Understand Your Rights. Solve Your Legal Problems
Business relationships, just like any other relationship in life, have their ups and downs. A partnership can start with a close friendship and similar visions and goals for their business, but as the business evolves, partners will start facing differences and decisions that set them apart. That’s why no matter how strong a partnership is, disputes are bound to happen and when they do, you should be prepared and know how to resolve the issues.
This article will discuss some of the most common reasons for partnership disputes and ways to resolve them.
Financial disputes are one of the top causes of partnership disagreements. Many business attorneys who represent warring former partners observe that these disputes often arise from day-to-day management of the company, such as how money should be used or allocated, or when a partner starts mixing personal expenses and errands with business ones. The disputes always worsen when the company undergoes financial difficulties, as the question of each partner’s liabilities and profit distribution will turn into a disagreement if it is not clearly stated in the partnership agreement. This can end up causing legal disputes between the two partners, which can end up destroying the partnership and the business.
To avoid these disputes, it is very important to make clear the ownership rules from the start. This includes clear indication of how much time and effort each person is putting in and how much he or she is getting in salary as a reflection of that work; having details of the profit distribution covered in the partnership agreement; and enforcing tighter controls of money disbursements and expenditures by having both partners approve expenses before payment.
Financial disputes are one of the top causes of partnership disagreements.
Intellectual property is another sensitive subject that often leads to partnership disputes. These disputes will usually revolve around a partner making the case that he or she owns the intellectual property that the company is using, and the company claims that the intellectual property belongs to the company as an entity and not to any individual partner. Legally speaking, if an individual owns the intellectual property (IP) but allows the company to use it without documenting it, the individual might risk losing their IP rights and the court can rule that the IP belongs to the company.
To prevent such disputes from happening, the IP owner should take steps to show that they own the rights by having clear documentation from the start. If a dispute, then results in these rights, the IP owner can revoke the company’s license. This documentation and implemented rules will help prevent unforeseen issues down the road.
Another type of dispute that often takes place in a business partnership is each party’s authority in the company. Usually, each partner will be in charge of specific areas. For example, one will handle the company operations, while the other overlooks the company’s financial matters. Without a clear separation of duties, partners can overstep their boundaries and believe their ideas are the best, without respecting the other person’s expertise. One partner may think it is important to spend more money on marketing, while the other insists on improving production and unit cost. These disagreements can delay company processes, and hinder a company’s performance and growth potential.
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It is crucial to draw a line on the areas of authority and set a chain of command to ensure everyone respects and follows these rules. This will sometimes require you to sit down with your partners from the start and decide who will make what decisions.
Once a company reaches a certain level of development, partners may have differing ideas on how to take the company to the next level. One partner may want to invite foreign investment or pursue M&A opportunities, while others want to keep it strictly domestic or family-owned. These disagreements on the direction of the business can be serious and change the company’s future completely. There is no good way to prevent it except for discussing it thoroughly with your partner in different case scenarios, evaluating the risks and opportunities for each direction, and making the decision together.
Just as a married couple that goes through difficulties and ends up finding a divorce attorney to resolve their issues, sometimes partnership disputes also have to seek professional advice as the parties cannot resolve the differences by themselves. To prevent a fall-out in a business partnership, it is most important to maintain an open and frank dialogue with your partners from the start on issues of authority, money distribution, ownership rules, and rights to intellectual property. Minimizing the possibilities of disputes is the best way to ensure a business will run smoothly and successfully.
As an American, it is your right to own and carry a gun. Carrying a weapon also comes with responsibilities and consequences if you are ever forced to defend yourself. There is a general misconception that using your firearm for self-defence is entirely legal. However, there can be complicated charges and legal issues that come from using your weapon, even for self-defense.
Using your firearm could result in serious charges. Liability lawsuits or criminal charges are a reality for anyone that uses their gun for self-defence. Knowing what actions to take and having the funds to pay for a legal defense aren’t things that most gun owners are prepared for. This is where CCW insurance becomes an important factor.
Although gun insurance isn’t required by law, it’s a smart idea for all gun owners to look into the protection that a CCW policy can give them. Accidents happen, and situations can get out of control in a hurry, and having the protection of insurance for CCW can protect you and your interests. Let’s look at a few reasons why all gun owners should invest in CCW Insurance.
You are subject to legal responsibilities any time that you fire your weapon, even if it is in self-defence. This means that if you fire your weapon under any circumstances, you could be charged with a crime. You could also be sued by family members of the person that you shot in a civil case that could cost you a fortune. Your gun could be stolen and used in a crime, resulting in you being charged and required to prove that you weren’t involved.
There are many circumstances where firing your gun could result in legal trouble. With CCW insurance, you will be protected and assisted through any legal procedures. Your bail will be paid and your legal fees will be covered. It’s important to know what type of CCW insurance you have to ensure that your legal fees will be covered even if you are convicted.
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Not all lawyers are specialised to deal with self-defense shooting cases. When you invest in a CCW insurance policy you will be dealing with legal experts. Attorneys that have dealt with thousands of self-defense gun cases will be at your disposal and work as your dedicated advocates. The legal aspects of a civilian firing a weapon in self-defence are complex and need to be handled by expert attorneys.
Anyone that has ever had to go to court knows that legal expenses can be outrageous. When you are dealing with a self-defence weapons case, you are looking at serious legal bills including bail and attorney retainers. With a CCW insurance policy, you will be compensated for all of your costs. You won’t have to worry about not being able to afford the right defence and depending on your policy you may even get money back for any time that you have lost from work because of your legal obligations and appointments.
Having a CCW policy can help to ease the stressful aftermath of a self-defence shooting. Anyone that is forced to use their weapon has to deal with serious feelings of anxiety, guilt, and anger. Having a CCW policy can not only help you with your legal expenses and give you more protection from liability claims, but it can also give you valuable peace of mind that you are not alone.
If you are a gun owner, it is in your best personal and financial interest to find a CCW policy that fits your needs. A CCW policy will protect you legally, provide you with expert representation, cover your legal expenses and give you the peace of mind that you deserve.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there are more than 42 million visits to the emergency room each year and almost 84 million visits to doctors due to injuries. If you were in a crash and you sustained an injury that warranted a visit to the doctor, you may want to consider hiring an attorney.
Have you been in a car accident and you weren’t at fault? These six signs may indicate that a lawyer is necessary.
If your injury is serious enough that you are unable to work, hiring an attorney may be critical. The insurance company will more than likely base your compensation on how serious your injuries are, which means they may try to make it appear that your injuries are not serious. An attorney will fight for your rights under the law to get you the compensation that your injuries warrant.
A permanent or disabling injury is definitely one that requires a personal injury attorney. If you are disabled or you have other long-term healthcare requirements, compensation may include lost future wages, future medical care, and loss of companionship. Getting that type of compensation can be complicated, which is why you need to talk to an attorney about your injuries.
Cars are made up of many mechanical parts and, when one of those parts fails, the results can be devastating. If your accident was caused due to a defective mechanical part, you will be filing a claim against the manufacturer.
If your injury is serious enough that you are unable to work, hiring an attorney may be critical.
Keep in mind that car manufacturers have in-house attorneys whose job it is to fight claims just like yours. You will want an attorney who has experience fighting big manufacturers in order to get you adequate compensation.
Insurance companies are often not willing to pay claims, as their main goal is to protect their own bottom line. They may offer you an extremely low settlement, or they may deny your claim completely. When these things happen, you need to talk to an attorney before agreeing to anything the insurance company offers to be sure you are not being short-changed.
If the insurance company tries to deny your claim, you will need an attorney who will fight to get you what you are entitled to receive.
There is a chance that it is not clear that the other driver is at fault, or there may have been more than one other vehicle involved. In some states, if you are found to be even a small amount at fault, your compensation must be reduced by that percentage.
Other states have legislation that does not allow you to collect at all if you are found to be at fault. If there is any question about fault, you want to contact an attorney.
If the accident involved someone who was driving under the influence, it is very important that you talk to an attorney. Driving under the influence is a serious offense in every state, and the person who caused your accident could be facing imprisonment.
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In most cases, a driver who is under the influence is found to be at fault and will be responsible for compensation for your injuries. However, you will want an attorney who has experience dealing with drunk driving cases.
If you have been injured in an accident and any of these scenarios relate to what you are dealing with, you can talk to a car accident lawyer for free. An attorney can answer your questions and give you an estimate of your case’s value.
EIP's George James and Monika Rai, European Patent Attorney and Partner, offer Lawyer Monthly their insights into the patent landscape of microbes and food.
Microbes present in food and drink, which have a functional effect on the health of the digestive tract, are popular with consumers and common on supermarket shelves. These products include those containing specific beneficial microbes (probiotics) and those containing ingredients that promote the growth and maintenance of healthy gut microbes (prebiotics).
Products such as kefir have recently seen a surge in popularity as consumers become more conscious of the benefits of maintaining a healthy microbiome. This is reflected by patent filing trends, where the number of patent families worldwide containing the word “kefir” boomed in 2016.
To investigate recent trends (2009-2019) in the microbes in food and drink landscape, we searched online patents databases, using the search and analytics tool Patently®. As an initial strategy, we focused on patent classification codes relating to probiotics and prebiotics in food that have a functional effect on the health, including humans and animals. Our initial search encompassed a broad range of products from probiotic pet food for small dogs[1] to probiotic supplements for metabolic health[2]
Our search highlighted that most top offices, including the European Patent Office (EPO), have not seen an acceleration in filing activity for food probiotics and prebiotics between 2009-2019. Conversely, China (CN) has seen a definitive increase in such filings, suggesting that they are currently at the forefront of such research, perhaps replacing the US.
Indeed, the number of probiotics and prebiotics patent families has seen a general increase worldwide, likely due to the recent surge in Chinese filings over the last 5 years.
Further analysis indicates that more patent applications in this field are concluding in grant by patent offices in the US and at the EPO, as compared to cases being granted in China, for example. However, many of the applications more recently filed in China will likely still be undergoing examination, thus China could soon see a large increase in the number of granted applications.
We next performed a targeted search to investigate filings relating to probiotics beneficial to the digestive system and dairy products. Some of the world’s largest nutrition companies appear to be dominating this field. Ownership analysis of our data indicates that French multinational Danone, along with its subsidiary Nutricia, appear to be leading the way; each holding a significant number of patent families. Danone’s position is perhaps unsurprising, considering the popularity of its probiotic products Actimel® and Activia®.
Similarly to our broader search, analysis of our probiotics in dairy data also revealed that the EPO is a top office for granting applications in this field from 2009-2019, outperforming the US.
We identified over 70 European patents specifically directed towards dairy products containing living probiotic bacteria that have an effect on the digestive tract, which protect compositions, bacterial strains and uses thereof in treating disorders and maintaining a healthy gut. For example, see Danone’s patent for a fermented dairy product comprising a Streptococcus thermophilus strain, for increasing or maintaining a Faecalibacterium prausnitzii population, the most abundant bacterium in the intestine of a healthy adult, which plays a vital role in the gut microbiota[3].
Probiotics are also now frequently found in dried foods such as cereal and muesli, and some patents and applications identified in our above searches overlap with these food groups. Despite the growing demand, a targeted search identified very few patents specifically directed towards probiotics in cereal and muesli, suggesting that this remains a relatively nascent area for patenting.
Many product/composition claims granted by the EPO in this field are restricted to a specific deposited microbial strain[4] unless breadth of protection has been achieved by also claiming mutants of specific deposited strains in combination with a functional requirement. For applicants seeking protection before the EPO for such inventions, specific provisions relating to biological deposits must be complied with.
At the EPO, claims that cover methods of medical treatment or therapy are excluded from patentability under Article 53(c) EPC[5], even if the invention also has non-therapeutic effects. However, where these effects can be properly distinguished and the therapeutic effect is not inevitable, a method claim may be allowed. In some cases, it is not possible to distinguish between therapeutic and non-therapeutic effects and it would be preferable to frame the method in terms of a “product for use”, to avoid objections. Our specialist European Patent Attorneys have significant experience of advising on patent strategies in this field.
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[1] EP3554268 A1 by Nestle seeking protection for a method of increasing amino acid absorption in a small dog
[2] PCT application WO2020084051 A1 by Novozymes
[3] EP3394294 B1 claiming Streptococcus thermophilus CNCM I-3862 and a fermented dairy product comprising the same.
[4] Danone’s patent EP3394294 B1 (also discussed above) claiming a Streptococcus thermophilus strain deposited at the CNCM under reference number I-3862.
[5] Danone’s patent EP3166619 B1 claiming “Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM 1-3689, for use in treating an Enterococcus faecalis infection in the intestinal microbiota of a subject having an antibiotic-induced dysbiosis.”
With increasing numbers of drivers on the road, traffic accidents - including those involving trucks - are increasing year after year. While no one ever envisions themselves being involved in a collision with a truck, accidents do happen. Even if you consider yourself to be a safe driver, there is no accounting for how other road users will behave. Considering the size of the vehicles, the damage that a crash can do is shocking and has the potential to result in serious injuries that can change your life. If you find yourself the victim of such an incident, it's important to find a specialised truck accident lawyer to represent you and fight your case.
However, finding truck crash lawyers with the right credentials can be easier said than done. For a novice, the whole process can feel highly confusing. If you hope to receive adequate compensation, then it's worth investing the time and effort to find a reputable lawyer that you can rely on. To help you choose a good lawyer, here are a few factors to consider:
When it comes to truck accident cases, you need to find an attorney who has experience in these matters. The first thing you should be asking is how long the lawyer has been practicing. The more experience they have, the more likely they’ll be to handle your case well. Truck accident cases are known for being complex, so having someone by your side who understands the nuances of the law will be a great asset.
Once you start your search, you’ll see there are many lawyers that claim they can do the job. The only way to validate these claims is to look for references. It’s wise to speak to people who have been in the same position, as they can help recommend a lawyer. If you have any friends or family in the legal sector, it is worth asking if they have any reliable contacts that may be able to handle the case.
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You’ll want to hire a lawyer that can communicate well, but not just in court. It is important to find a lawyer that communicates your case to you in straightforward terms, rather than overwhelming you with legal jargon.
A very important consideration when looking for a truck crash lawyer is the fees involved. Thankfully, you’ll find that most attorneys in this area of law offer services on a contingency basis. This means that you owe nothing unless they win your case. Generally speaking, they’ll take a percentage of your payout upon the victory in your case. Shop around and compare prices before committing.
Being involved in a truck accident is something we hope will never happen to you, but if it does, it’s important to know what to look for when hiring a lawyer. While winning the case won’t necessarily override the trauma you’ve experienced, the compensation you may receive can assist you when it comes to covering medical expenses and getting on with your life.
When you put an aging or ill family member into care, you expect the facility to take better care of them than you can yourself. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. If you suspect nursing home abuse and are not sure what to do next, read on. It may be in your best interest to take the following steps.
Before requesting the help of a law firm, find out as much as you can from the family member in the nursing home you believe is being abused. As gently as you can, ask questions about injuries you can see, and ask if anyone has been treating them in a way they do not like. If your loved one is extremely ill and unable to clearly provide the answers you require, it might be time to dig a little deeper.
If you have noticed any signs of infections, malnutrition, bedsores, agitation, or anything else out of the ordinary, talk to nursing home staff about what you have seen. It is important not to jump to conclusions, as not all seemingly common signs of abuse are as straightforward as they seem. If you cannot get the answers you are looking for, or no member of the nursing staff can or will shed light on what you have noticed, take the issue higher up to nursing management.
If you notice clear signs of elder abuse, regardless of whether your loved one has or can speak out about it, take notes and gather evidence that reinforces your belief. If your family member consents, take photos of any injuries you can see.
It can also be worth writing notes of things you notice in the facility that do not seem right to you. Where possible, write down the names and job positions of people you have spoken to.
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There may be no doubt in your mind that your loved one is being abused or neglected in a nursing home facility. For their safety and the safety of all other care home residents, call the police to file a complaint. They may deem it appropriate to intervene or recommend contacting the National Center on Elder Abuse.
All nursing homes must provide the contact information of the local ombudsman. By calling them, you can make sure that your concerns are thoroughly investigated and not swept under the rug. At this point, you may also like to consider relocating your loved one to a facility you believe will care for them well.
As common as elder abuse is, it does not make it right. Once you have taken the appropriate steps within the facility, it may be time to contact a nursing home abuse lawyer. They can advise you of your rights while also ensuring that your loved one receives the compensation they deserve for their neglect or abuse.
It can be heartbreaking to realise that the very care home you put your family member into to be safe is the same one that is causing them to be unsafe. If you notice any strange injuries or changes in behaviour, do not be afraid to take action.
International law firm DLA Piper has launched a six-year apprenticeship programme aimed at training school-leavers to become qualified solicitors.
The new apprenticeship will commence from September 2021 and be based in DLA Piper’s Manchester office. It will offer school-leavers the opportunity to earn while working towards a law degree and the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).
The apprenticeship will comprise four days of on-the-job work experience and one day allocated for study each week, the firm has stated. Apprentices will rotate through DLA’s practice groups and sectors for 6- and 12-month periods, with client and international secondment opportunities to become available as they progress.
Upon completion of the programme, apprentices will qualify as solicitors with a level 7 degree apprenticeship.
DLA Piper has yet to publicly reveal details of its SQE training partner. Also notable is that the new solicitor apprenticeship will run in parallel to the firm’s existing training contract scheme, which focuses on graduates.
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Earlier this year, DLA Piper announced an update to its diversity and inclusion goals. The firm intends to reach a global female partnership of at least 35% by 2025, building on its present 21% female partnership. It expects to double this to 40% by 2030.
Many British citizens find their partners in life overseas. Some meet their partners through family and friends and some meet by chance during an overseas trip. Some find happiness through dating apps. Many British men travel to where their partner lives and decide to get married there.
However, they cannot take their spouse back to the UK without a visa. There are several steps to securing a spouse visa. To help you understand the process, here are important information and the steps on how to apply for a spouse visa in the UK, so you and your loved one can start a new life together in your home country.
A UK spouse visa, which is also called a UK marriage visa, allows the marriage partner of a UK citizen to enter and live with their partner legally in the UK. The UK spouse should be a person legally settled in the UK or a British citizen.
The UK spouse visa allows the marriage partner of a British citizen to study or work in the UK. The spouse can study or work upon receipt of the visa and the person is already in the country.
It is possible to apply for a UK spouse visa while still overseas or already in the country. If you are already in the UK on a student visa, work visa, or fiancé visa valid for over six months, it is possible to switch to a spouse visa if you are married to a British citizen.
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There are several requirements you must meet to qualify for a UK spouse visa.
The UK spouse visa application processing time usually takes two to twelve weeks after submission of the application. However, the processing time will vary according to the country where the application is submitted.
If the application came from overseas, the validity of the visa is for 33 months. If an applicant is already in the UK, the visa is valid for 30 months.
What you see here are the general requirements that the applicant for the UK spouse visa should meet. The process includes many details. To ensure that your application follows all the guidelines, it is advisable to work with an experienced immigration solicitor.
One of the products of these technological advancements is dialing tools. In terms of speed, the mere fingers of humans aren’t going to cut it when the name of the game is productivity. Auto and preview diallers assist call centres in dialling the correct numbers and figuring out who to call. So, which one is right for you or your organization?
This article will review the following to determine which solution suits you best: what auto-diallers and preview diallers share in common, and the differences between the two dialing tools. This will also look at the benefits of each solution, as well as each dialler's use cases.
What are the available strategies for boosting sales? When thinking of expanding your business or company, that’s probably the question that comes to your mind.
Any call centre's regular task involves generating leads, nurturing them, and then converting them into customers or clients. Of course, excellent communication with the customer is one of the things that play an essential role in lead conversion. To achieve that task, you need the most appropriate outbound dialler.
Automating calls with dialler software also eliminates various mundane tasks, apart from making excellent communication possible and maintaining it. Call agents don’t have to perform the following anymore when using either an auto-dialer or preview dialler:
Automated solutions, like diallers, act as the brain of your call process even though they can never replace your agents. Auto-diallers and preview diallers help your representatives focus more on maintaining excellent communication by removing their repetitive tasks.
Auto and preview diallers assist call centres in dialling the correct numbers and figuring out who to call.
There’s no such thing as a fully automated system for call centres yet. The closest thing that a call centre management can get in terms of automation is dialler technology. The end goal of this tool is an industrial level of productivity.
Success in call centres depends on how many contact numbers agents can dial. Taking the back seat is personalisation and the ability to perform additional research. That’s why dialing systems rely on the principle or idea that probability will triumph over precision.
It’s pretty clear why fully automating the call center process isn’t possible. A robot can’t respond to a complete range of scenarios appropriately. That’s in the event the lead or customer picks up. However, you can’t be sure what most people will do after realising that they’ve received a call from a recorded message.
There are several significant differences between an auto-dialler and a preview dialer despite both tools helping streamline the dialing process. To understand their differences, you need to take a closer look at each system, their benefits, and who are the most suitable to use each software.
An auto-dialler is a dialling system that makes automatic dialling of numbers possible. The user of the software only needs to upload the list of prospects and immediately start the campaign. Every time a call is picked up, the auto-dialler either connects it to an agent or plays a recorded message.
Success in call centres depends on how many contact numbers agents can dial.
The sequence of the contact list you’ve uploaded is what the auto-dialler will follow once it starts making the calls. It connects the call to any representative available, without missing any single contact. If the dialled number moves to voicemail when unanswered, the agent can then choose to drop it. An auto-dialler saves an agent time by eliminating the need to dial prospects’ numbers manually or recording a voicemail for every unanswered call.
Note that an auto-dialler also gives users the option to activate cool-off time. It’s a handy feature, especially for agents that need to make notes of their previous call before starting a new conversation with another contact. Despite giving users sufficient cool-off time, an auto-dialler can still make up to 80 successful dials every hour.
In this challenging time of the pandemic, cloud-based auto-diallers are also already available. Agents can work from remote locations using such systems.
The following are the benefits that auto-diallers bring to the table for their users:
The primary goal of call centres is to maintain interaction with customers or clients.
In a remote working scenario, auto-dialling systems can be beneficial. They’re also ideal for small support teams. Agents will attend to a single call at a time since there’s only one line needed.
Small to medium-sized businesses can benefit from auto-dialling software in terms of operational and sales efficiency. However, taking maximum advantage of the tool isn’t only limited to business organisations. A single agent or an entrepreneur can also reap its benefits.
Auto-diallers work best for organisations that want to make their communication with clients more personalised and meaningful. Companies can also ensure that individual notes from calls are logged in and saved correctly because auto-dialing software integration with a CRM system is possible.
A preview dialing system is actually an auto-dialler itself. It’s just that before dialing the number, it can make agents aware of essential customer information. Simply saying, before the dialler places the call, an agent can see some vital details about the prospect or client.
A preview dialler gives agents an option to either allow the software to dial the number or skip it based on the information that pops up. This tool makes the outbound calling strategy more result-oriented. It also saves so much agent time.
Another advantage of using preview diallers is the time it provides to agents to prepare, allowing them to give the most accurate solution to every prospect or customer. It helps your representatives communicate with clients in the best way possible because they have the right insights about the person on the other line.
Auto-diallers work best for organisations that want to make their communication with clients more personalised and meaningful.
The following are the benefits that preview diallers bring to the table for their users:
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Blended call centres’ agents and managers can benefit from preview diallers. In these environments, agents have more information on what their customers need, and this data provides them with the necessary insights for more successful conversion.
The use of preview dialing software is the most ideal when you have guided a list of hot leads down your sales funnel. Use a preview dialler if you’re not willing to lose any of them.
One can’t say that one is better than the other when comparing these two dialing tools. It depends on the organisation or a call centre’s situation.
Preview diallers are inefficient when used to deal with a brand new list of leads that requires an initial dial-through. Use an auto-dialler that’s built for speed and efficiency instead, because connecting with prospects will take too much time if you dial numbers one by one. However, turn your prospective customers over to a preview dialler’s care once you’ve already come up with a robust list of leads. Doing so will allow you to take back control, keep yourself informed before dialing, and lose the abandoned calls.
Generally, aspects to consider when choosing between an auto-dialler and a preview dialler are your team’s size and the nature of the calls that your organisation is making. Of course, you should also consider your brand’s recognisability and the amount of personalisation you want for each prospect or client.
No matter what dialing technology you choose, one thing is for sure: they can significantly improve your call centre’s calling efficiency. Diallers make your team an unstoppable force, especially when paired with monitoring tools and powerful reporting.
The European Parliament has backed the Brexit trade and security deal, a key step in ensuring that tariff- and quota-free trade between the UK and EU continues.
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), which has been operating provisionally since January, was approved with 660 MEPs in favour and 5 against, with 32 abstentions. However, in an accompanying resolution the chamber described the 23 June 2016 Brexit referendum result as a “historic mistake”.
Lord Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, said that the vote “brings certainty and allows us to focus on the future”.
Michel Barnier, Lord Frost’s opposite number in the Brexit negotiations, was less enthusiastic. "This is a divorce. It is a warning, Brexit. It's a failure of the European Union and we have to learn lessons from it," he told the European Parliament.
The deal does not address all the tensions that remain in the wake of Brexit. Northern Ireland trade remains covered under a separate protocol defining it as part of the EU’s single market, meaning that goods shipped to the country from the UK must undergo Eu checks.
While the TCA covers trade in goods between the UK and the Eu, it does not cover services – which make up the bulk of the UK economy. Other areas not covered by the TCA include foreign policy, financial services and student exchanges.
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The UK’s exit from the EU at the start of the year prompted a record loss in trade between the two blocs, with UK exports to the continent falling by 40.7% and imports falling by 28.8% in January. Though trade volumes have since increased, they remain below pre-Brexit levels.
