Where's the Buzz?

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Our technology editor reports from the floor of internet World on Customized cars, customer care, storm chasing roofers, and more.

Two days into Spring Internet World Los Angeles, it's clear if you're looking for excitement you should try next door at the Staples Center, where the Backstreet Boys concerts have drawn hordes of teenyboppers. The trade-show floor on Friday is still markedly missing the kind of noise and outrageous stunts that characterized the Internet boom a year or two ago. No infrastructure startups are trying to make a hit with a Back-end Database Boys concert in its booth every two hours. Oh sure, there's still a short skirt here and a Raiderette cheerleader there, but there aren't any idiots offering fresh $50 bills to anyone who would put on a dot-com T-shirt and walk the floor. Still, some things are making a splash.

When your customers want to talk to a real person instead of a reasonable facsimile of one, Callbutton may be of assistance. It's a new application that lets you add a button to your Website so customers can enter their phone numbers and receive a call back when they want help or are ready to make a complex purchase. I've seen this sort of thing before and was ready to write it off as a good idea that would likely result in a lot of bad leads and wasted time until I learned that they can insert the button on your site dynamically. So when a customer appears to be having trouble filling out a form or a visitor's reached the end of a demo, the call button can be inserted, targeting worthwhile calls. Callbutton's small business version is $149 for setup, $79 a month, and $.75-$1 a call. You can try an individual user version first for much less to see if it works for your Website.

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Lidsky, David - (2001, March 15) Where's the Buzz? - FSB.com