News Briefs and Product Shorts

• Cabela's call center operation has improved its efficiency, just in time for the holidays. The renowned catalog-based retailer of hunting and fishing equipment called in Norstan Communications to help it implement a computer telephony integration (CTI) system that could route incoming calls based on information about the customer that is housed in Cabela's OS/400 servers. This intelligent call-routing capability was vital for Cabela's to maintain a high level of customer service. Prior to the implementation of Norstan's Aspect Communications Contact Server, Cabela's 1,100 customer service representatives--spread across five call centers--the agents would not know anything about the customer at the time they called. Following the implementation of Norstan's CTI system, Cabela's CSRs get the customer information at the same time they receive the call. The new CTI system also eliminates the need for customers to repeat their information when they're transferred to another agent, and allows customer calls to be routed to the most appropriately skilled CSR based on their recent contact history.
  
  

• In a wonderful example of coopetition in action, IBM has certified LXI's Media Management System for iSeries as ServerProven. The ServerProven label says that MMS for iSeries, which manages OS/400 backups, recoveries, and management, has been installed on OS/400 servers and has proved to work as advertised, which is really nothing new. "LXI's storage management solutions have been compatible with IBM hardware for more than a decade," says Tim Kormos, LXI's product manager. "With this certification, customers are assured that our iSeries solutions will work with their current, as well as planned, IBM configurations." The ServerProven certification also brings the possibility for discounts for customers who buy and install it on their OS/400 servers. However, IBM also competes with LXI's MMS with its own Backup Recovery Media Services, which is included for free when you buy certain versions of OS/400.
  
  
• Plasmon last week started delivery of its Ultra Density Optical (UDO) drives, which provide long-term rewriteable and non-rewriteable write-once-read-many (WORM) storage. While not supported on the iSeries at this time, they are expected to be available in 2004, most likely with the next release of the operating system (see "Plasmon to Bring Ultra Density Optical Technology to iSeries," in the January 14 issue). There is a growing need in many OS/400 shops for high-volume, long-term storage that is safe, such as that provided by Plasmon's UDO and WORM technology, which is something that IBM is acutely aware of. "UDO is an outstanding technology advance in professional optical storage," said John Reed, IBM's director of iSeries product management, in Plasmon's November announcement. "We are delighted to team with Plasmon and intend to support attachment of Plasmon libraries with UDO drives on IBM eServer iSeries servers." Much of this need, in OS/400 shops and elsewhere, is being driven by the slew of new government regulations affecting various industries, as well increasing litigation, Plasmon says.
  
  
• NLynx Technologies has introduced a new Linux-based Ethernet thin client designed exclusively for OS/400 shops, called the MinIT 5250E. The tiny terminal is equipped with a 550 MHz processor, a Linux 2.4.2 operating system, and 5250 emulation software that can support five display and three printer sessions. In addition to other standard desktop utilities, such as macro editors, a clock, and a screensaver, the MinIT 5250E features an iSeries utility designed to help IT managers help users. Called the MinIT.Man, the utility provides managers with centralized control through reporting, code updates, configurations, and "remote desktop" capabilities. The new terminal is so small (7.5"x6"x1.5") and light (try 1.4 lbs.) even your grandma can lift it. It costs $395, and a 122-key twinax style keyboard will run you $125 extra.
  
  
• Duron Paints & Wallcoverings has licensed screen rejuvenation technology from Quovadx to provide its remote sales representatives with browser-based pricing and order information housed in Duron's OS/400 servers, Quovadx announced last month. Duron, which is one of the nation's largest architectural paint manufacturers, was considering building an in-house solution from scratch because of the limitations posed by its OS/400 servers. "Given that our data is primarily housed in legacy AS/400 mainframes, we were under the impression that we needed to dedicate significant resources to building custom applications to access the information," said Pete Misiewicz, Duron's CIO. Instead, the Beltsville, Maryland, company bought two pieces of Quovadx's QDX Platform V suite, the Screen Rejuvenator and WebAccel, and now its 250-man strong mobile sales force is better able to obtain pricing approvals and negotiate new business.
  
  
• Are you considering deploying Linux on the desktop, but you're not quite sure what the open source OS has in store? IGEL, the German manufacturer of Linux-based thin clients, recently launched a new program designed to give prospective buyers an idea for what they'll be getting into, without waiting for a test terminal to arrive in the mail. The new IGEL TestPilot program allows prospective buyers to check out the look, feel, and features of IGEL's Linux-based terminals, using a standard Web browser. IGEL developed TestPilot with help from the Swedish software company Runaware, which is proficient at delivering online demos of application software, but had never done so with a full operating system. The companies believe they have resolved the challenges of presenting the Linux OS and welcome you to try the demo at www.runaware.com.
  
  

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