, which is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s leading IT hubs.

Brazil is the world’s seventh largest IT market and the second fastest growing market to only China, according to IDC Research in Framingham, MA.  The demand for experienced software implementation resources within the Brazilian market with knowledge of the telecommunications, utility, manufacturing, and service sectors is red-hot.  The expansion by Jolt Consulting Group provides easy access, particularly for North American software companies, to Brazilian-based skilled resources to aid in software implementation projects and ongoing support.  As a result, Jolt Consulting Group can now provide project and/or program management staff, solution architects, business analysts or technical resources to either augment existing staff or perform the full scope of software implementation projects, all of which reside in Brazil and understand local customs and cultures.

“The Brazilian market represents a significant opportunity for us and we are pleased to announce our presence”, stated Jeff Oskin, President of Jolt Consulting Group.  “We have already seen the benefits by recently signing an agreement with a rapidly expanding North American software provider to augment their delivery teams with local resources.  We look forward to continuing to expand our presence and aiding other growing software firms.”

About Jolt Consulting Group
Jolt Consulting Group is a provider of transformational business and technology services for small to medium sized businesses seeking to grow or evolve their business.  We enable organizations to better connect with their customers through comprehensive business analysis, effectively managing change, and by selecting and deploying enabling technologies. We provide a range of business and technology services aimed at producing tangible results that have a meaningful impact on our clients businesses. The result is the ability of our clients to grow their revenues and realize greater levels of profitability coupled with improved levels of customer satisfaction. Jolt Consulting Group possesses 20 years of practical experience running service-oriented organizations, as well as leading technology companies. Jolt Consulting Group is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, NY. For more information visit our website, our blog or subscribe to our newsletter.

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Saratoga Springs (January 17, 2012) – Are you struggling to find qualified, service-knowledgeable candidates to fill positions within your organization?  Are you simply looking to augment your existing recruiting staff to fill service positions within your organization?

If you are seeking assistance fulfilling positions within your service organization, Jolt Consulting Group can help.  We offer a wide range of placement services and approaches to accommodate your needs, including contingency, retained, and executive searches.  To learn more about how Jolt Consulting Group can help, please contact us today or visit the placement services section of our website.

Jolt Consulting Group is a leading provider of transformational business and technology services in the customer service industry.  Jolt Consulting Group enables customer service organizations, as well as providers to the customer service industry, to operate more efficiently, accelerate their growth, and have a deeper understanding of their customers.  The result is the ability of our clients to achieve their strategic visions and realize greater levels of profitability and financial performance.

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1. A profile of world-class use of advanced scheduling software can be defined.
2. Too many organizations rely on soft-ROI criteria when developing their business case.
3. The business goals of organizations often change from their original business case once an advanced scheduling solution has been deployed.

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Saratoga Springs, NY (October 18, 2011) - Jolt Consulting Group, a provider of transformational business and technology services for the customer service industry, and Plan b Solutions, a firm specializing in applying advanced technologies to improve business performance, today unveiled a program to help utilities contemplating automated metering infrastructure (AMI) deployments as part of a smart-grid strategy.  The one-of-a-kind program combines the respective strengths of Jolt Consulting Group and Plan b Solutions in a manner that will benefit utilities of all sizes.  Through the program, the companies will provide support to utilities contemplating an AMI deployment, but require expertise to develop an AMI strategy, select an AMI provider, assist with securing federal funding, or support the deployment of an AMI infrastructure.

“This exciting new service combines the respective talents and capabilities of Plan b and Jolt Consulting Group to offer utilities an affordable alternative to help them navigate the complexities of AMI deployment,” stated Jeff Oskin, President of Jolt Consulting Group.  “By forging our capabilities into a single offering, we are now a single resource that electric utilities of all sizes, from small, rural co-ops to large independent providers can call upon to assist with their smart-grid initiatives.

Deploying AMI as part of an overall smart-grid initiative is a complex and challenging process.  There are a myriad of business and technology decisions utilities must make, each with their own consequences.  Today’s AMI solutions go well beyond basic meter reading functions where a single register read is provided to the billing system each month.  Integration with meter data management (MDM), outage management systems (OMS), and other distribution technologies is now the norm.  By leveraging the respective strengths of Jolt Consulting Group and Plan b Solutions, our solution experts will provide the guidance necessary to help articulate a utility’s vision, create a technology roadmap that will serve as a blueprint for future activities, and aid in crafting system requirements specific to an individual utility’s business.

In an ongoing project at CoServ Electric, the second largest not-for-profit electric co-op in Texas, support for the contract negotiations, ongoing Department of Energy (DOE) grant requirements, acquisition, and deployment of an AMI project to support a broader smart-grid strategy was provided.  “Plan b Solutions professional project management services have contributed significantly to the ongoing success of our AMI Project starting with project initiation and continuing through deployment.  Plan b Solutions’ standard structured methodology provided all of the key deliverables required by the DOE for the Project Execution Plan which was accepted on first submission,” stated CoServ Electric Senior Vice President Information Services Stacia Sims.

“We believe that small to mid-sized utilities, especially regional co-ops, are underserved in today’s market, yet they face the same challenges in deploying smart-grid strategies as do the large, investor-owned utilities,” stated Doreen Wakefield, Chief Executive of Plan b Solutions.  “Our success at CoServ is indicative of the value we can bring to utilities of any size that are faced with the challenges of deploying an AMI solution.”

About Jolt Consulting Group
Jolt Consulting Group is a provider of transformational business and technology services for the customer service industry. Jolt Consulting Group enables customer service organizations, as well as providers to the customer service industry, to operate more efficiently, accelerate their growth, and have a deeper understanding of their customers.  The result is the ability of our clients to achieve their strategic visions and realize greater levels of profitability and financial performance. Jolt Consulting Group possesses more than 20 years of practical experience running service organizations as well as leading technology companies targeting the service industry. Jolt Consulting Group is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, NY. For more information visit our website, our blog or subscribe to our newsletter.

About Plan b Solutions
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Irvine, California, Plan b applies technology to improve business performance. First and foremost, we are a professional services firm that focuses on improving our clients’ operations through the use of technology.  Our approach is to begin each engagement with a thorough needs assessment (or IT Roadmap) which identifies the “As Is” (current state) and the “To Be” (desired end state). We then work hand-in-hand with our customers to build a complete IT Roadmap that addresses the resulting gap that exists between these two states.   For more information visit our website.

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The explosion of social media and its incorporation into everyday life has changed the way we operate.  Tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin enable us to continually be plugged into what’s happening in the world and to have our say in what that world hears.  From a business perspective, Linkedin appears to have obtained the greatest traction as it provides a vehicle for keeping in touch with colleagues, gaining insight into others professional activities or associating with others sharing the similar interests via Linkedin groups.  While I’m willing to bet that virtually everyone reading this post belongs to one or more groups, the question is do you really obtain value from your participation?  From my perspective, it seems that service oriented groups are dominated by a few individuals with their own agenda’s (e.g. selling something) and continually throw out topics for discussion hoping that something will be interesting.  If you watch closely, however you will find most of these posts generate very few responses or comments, leading to the question of value.  Don’t get me wrong, there are good (great) groups out there, as well as individuals who post within the service groups that are trying to foster discussion, share knowledge, or raise the general awareness of the business of service.  Despite the noble attempts of some, is the value of Linkedin Groups, especially within the service arena, so adversely affected by habitual “posters” that the overall group suffers? 

So this what’s your view?  Email us your thoughts and ideas on the value of Linkedin groups, especially in the service arena, to info@joltconsultinggroup.com for your chance to win a $10 gift card from Amazon. The 14th person that provides us an their view will win. Please include your full name, company name, and email address to qualify for the prize. We will publish a few of the entries in our next blog post.

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Saratoga Springs, NY - Jolt Consulting Group, a leading provider of business and technology consulting services for the customer service industry, announced that it will offer its Schedule Optimization ServiceJolt^SM service offering free of charge for a limited time. The Schedule Optimization ServiceJolt^SM is designed to enable an organization to either assess its readiness to deploy advanced scheduling technologies or to identify opportunities to extract additional benefit out of an already deployed solution.  A more detailed description of the service can be obtained from the Jolt Consulting Group website.  The service will be offered free of charge through October 31, 2011.

“Our recently completed advanced scheduling survey yielded some very surprising results”, statedJeff Oskin, President of Jolt Consulting Group. “It is clear that organizations are struggling with identifying how to deploy scheduling optimization technologies as well as how to extract additional benefit from an existing deployment and this limited time offer is intended to cost-effectively help them devise a plan tailored to their environment.”

As was introduced in 2011, a ServiceJolt^SM is a short duration engagement, typically less than two weeks, focused on a particular business area. Through a ServiceJolt^SM, organizations can gain valuable insight into an aspect of their operation and also receive pragmatic recommendations specific to their situation.  As part of an engagement, Jolt Consulting Group performs an assessment of an organization and its capabilities by interviewing staff, reviewing existing materials and talking, where appropriate, with customers. All of this information is then synthesized in a written action plan that organizations can implement to achieve the targeted business outcome.

Organizations interested in scheduling their complimentary Schedule Optimization ServiceJolt^SM should contact Jolt Consulting Group via email or call 1.518.693.7477.

About Jolt Consulting Group
Jolt Consulting Group is a leading provider of business and technology consulting services for the customer service industry. Jolt Consulting Group enables customer service organizations, as well as providers to the customer service industry, to operate more efficiently, accelerate their growth, and have a deeper understanding of their customers.  The result is the ability of our clients to achieve their strategic visions and realize greater levels of profitability and financial performance. Jolt Consulting Group possesses 20 years of practical experience running service organizations as well as leading technology companies targeting the service industry. Jolt Consulting Group is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, NY. For more information visit our website, our blog or subscribe to our newsletter.

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