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Plantronics Helps Make Remote Workers' Lives Easier (Video)
If you're working at home or from a coffee shop or, really, anyplace outside your company's offices, they need to hear you when you talk, and you need to hear them. The same goes for dealing with clients via VOIP or video, the two communications techologies that seem to be driving POTS into obsolescence faster than we thought possible just a few years ago. In this video, Plantronics PR person Karen Auby -- who works remotely most of the time herself -- explains how Plantronics products help make work easier in a world of "unified communications."
So... half the "stories" today are just bloody slashvertisements?!?
I was raised on the command line, bitch
"Nemo me impune lacesset"
We had one ad yesterday, two today, three tomorrow?
Also the first one for instance was much better disguised, this is glaring obvious, is the obvious version cheaper?
I wouldn’t expect that form slashdot 5 years ago, now I'm surprised it took so long...
WTF? This isn't even a thinly veiled slashvertisement, it's a full-on ad. I can't wait for the "Watch this 30 second advertisement before Slashdot will load" ads to come.
Really? Are we this blatant about advertising now? Pull your fucking head in Slashdot editors...
So, never, ever buy a Plantronics product. Check.
Ok, I work from home and thought, "Hey, this might have information that will help me be more effective at working remotely." Instead, it was almost 4 minutes of a woman telling us how much time her company thinks about remote collaboration, unified communication and how important it is being able to speak with each other. Oh, and their product might have something to do with voice quality.
If you're going to give us an ad like this, at least let it be something useful. Give us technical details and provide information about how the product or service works. Instead, I just lost 4 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.
I never would have thought that slashdot would sink to this. Geez, disappointing. If you keep this up, sayonara. No wonder taco boogied.
I can't say I've ever had an enjoyable conference with their gear. I remember some epic fails.
Google and others have better FREE alternatives. Use them!
..don't panic
Title: Plantronics Helps Make Remote Workers' Lives Easier
Description: Better sound = better communications
[00:00] <TITLE>
"Plantronics is Working to Help Collaboration with Far-Flung Workers, Suppliers, and Clients" appears along with the SlashdotTV logo bar reading "Chris Yeich, Geeknet" over a view of Chris sitting in front of a a white (p)leather surface.
[00:03] Chris>
With today's increasingly distributed workforce where a worker can work from an office, from home, on the road and even at a coffee shop, collaboration is the name of the game.
For IT decision makers it means that they've gotta find new ways to use new technology to help facilitate that collaboration.
Unified communications is one way to get there.
I had the chance recently to speak with Plantronics about collaboration and unified communications, and here's what they had to say.
[00:30] <TITLE>
The SlashdotTV logo bar with "Karen Auby, Senior Manager, Public Relations, Plantronics" fades in and out of view.
[00:30] Karen>
Plantronics has really been focused on understanding how businesses are working today, because the idea of going to a place to work and clocking in at 9 and leaving at 5 - it's sort of an outdated method.
Now, people are working wherever they are, whenever they can, and just really producing results that are meaningful for a company.
So I can understand it's a big challenge for IT to be able to keep everyone connected as they become more distributed.
Plantronics has really been looking at how to help our own employees collaborate, because we have people who work in Europe.. we are a global company, we have offices in Asia, and in Europe.. and keeping them all connected is extremely important for product development, for marketing, for business development, for finance - regardless of the area within the organization, collaboration is really important, and it's something that Plantronics is very, very focused on.
[01:25] Chris>
So when it comes to unified communications you [...] bunch of different types of technologies.
Where do you see some of the biggest hurdles for IT managers in being able to effectively implement a broad-based unified communication strategy?
What is some of the stumbling blocks that you see based on your experience working with IT orgs?
[01:44] Karen>
Well, to be honest, I think a lot of it is end user adoption and getting end users excited and interested and feeling like IT isn't pushing down another thing they need to learn, but actually understand - as an end user - understanding "Hey, this is actually gonna make my job easier - this is gonna make life better for me, and less frustrating."
So I think the importance of simplicity and training and ease of use really can't be overstated.
If you want unified communications or any collaboration tools to really affect ROI, affect the bottom line, affect innovation within a company.
[02:20] Chris>
One last question for you:
So Plantronics - a lot of focus on audio quality.
Tell me a little about how that component, that specific component of audio, fits into the overarching - again, the umbrella theme of - unified communications, knowing that we've got tools like Skype chat, instant messaging.
Where does audio fit in?
[02:39] Karen>
There's so much emotion that comes out in voice that you don't get in text.
There's a difference between "Hey, great job" and "Hey! Great job!", and so we really believe in the power of voice.
So you can get business done so much quicker sometimes just by picking up the phone, rather than back-and-forth e-mails.
I, personally, think that - and Plantronics definitely, the company, we believe that - voice is a natural way to communicate and that you see tools that embrace voice as the easiest, most synchronous, communication method is really one-on-one voice calls, and/or conference calls as well.
As f
Slashdot has been an enormous factor in making me the nerd I am. That sounds cheesy, but I seriously started reading when I was 14. It was a big deal to me to find a huge community of other people who really saw the world like I did, unlike anyone else in my (small) high school.
But I really can't justify sticking around if the "stories" are just "Isn't Plantronics great?" videos. This is nonsense. I understand that Slashdot needs to make money, but if you guys can't keep doing that off of (normal) ads, then just shut it down. It's not worth this painful death.
I put up with trolls. I put up with Idle. I put up with the shitty Ajax. I didn't much mind the "itwbenett" stuff, where people were just submitting their online articles, as long as they were interesting. I even put up with the sponsored "ask slashdot", since it was clearly marked and had the potential to be somewhat interesting. I wasn't that guy bitching about every little thing- things change, but it's not a big deal.
We all know about Plantronics. They even make a decent product. But I don't go to Slashdot to read paid-for content posted by companies about what companies say about their products.
This is too much. If you're seriously going to have a half-dozen "stories" a day that are just ads for some gadget or service or so on, then I won't be here.
In case this wasn't clear enough, you known that line that companies cross that pisses their users off and sends them into a death spiral, a la Digg? You just crossed it. Step back very quickly or you'll have big problems.
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
I mean, I get the slashvertisment, but.. most of the time, there's at least something newish. Plantronics sells flimsy microphones in even flimsier plastic packaging at outrageous prices that may or may not connect to the audio jack on your device-that-has-a-standard-audio-jack.
If they don't at least have some kind of wonder gadget that revolutionizes the headset industry in some not necessarily meaningful, but at least interesting way, I fail to see the point of their presence on slashdot.
What's next? A zinc bolt manufacturer advertising their not particularly unique or inventive bog standard zinc bolts, without ever actually using the word "bolt" or mentioning or displaying an any of their actual products?
Also, I had to watch an ad before watching the ad.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
I'm planning to too, when I find somewhere else with tech news and at least semi-clueful discussions -- any suggestions?
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
Please?
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
Seriously. I'm not one to reminisce about the "good old days" (see my UID) but this is serious ridiculous. This really reminds me of when Digg cratered out, just checked Digg, 15 stories on the front page and 77 comments, in total. I remember when they had hundreds of comments, per story. So I'm guessing if this continues Slashdot will crater out by the end of the year. Well it was nice while it lasted.
Yeah.. but the difference is that is a story with information and this is just an advertisement trying to look like a story.
They're the same in that they both contain words. Much like a Boeing 777 is the same as a piper cub. They both have wings, right?
I was raised on the command line, bitch
"Nemo me impune lacesset"
My karma here has been excellent for well over 10 years. I'd like to turn off advertising, please.
Or, maybe let's change the moderation system to allow moderation of stories, not just comments, and add '-1 slashvertisement" mod option.
Or maybe, it's simply time for a slahdot clone -- just the same only having editors with both integrity and a brain.
Slashdot editors: I understand you need ads. I understand you need sponsors, but if you are going to post them, please mark them as paid content. Seriously. If you don't you will loose your core readership, and maybe you already are, but this isn't going to help things. Was Rob Malda the only person keeping this from happening? Yes, Slashdot readers have valuable eyeballs, but treat us with respect, otherwise you will loose us. One of the key reasons geeks still defend Google and Gmail is that they set a precedent for tasteful and obvious ads with Adwords. Please hold yourselves to the same standards.
If you are looking for a way to make long time, loyal, readers revolt, then you have found it.
I've checked the box. It didn't help.
The signal:crap ratio is getting a bit high and this just blew it off the charts, are there some recommendations on alternatives sites that are currently what Slashdot (unfortunately) was?
It's not trying to "look like" a story; the submission is clearly identified as coming from Plantronics PR. Product information is not intrinsically different from scientific information, and few would hear about Boeing or Piper without PR people.
My point is that 80% of /. as well as 80% of the New York Times or 80% of the Wall St. Journal began as a news releases or story pitches.
I'm happy to concede that the vulgar definition of "PR" as "BS" is usually correct--about 80% of the time, I'd say.
To see how many readers dislike? Add one more for me, please.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
Advertisers - seriously, when you sucker slurp for being posted here like this, a crapload of us cross you off the list of being purchasable.
And that sucks because I used to like plantronics.
No more wallet for you..
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Never mind that their PR lady is horrible at her job. Her voice sucks, and her appearance and body language sucks too.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
Dear Roblimo, how stupid do you think the slashdot audience is? If you can't keep your ads apart from your stories, you probably need to find yourself a new audience. I would suggest moving to day time TV.
There isn't even a story here, though. If Boeing had a press release for a new airplane and Slashdot posted that, that's kind of interesting, impactful, topically relevant, and it likely wouldn't bother many people. This, however, is substance-free garbage.
So we should all be happy because blatant advertising is the same as informational content, as they often come from teh same sort of source, bad is good, good is bad, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria...
No, this is blatantly advertising by and for one firm, not even 'here look at this breakthrough we made' that might be technologically interesting, just 'buy our stuff'.
If that's the slashdot you want to read, good for you. To me this represents a new low on a site that had already driven away most of the interesting technical discussion of a few years ago.
It's simple really... pan the product!
Everyone post their negative experiences with the company, in gory detail.
Even if you've never used the product, some well-placed negative innuendo or skeptical comparison (use this open source alternative instead!) will serve to disadvertize the product.
After awhile, a short while (I'm hoping), the editors will realize that the readers don't want this, the sponsors will realize that they don't want this, and the practice will stop.
People keep moaning about apathy in the face of an unlikeable situation, well here's our chance. Let's change the system.
All together now, one... two... three...
plantronics actually causes cancer, and that only sex offenders and violent drug addled criminals would ever use it.
;)
plantronics can also be scientifically linked to global warming.
but they shouldnt worry. comments on message boards never get indexed into, say, the reviews of a product as illicited by a google search
Good people go to bed earlier.
Well guys, I guess it's been, what, 15 years, give or take? I can't say I was the first or second slashdot reader, but I might have been the thousandth. A lot has changed in that time, and there are a lot of tech news aggregators with comments these days. Many have advertising-driven business models, a brave few try other models from time to time. But virtually all of them are far less offensive than this crap, in that they have ads at the top of the page which are obviously paid content separate from the editorial function of posting, well, tech news of one sort or another. Each of us has a certain threshold, be it qualitative or quantitative, beyond which we clearly recognise that something has become intolerable. Often it's difficult to articulate that threshold's location until it's been crossed, or at least to imagine each and every possible fashion in which it could be crossed. But here we are, way the fuck on the wrong side of that threshold, and you've lost another reader. I'm not sure how you plan to make up for the inevitable loss of other readers like me; maybe you're not even planning to or thinking that far ahead. Maybe you figure advertisers are so stupid that they'll gladly pay vastly higher sums for these sore thumbs that they think your apparently even more retarded readers won't know are ads. Maybe they're right. Maybe you're right. I hope not, but I'm certainly a lot wiser than I was 15 years ago, and I wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point. So, please, take it to its logical conclusion. More ads. Less pretense of editorial independence. I'd suggest you do what the bottom-feeding Chinese link vendors do and just fill your entire page with paid links, graphics, and videos. Maybe throw in some real American know-how like real-time auctions, and tie it into Facebook so that you already know everything you could ever want to about people who like to be products. After all, many of our country's best and brightest now spend most of their time and energy finding more ways to sell other people as advertising viewers. I'm sure you'll think of something, and I hope for irony's sake that you make a mint. But you'll be doing it without me. Given the choices you're making, I don't think you'll miss me, as I'm no longer part of your target audience.
Now we know why Cmdrtaco left. This is terrible.
Note to editors: you are killing a once great site. Please stop before it's too late.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
I'm using a Plantronics earpiece for a regular desk phone (the kind that fits over the ear and has a long hollow voice tube). It's getting close to 10 years old, still works fine.
Obviously I'm inside a dream inside a dream inside a dream. Normally I read about invasive advertising on other sites ON slashdot, not experience it on slashdot. What just happened? Waiting for the spinning top to drop. In the meantime, I will post on Gizmodo about this. The king is dead, long live the new king!
Don't you see that by mixing advertisement with content you are casting doubt on *every single* story posted? You had a great thing but you're killing it.
Who thought this would a good idea? How dumb are the corporate owners?
If this goes on, I'm going to start using those threads to list as many slashdot alternatives as possible. There many good sites out there looking for active commenters.
Watch how mods are going to help your audience leave your site.
I have asked the people who run Slashdot these days to handle videos differently, and I am refusing to have my name anywhere near the more blatantly promotional ones.
Realize that I am doing this in spite of the nasty cursers and insulters, not because of them.
FYI - there have been some decent/informative videos, and there will be more of them in the future. Some will like them, some won't.
- Robin
I have asked the people who run Slashdot these days to handle videos differently, and I am refusing to have my name anywhere near the more blatantly promotional ones.
From above:
"Posted by Roblimo on 07:26 PM April 4th, 2012 "
I recommend ArsTechnica, it seems a lot of /. posts are coming from them anyway, so you might as well go direct.
Their comments section needs threading though, but if you're after articles rather than discussion, it's way better then here.
Robin -
First, one story shouldn't be taken out of context. Thank you for many valuable and enjoyable hours Slashdot has filled in my life over the years. Personally, it's been my favorite site in the history of the web, no exaggeration.
I have asked the people who run Slashdot these days to handle videos differently, and I am refusing to have my name anywhere near the more blatantly promotional ones.
The problem is not the ads, but the coverup. Ads are fine. I know it's not your intent, but you're effectively deceiving people by presenting an ad as editorial content. If you lose that trust, we don't know what to believe -- maybe other stories are really ads, maybe submissions and comments are moderated by/for advertisers, etc. Also, people get angry when they are deceived, and rightfully so. Again, I know you don't intend that.
Just be transparent and open about it. Publish a policy on what Slashdot will or won't do for advertisers, and clearly mark ads and editorial. If the story was marked 'paid advertisement', nobody would object. If it's well-targeted, people might even enjoy it and find it valuable. How about presentations by 3-D printer manufacturers, Facebook or Mozilla engineers, physicists, with some Q&A?
I have asked the people who run Slashdot these days to handle videos differently, and I am refusing to have my name anywhere near the more blatantly promotional ones.
Be transparent about everything. You posted the story and now you are suggesting that someone else made the editorial decision to post it. Are they just using your name now?