by Willy Franzen on September 29, 2009
I think that I’ve mentioned before that my first experience with video chat was was with CU-SeeMe in an Internet cafe in the mid 90s. Back then the potential for social interaction over online video seemed pretty promising, but the potential for business uses (not that I thought about that when I was 13) was even greater. Real-time video has been slower to take hold on both the social and business fronts than I expected, but now that the quality is so good, we’re seeing more and more businesses embrace video conferencing. Tandberg is a company that is at the forefront of this movement. They have dual headquarters in Oslo, Norway and New York City, and they are both “the market share leader and the fastest growing company in the video conferencing industry.” Their 30% annualized revenue growth for the past 10 years may not be Inc. 5000 material, but it’s still hugely impressive.
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Tagged as:
account management,
communications,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
information technology,
international,
marketing,
New York,
sales,
social media,
telecommunications,
training,
video,
Virginia
by Willy Franzen on September 22, 2009
We’re just getting into the thick of campus recruiting season now, and that means that the most ambitious college seniors should be in full job search mode (so get to that career fair ASAP!). I know that it seems kind of ridiculous, but there are a lot of companies that are done with their hiring for next year by early January. These are usually some of the most selective companies out there, so if you’re looking or a prestigious job, you better get moving. Altman Vilandrie & Company is one of those companies that is already recruiting. They’re a Boston based boutique consulting firm that “focuses exclusively on the communications, media, and related technology and investor sectors.” As they put it, they’re “a unique, pure play communications and media strategy consulting group.” They won’t have the broad range of clients of a larger firm, but the projects that they work on are still going to be quite variable.
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Tagged as:
consulting,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
telecommunications
by Willy Franzen on June 18, 2009
In my opinion one of the coolest features of the first generation iPhone was its ability to accurately give you your location despite its lacking a GPS chip. The technology is based on using Wi-Fi access points and cellular tower triangulation to determine your coordinates. Obviously a GPS chip is a better alternative (at least as long as you don’t have a roof blocking your satellite signal), but there are plenty of applications where Wi-Fi location comes in pretty handy. That’s why Boston based Skyhook Wireless is a growing company. They’re behind the technology that provides location to non-GPS equipped iPhones (as the New York Times covered quite well), and they’re also using their technology for geotagging, device recovery, social networking, and much more.
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Tagged as:
advertising,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
product management,
software development,
telecommunications,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 20, 2009
Have you always wanted to be a secret agent? Well here’s a mission, if you choose to accept it: try to land a job with New York City based kgb. No, I’m not talking about Russia’s version of the CIA. I’m talking about “the world’s largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services.” Formerly known as INFONXX, kgb is in the business of making information easily available. If you’ve seen their commercials, then you’re probably most familiar with their “Ask Us Anything” service. I personally think it’s for lazy people, but that’s because I’m a huge advocate for developing your own research skills. If getting the answer to your question is worth 50 cents, then that’s cool, but I’m gonna Google it myself. The good news is that kgb’s business goes well beyond charging lazy people who need their stupid questions answered.
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accounting,
customer service,
data,
entry-level jobs,
Hawaii,
information technology,
New York,
Pennsylvania,
research,
software development,
telecommunications,
Texas,
user experience,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 13, 2009
I never liked talking on the phone much. I’m not sure why, but as a kid I never felt comfortable calling people. I eventually got over that, but I’m certainly glad that running my business doesn’t require a ton of phone time – I can do a lot of stuff online. However, if I was running a more phone intensive business, I’d definitely consider using Ifbyphone, a “hosted voice application and platform” run by a Skokie, IL (near Chicago) based company with the same name. Most phone systems require a huge hardware investment, but Ifbyphone’s can do all of the following through their software solution: Hosted IVR, Voice Broadcasting, Toll-Free Numbers, Local Phone Numbers, Call Routing, Virtual Receptionist, Store Locator, Google® Integration, Call Tracking, Dynamic Numbers, Find, Me Call Forwarding, Lead Distributor, Click-to-Call, and Conference Calling. I don’t know what all of those things are, but they sure sound important. Anyway, Ifbyphone focuses on offering their platform to small and medium sized business, and they have $4.6 million in venture capital funding to do it.
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Tagged as:
account management,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
sales,
telecommunications
by Willy Franzen on March 16, 2009
I’m an iPhone guy, so I tend to feel sorry for people who are constantly thumbing away on their BlackBerries. That’s just my being a smug Apple user though. I realize that a lot of people love their BlackBerries and for good reason. They’re pretty remarkable devices, and they’re perfectly tailored for business use. (Although not as perfectly tailored as my iPhone! Ok, I’m done.) That’s why Research In Motion, the company that makes BlackBerries, has a 16.6% share of the smartphone market. They seem to have hit a bit of a rough spot lately (at least their stock price makes it look like they have), but their market position is still very strong. That’s why it’s no surprise that they’re doing a good amount of entry level hiring; however, the real reason that I wanted to feature Research In Motion here is that they chose an unfortunate, yet inappropriately hilarious domain name for their Jobs site (it redirects now, but I think that you can figure it out).
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Canada,
communications,
design,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
Florida,
Germany,
information technology,
Kansas,
project management,
quality engineer,
safety,
software development,
telecommunications,
Texas
by Willy Franzen on August 28, 2008
Back before cell phones had color screens and GPS, digital service just meant that you were able to send and receive text messages. I was convinced that it was important to have a dual band phone – analog and digital. I was often off fishing in rural areas where digital cell service was nonexistent, so I figured that it was better to have crappy service than no service. We’ve certainly moved into the digital age of cell phones, but there are still all types of different cellular networks that require different frequencies and hardware to operate on. Vanu is a Cambridge, MA based company that is building a software based radio access network. What does that mean? Instead of requiring cellular providers to invest in new hardware for every network that they operate on, they can use a single reusable hardware platform to operate on multiple networks. Although the science behind what Vanu does goes right over our heads, we think that it sounds pretty slick. We featured Vanu’s internships yesterday on One Day, One Internship, and we realized that they also have some exciting entry-level job opportunities, so we’re talking about them today.
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Tagged as:
accounting,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
software development,
telecommunications
by Willy Franzen on August 12, 2008
Have you broken down and bought an iPhone yet? Ok, that’s an obnoxious question, but it’s getting less and less obnoxious as software developers continue to push out amazing applications. The iPhone is becoming a serious productivity (job search anyone?) tool, and it’s already “the best iPod that Apple has ever made.” We may even be reaching the point where you can call purchasing an iPhone making a capital investment without cracking a smile. Apple has been largely responsible for the iPhone’s success up until now, but 3rd party software developers have begun taking the iPhone’s popularity to the next level. Pinch Media is a company that helps these iPhone developers grow their businesses. They’re doing so through analytics and advertising software that they’ve created for iPhone developers, but Pinch Media is also sitting down with developers and helping them determine when advertising makes sense, and when it doesn’t. Pinch Media’s business is all about helping other people make the most out of what they do best – the development of great iPhone applications.
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Tagged as:
entry-level jobs,
New York,
software development,
telecommunications
by Willy Franzen on March 3, 2008
There’s a significant chance that you, as a college student, don’t have a landline telephone number, and instead rely entirely on a cell phone. Besides being a recipe for irritating recruiters (they hate doing interviews with people on cell phones, but they don’t really have a choice, now do they?), this also means that you likely have no appreciation for the complexities of phone systems. Neither do we. Businesses spend boatloads of money on complex phone systems that include extensions, voicemail, paging, and other features. For large companies, such systems are a necessity, but for smaller businesses they are often a front to make the company appear more professional to its customers. GotVMail Grasshopper is a startup that has created web-based phone management software that is affordable, easy to manage, and extremely flexible. Whether you’re a consultant named Gary (GotVMail’s mascot) or a college student starting a business in your dorm room, GotVMail offers tools that allow you to manage your telephone needs easily while looking like a real business.
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Tagged as:
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
software development,
telecommunications,
Texas
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