Monday, July 27, 2015

That Sucks: Salesforce.com and POP/IMAP Email Sync - Another Update

So we're ticking down the days to the Winter '16 release and the end of life for Salesforce's Outlook Connector. As you'll note from my previous posts here and the update here, the roadmap looks like this: if you want to sync your emails to Salesforce, your email needs to live on an Exchange server, or you'll need to pay for a third party AppExchange app (most likely at a per user seat license charge).

The roadmap to SUCKS was probably backed when Microsoft signed an agreement with Salesforce. After all, if you're using Gmail, how can Microsoft force your hand to switch to Microsoft's hosted Outlook365?

But I like to check for updates on these things so you don't have to. And the latest update is... No Update. For fun, I like to periodically check the Idea Exchange post and see if community specialist Kristie Garafola has posted any updates, but it's been three months and nothing new.

You'll still see the "Considered For Future Roadmap" label on the idea, but who are we kidding -- that's been there for quite some time. They might as well label it, "The Check is In The Mail". Please let the excitement around this issue dissipate enough that people forget about it by the time we EOL the Outlook Connector. But if it will make you feel better, you can click the Thumbs Up button!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Customer Support Tips - Words Matter

It's been a while sine my last post, but I've been buried in other activities with little time to write. I came across this blog post this morning, and it's a great read. Considering the number of times I find myself ranting about terrible customer service, it seems only fair to provide continued guidance as to what good customer service looks like.

The Beginner's Guide to Customer Support Language: How to Always Say the Right Thing isn't really a beginner's guide, it's more of a list of suggested approaches and tactical strategies supported with some really interesting data. It's definitely worth a read.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Apple iOS 8.4: Better, But Still No Love for Apple

Another day, another Apple update that doesn't fix some of the core interface design problems on the platform. It's the sad reality for those of us that use Apple products -- each day is a reminder of Apple's commitment to this crappy interface design. Transparency is not gone. It still fills my screen with useless data -- data that I consider far more offensive and invasive than some of the skeuomorphic elements. With the recent update to iTunes on my phone, I see that they've finally recovered from the stupidity that is, "let's open in Apple Radio as the default." It didn't matter how many times I switched to playlists. It didn't matter how many times I was reminded that I didn't like Apple Radio and that I didn't want to use it -- Apple always wanted me to land there. It was another example of the underlying message of the OS these days, FU Apple user.

With the new iTunes, I see that they've brought transparency to the background of playlist screens. Why? Because, color!

Meanwhile, as I feel increasingly alienated and disconnected from my Apple devices, I find that less and less interest in updating the apps or backing up the device. Oh, my phone fell on the ground. Bummer. The battery doesn't seem to want to hold a charge, should I update? Why bother.