Got Cell Phones? Google Voice Has Answer

I find myself in the annoying predicament of carrying around two cell phones throughout my day, as I am sure many of you do.

You have the work cell and the personal cell.

Then, you also have an office number and a home number. Someone will try to get a hold of you using one, but you'll be at the other. Sometimes you'll want to be left alone to finish a project. And then sometimes you'll be waiting for that one phone call before you can move on to the next task at work.

As communication has become more simplified through wireless and multi-platform innovation, it has also become more and more complicated.

The ueber-lucrative, multifaceted Web giant Google launched its Google Voice product last March in the company's first attempt to expand its digital communication wings.

The program allows users to sync all of their phone numbers into one. Users get a new number, which they are expected to give out, and can then manage calls to that number to whichever phone they will be at.

Users can set their Google Voice so anytime a call comes into their new Google number between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., the call will go directly to their work phone. Then a user can set all calls from between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. be sent to their personal cell, so when they're running around doing errands after work, they only need to carry one cell phone. Then, a user can set their Google account so all calls coming to that Google number after 7 p.m. go straight to the home phone.

Most importantly is that Google provides this service for FREE, much like its e-mail and blogging services.


I was invited to Google Voice in July (it was invite only at first, though I don't know if it was actually difficult to get an invitation), set up my account, but did not use it.

The problem with Google Voice was that new number. The problem is that people have become so attached to their phone numbers.

People need to go online to check Facebook to remember  birthdays, but that cell number will be in the cell phone, which is always in the pocket/purse.

So switching phone numbers has become a lengthy process that must be managed through several different outlets. People need to send Facebook messages and/or e-mails to all their known contacts to get the new number out.

Professionals need to change their business cards so the new number gets published. Then those new business cards have to be re-distributed. Plus there's the hope that the new business card receiver will take the time to accurately update their directory with your new number.

It may be exhausting, but after months of not thinking about it, I have decided to give Google Voice a legitmate chance now.

And I think it's a product you may also want to consider.

Here's some more information on it from Wired.com:

If you're lucky enough to have received an invitation, Google Voice is a fantastic way to manage your phone life. The service offers the ability to route any incoming call to any phone or straight to voicemail, if you prefer, and you can create rules based on the caller. Other standout features include SMS, voicemail via e-mail, call recording, call screening and the ability to switch phones mid-call.

In addition to the easy-to-use, Gmail-like interface, Google Voice can be used to search for past messages, keep a backup of all your text messages and otherwise organize your life. Continue Reading.

The biggest advantage that article notes is the infinite mobile minutes loophole Google Voice allows users to utilize.

Perhaps the best Google Voice hack involves taking advantage of some loopholes in your mobile contract. Follow these steps and you'll never need to use any of your mobile plan's minutes again. Note that this will only work if you have a plan that offers free calling to select numbers.

The trick is to add your Google Voice number to your list of free numbers, then have everyone call your Google Voice number. From your mobile provider's perspective it will look like only one person ever calls you and since that number is part of your plan, voila, no more worrying about how many minutes you've used.

As I embark on my Google Voice trial, I'll keep you all posted on how it works out. 

Health Care Reform with a Republican Senator in Massachusetts

Scott Brown-R won the U.S. Senate seat left unoccupied by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. The state campaign, usually a slam dunk for democrats, turned national with the impending health care legislation.

Essentially, the democrats in the Senate do not believe they can pass the legislation without 60 seats, which would prevent Republicans from filibustering.

No matter what you're feelings are about health care reform, it has to seem odd for anyone that a political party cannot work with a 18-seat majority.

As Jon Stewart of The Daily Show acknowledges (eventually) in the following clip from Monday night, President George Bush never had more than a nine-seat majority, yet passed at least 22 pieces of legistlation, including the PATRIOT and Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Acts.



Here's what the Wall Street Journal had to say on its front pages today:

Health Care, Jobs Lay Behind Stunning Upset Economy, Health Turned Tables

The Democrats' stunning loss of Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat raises a host of intriguing questions, but they can be boiled down to one: How did it come to this—in Massachusetts of all places?

There's no simple answer, of course, because the Massachusetts saga, like so much of what has happened over the past two years, suggests that strange and unpredictable currents continue to run through America's political waters.

But much of the explanation of Republicans' Massachusetts miracle surely lies in two giant factors: an economy that is largely beyond Democrats' control, and a failure to close out a health-care debate that certainly has been within their control. Those two dominant forces were compounded by some underappreciated local factors, and garden-variety campaign stumbles by failed Democratic candidate Martha Coakley.

Political analyses often walk straight past the most obvious answer on their way to more exotic ones, and that's a danger here. Any analysis has to start with the simple fact that the economy is in bad shape—and is widely seen as being in even worse shape than it probably is. Democrats, as the party in power, are paying a huge price for that. Significantly, the Massachusetts campaign may come to represent the event that showed their ability to lay the blame on the previous Republican administration is nearing its end.

"In a different political environment, this race wouldn't even have been competitive," said Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster who surveyed Massachusetts for his party.

It's hard for voters to feel good about the party in power amid the pain of 10% official unemployment, and an effective jobless rate (counting those who have given up looking) that may be closer to 17%.

Worse for Democrats, the process of fighting back against those kinds of economic problems has prompted a revving up of the government machinery, which has played into a populist impulse among independent voters, from Massachusetts to California, that the government was simply getting more expensive while its citizens were forced to cut back in their own lives.

Continue Reading

Dog Gone Temps Provide Another Reason to Follow Ryan Staffing on Facebook

You can now view all our Dog-Gone Temp graphics in one place, the Ryan Staffing Facebook page. And that's just one reason to follow us on the social networking site.

We recently set up a Facebook fan page in order to provide our clients, job seekers and current employees another way to view our content, which includes company information, human resource news, business news and employment opportunities.

Because Facebook has been growing in popularity in recent years and because of its functionality, we made the decision to expand to the medium.

You may be thinking that enough is enough. You may already have an account on Twitter and an account LinkedIn to keep up with business contacts. Believe me, I understand the headaches all this networking can bring.

But Facebook is by far the easiest social networking site. And it can do the most. You can follow comments just like Twitter. You can view the content we post on our blog. You can keep up with old friends and business contacts. It brings all the advantages of the other social networking sites into one.

So click here to view our Dog-Gone Temps photo album and click here to become our Fan.

'News You Can Use' Gets a Face Lift

Welcome to News You Can Use 2.0 (for those who clicked the link in our newsletter). We decided to start off on a fresh slate with the new year. The idea is to have a more functional and efficient newsletter while working with our blog.

We'll post the introductions to our articles in the newsletter and allow you the opportunity to visit the entire article on our blog.

It'll work sort of like this...

There will be a "Continue Reading" link that takes a reader here, The Corner Stool, as you may already know.

This allows us to keep our newsletters short for the casual reader, while providing an extension option.

Because we can track when a newsletter's link gets clicked, we will be able to tell who is reading what article. This way, we can curb our content to what our readers like.

Here on the blog, our readers can also post comments.

So let us know what you think of the new format. Post a comment here at the bottom of the blog. 

Oh, I have one more issue to address. I'd like to wish every one a happy new year from Ryan Alternative Staffing.

Tim's Talking About Health Care Reform, Insurance Costs and the Latest ASA Index Reports

I’ll be honest.  I have no idea how Health Care Reform will impact the staffing industry.  

I can see the demand for temps skyrocketing as companies shift to transitional workforces to save money.  It’s also possible that employers will see less differentiation in cost between temps and perms and elect to build their own work force.  

One thing I know for sure is that until all 2000 plus pages are digested and analyzed nobody knows the real impact Health Care Reform will have on our economy.

Personally, I’m not a fan of more government in my life.  I don’t believe reform will save money or improve quality.  It will continue this countries slide towards full blown socialism which has been going on for at least the past 75 years. 

But that just me.  Now it’s your turn.

Please take a few minutes to answer this month’s survey on Health Care Reform.  I promise to share the results with both of our Ohio Senators.

Insurance Costs

While I’ve never been a big believer in insurance, I do recognize it is something you must have.  Insurance is a lot like gambling.  You know the house is going to come out on top yet you still place the bet.  

Here is how I bet.

For the past 18 years I have gambled on high deductible catastrophic Health Insurance coverage.  My current coverage for my family looks like this:

Individual deductible         $10,000
Individual out of pocket     $17,500
Total out of pocket             $17,500

Family Deductible             $20,000
Family out of pocket          $15,000
Total out of pocket             $35,000

Lifetime benefit                  $6,000,000/person

These seem like huge numbers and they are much higher than most employer paid plans but don’t forget being self-employed means you’re paying 100% of the cost yourself.  

For this coverage I am currently paying about $2,700/year.  When you compare this to the $13,000/year cost of more traditional policies you can see that I’m saving $10,000/year . . .on insurance.

Over the years we’ve had our share of family medical expenses like most.  Fortunately we haven’t had a major medical experience.  But even if we had, the $17,500 to $35,000 out of pocket expense would be manageable because those insurance policy savings, over the years have been safely set aside for just that purpose.  

When you think about it, the maximum out of pocket expense is about the same as buying a new car . . .which most of us can find a way to do.  And despite what the doomsayers will have you believe a $6 million lifetime benefit is extremely rare to exceed.

The real kicker is that my approach which is commonly known as the Health Saving account approach is one of the things to be eliminated by Health Care Reform.  Go Figure.

Things Getting Better

The ASA staffing index for December 2009 increased to 87.  The index has been as low as 69 at the beginning of the year.

Temporary employment has increased 23% since July.  Increases in temporary employment have been indicators of economic growth coming out of past recessions.

Minimum Wage

Both Federal and Ohio minimum wage rates will remain unchanged in 2010.

Using the Recession to Get It Right....A Case Study in Do-Overs

Our company is called T/A Industries and we are an OEM supplier to the auto industry.  We manufacture a variety of plastic and vinyl parts.

As you can imagine business has not been good the past 18 months.  But we are still here.  Over half of our pre-recession workforce was laid off.

Our volume is starting to pick up and we have already called back to work those laid off workers that we determined were good employees.  It would appear that we have enough work for about 25 additional workers for at least the next 3 months.  After that it’s a crap shoot.  By the way, my name is Roger Dorn and I am the Plant Manager.

Because of the uncertainty involved we are planning to utilize a staffing service to supply our needs.  We have utilized temps in the past with mixed success.  Turnover and no-shows were the biggest problems.  Our goal is to learn from our past experiences and develop a plan to make transitional employees a better fit with our permanent staff.  If we can make it work transitional staffing will become a permanent part of our business plan.

The positions to be staffed by temps aren’t glamorous. .  . but what is in our business.  They involve repetitive operation of machinery, lifting up to 50 pounds and being on your feet eight hours a day.  Our facility is clean and well organized but it does get hot in the summer.  We are close to a bus line but most of our staff drive their own cars to work.  We like to think that this is a good place to work and that there are good reasons why we’ve been around over fifty years.  Here is our list that we’ve developed to use in partnering with our soon to be staffing supplier:

1. Our provider must have prior experience supplying personnel of the type we need in the required numbers.  We plan to check two client references.
2. The staffing company will be asked to present a detailed recruiting plan to show us how they plan to recruit qualified people to staff our plant.  We will be looking for creative ideas above and beyond the typical newspaper add,  state job service, etc. approach.   Job boards, social networking sites, referral programs are the types of things that interest us.
3. Because we work multiple shifts and some Saturdays we will need a service that has staff available during non-traditional office hours.
4. Turnover and no-shows of temps has been a big problem in the past.  The supplier must be able to provide a plan that will minimize these issues.  Having a person on-site to help with certain administrative tasks and to be available to meet with the temps will be required.
5. We will be requiring that all temps have a criminal background check done.  Our goals are to keep convicted felons with drug issues and violent crimes out of our facility.
6. A six panel pre-employment drug test will be required for all temps prior to starting work.  In addition we require our service supplier to conduct monthly random drug tests of their people.  Hopefully this will make everyone safer.
7. Prior work experience in a manufacturing environment will be required.  We know that temps are not always the cream of the crop but they should have some idea of the type of work they will be asked to do.  At some point we may ask our supplier to conduct pre-employment plant tours so candidates can actually see the jobs and the facility.  At the very least we will require the staffing service operations person (not a sales rep) to visit our plant and see first hand the jobs involved and the physical requirements needed.
8. Time is valuable to us.  As a result we want to utilize the services of a staffing company that embraces technology.  Such things as utilizing electronic communications, an inter-active web site that allow us to track orders, invoices, usage etc., on-line transmission of hours worked and payment of invoices are all examples of time saving technology.
9. Cost factors are always going to be an important consideration.  Our supplier of choice must be sensitive to the bottom line.  We will look for such things as reduced overtime bill rates, discounting of long term temps, and no liquidation charges for hiring a temp.  Credits for temps that no show for work or that can’t perform the job will be expected.
10. We’re not a company that is big on meetings.  That being said, we will work to establish a feedback program with our supplier so that they know what we would like them to do better and for them to let us know how we can make things better . . . that win-win thing.

It’s not often that you get an opportunity for a do-over.  These ten objectives are our “temp staffing” do-over and hopefully as our business recovers and our need for labor increases we can make our “temp” experience more productive than before.  I’ll let you know how we do.                        

-- Roger Dorn, Plant Manger
T/A Industries

PCHRA January Meeting

Employers Cut 85,000 Jobs

The unemployment rate held steady about 10 percent last month, but 85,000 jobs were cut in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Nov. 2009 numbers were readjusted, showing the first increase of jobs since the recession started two years ago. But unemployment remains the political issue heading into the year's mid-term elections.

So it's not all bad news heading into a new decade.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, employment losses averaged 69,000 per month, compared to job losses of 691,000 a month in the first quarter of last year, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Employment in construction fell by 53,000 in December, while manufacturing jobs fell by 27,000. Temporary help services added 47,000 jobs in December and health care employment continued to increase, by 22,000.
Ahead of the release, analysts warned against reading too much into one piece of data.

"The number, as reported, is revised no less than three times, often showing a final number that bears little resemblance to the originally reported figures" said Dan Greenhaus, chief economist at Miller Tabak & Co. to the Wall Street Journal.

Continue Reading at WSJ.com

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Manufacturing Up, But Jobs Still Down

World wide manufacturing is up, reported the Wall Street Journal today.

The article focused on growth in the U.S. too, citing the Institute for Supply Managment's most recent report that stated purchasing rose to the highest level since April 2006.

One of the big boys, General Electric, recently announced big orders for avionics, wind and power turbines, the article stated.

But with all that good news, job growth is not expected. Economist polled by the Down Jones Newswires estimated 10,000 jobs were lost last month, though that total is the fewest in two years. The official total will be announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Wall Street Journal

Alzheimer's Benefit Seeks More Sponsors

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

- T.S. Eliot

And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine!
And we will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago!

- "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns translated

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Ryan Staffing is looking for co-sponsors for a Feb. 12 event to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. 

A new case of Alzheimer's pops up every 70 seconds in the United States. It's the sixth leading cause of death in the country, according to the Alzheimer's Association.


A Dance to Remember will be held at Kuzman's event hall in Girard. For information, e-mail Susan Ryan.