STI teams with Benchmark

Portal Atlanta-based STI Knowledge, Inc., a provider of business process outsourcing and enterprise support products, announced today a partnership with BenchmarkPortal, Inc. to help companies earn "Center of Excellence" certification for their customer service call centers. STI Knowledge experts, in partnership with BenchmarkPortal, will provide a benchmark analysis of customers' call centers compared to industry metrics and best practices. This third-party certification process, endorsed by Purdue University, evaluates key performance indicators against peer companies and industry standards. Once a customer meets these world-class performance standards, they earn the Center of Excellence certification that helps call centers establish credibility and value, while increasing customer service satisfaction.

Persuasive Games moves to area

Atlanta-based Persuasive Games, a developer of electronic games for public policy, education, and marketing, moved its North American headquarters to Atlanta from Newport Beach, Calif. Additionally, Persuasive Games announced the appointment of Principal Partner, Ian Bogost, to the faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology. In conjunction with the company's corporate move to midtown Atlanta, Bogost has been appointed to the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology, where he will serve as Assistant Professor of Literature, Communication, and Culture. Dr. Bogost will teach in the new Ph.D. program in Information Design and Technology (IDT), where he plans to focus on videogame design and rhetoric.

Leapfrog to help recycling effort

Atlanta-based Leapfrog Services, a provider of information technology infrastructure services, and the Bobby Dodd Institute, a provider of programs and services for people with disabilities, announced E-Scrap, a new program that gives Atlanta businesses an easy way to dispose of outdated computers, monitors, and other office equipment. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that over 500 million surplus computers will need to be disposed of by 2007. If not properly recycled, hazardous materials found in electronics, such as lead and mercury, can contaminate landfills and cause long-term damage to the environment. Companies that want to participate in the recycling program can visit the Leapfrog Web site at www.ribbit.net, and fill out a computer recycling request form. A representative of the Bobby Dodd Institute will contact them to arrange for pickup or drop off of their unwanted equipment. Many types of items can be disposed of at no charge, although there is a small fee for non working monitors and certain other office machines. A complete list of the items that can be recycled is listed on the Leapfrog Web site.

Wi-Fi conference planned

TechNet Training Center will sponsor the Second Annual Who's Who WiFi Conference. The conference, the first of its kind, will be held on Wednesday, Sept, 8, at the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology in downtown Atlanta. The one-day event look at what WiFi 802.11 is or is not, and explore what it can do for the home user as well as the enterprise-wide markets. The conference is open to the public. To register for the conference, call 770-455-4477.

Portatainment debuts Web site

Atlanta-based Michelle Johnston recently debuted Portatainment.com, a Web site containing information about portable entertainment. The site contains news reviews, info and special offers on all digital personal entertainment technologies. It also has information on how to care for digital equipment, and which MP3 download sites are the safest and most useful.

LXE, Wavelink team up

Norcross-based LXE Inc., a maker of wireless computers, announced support for Wavelink Avalanche, software for the centralized management of mobile devices. With this device management solution system administrators can easily establish configuration profiles for all of their data collection devices from a central console. Administrators can establish networking parameters, update software, change encryption keys and other radio settings, modify platform and BIOS parameters, and completely configure their LXE terminal emulation applications in one simple operation, without ever physically touching the device.

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