Newsletter Jul 2006.v.0

CMM Level 5

The Quarterly Newsletter of HTC Global Services

Issue : July 2006 From the Editor’s Desk Dear Colleagues, Our Blossoms not only speaks but also listens. In response to your suggestions we have added new content to make our newsletter more informative. In order to ensure that Blossoms meets your diverse needs, in this edition we have dedicated a page for the departments “Our Page” to experiment and exhibit the latent talent and creativity of the team members. The editorial committee feels happy in welcoming Mr. Sathyamoorthy as a member of the editorial team. Please provide your inputs for the continuous improvement of Blossoms and to make it more fascinating. - Editorial Committee

Editorial Committee Mullai Manavalan Rangachary M C Sathyamoorthy J Editorial Coordinators Arun Srinivasan R Arvind Murari Ayyappa Reddy Balaji D Dhanasekar V T Geetha Mohandass Gaurav Gupta Krishna Kumar K Satish Natarajan Thomas Komban Venkatesh M R

Articles and feedback for the newsletter are welcome. Please mail your inputs to [email protected]

Bouquet 3, Blossom 2

Director’s Message

- Chary Mudumby

Dear Colleagues, The business expansion and the growth we are experiencing and the potential necessitate us to progress to the next level of organizational thinking. Our individual departments’, projects’ or tasks’ objectives need to seamlessly merge and aid towards achieving the organizational goals. Every activity of ours must work towards achieving this objective. Each one of us needs to introspect as to what one has done towards this. We must be mindful of the walls that we might be building between ourselves which would put a bar to our individual and the organizational advancement. The need of the day is to align ourselves with the organizational goals and grow thereby.

Management Article

- Rangachary M C, HP

How to influence people? Influencing people is at the heart of leadership and individual effectiveness. Be it with your superior, peers, or sub-ordinates, there is a felt need to communicate and influence them to achieve results and make things happen. Here are a few tips:

Principle I l People

pay attention to you if they believe you have something important to tell them.

l While

presenting your ideas realize that it is your responsibility to sell and their responsibility to buy.

l Do

Illustration: Yashwanthan K T l Realize

that your superior is just as “human” as you are. Focus more on how your idea helps than just judging them.

l Treat

others with courtesy during discussions, as you would like to be treated by them.

l Don’t

go with matters of trivia. Go with matters of real concern with alternate solutions including their viewpoints.

a good homework before presenting an idea. Look into the pros and cons. Have an analysis of the idea before Principle III challenging the existing process or l Prepare ground for a win-win situation. system it carries and its impact in the l Convert your arguments into constructive short and long run. discussions. l Focus on contributing to a larger good l Make a positive difference. Don’t just try and not merely on your individual to “win” and “always be right”. objectives. l Don’t try to overkill if there is an l Make them feel that you answer their argument or discussion. Allow the other silent question “what is in it for man an honorable retreat. me ?” (WIIFM).

Principle II l People

buy for their own reasons not for your or mine. People do not want to be sold; they want to buy.

l Support

the final decisions of the team even if your point is not finding a place in it.

l Focus

on the future and let go the past. Whiners lose credibility.

l Present

a cost benefit analysis of your Strongly believe that it is not mere ideas. Don’t just sell benefits only. telling but selling of an idea that l Don’t reject outright your superior’s makes a difference. Create a win-win viewpoint. Listen with empathy. situation to make things happen.

“Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful” - Joshua J.Marine

Techies Corner

- Gaurav Gupta, Projects

PCtvt – PC, TV, Video, Telephone “To conquer the digital divide and empower the poor and illiterate to benefit from the IT revolution” PCtvt is a low cost, sophisticated mix of computer hardware and software that offers functionalities of TV, Video, Telephone, and other media. The main features of PCtvt are entertainment using open source applications and low cost access to information technology. The successful implementation of the PCtvt project would greatly improve education of the underprivileged and the ability to connect to all parts of the world through email, voice messages, and video conferencing. The device will be robust and extremely user friendly such that any user who can operate a TV can operate PCtvt. The desired goal of this experiment is to understand and create an information appliance that provides compelling value proposition to an illiterate in a village in India or in countries with a per capita income of less than $2000. The availability, accessibility, and affordability of the new information appliance are essential to entice a villager to buy it rather than a TV. Projected technological advances offer us the opportunity to create such a device, a PCtvt, at an affordable cost.

Applications of PCtvt: Full View Tele-Medicine: Enabling and providing healthcare to remote and under-served populations using PCtvt is the prime objective. The doctor’s address details will be stored on the identity USB memory stick of the rural user. Whenever the rural user is sick and wants medical attention, the patient will dial the doctor (PCtvts will be provided to doctors) using the Video Conferencing application of PCtvt. If the doctor responds, then the doctor will check symptoms and prescribe the required medication. Expert Advice: Every village will have one coordinating operator. The farmers will explain their problems to the operator. The operator will get in touch (using PCtvt) with

Multilingual Chat Info Services

WiFi

Video Phone

Television

Video Mail

News and Virtual Dharshan Illustration: Sethuraman.P

the experts at the agricultural universities or other institutions. Within a predefined period of time, the operator will have a solution to the problem. Cricket Highlights: One of the widely watched and embraced games in India is Cricket. Using the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) application of PCtvt, users can record the highlights of a game. This application empowers the users to watch the recorded game at their leisure. Similarly, important news clippings can be recorded and played back. Virtual Darshan: Darshan, or "seeing," is the main way of connecting with the divine realms in any religion. This divine visual contact now occurs through the Virtual Darshan application, which streams sacred video from world-renowned holy places. Attempts to recreate India's sacred geography in cyberspace will allow devotees to go on pilgrimage from their PCtvts. Other Applications: 1. Movie Server

2. News Server

3. Music Server

Zoom-in Chennai

- Velupillai, Testing

Dakshin Chitra is a heritage centre next to MGM Dizzee World along the East Coast Road. Here one can find the traditional South Indian houses of different styles. The entire place is divided into four different sections, one for each southern state. Tamil Nadu and Kerala style houses account for about 80% of the houses with the rest being shared by the other two states Karnataka and Andhrapradesh. These houses have been aesthetically re-created using the original materials. It is said that the parts of the original houses were dismantled from their places and reconstructed here. The people of Dakshin Chitra organise craft workshops, sell handicrafts, and conduct cultural trips to the southern states. A puppet show is performed on all weekends, once every hour starting from 11 a.m. It is only of 10 minutes duration but the puppeteer is immensely talented. On your way back to Chennai, you can visit Muttukadu and enjoy a boat ride. Access: By road from Chennai 30 kms (Located on the East Cost Road). Entrance Fee: Rs. 50/-. Lunch (Indian Meals): Rs. 80/- . Dosa, chapatti, cool drinks, and ice creams are available during lunchtime. “I’ve always thought anyone can make money, making life worth living, that’s the real test.” – Robert Fulghum

Our Page

Testing Department

Sharpen Your Axe

- Ramalingam. S

A woodcutter felt that he had to earn more. The first day, the woodcutter fell 15 trees. "Congratulations", the boss said and paid him well. The next day the woodcutter tried harder, but could only bring 10 trees. He became panicky. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was wrong. Illustration: Yashwanthan K T

"When was the last time you sharpened your axe ?" the boss asked.

"Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees”. Most of us NEVER update our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is very much enough. But good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success.

Heritage Trip

- Praveen Kumar .D

A few days back a team of five testers went on a trip to South India. Much like blind men describing an elephant, each of us had our own percept of the trip. First, we reached a place called Thiruvakkarai and visited a temple built by the Chola kings in the 10th Century AD. In the same Fossil Stones place we saw fossil stones - trees exposed to weather for millions of years - in a site maintained by the Geological Survey of India. Later, we visited Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram temples and the Tanjore Big Temple among many other temples on our way to Kumbakonam and Tanjore. We savour the trip one of the most treasured, as it has stirred our quest to see, learn, and inherit the rich cultural heritage of the Chola kings. The Gangaikonda Cholapuram magnificent sites stand as living examples of sculptural grandeur highlighting the technical expertise and project management capabilities of our ancestors. Each temple must have easily consumed 10,000 man-years of work and the Cholas have built nearly 600 such temples in every village of their kingdom.

In Lighter Vein...

- Jagan Babu

Patient: I always see spots before my eyes. Doctor: Didn't the new glasses help? Patient: Sure, now I see the spots much clearer. Illustration: Sethuraman.P

A man and his wife were arguing about their family members. "It's just not right", the wife said. "You don't like anybody in my family!" "That's not true," replied the husband. "I like your mother-in-law much better than my mother-in-law."

Teacher: What happened in 1869? Ram: Gandhiji was born. Teacher: What happened in 1873? Ram: Gandhiji was four years old.

We all returned home after concluding individually and in unison that it was indeed a heritage trip.

Pedallers

- Kumaran. K

City people with sedentary work culture need to keep both fuel costs and their growing bellies under control. The automated bikes could provide them some succor. Avon Cycles has launched a battery-operated version recently, offering a clean, hassle-free personal mobility solution to the urban youngster. The bike weighs around 46 kg, can run at 23 km/h, and can run 40 kilometers in one charge. When the battery is off, it can be pedaled. To top it all, it saves you the bother of getting a driving license or registration plates. Any city with small distances and dedicated cycle tracks, is an ideal place for promotion of this eco-friendly option.

Illustration: Yashwanthan K T

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." – Frank Tibolt

This Quarter in Pics

Word Sudoku The words required for this puzzle are listed in length order. Use them only once to fit the interlocking words into the puzzle. Some words are filled to get you started.

Learning by doing

“A day off” - onsite

R D O O N A B

3 Letters ETNA LAY MAC SET ANT LEI EGG DAB SPA ODE ZED BBC MES LEA ROB

CLAP

5 Letters

BEADS BLADE PACED ARBOR RABBI GLEBE LAITY ROILS DOONA YEANS COCOA ADDER 4 Letters BERNE PROBE ROBE TABBY BEND LEGAL LACE IGLOO ELAN ILIAD ABLE GAINS ARAB

Wedding Bells Setting the racquets on fire...

Svetline weds Lovson Raj S on April 21, 2006 Bincy weds Johnson Baby on April 27, 2006 Radha K weds T Uday kumar on April 30, 2006

Encountering a drastic positive work culture is the most pleasant and unexpected surprise for me in HTC. Rising up to the daily challenges and striving to complete projects in time seem to be the way of life in the BPO division. The dedicated and hardworking teams handle the ever-changing work demands with great aplomb. Hardly 2 years with HTC, but I have already reached the right conclusion that reaching for the stars is just a child's play. Friendliness and cooperation seem to be the order of the day in HTC. Million thanks to such a wonderful team of dedicated workers. - N. Krishnakumar, ITES

Dhanalakshmi N weds Sureshkumar J on May 1, 2006 Selva Karthiyayini weds Balamurugan on May 1, 2006 Shaktimayee weds Sujeet Kumar Tripathy on May 8, 2006 Vasanthi weds Jai Shankar Lal P J on May 11, 2006 C Haritha weds P Srinivasa Reddy on May 15, 2006 Padmavathi R weds Mahesh J on May 29, 2006 Mahalakshmi S weds Madhava Prasad K N on June 1, 2006 Arasee AR.C weds Pon.Anbarasu on June 6, 2006 K Hemalatha weds S Sathish Kumar on June 7, 2006 Niveditha M weds Karthikeyan S on June 8, 2006 Gajalakshmi L weds Rajagopal V on June 8, 2006 Uma weds Shivasubramaniam K on June 28, 2006

Buds Arockia Rovane blessed with a baby girl Janet on April 15, 2006 Giridhar Bolla blessed with a baby boy on May 1, 2006 Veneza blessed with a baby boy Noah Inniyan on May 4, 2006

HTC Global Services SDF II, Phase II, MEPZ, Tambaram, Chennai - 600 045. India Phone: (044) 2262 3522 Fax: (044) 2262 7713

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