Signal US Communications

Signal Client and Bra Maven on Today Show

johndavidback — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:15:37 +0000

Longtime Signal client, Susan Nethero, the widely acknowledged Queen of the Underwire, will be on the Today Show this morning at 10am. Owner of MyIntimacy, the famous major-city custom bra-fitters, she’ll be talking about the work she’s done in the field empowering women with woman-designed control of their bodies.

A longtime Signal US client (we designed and run their Bra Fitting Reservation System), she hits the TV circuit again, and promises not to disappoint!

CRM and Zendesk Support Portal Mashup

brad.s — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:16:36 +0000

Starting the new year, we had a client with the need to display Zendesk tickets along with custom Dynamics CRM data. Because of the setup of CRM system this presented us with a unique challenge that we were able to successfully tackle. Utilizing the Zendesk API and a custom CRM proxy we were able to merge the data into a portal that provides current status of support.

Zendesk provides its data in XML that we can go out and grab using REST commands. We used the built in view creation functionality inside of Zendesk to format the data in the fashion we needed. And after requesting the XML we packaged it in a way that was easily manipulated by ASP.NET controls. Because Zendesk only provides 15 or 30 records at a time, we had to include some logic that made multiple requests to give the client a complete view of tickets in the system.

We also had a need to display data from a custom CRM entity that could have 2 states associated to it. Because of the setup of the CRM system, we had to develop a proxy that would enable us to access this data from outside the clients network. Using web services we were able to successfully grab the data from this custom entity and manipulate it for our portal.

In the end we had a portal that presented data from 2 separate sources, and provided the client with an up to date view of the current support requests. Wow, that’s pretty smart . . . and made for very happy client. Seriously, call us . . . Signal’s got some smart people.

Breakfast with the Big Boys

johndavidback — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:26:05 +0000

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and when the world’s largest global B2B leader calls with a favor, we knew we had to be “GRRRREAT!”

With an urgent digital media need, Signal was able to assist GyroHSR in helping their customer Kellogg’s turn around a timely digital asset. The good peeps over at GyroHSR know how to create powerful ideas that ignite decision makers, and Signal has the technology brainpower and muscle to make it happen.

Signal Slingshots into New Year!

brad.s — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:14:24 +0000

WOW, it didn’t take long for for us to go from 2009 to 2010 to full tilt boogie. Signal clients put the hammer down (on the New Year’s Holiday weekend) and Signal responded!

Our team was asked to rapidly prototype and develop and online HelpDesk and client portal for Division’s, Inc. to meet the immediate support needs for a $10M+ client customer account. So we rolled up our sleeves and knocked that request out of the park. Combining an off the shelf and open source HelpDesk API and some custom application development that integrates and pulls from a highly customized Microsoft CRM implementation, Signal was able to deliver a solution and save the day!

Holiday Hours

Stuart Koenig — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:31:35 +0000

In an effort to ensure our employees receive a well deserved break and quality time with their families during the holiday season, Signal will once again be running on a limited schedule until Monday morning January 4th. We will be monitoring and responding to all submitted Support Tickets but with a “tad bit less” responsiveness than our clients have become accustom to. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we enable our staff to enjoy the holiday spirit with the families and friends. Clearly emergency support needs will be handled with prompt swiftness. During this time down time, the most efficient manner to receive support will be via the online ticketing system which is monitored 24 hours a day. Thanks.

Go Mobile this Holiday Season!

Stuart Koenig — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:08:12 +0000

Mobile is for REAL. This Holiday Season give your business the gift of a Mobile optimized web presence. Everyday people are using their iPhones, BlackBerries, smartphones, and cell phones to find companies, research products, and contact businesses.

Snack sized versions of your website create excitement for your brand in the mobile space and enable a happy experience for mobile users on the small screen. Display product details, sell items, gather customer info.

According to comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, mobile media users are growing at 24% year over year and Voice is no longer the “killer app”. With more than 200+mm feature and smartphones in the market, businesses can’t afford NOT to play in the mobile space. Online spending is up 5% over sales last year, with retail e-commerce spending for the first 30 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season hitting $12.26 Billion (yes that is Billion). Cyber Monday netted $887m alone. Check out the math on comScore, ’cause the numbers don’t lie. Mobile is a growing percentage of these numbers and you and your business need to be prepared.

We’re thankful for A LOT, especially for not having to work on Thursday or Friday.

Stuart Koenig — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:19:11 +0000

As we approach this holiday season, everyone at Signal US Communications would like to extend our thankfulness to all of our clients, colleagues and friends. We cannot express the appreciation and value we place on each and everyone of you. We are also especially thankful for our offices being closed on Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th. We’ll be back in the office rested and ready to roll on Monday, November 30th.

Have no fear, should an emergency arise you can submit a ticket via our ticketing system by clicking SUPPORT in the navigation above or simply clicking this link. http://www.signalus.com/support/. and one of our technical super hero’s will come to your rescue.

Have a swell Thanksgiving!

Back to School Specials

johndavidback — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:50:27 +0000

One of our local clients, Graduate Service, Inc, is gearing up for selling Senior gear for our area 2010 high school graduates. We provided an online retail store front using, in part, Magento E-Commerce. This tool, which we customized heavily for Graduate, provides them with advanced sales reporting tools, inventory controls, credit card processing, shipping labels, shipping tracking, and a lot more.
Graduate Service, Inc sells graduation products to dozens of schools in the Greater Cincinnati area, with tens of thousands of products sold PER SEASON with hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales. Signal has helped them grow their online presence from a few dozen sales a year to thousands, with more growth to come. Read more about them here.

Signal Clients on ESPN Tonight!

johndavidback — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:25:37 +0000

Our good friend and long time client James Gould of The Walnut Group will be featured tonight in the premiere of the movie/documentary: “30 For 30: Small Potatoes: Who Killed The USFL?” on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST. The story covers the rise and fall of the USFL where Mr. Gould was a league founder and President of the USFL’s New Jersey Generals.

The documentary also prominently features Mr. Donald Trump, the high profile and impatient real estate baron whose vision was at odds with the league’s founders. Signal’s Stuart Koenig had his own run in with “The Donald” late last year at the Red Cross’s Annual Beach Bash held at Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach and Signal’s had the pleasure of serving a few of his Apprentices.

ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 is an unprecedented documentary series featuring thirty films from some of today’s finest storytellers. Tonight’s show is directed by Mike Tollin who produced Radio, Coach Carter and Varsity Blues. Don’t forget to watch tonight at 8 p.m.

Check out ESPN’s 30 for 30

Check out the website Signal developed for Apprentice star Elizabeth Jarosz

Plugin Turns IE Into Chrome

jasonSignalus — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:30:20 +0000

Had problems with IE6 screwing up the functionality and look of your beautiful websites? I know we sure have! It looks like Google may have come up with a fix:

“People hate IE6; they’ve made that abundantly clear on the web. Unfortunately, plenty of people are still stuck using it for reasons such as their work not letting them upgrade. So Google is doing something about it, ” says MG Siegler of TechCrunch.

Chrome Frame is a new browser plug-in developed by Google to give you a Chrome browsing experience inside of Internet Explorer. Okay seriously people, we’ll repeat: Chrome Frame turns IE into Chrome. What those fine Google people won’t think of next!

Click the link to read the full article:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/22/google-turns-internet-explorer-into-chrome-yes-seriously/