While researching possible stocks to invest in, I found a blurb about the upcoming launch of Zecco.com. It sounds like a nice idea. People sharing ideas and news on stocks. Then they will also have the option to execute stock, option, and mutual fund trades. I think I heard someone say that they would be offering free trades (no commission). I don’t know how that is possible, but that feature won’t be available at launch. It looks like a lot of their ad sponsors are from financial services companies. I am a bit worried about the idea of users spreading news/rumors and pushing stock prices in the wrong direction. Indiviuals don’t have to disclose the same things large companies and analysts have to. So I don’t trust blogs to give honest stock recommendations…

Its interesting to note that commission fees are dropping. I remember paying $35 per trade and I now pay $12.95. I also don’t have quarterly or yearly fees on my Schwab account. TechCrunch has an interesting take on this new service.

Avaya put out another PR that I was featured in today. I can’t say more than I love this piece of technology. It fits SMB market better than the Nortel BCM and a lot cheaper than the Cisco solution. It allows our employees to do more without costing us a ton of money.
Avaya Helps Financial Services Firms Use Intelligent Communications to Succeed in a Shifting Marketplace

I was featured in a Press Release for Avaya’s new version of IP Office 3.2. I really enjoy working with the IP Office and think it is a great solution for SMB customers. It offers the flexibility to use Digital phones, IP based phones, or a combination of them. It also has great features like the new Mobile Twinning and the conferencing system. The free sofware updates top it off, although some new features are license-based, but that means you don’t pay for features you don’t use.

Here is a quote from the release: Small and Medium Businesses Worldwide Improve Operations with Intelligent Communications from Avaya

Companies Use IP Office to Improve Operations and Customer Service

For Cascadia Capital, Avaya IP Office is an important tool for keeping the company’s highly skilled investment bankers connected to clients, colleagues and critical company information.

“The new mobile twinning feature of IP Office 3.2 is extremely important to us,” said Christopher Bettin, director of information technology for Cascadia Capital. “That means we can give our clients one number to reach our investment bankers; whether they are in the office or visiting a client. The new management capabilities also allow us to deploy new policies and features to groups of users.”

By integrating IP Office with the company’s Microsoft Exchange email application, investment bankers at Cascadia are able to use their Blackberry handheld wireless devices to access Avaya voicemail from a single, integrated email and voicemail inbox.

Bettin said the built-in conferencing features of Avaya IP Office are also heavily utilized by the Cascadia team.

“Meeting with clients is a huge part of our business,” he said. “IP Office makes it simple for them to quickly establish a meeting and collaborate. In addition, we’ve saved enough money by eliminating outside conferencing services to pay for the Avaya system within 18 months.”