Showing posts with label local. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 August 2011

8 Quick Ways to Reduce Local Phone Service Charges


Despite all the new and emerging business communications technologies of the 21st century (VoIP, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Bluetooth, cell phones, blackberries, etc.) the majority of companies in business today still write a check each and every month to a local exchange carrier for a 125 yr. old technology - local phone service - (sometimes referred to as POTS, or "plain old telephone service").

Although it may be the same boring set of copper wires that connects to a standard telephone and rings when calls come in, the local phone service portion of your company's telecommunications bills is the perfect place to begin your telecom cost reduction efforts.

Here are 8 quick ways to begin cutting your local phone service bills. Check them off one by one when completed and you could reduce your local phone service bills by up to 10% or more.

1) Determine the proper local service plan for your needs - then regrade if necessary.

Many Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) offer three basic types of local service plans. Flat-Rate Service allows for unlimited calling within a local area at no additional charge. With Measured Rate Service, charges are applied to local calls according to time and/or distance and/or time of day. Message Rate Service which applies charges to each local call without regard to duration or distance.

Analyze your company needs through observational and personal surveys, then determine the most cost-effective local service plan. You will be amazed at the savings by simply implementing the appropriate plan for your company's calling patterns.

NOTE: When regrading from a flat-rate service plan to a measured or message rate plan, be sure that you are aware of the extent to which employees are making personal calls. Also, consider any lines that may be connected to frequently used services such as apartment door answering systems.

2) Remove unnecessary or unused lines.

Historically telephone companies have recommended and provided quantities of access lines sufficient to provide a P.01 grade of service. This means that no more than 1% of all callers will receive a busy signal during the busiest hour of the day. P.01 is appropriate for some situations, but it does result in many customers having many more lines than are necessary.

Take inventory of all the lines that are being billed, then track them down and determine their level of importance during day to day business activities. Eliminate lines with phone numbers that cannot be identified, lines that ring with no answer, and/or measured or message rate lines that show no usage.

For more advanced telephone traffic calculations, use , our online telephone traffic analysis program.

3) Remove unnecessary or unused line features and services.

More often than not, most companies have lines that contain features and/or services that are either not needed or are rarely used. The problem arises when features are added to serve a specific purpose or employee, then not removed when things change. Over time, many features may be included on lines and users have no idea they are even available.

Your previously conducted circuit inventory will help you determine the specific features needed for each line. Wire maintenance charges should always be eliminated. These charges can be as high as $6.00 per month for each line!

4) Block expensive pay-per-use features.

Directory assistance call completion, repeat dial and call return are nice and convenient for employees - but they will cost your company over time. These features can and should be blocked through your carrier immediately. If any of these features are needed, contact your LEC and ask if a monthly fee be paid for unlimited usage.

5) Review the summary section of your bills every month.

Nothing can take the place of a well-designed and systematic telecom audit of your entire telecom department. However, a quick monthly scan of the summary section of your local telephone bills will sometimes turn up "golden nuggets" of savings.

Common problems include: more than one long distance carrier included (slamming), bogus Internet charges (cramming) from companies other than your ISP, and directory listings that are not listed. These charges can run as high as $29.95.

To maximize savings, review each bill every month. Bogus charges will continue month after month until they are removed. And don't be surprised if they magically appear again in 2-3 months time after they are removed from a bill.

6) Consider upgrading to a T1 if you have more than 20 lines.

For smaller businesses, installing a T1 line into your PBX system can reduce your local telephone charges. A T1 can be cost-effective because it combines many outgoing lines into a single digital line that runs from your office to the LEC central office. The T1 can replace up to 24 POTS lines in your PBX. No one will notice a difference except maybe the person who pays the bills. In addition, a T1 can carry data as well.

7) Gather customer service records (CSRs) from your LEC for more detailed local service analysis.

A great deal of information can be found on CSRs that are not contained on your monthly billing statement. They are an invaluable resource when attempting to identify unneeded services and unused lines. CSRs reveal the quantity and types of lines, their PICs, service elements, hunting arrangements, wire maintenance, circuit termination locations, directory listings, and a host of other esoteric information.

Obtaining your CSRs from the LEC can be a painful and time-consuming process, but the effort is worth it in savings and credits that are eventually rendered. Some LECs will charge a fee issuing CSRs, but with some persistence, you may be able to get this fee waived.

8) Consider engaging a telecom consultant for telecom auditing, bill management or telemanagement services.

Time is money. If your staff is not prepared to consistently implement the above tasks, consider engaging a professional telecom consulting firm to handle them for you. Ideally, a telecom audit done first will turn up many areas for potential cost-savings. Then a monthly bill management program will keep bills clean and free from those pesky recurring errors.

At TelCon Associates, we have structured our consulting services for maximum savings to the client with no risk. We place our emphasis on details, timeliness and a high level personal service for our clients.

So get to work on reducing those local phone bills. You will be glad you did.




Karen Thatcher is President and CEO of TelCon Associates, Inc. a 32 yr. old telecom audit and bill management company. For free telecom cost-reduction tools and materials, visit http://www.telconassociates.com





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Monday, 15 August 2011

Local Versus National Answering Services


For any business shopping around for an answering service, the question arises whether to use a national answering service or one based locally. Although most people initially feel strongly one way or another, there are tradeoffs involved with each one. Before even considering these, it is always important that the service be experienced and trustworthy. Professionalism needs to be evident no matter which route you choose because any of the benefits of either local or national answering service will not mean much to your customers unless the service is skilled.

Another aspect that may come into play, depending on your needs, is price. Many useful features are offered by most services, bust some companies both local services and national don't offer a few of them. When deciding which kind of service to use, consider that many national services have been around for a long time. Interestingly, a large number of these national services once started as exclusively local services and went on to become so successful in what they do, they became large enough to service the entire country.

National services frequently utilize call centers in a variety of areas across the country, which comes in handy when local power outages or phone line problems happen. Competent national services are usually better at managing these unforeseen incidents more quickly than local services that are very much tied to local conditions. For those who provide urgent, 24-hour, or emergency service you should consider the fact that it is precisely during these times when you'll need a service most. Wouldn't it be good if the service were located outside your community? Even though most call centers have generators and battery backups, it's better for your peace of mind that they be outside your area.

Another reason it might be good to use a service that is located outside of your community is that, for certain companies, privacy issues arise when using a local service. As an example, let's say that Suzy has been having some major tax problems so she has taken on the help of a tax attorney. This particular tax attorney has decided to use a local service and Suzy finds herself leaving a message concerning her personal matters in some way with someone who may be friends or family of someone else she knows. Despite the fact that the local answering service would probably keep her matters private, the problem of people close to her knowing about her personal business does arise. If her tax attorney had utilized an answering service located outside the community, say 400 miles away, the chances of someone knowing her coming into contact with her information are virtually zero.

Something to consider however is that for a relative few sort of companies, having a local answering service is important. Maybe the answering service has to give directions and the company using them wants a local outfit staffed with other locals answering their calls for this reason. This is very rare and most people in this situation work out some sort of in-house solution. By and large, when you are choosing an service, you would do well to concentrate on important areas and not worry about how close the call centers are. When possible, try out an service for a week or so before getting an account. Many answering service providers these days, the ones confident about their own work, are more than willing to offer you a free trial.




Specialty Answering Service is a nationwide live medical answering service and call answering service provider. We answer for each client 24 hours a day and follow their instructions to handle each inbound or outbound communication perfectly.





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Saturday, 13 August 2011

Online Services Directory and Your Local Services - Where Feedback Counts!


Local services are unique in all their own rights. Unlike major corporations that span the globe, they are often small-scale in nature and provide their services at much lesser costs than their international counterparts.

There is a catch, however. The inability to actually regulate and monitor these local services is limited at best, and is often impractical to pursue in the end. Engaging in a lengthy legal battle for something as simple as an unpaid bill is definitely not worth the effort, while recklessly exposing yourself to the risks involved is a costly and ineffective alternative.

So what should you do?

The answer is simple: browse up an online services directory and search for the service you need.

What is an online services directory?

Simply put, an online services directory is a listing of the available services available in your locale. These services can range from writing and editing jobs to veterinary services and pet accessories, and are pretty easy to access from the safety of your home PC.

What advantages does it bring you?

There are several advantages that online services directories provide for the careful consumer. Online directories not only categorize providers based on their services, but they also provide an escrow service between consumer and provider, ensuring safe transactions.

Yet it is the option of feedback that empowers a consumer to have an impact on the provider's credibility.

Where does feedback fit into the situation?

Online services directories serve not just as hubs for local services to market their services. These directories are also self-contained communities that require a degree of professional commitment to enter into.

It works this way: providers cannot just sign up willy-nilly for an online services directory. They stake their good name when they do so, and their good name is worth much more in such a community when compared to unmonitored and uncontrolled transactions between consumer and provider.

Unlike unmonitored transactions, a provider's reputation a determinant of its ability to rise on top of the competition selling the same services in the directory. This makes a customer's feedback paramount to a provider's success in an online services directory.

What benefits does this imply for the consumer?

It is simple, really. The consumer is provided an environment where the consumer's feedback is a prime determinant of a provider's success in the directory.

That means that if just one consumer raises the scam or fraud alarm on a provider, you can expect that provider to quickly vanish from the community that makes up an online services directory. Local services will not easily be able to pull off a fast one on their consumers unless they totally want to ruin their business reputation in the community.

And there is also the matter of a safer environment for transactions in services directories. By escrowing payment between two parties, the directory holds on to the money and ensures that the consumer gets his or her money's worth from the provider. If the local services provider decides to run from their responsibilities, they will be doing so empty-handed, as the money is held by the directory - and will be promptly returned to the consumer.




iServU Online Service Directory is targeted to the Services industry. They provide a medium where consumers can connect to Services Companies and individuals. They have an average monthly traffic of 10,000 unique visitors and over 30,000 page views. This means they are visited by an average of 10,000 individuals monthly who are interested in availing certain services. By placing an advertisement on their website you have a chance of converting these 10,000 visitors to 10,000 paying clients.

If you are a consumer or a provider seeking a medium for conducting business, you may want to look for the security that an online service directory can provide.





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Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Unlimited Local And Long Distance Phone Internet Service Plans - Pros And Cons


In this article I'm going to go very slightly off-topic and cover something that's not directly about computers, but definitely relates.

I'm going to talk a little about the pros and cons of those unlimited local and long distance phone internet service plans that you see advertised more and more these days -- you know the ones, where you see them talking about phone service plans combined with internet services.

These plans come in two "flavors" -- the first is usually offered by the phone company where they provide regular phone lines plus a DSL Internet connection with a discount for getting both together, and the second is usually offered by cable companies or another Internet Service Provider (ISP) where they are offering Internet telephone service plus the Internet connection itself.

Before I go on, let me quickly explain what the difference is between regular phone service and Internet phone (also known as VoIP, which is short for Voice over Internet Protocol, or Voice over IP).

VoIP, by the way, is pronounced "voyp".

The difference between the two types of phone service is pretty simple.

Regular phone service is the traditional type of phone service that's been around for a hundred years, where your phone is connected to a phone jack in the wall, then out over the telephone lines to the rest of the world.

Internet phone service (or VoIP) is where you have a phone (either a traditional phone with a special adapter, or a special VoIP phone) that hooks into an Internet connection and your phone call goes through the Internet to call any kind of phone -- a standard phone, or an Internet phone.

So what are the pros and cons of getting phone service plans combined with Internet services?

Well, in both cases when you have phone service plans combined with internet services (Internet plus the phone service) you usually pay less than if you bought them separately -- so no real pro or con in this case, as long as you get it as a package deal.

Traditional phone service is generally going to be more reliable than Internet phone service -- it's an older technology, and older technologies *generally* are more reliable than newer ones because they've had time to iron the bugs out.

So in other words, in many cases you'll get a clearer sound on a traditional phone line, and you won't ever get the little "dropouts" that you can get with VoIP phones.

By dropouts, I'm talking about something like when you talk to someone on a cell phone and their words sort of break up with lots of very short patches of silence mixed in with what you can hear. If you're not sure what I mean, imagine a radio that someone is turning on-off, on-off, very rapidly, so you get a very rapid mix of sound, silence, sound.

This is fairly common on Internet phone service, and is caused when the Internet connection has so much activity that it interferes with the phone conversation.

Also, if you send or receive faxes, they often won't work using Internet phone service.

A so-called disadvantage of using Internet phone service (that I don't completely agree with) is that if the power goes out, so does the phone service, unlike a traditional phone line, which has its own power.

There's a kind of funny TV ad I see the local phone company running out here in Hawaii that's trying to discourage people from using Internet phone service -- it has a voice-over that says something like "this is a recording of an actual Internet phone service emergency call during a recent blackout" then you hear absolutely nothing for the next few seconds.

The idea being if your power is out, so is the Internet connection, and so is the VoIP phone service.

Well, that may be true, but think about it for a moment -- what percentage of people these days use old-fashioned corded phones still? Not that many people do anymore -- most use cordless phones. If the power is out, a cordless phone doesn't work either.

Of course the solution to that (and a lot of times, the solution to the Internet phone going out) is to use an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS, which as I've mentioned in the past is a sort of battery backup that provides power when the electricity goes out.

Most people who use a UPS (everyone should, in my opinion, to protect their computer and other electronics) use it just for their computer. But it works just as well for cordless phones, cable or DSL modems, and even lights, to keep you going when the power goes out.

I have my cable modem that provides my Roadrunner Internet service hooked up to a UPS, and I've found that my cable service (including Internet) still works fine!

The last disadvantage -- and this is a clear disadvantage -- of using Internet telephone service is that in the case of emergencies, 911 emergency service is not always available, and even if it is available, emergency responders usually can't figure out where you are, unlike traditional phones or cell phones.

So while it's not a bad idea to take advantage of a good package deal on unlimited local and long distance phone internet service, for the time being, it might be a little better to stick to an offer that includes traditional phone service since it's a little more reliable, and the cost is pretty much the same.




Worth Godwin is a computer coach with over a decade and a half of experience helping computer users in Plain English. He's also worked "in the trenches" as a hardware and software tech, solving real-world computer problems.

More Plain English computer articles like this one are available on Worth's site. Read more basic computer training on his blog, or you can join Worth's free newsletter to have plain English computer tips sent to your inbox and get your computer related questions answered.





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Tuesday, 9 August 2011

VoIP Internet Phone Service Allows Snowbirds to Have Local Phone Service Wherever they Go


If you're a snowbird, internet phone service could be the perfect thing for you. Because VoIP (voice over internet protocol, aka..Internet Phone Service) relies on a broadband internet connection and requires only a small device known as a VoIP adapter - internet phone service is extremely portable.

Many people live in cooler climates in the summer, and migrate to their warm southern winter homes when the weather turns cold. Having local telephone service in both winter and summer homes can be costly, as well as confusing for those who try to keep in touch with you. A cell phone is a great remedy for this, except for "out of state-ers" who have to make a long distance call to talk with you.

If you're using broadband internet service anyway (which is easily turned "off" when you've moved away for the season), it makes good sense to subscribe to internet phone service and always have a local phone number no matter which home you are living in. To do this, all you need to do is choose a VoIP provider and subscribe to internet phone service. Get a local phone number (you can usually keep your existing number if you want) and enjoy unlimited local and long distance calling for between $17 - $25 per month - depending on which provider you choose.

When you're ready to move to your seasonal home, add a second number to your plan. Because location doesn't matter with internet phone service, you can ask for a number that is local to your second home. You will now have two separate phone numbers - one that is local to your summer home, and the other one local to your winter home. Both will ring on the same telephone, so you can answer both lines with the same equipment. Each will have separate voice mail boxes, which can be very handy.

When you move to your seasonal home, take the VoIP adapter with you. Calls will go to voicemail while you are traveling, and you can call and check messages from any telephone. You can also set up call forwarding on both numbers while you are between homes, and forward all calls to your cell phone. This is very easy to do with online account management - a service that is free with all the best VoIP providers.

As soon as you have your broadband internet connection turned on in your second home, connect the VoIP adapter and your telephone and start making and receiving calls. Internet phone service gives you the unique ability to have multiple phone numbers (any area codes you need) as well as the ability to take your local phone service with you wherever you go. The only requirement is a broadband high-speed internet connection, which most people have anyway. When it's time to move back to your first home, simply take the VoIP adapter and repeat the installation steps - it's as simple as that!

One thing to remember with internet phone service is to keep your current address on file with the VoIP provider. This is necessary for 911 services. Because internet phone service is portable and uses the internet to transmit calls, the only way emergency services people can find you is through E-911 (enhanced 911). With E911, when you make a 911 emergency call, the address that you have on file with the VoIP provider is transmitted to the dispatcher. This address is also used to ensure that your 911 calls are routed to the closest dispatcher to your home. For snowbirds who live in more than one place depending on the season, it's important to log on to the VoIP online account management and update your current address each time you move.

All VoIP service providers allow you to purchase an additional phone number for a small fee (usually around $6 a month). If you're fortunate enough to live in an area where Sunrocket VoIP is available (they are expanding rapidly, so check back often if Sunrocket service is not yet available in your area), you can get a second number for only $3 a month with their unlimited annual calling plan. Just about every internet phone service provider includes the US and Canada in their unlimited local and long distance calling plans, so you Canadian snow birds can participate in this too!

With VoIP internet phone service, there is no need to have land line telephone service again. The quality of internet phone service is now just as good as traditional phone service as long as you have good, reliable broadband internet service. If you're planning to use VoIP internet phone service as your one-and-only home phone service (millions do), be sure to choose a well-known, reputable VoIP provider to ensure you have quality service. Some internet phone service providers to consider are Sunrocket, Packet8, Vonage and AT&T CallVantage.




If you are interested in learning more about VoIP service, please visit: The Best VoIP Providers for the Money [http://www.long-distance-savings.com] or or Internet Phone Service - The Future is Here!





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Sunday, 7 August 2011

Local Phone Service - Before You Switch Guide


Many people lately appear to be confused as to what all these new local phone services mean to them. Yes, there are great rates and deals floating all over the place, but there are definitely some issues that need to be cleared up and some questions to be answered. Few even think to ask half the questions to the answers that will be presented here in this article.

New Service Installation

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about many of the local phone services offered out there today. The thought is that these services can be installed into their homes without any current phone service previously installed. The majority of local phone service offerings are "Switched Services", not for new installations.

A qualifying customer must first have local phone service from a Bell Carrier (SBC) or other qualifying regional carrier in place before going through a discounted provider. The services these other local phone companies provide are "Switched Services" for the sole purpose of switching you from your current provider. They in no way install new services.

DSL Lines

If you have DSL this is very important. Switching local phone service while having DSL service can cause automatic cancellation of your DSL triggering cancellation fees and discontinued service. Many switched local phone providers are aware of this and will not switch your service if DSL is present, but some may not check and this can cause quite a few problems.

If planning a switch, contact your DSL provider to see what you may be able to do. There may be different solutions negotiable with your DSL provider to enable the switching of your phone services.

There is a new DSL service that offers DSL without having to have a phone line installed. SpeakEasy offers this service and is a highly ranked DSL provider in the broadband community. This is perfect for broadband phone subscribers.

Past Due Phone Bills

Many consumers now believe with all of these new phone options that they can forget their previous obligations to the last carrier and move forward with a new one. Stop! All switched local phone providers do a check with your last local carrier before providing services. If you even have one month behind on your previous service, you more than likely will be denied. All bills must be paid up and current before you switch.

Credit Checks

All local phone providers do a credit check. While it cannot be said entirely everything they check for in your credit, you can be assured that any previous due balance to a long distance carrier will be counted against you.

If you know you have bad credit, you might want to start working on repairing it for yourself. There should be credit repair counseling services in your area that are free of charge. Take advantage of these services, credit checks are only gaining popularity and can only further limit your purchasing power as a consumer.

Phone Numbers

If you were planning on keeping your old phone number, expect to pay your current local carrier some extra charges before the switch. Costs vary, but if you don't mind carrying a new phone number then this is nothing to worry about.

One Size Bundled Services

One size doesn't always fit all, especially if you're on a budget. Almost every switched local phone provider offers lower cost alternatives to their main bundled packages. So if an unlimited long distance calling plan is too costly for you, there usually are other options that give you a preset amount of monthly minutes at a lower overall package cost.

Do your research, including on your previous bills to see what amount of local and long distance usage you typically use. If it makes sense to buy into a lower package, you can really save as long as you stay within the limits of your calling package.

Business Packages

If your business has more than 5 business lines you will not be able to switch your local phone services. However, check with the carrier to make sure. You may still find an option for your business that works for you.

PIC Freezes

If you had a PIC, which basically is a lock on your long distance service, you will need to unlock the service for it to be removed for your switched local phone package to be installed.

Hopefully this article has helped you understand what may stand in your way of switching your local phone service. While the opportunity to save and consolidate bills is great, make sure you have taken care of and understand all the above issues and you should have no problem switching to a great new level of service and features.




This article was written by Aaron Siegel of TopSavings.Net which offers Local Phone Services to both households and business.

Local Phone Providers at TopSavings.Net





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Wednesday, 27 July 2011

ThinkNear gets $1.6M to bring real-time analytics to local businesses

ThinkNear, a Los Angeles– and New York–based startup, caught my eye at the New York TechStars demo day with its data-driven approach to solving problems for local businesses. The company announced on Tuesday that it raised $1.6 million in seed financing from a gaggle of investors, including Google Ventures, IA Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and angels David Tisch and David Cohen of TechStars, to help roll out their technology. That rollout got under way in New York on Tuesday. Other investors include Metamorphic Ventures, Real Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Zelkova Ventures and BoldStart VC.

The company’s approach is smart. It’s trying to tackle off-peak slow periods for local businesses, working to drive sales in those hours when foot traffic is light. That’s different from competitors like Groupon or others who often load up businesses at peak times, which can overwhelm them, limiting how much product they can move at one time.

ThinkNear is an automated system that lets businesses set their goals, input their historical slow times and how much they want to discount their products. Then ThinkNear pulls in a wealth of data from the store, and locally relevant information like weather, events and traffic to help figure out when a location needs more business. The system can push out location-based ads with discounts that are good for a limited time to help improve traffic during specific periods. Users then theoretically come in and present a code to redeem their discount, helping the merchant track the success of the program. ThinkNear also monitors the effectiveness of the ads to tune its future promotions.

Not only does ThinkNear have the potential to bolster traditionally slow periods, it’s also very simple to use for merchants. Many business owners are being asked to manage their online presence and work with sales teams to craft multiple discounts. They’re being called on constantly by sales people looking to tap their local ad budget. ThinkNear is more of a set-it and forget it solution, so merchants don’t have to manage it closely. It still has to produce results to be useful, but at least merchants are spared considerable logistical headaches.

Another of ThinkNear’s strengths is that it’s very data driven. Founder and CEO Eli Portnoy declines to go deep into the “secret sauce” of ThinkNear’s technology, but it’s leveraging real-time data analytics to really figure out the optimal times to run promotions. For example, an ice cream store may not need to push deals on a hot day, but if the temperature drops quickly or it rains, a timely discount can help propel sales. According to Portnoy:

Everyone understand mobile and local are happening and there is a convergence of the online and offline world, but everyone is focusing on taking the online world and stuffing it into the offline world. We’re taking an analytical, quantitative data-driven methodology from the web and taking it to local businesses. That’s our real mission in life.

ThinkNear CEO Eli Portnoy

Portnoy said the $1.6 million will go toward expanding the team of four employees and building out the launch in New York, where a number of businesses have already signed up. He said the next city is Los Angeles, where he believes he’ll be able to test the service on a metro area that represents the rest of the country better than San Francisco.

ThinkNear still has its work cut out for it trying to market its technology to businesses. That’s going to be hard for a small startup, when there are thousands of sales people calling on business owners. But if the start-up can get its foot in the door, I think businesses will see a lot of value in ThinkNear.

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Thursday, 21 July 2011

American Express flexes its muscles in local deals market

The local deals and offers space is still emerging and we’re seeing start-ups like Groupon, Living Social and Foursquare rise up only to be challenged by bigger web players like Google and Facebook. But one of the most potent competitors is showing that you don’t have to be a hot start-up to play in this market.

You can be like American Express, a 162-year-0ld financial services company that is marshaling its vast resources in pretty impressive ways to create what could be one of the strongest offerings in the local commerce space. It just inked a deal to bring personalized deals to Facebook through its Link, Like, Love platform and previously signed up partners in Foursquare and SCVNGR’s LevelUp to also distribute deals. The recent deals essentially allow card members to link their credit accounts to these social services, which can then offer them deals that can get connected to their card. When they go to redeem an offer, they just swipe their card and the transaction is processed automatically and any discount is applied as credit to their American Express account.

I sat down and talked with American Express’s David Wolf, vice president of global marketing capabilities about American Express’ approach to this market, what sets it apart and how far it can take go in the daily deals space. He told me AmEx is uniquely positioned to excel in this market because of its close relationship with consumers and merchants and the valuable information it can offer businesses. And he said while NFC is something the company is looking at, its card-based deals system works in a frictionless way today.

Take a look at the video below.

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