Notes

CYRIL 15/4/01

WEBSITE REVISION Version 4.0

Version 3.0

functional requirements given on 14/3
Order placed on 15/3
"Submit Resume" forms approved on 17/3
Website Installation due (TO-DAY) - 15/4
Demo (tentatively) fixed for 17/4
Final Launch ?
Full Documentation ?

Now, in this folder, I enclose our requirements for Version 4.0.

Apart from this, during discussion on V 3.0, Mustafa & Harshad have made a few notes (re: features/improvements to be taken up in V 4.0)

Since Mustafa & Nisith, both are away in Dubai, I request that YOU personally guide V 4.0
This time, let there be further ([Continues on Scan_0002.jpg])

improvement as far as preparation of FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS is concerned. Let it be more detailed.

This time, also ensure that ALL screens (Input as well as Output) are given to us & approved by us in advance, before starting Coding work (Applitech did this in respect of Order Execution System and both of their folders are given to Mustafa).
During V 3.0, ONLY "submit Resume" forms were given to me in advance & my signature obtained for those…
Let there be tight calculation of time & cost.
Let project team fill-in enclosed ANALYSIS-SHEETS before starting work

CC: Mr. Nagle cc: Nirmit.

(Signature)

CAREERS EXPRESS COMPUTER - IT PEOPLE

Nicco Group launches jobs portal

ITP News Network Kolkata

KOLKATA-BASED the Nicco Group in its latest foray into the field of information technology (IT) has set up a new company, Nicco Internet Ventures Limited (NIVL). The company is jointly promoted by the Nicco Group, https://www.google.com/search?q=Indiainitiative.com, a portal promoted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Smifs Venture Capital. The Nicco Group would be holding the majority stake in the company, https://www.google.com/search?q=Indiainitiative.com and Smifs Venture Capital also hold stake in the company.

The new company recently launched its first venture - a comprehensive recruitment portal, www.pillyourcareer.com. It's a recruitment portal aimed at meeting the job requirements of the job seekers and the employers at large. https://www.google.com/search?q=Indiainitiative.com would be the technology partner for this new project.

The company has struck a strategic alliance with the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) for aid and advice on various aspects of recruitment and career coaching by its professors. NIVL has also partnered with the Institute of Career Studies, Lucknow for training and counseling.

The company has already roped in 15 corporate houses as clients and is targeting 100-odd clients by the end of this year. NIVL has already placed 30 people and expects the number to grow exponentially over the next few months.

The company has already roped big corporate houses like Max India, Infosys Technologies, Satyam, Cognizant Technologies, Oracle India, CLI, Eicher GoodEarth, TCG Software, GE Cap, Tata Tea and others. At present, the company is operating from its headquarters in Kolkata and its office in Chennai. It plans to expand its operations to other parts of the country very soon. After consolidating its base in the domestic market, NIVL has plans to expand its operations globally by setting up offices in Europe, Australia and the US.

IITians create intelligent call center solution

Srikanth RP Mumbai

THREE enterprising students from IIT Bombay have created an intelligent call center solution which is basically a speech recognition software for call centers service providers that can understand and answer customer queries with considerably less human intervention.

The trio has named their company, Phonologies India, says Dinesh Barman of Phonologies India. "Our call center solution uses the latest voice technology and natural language processing techniques to understand and answer customer queries with minimal human intervention."

The call center solution can be used, say, at a HP call center in this way: If an HP customer calls the center and asks, "What's the price for the HP 3000 inkjet printer?" the system can automatically recognize keywords like model number (3000), the product type (inkjet printer) and will respond in a jiffy with the pricing details. "Sounds too simple? But what happens if the customer does not say the required keywords or is unsure about his requirement?"

Explains Sachin Lamsoge of Phonologies India, "If our system is not able to answer the customer's query, it forwards it to a human agent along with all the information collected from the customer. This ensures that the human agent does not have to start afresh."

Lamsoge adds, "In case the question remains unanswered, its keywords are added to the vocabulary database. Through this accumulation, the system becomes intelligent over time."

But the system is also intelligent in another way. If the support person is not available on his landline number, the call will be automatically routed to his available mobile number. The whole application was developed using VoxML, a cutting edge technology, which is the preferred standard for developing voice applications.

The call center solution is ideal for small companies as well, which spend huge amounts of money on infrastructure and manpower. Claim of Raj Kiran Taksani (also from Phonologies India), is that the system can handle multiple calls at any given point of time. It reduces call waiting time, creating a feel-good factor for the calling customer.

"Skeptics might raise pointers on how this system will recognize different voice tones and accents, but Barman has a ready and appealing explanation: "Our solution uses the latest voice technologies and natural language processing techniques to assimilate and answer the queries with bare minimum human intervention. We follow the concept of an ASR (automated speech recognition) which compares the waveform of the spoken word and matches it with the wave form of the word in the grammar file," says he. A grammar file contains a list of words along with the waveforms. The waveform of the word in the grammar file is checked with the spoken word to find the best match. Barman claims that the accuracy of the system to recognize words is a comfortable 95 per cent.

Speech recognition solutions are typically much more expensive but the Phonologies India has almost overcome this issue and thus is occasion to commercialise the system. Commercially, this has wider implications especially if the solution is deployed in a networked environment. Companies can reduce costs by setting up their call centers in remote areas and still continue to offer quality services.

Q & A VJ Bhatkar

Net Nirvana

PUNE: Renowned computer scientist Vijay Bhatkar is the man behind the design of two supercomputers, Param and a number of other projects. He has served as the director for C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), which is the premier R&D institution for IT in India, and is now the Chairman of the Education-IT Human Research Development. Throughout his career, Bhatkar has sought to take technology closer to the common man, and reduce the barrier in computers. "Today, I am trying to bridge the gap between science of sense and spirituality," he tells Times Computer.

You say we need to do with information technology?

Not, when it concerns India. Every nation has its own wealth or source. But in these developed countries, IT is in the form of material riches and is measured in terms of economic power. Our IT, though, is in the form of spirituality, a unique blend of ancient culture and the art that has evolved out of it. We need to focus on our heritage and give it a new shape with technology.

But how will this concept work?

To understand this, one has to go back to our ancient texts. There are six knowledge areas. Now, the common thread across all of them is artificial intelligence, which can be applied to give new direction to the spiritual science. Its role is that of a meditator that can link technology and spirituality. Both are based on the same principles of being, elsewhere, because of mankind's inability to see the link between spiritualism and science.

Therefore, despite the idea not meeting with the approval of the government, we have begun the development of the Graphic Script Technology, GIST. I believe that GIST, a multi-lingual software, will create more than 14 official languages of the world in the computers. This will allow the new generation of users, which are not fluent in English, to access computers. Also, this will increase the penetration level in India.
I believe that GIST will be essential for the Indian languages. There's a dire need for a multilingual computer environment. The computer should be set up as a spiritual and heritage, what other information needs to be in the computer.
I am working on a project for the Government of India, Net Internet so that the technology can benefit all segments of society, especially the children and the elderly. The first thing is to bring down the price of computers and software. The government needs to re-work the custom duty levied on PC manufacturing. The second is to make the computer as user-friendly as possible.
Education, finally, should be the main beneficiary. Education acquires degrees; IT is the information, it needs to be processed into knowledge. The more aware and linked the people are to knowledge, the better is the rate of progress.

TOZ 06/4/01 Relevance to LOI

Internet News Convergence... Right Here!

Traffic on dotcoms head for print to win eyeballs

Devyani Kapoor New Delhi

THE dotcoms burst sent many dotcom companies toppling like bowling pins. Surviving ones are now changing their business model into a hybrid business model of offline and online revenue streams.

Experts opine that, apart from online revenue, nearly 20 percent of websites today are relying more on the offline business model for sustainability.

Soon, e-recruiting dotcoms and https://www.google.com/search?q=JobsAhead.com will be one of the few surviving business models.

Says Arun Tandeley, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), https://www.google.com/search?q=JobsAhead.com: "The main reason for our tie-up with a targetted monthly print magazine is to create a brand and let more people know about the internet. We feel print magazine will be a stronger medium for recruiting people who are not yet online, but who have large payrolls.

Says Anil Kapur, CEO, https://www.google.com/search?q=JobsAhead.com: "We need to get to the non-internet population, which is still a problem."

Kailal Mohan Dhingra, Chief Operating Officer (COO), https://www.google.com/search?q=FirstNaukri.com (which produces a newspaper for the Indian community) says: "The print magazine will increase their print magazines. They can use the internet as a tool to target a larger audience as compared to the online version.

Sunil Gharawat (from the image) says: "Our effort is to effectively combine the online and offline promotion to increase our revenue and user penetration."

The company recently launched its print magazine on the occasion of the World Water Day.

MakemyTrip.com's CEO, Kareem Akram: "Our strategy is a two-pronged approach on our part. Our effort is to effectively combine the online and offline promotion to increase our revenue and user penetration." ... Dotcoms need to succeed in a such a scenario to create a unique brand, and integrate it with a print magazine to offer advertising and marketing consultancy.

J. Sridhar, Director Marketing, https://www.google.com/search?q=Mahanadi.com: "Both the traditional and internet media need to co-exist for a healthy growth."

https://www.google.com/search?q=Mahanadi.com's CEO, A.K. Sharma: "We are focusing on increasing our user base through various marketing initiatives."

Relevant to JAWS

Servion develops response application

April A. Sanish Chennai

Organizations are finding ways and means to keep their customers proactively delighted, through the use of various communication channels such as the Internet, voice, e-mail, fax, IVR etc. However, managing the response of the customer through these multi-channels seems to be the biggest challenge of all.

Servion has developed the Response Application Platform, called R.A.P., which is a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) software product running on the Microsoft platform. R.A.P. acts as a single point of interface for the customer with the various delivery channels, access points and provides a unified view of the contact center.

The core engine of R.A.P. delivers enterprise level Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), by serving as a single point of contact between call center delivery channels and corporate business applications. It acts as a mediator between customer touch points, corporate business applications and database.

The product works in tandem with the Inbound Interaction Management application, to intelligently give routing instructions based on business information, thereby providing both inbound and outbound interaction reports, real-time and historical call reports, reports on agents/groups/queues/business data or overall contact center performance.

R.A.P. uses its CTI engine to transfer screen pop information along with screen synchronization to the agents desktop, irrespective of the customer touch points. Servion is fully functional in providing chat and Serv Mail (email management) applications, to monitor customer interactions over the web on a real-time basis.

A Web-enabled, contact center watermark is provided to interact with contact center agents using either live chat or Voice over IP. Customers can view their queue positions, expected wait time, etc.

In a case of a situation where a customer finds it inconvenient to wait in a queue, the software allows the individual to leave an immediate call back request or alternatively specify the time at which they want to be called back at.

Express Computer 16-4-01

Relevant to "MASS-CONTACT" MAILING Agent = Consultants? (In our case)

Talisma introduces new Sales Suite

CAPPING off the launch of its new Talisma eCRM Suite, Talisma, provider of powerful, easy-to-use electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) solutions formally introduced its new Talisma Sales Suite at the Internet and e-Business Conference and Exhibition (IEB), in New York.

The Talisma Sales Suite is an innovative approach to sales force automation (SFA) that streamlines the sales process and enables global organisations to easily and efficiently track and manage a wide variety of sales opportunities. Characterised by its ease of use, automatic data capture and powerful analytics capabilities, the Talisma Sales Suite represents a new philosophy in SFA that focuses on lifting the burden of data input off the sales force and freeing them to concentrate on building greater sales and revenue.

"Most traditional CRM and SFA software is not really designed with the day-to-day functioning of a sales organisation in mind," said Pradeep Singh, Talisma founder and CEO. "It's often complicated, hard to learn and requires sales people to enter customer information manually in order to build the corporate data base." According to Singh, it is for these reasons that fewer than 20% of traditional SFA systems actually get used to a significant investment of a company's time and money with little or no return.

"The beauty of the Talisma Sales Suite is that it makes use of technology that sales forces already know and use on a daily basis, and it automatically captures customer data from that technology so sales staff can spend time selling instead of entering information," said Singh.

The Talisma Sales Suite offers in-depth functionality, including order, opportunity and pipeline tracking and management capabilities that can be used alone or integrated with other sales support technology that companies may already have implemented.

bt interview

circulate: Consultants cyril Jeff Taylor, CEO, monster.com c: Mr. Nagle

"Our Mission Is to Empower Workers"

At 39, he's not very young by internet standards, but he's got tonnes of attitude. He is the material CEO of the world's largest online jobs company, BT's Roshni Jayakar did, and these are some of her notes:

Jeff, Monster remains sure at the top in sales, in traffic, in profits, despite operating in the crowded online jobs domain. What makes it tick?

Monster's first mover advantage; it was the 45th dotcom. We started Monster in the December 1995 and launched it in April 1996. We started the whole industry - we were the first website to have a searchable jobs database on the internet; the first to have a resume database and a patent on it. The first-mover advantage has stood the test of time. We attract six million unique visitors a month.

What is the secret of Monster's continued success, especially at a time when most dotcoms are folding?

We were a profitable company before it was fashionable for dotcoms to be so. In the last quarter (for 2000) we did $14.7 million in sales and 24 per cent profit(ability). We had committed to the Street that at the $500 million sales run-rate there would be 25 per cent profit(ability) and at the $1 billion run-rate, 38 per cent.

"We were profitable before it was fashionable to be so for dotcoms"

BUSINESS TODAY APRIL 21 2001

(Continuation from Scan_0009.jpg)

run-rate there would be 25 per cent profit(ability) and at the $1 billion run-rate, 38 per cent. We have met the **$500 million sales** run-rate that we set in 1998.

Revenue mix 4-way split

One of the things about Monster is that employers pay to post jobs and to search the resume database. Worldwide, we have hit 9 million resumes; this is growing by 12,000-13,000 resumes weekly. We pay out $10 million in sales tax a year. We provide an Application Service Provider (ASP) services and private label solutions to corporations whereby they can post jobs and search resumes on their website. Our revenue mix is split: 43 per cent from job postings, 36 per cent from resumes, and the balance from private label solutions and ads from companies.

Monster earns more than half of its total revenue percentage from banner advertising. Our business model is built around e-recruiting (transactional activity) of making thousands and thousands of small deals, which will be one of the few surviving business models on the internet.

Monster got into business early - well in time for the boom. But the career market is changing. How will your site change to keep pace with this?

We have had 13 versions of our website since the launch. Monster's mission is to empower workers in a changing job market. Our strategy is innovation. We do come out with innovations, and while others are busy copying what we have done, we come out with newer ones. One of the recent ones is Chief Monster, launched in September 2000. We created an area for elite crew, who are 45+ and have $100,000 salaries or high up. Then there is Monster Mover, a moving and relocation portal, specifically targetted at 20 per cent of the (worker) population that is moving. That includes everything from negotiating with moving companies to mortgages.

Why did you decide to enter the Indian market now?

India is our fifth country, and has been on our plans for the last three years. When I went to Harvard Business School and graduated in August 1999, there were about 11 executives from India. It was then that I thought of expanding to India. In India, Monster's goal is to reach all the population that is interested in working in a professional environment. Over time, we may expand to non-professional or semi-professional segments.

Even brick-and-mortar placement companies don't earn too much. So, where's the scope for a site like monsterindia, focused exclusively on online jobs, to succeed?

Monster is a primary source of candidates for employers and executive search firms. It is an alternative to traditional mediums such as newspaper advertising. It also becomes an intermediary between buyers and sellers, and our version of buyers and sellers is job-seekers and employers. In India, we are first focusing on the Information Technology and financial services. We are not trying to be oversight, we are safe.

Are you doing some crazy things to promote Monster. The Coke thing, for instance....

Our business is growing quickly. As a result, we have the ability to not only do the traditional advertising that we do on TV, but also to do non-traditional advertising. At Monster headquarters we have two blimps, Truman and Skeeter; we own a hot-air balloon in the US; we are the sponsors of the Olympics; and have a large deal with AOL. All are ways to bolster our consumer branding effort.
I believe that in the new economy a CEO's personality needs to come through. I look at Bill Gates of Microsoft or Larry Ellison of Oracle as my style in which CEOs can brand themselves. I look at Richard Branson as-mentor I may be too strong-an example of someone we do this differently. For a CEO of a company like Monster, you have to be out there.

Are you looking at acquisitions?

We are profitable; have $200 million of cash in the bank, and no stock debt, though off that since January. In a good enough currency to make acquisitions, but we haven't focussed on general competitors for acquisitions. We have focused on tools and services that we think can enhance facilities for our job seekers and employers. We recently bought, Harving tools, which has a web-based builder that helps companies brand job descriptions and a set of query tools that we have added to our job descriptions. We are actively looking for additional tools.

You've expressed an interest in becoming the US Labour Secretary...

I have an interest in labour. Looking at the kind of information that we get from our polls and from our close to 14 million users we have, I think at the beginning of next year I would be a new Bureau of Labour Statistics. As our database becomes more relevant and our community (site) more vibrant, I may have an opportunity for a larger voice in the future of labour in the country.

APRIL 21 2001 BUSINESS TODAY 109

WORK-SHEET

SYSTEM REQUIREMENT

Version 4.0

WORK-SHEETS

7/4/01

"Candidate Profile" & "Job Profile" fields to be introduced in respective forms and in database-structure.
$\checkmark$ No. of Resumes received for any given period (From / To) for any given partner or for any given "Partner Category".

Couple this with
$\checkmark$ Calculation of Incentive Payments to Robin / Sanjeev for

a) No. of partners "signed-up" in a month (definition of "signed-up" & "amount per sign-up" should be variable)
b) No. of resumes received from a partner category during the month.

$\checkmark$ Offline entry of Job. Advts by Corporates & emailing to us & we upload.

We send a CD to each corporate interested. He should not have to enter "Corporate Data" again ([Continues on Scan_0012.jpg])

and again. He enters only the "variable" data, pertaining to each vacancy.

There should be provision for a Personnel Chief to make as many copies of the CD as he wants and distribute freely amongst (his) Company's factories / branches etc.

He can ask his local / regional Personnel Managers to fill-in their respective requirements and then forward to him at the CENTRAL HQ for approving / authorising & for onward emailing to 3P for uploading at ONE-GO. $\checkmark$

This way he can keep control (Central control) while encouraging his regional managers.

In a big Company, the Corporate Personnel Chief may even distribute copies of POST-JOB-ADVT CDs amongst functional-heads / departmental heads!

Through distribution of POST-JOB-ADVT CD amongst Personnel Managers all over the country, we would like that OUR / 3P's "post job-advt" forms become the INDUSTRY STANDARD.

Unfortunately, because of 11 mb size of application software (including the forms), these cannot be distributed thru email - which would have been ideal.

Creation & physical distribution of CDs is both expensive & time-consuming.

Is it possible that the Personnel Manager can download the forms and application from our website?

If we cannot PUSH, can they PULL?

This would still be better than creating & distributing CDs.

Provision for a "College Student", doing MBA / MS / PhD, and already having 2/3 degrees to his credit.
"Keyword" Search for Fresh Grad / Post Grad.
$\checkmark$ Corporate Database?

$\triangle$ pick up from Dept. of Corporate Affairs CD?

(4)

$\checkmark$ JAWS. (Aggregation & Broadcasting of Job Advts)
LexiBot.com

To download resumes / job-advts from websites

(We can start with this) in V.4.0?

$\checkmark$ Context cartridge

To convert downloaded resumes / job-advt info into OUR STRUCTURED DATA BASE &
automatically uploading on our websites

(We may do this in V. 5.0.1).

$\checkmark$ Aggregation of Shopping Baskets.
$\checkmark$ Extraction of (Phone no / Mobile / Fax / email / postal add) - Contract Info. from any / every webform / e-mail communication & tabulate alphabetically & search.
Integration of TALISMA 4.0 for mktg / alliance programs?
$\checkmark$ Multiple Vacancy / Position posting by Corporates to receive "Candidate Alerts" at specified time. (Project Team)

(5)

$\checkmark$ Construct a Job-Description.
$\checkmark$ Listing of "Our Corp. Advertisers" (alongwith tabulation of advts. when a Corporate-name is clicked).
Any new Magic-Cube Searches?