This report is for a manager for Edge Music that will discuss about the solutions we can offer Edge Music to improve their website and what types of technologies that will do this.

Group Assignment Item 2 for ICAITSP039A

Introduction

This report is for a manager for Edge Music that will discuss about the solutions we can offer Edge Music to improve their website and what types of technologies that will do this. This report will also answer the questions of what older technologies might be supporting Edge Music’s e-commerce website and what problems might their customers be complaining about. It will also discuss about my ideas on what Edge music website should look like.

Answers to the two questions in preparation for the meeting

1) What types of older technologies might be supporting Edge Music’s e-commerce site?

If Edge Music wants to be successful, it may need to use older technologies that require less money, time and dedication. Technologies such as Streaming Audio, HTML, Novell Networking and CGI, have been proven and are properly accepted amongst the e-commerce world. All have exceptional support, and those who are equipped to work with them know the inside and outside workings incredibly.

Streaming Audio

If Edge Music wants to have the “Edge”, or even keep the standard in selling music online, they will need to provide samples of the track/album, so the user can see if they would like to purchase the full selection. Companies like “Real” and “Microsoft” both have different standards of Audio streaming, using their own clients to deliver and encode/decode the stream. Streaming Audio is also very flexible, and can be encoded to stream over both lower bandwidth devices, (such as dialup modems), and higher bandwidth devices (such as cable modems or DSL). This is done by using different frequencies to encode the sound, lower frequencies for lower quality sound, higher for better quality sound. This is almost essential for Edge Music, as its simple to implement, support and the advantages easily outweigh the disadvantages.

CGI

The benefits that Edge Music could gain from CGI properly depend on the how the website needs to gain information from its users. CGI allows active user changes using the web server, such as automatically entering information into a database, requesting information and/or objects, or actively processing orders. CGI operates on a level where nothing on the website actually gets changed (unless the feature is enabled to change certain information, such as a CGI script for website news), neither can it be used to

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access private information by un-authorized persons. While CGI has been surpassed by newer technologies (such as ASP and PHP), CGI is the most well known, well supported and easily accessed technologies.

2) What problems might their customers be complaining about?

The things that customers can complain about e-commerce websites are, unsafe security of transaction, no payment options, couldn’t access into the website or the website took too long to load and the website is complicate to search for things. These are quite common in e-commerce business and this can break e-commerce business if the ...

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2) What problems might their customers be complaining about?

Ideas on what Edge Music can give to customers when they visit the website for the first time

Ideas of a great music site is to put flash on the title ‘Edge Music’ and then show some famous music bands to give the customers a welcome feeling toward your website. After a short flash show, customers can then enter the website and then it shows a website of content of music and the product that can be bought by the customers. Also show pictures of some music band that are quite popular to the people, so people could buy the album or single. With many different types of music, the content would be important to customers and it should be in the middle of the screen with each one having pictures of the album or single. This gives the customers a simple search at the website and scrolling down would show the customers what is on offer.

4 Technologies that will make Edge Music a better website

1) Increased security of transaction

The increase security of transaction must be treated seriously. To make a good transaction to the customers, you need to have the right or latest technology to create safer transaction for the customers to gain satisfaction from them. The best technology to create a very safe transaction is a protocol called Secure Socket Layer (SSL). Secure Socket Layer is a technology that can encode sensitive information like credit card number that passes between the consumer and the e-commerce business

(]). Also the advantages of this technology are:

It creates a temporary, shared “key,” which is a sort of digital codebook that lets only the computers on either end of a transmission scramble and unscramble information
Make on-line ordering a lot more secure to the consumers when they use their credit card than anywhere else

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The Secure Socket Layer is probably the best security for the customers when they are purchasing a product using their credit card.

The strategies to take advantage of this technology are:

It is one of the safest security of transaction for e-commerce businesses
Hackers will have a lot of problems hacking into the security system
Customers won’t need to sent cheques or money by mail, which can take a very long time for the company to receive the mail
Cost of SSL is charge around $US100 a month so it is well worth it.

2) New payment options

The four most common methods of payment options consist of credit card, debit card, Non-Internet, such as checks and money orders and cash on delivery (). With these payment options, customers ordering from the Internet would have more options to paid for their items and not have limitation in paying. These four payment options are very important to your e-commerce business and this could bring a lot of customers to buy your products because of the payment options. Look at the successful company like Amazon, who have these four payment options. They are attracting many customers to buy their products because of their use of the payment options.

The strategies to take advantage of this technology are:

People have more payment options
There is no cost needed for the payment options

3) Speech recognition

Speech recognition is a program that hears the sound of your voice by using a microphone attached to the computer and is then turn into digital information (). Right now the technology of speech recognition is not popular to e-commerce businesses, but in years to come, it would be very important because it would be much easier to use you voice then typing on the keyboard. This technology would give advantage to the people with disabilities who can’t type things on the keyboard. This would give your e-commerce business a lot of customers and disability people can finally buy some things off the Internet.

The strategies to take advantage of this technology are:

There isn’t many e-commerce businesses using this technology
More users will come because disable people have an opportunity to buy online

4) Online Help Desk

The technology for operating a support system or “help desk” online has become mainstream and is currently being used in many large e-commerce solutions, such as Amazon.com. The following number of commercially available helpdesk products have all been proven to work and provide excellent advantages in serving consumers, and also contribute to saving time, money and resources.

Human Click

The main advantage that Human Click would provides to Edge Music is immediate and experienced help. If a consumer needed help on a selection for a certain event (birthday, anniversary etc..) he would easily be able to click on a button a request a live discussion. Firstly, Human Click works on a direct person-to-person basis, with software installed on the business side, which is then linked to the website. The business can see people on the website, and can either initiate a discussion (to advise on a purchase, or advertise specials), or the consumer his/herself can request the discussion. Human Click then allows a fast, personal and cost effective helpdesk solution ().

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Automated Email Help Services

Automated Email Services provide quick and easy solutions to frequently

asked questions, by finding keywords in the email, and responding instantly with a pre-written answer to the question. Or, using the same system, routing the email so it can be noted and divided to allow faster replies and more specific and personalized answers. The business solutions company “Front Range Solutions” has developed a solution known as Heat, which allows the above system, and more, also providing a database for previously answered responses for technicians and tech support to reuse and analyze. Solutions like Heat speed up the usually long and drawn out process of sorting through customer email, plus improving response times and saving man hours for other more important tasks.

Generally helpdesk technology for Edge Music is advanced and personalized. Rather then spending money on what might be a long distance phone call or an email which may take up to 2 weeks to answer, personalized services allow a quicker and easier way for customers to complete decisions to make purchases.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Edge Music future looks to be successful if these ideas and technologies are implemented into the website. It is important to know what the technologies can do to your website so it would impress the customers, and receiving profit from them is the most important part of becoming a successful e-commerce business.

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