Chinese telecommunications operators are charging more for domestic calls beginning this month, but they cut the rates for international calls.

They hope to improve communications between China and the rest of the world.

In addition to raising domestic phone charges, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) has hiked domestic mail prices about 150%.

The rate hikes apparently aren’t high enough to elicit public complaints.

Li Yahui, a public telephone booth owner in Beijing, said her clients responded “in silent compliance, as if they are used to such changes.” The MPT and State Planning Commission (SPC), announced the increases in a circular. It says citywide calls should increase 20% from the present level. Postage will jump to 0.5 yuan ($0.06) for the domestic mail of letters.

The MPT and SPC say the increases are in line with a series of government measures keeping the country’s inflation at bay.

In April, the year-on-year retail price growth was 4.7%, and consumer prices, which include service rates, registered a 7% growth, according to the State Statistics Bureau.

“Price changes are so important that they are expected to prevent the MPT’s 500,000-member staff and phone companies from continuously losing billions of yuan annually,” MPT officials said.

Additionally, the MPT cut the international phone rates by 30%. Previously, the cost of a call from Beijing to the United States was 26.25 yuan ($3.16) per minute. It’s now 18.37 yuan ($2.21).

International phone rates have been high since the founding of New China, but they jumped 50% in 1994 because of changes in the country’s exchange rates against US dollars and other foreign currency.

In recent years, the high rates resulted in a marked drop in overseas calls from China. In contrast, international calls to China have increased because of comparatively lower costs in foreign countries.

The MPT said the decrease eventually would increase its revenue because more people would be making international calls from China.

Long Distance Phone Rates will not change, while local calls made in rural areas will drop, the MPT said.

Until late May, calls from rural areas were considered longdistance. Person-to-person calls in rural regions had to be linked through urban telephone exchange facilities.

Because China has developed its telephone networks, the MPT said it could recoup those costs from other sectors.

Meanwhile, installation costs for new urban subscribers decreased.

To reach customers, companies have to move from a focus on making and selling products to a customer focus driven by understanding and responsiveness. Successful customer relationship management now encompasses everything from order taking and production through billing and post-sales support.

Having a well integrated information infrastructure focused on the customer is a critical success factor in today’s business environment. Undoubtedly, the role of CIOs will be defined by the need to reflect this business priority by mapping technology against newly reengineered processes. And for company, the support and partnership provided by its channel, and business partners is essential to being able to help customers better serve their customers.

These are certainly interesting and exciting times we share with our partners and customers. We are experiencing a quantum shift in the way business is conducted that affects every industry, every aspect of society - even our personal lives.

Driving this shift is technology. Companies must understand their particular industry’s technology dynamics - or risk losing out to competition if they try to deny change. Winners will be those companies that use crm consultants and new technologies to develop or preserve a unique relationship with their customers.

Technology developments like data mining, which is key to this focus on the customer as a “segment of one” which defies traditional market segmentation. Data mining uses sophisticated algorithms that, combined with the high-performance computing power of new parallel processor mainframes, can shift through millions of customer records in search of new trends and behaviors that may be missed by traditional market analysis.

Mobile applications also play a role. This has saved overhead costs and increased the amount of time spent with customers. This mobility and flexibility will be improved further by the emerging capability of wireless technology so that people can communicate from anywhere to anywhere without the constraints of telecommunications infrastructures.

Voice recognition and multimedia will play important roles in improving the ease of use and user friendliness of computers critical to good customer interaction. Multimedia kiosks, for example, enable organizations to reach out to customers in unexpected locations.

Companies becomes more proficient with information technology to support their customers, it will be critical for them to have the latest technology and outstanding support at their fingertips.

Stephen M. Hicks is the Chief Executive Officer and founding principal of Southridge. Mr. Hicks sets the overall strategic direction for the Southridge group of companies, and is responsible for business development and execution. You can learn more about stephen hicks and southrdige capital here

If you haven’t thought about your air conditioning system by now, the real heat of summer should remind you pretty soon. There are a few things you can do to make your air conditioning system run more efficiently.

If you haven’t cleaned the filters in a while, now is a perfect time. Generally, filters need to be cleaned usually with a mild detergent or replaced every 3 to 6 months. If you’re like me, and have furry household pets, it’s important to replace or clean filters more frequently.

Other things you can do to make your system run more efficiently include:

* Keep your windows and doors closed when the system is in operation.

* Close coverings on windows that face the sun.

* Caulk and weatherstrip all doors and windows to prevent cold air from escaping.

* Follow the manufacturer’s preventive maintenance guide.

* Wash or dry clothes in early morning or evening to avoid producing more heat during the warmest parts of the day, when the air conditioner already is taxed.

* Use your exhaust fan to vent heat when cooking.

Most residential air conditioning systems last about 10 to 15 years. If your system breaks down during that time, it’s probably best to replace components. When your system begins to go, however, major components such as a motor or compressor will fail first. Get an estimate from at least three companies on replacing components and on replacing the system. Also, get estimates from other companies on only replacing the system. A company might want to sell you a new unit more than it wants to fix the existing system. Weigh the costs of repair and replacement carefully.

Consider, too, that in the past few years, the technology of air conditioning systems has advanced significantly, increasing efficiency. Compare the cost of repairing and running your old system with the cost of a installing and operating a new system over the next few years. You might be in for some surprises.

Americans donate $124 billion to charities each year, not merely for a tax advantage but to do some good.

Overall confidence in non-profit groups has been on the wane, however.

According to a Gallup poll, more than half of 1,000 respondents think charities have become less trustworthy during the past decade.

At one time or another, everyone wonders whether contributions will really wind up where intended. In some cases, a charity’s goals may be of the highest order but the organization may not be well-run.

Always know the non-profit group you’re contributing to and how your dollars are being used. The majority of charities are reputable and have nothing to fear from your heads-up attitude.

Industry experts say that fund-raising and administration should constitute no more than 50 cents of each dollar raised; the rest should go directly to programs.

“A controversy in recent years has been that a number of charities categorize part of their expenses for direct mail or other appeals as `program services’ and `educational tools’ rather than exclusively fund-raising,” says Bennett Weiner, vice president with the Philanthropic Advisory Service of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

Middlemen can diminish the amount of money going to the cause.

“It’s best to donate to charity rather than to commercial fund-raisers, who can take a large percentage for themselves,” says Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a watchdog group that rates charities.

“Whenever you’re asked to contribute, ask who’s doing the asking. If it’s an independent person, simply say `No thanks’ and instead give directly to the charity.”

Coin canister collections are risky, Borochoff warns, because money may not make it back to the charity. Don’t be bashful about contacting the charity to find out whether the person presenting the can is receiving a cut of the money or is even affiliated with the charity.

Some points to consider in charitable giving:

When solicited by phone, ask that an annual report and financial statement be sent. Never give out your credit card number.

Resist pressure to fork over money immediately.

Always make your contribution with a check made out to the charity, not to the individual collector.

Watch out for charities whose names sound impressive or closely resemble the names of more familiar organizations.

If you are sent items you never ordered (cards, key rings, or pens), you are under no obligation to pay or to return the merchandise.

Beware of solicitations that tug on your heartstrings but give no explanation of the charity’s actual programs.

Even though I have a regular job in an office, I take home a lot of work so it’s important that I have a really good home office space. I have the perfect little nook in my home for that. But there are some ways that I could improve it. I’m giving it a little makeover because it looks a little outdated and I thought that it also wouldn’t hurt to try and make a lot of it more green.

I went online to figure out what I could do without just buying everything completely new. While I was online searching for that, I came across some info about ELECTRICITY COMPANIES and after I looked through it a little bit, I decided to change over our home energy provider. That was one way to be a little more green that I hadn’t thought about before.

But I have some other ideas for my green home office, including switching out the lights to more energy efficient ones. I’m also going to make more of an effort to store my documents electronically instead of on paper.

“Business casual.” It has a nice ring to it. The phrase conjures images of desks with foot stools, Time Clocks that don’t start until 11:15, nonchalant mergers and carefree takeovers. Which, of course, don’t exist. In fact, “business casual” as a wardrobe concept really doesn’t exist either. It’s an oxymoron.

Just ask Lynne Mackay. For the past two years, the president of Ottawa- based Lynne Mackay Image Consulting has been darting across the continent, taking great pains to explain the concept to business folk.

In a broad sense, she explains business casual as “dressing without a suit.” However, the translation leaves a lot to the imagination: some take it to mean a shirt and tie and skivvies.

This is no exaggeration. Mackay recently visited the customer-service department of a large corporation, only to come across a service rep in cutoffs and flip-flops adorned with plastic daisies. Not a pretty picture.

Indeed, many people just aren’t getting the picture. A quick poll of various business types revealed some startling examples of casual cock- ups. In the women’s department, there are pedal pushers, sweat pants, and sweat tops dressed up with lace, painted-on designs or slogans, such as World’s Greatest Grandma.

Men, on the other hand, are trying on jeans that, by the sounds of things, are too small for their nephews, T-shirts in the same size range, and nylon shorts. (After a while it becomes entirely clear why some companies, including General Motors, have simply backed out of the whole dressing-down affair.)

According to Mackay, the most common business-casual ensemble is leggings and an oversized T-shirt for women (often accompanied by pumps or high heels); men prefer golf shirts, jeans and running shoes.

This is not business casual, this is a business catastrophe. Management is actually starting to complain about this new direction in career dressing. Which is why Mackay finds her services to be in high demand.

She aims to help her clients attain a sense of casual polish. She advises them on using separates rather than formal suiting, and choosing silhouettes, fabrics, accessories, colours and patterns that transmit a more relaxed message. She points to sweater sets, pants and polo shirts, and the latest array of summer dresses as examples.

She also reminds them that the invention of business casual has not made old dress-codes obsolete. Although it may seem stodgy to some, bare arms and legs are still too much skin for the office.

Ironically, business casual means more, not fewer, rules: no scruffy jeans, no collarless shirts, no running shoes and no leggings. In other words, “don’t wear anything you’re going to wear on summer vacation.” Your clients probably aren’t interested in seeing you exposed in leggings or ripped jeans.

The cardinal rule is, always address your wardrobe to your client, regardless of company policy, because not everybody has gone business casual, cautioned Mackay. “We haven’t left the business-dressing category for something else. Presenting a business image is still important.”