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Disclaimer: I am neither Pro-BJP and nor Pro-Congress. I believe that as educated citizens of the country we need to learn to look beyond personal biases and find the reality.I had been observing the Government’s work on job creation for past couple of years. They have introduced policies (like Mudra loan) and started movements (like Make in India) to assist people in earning a living.The intention seemed good. What was to be seen was the efficiency of implementation.So when the current report of 6.1% unemployment rate came out, it naturally raised my suspicion over the efficiency of implementation, but since it was clouded in controversy, it was important to put in some effort and find out more.I am adding some rare observation (and then my views) which might not have been known commonly about this allegedly ‘leaked’ report:It is mentioned that the data contains survey for the period July, 2017 - June, 2018.NSSO is supposed to collect this survey data and submit to NSC (National Statistical Commission). This report is then evaluated, verified and approved by the NSC before being released by the Government.Important to note that the report has not yet been released. It has been leaked by media claiming that it has been already approved by NSC and withheld by Government. So what we have is only partial figures from the report.The previous surveys were done in the following time periods:NSSO Survey Period: July, 2009 - June, 2010 [1]Release post NSC Approval: August, 2011Time taken for approval: 14 monthsNSSO Survey Period: July, 2011 - June, 2012[2]Release post NSC Approval: January, 2014Time taken for approval: 17 monthsSo historically, it takes NSC almost 1.5 years to approve and release the employment survey data.This time, however, the report is ready and approved just a couple of months after the survey period. Why? Improvement in efficiency of NSC or Loksabha election time?Moreover, the reports calculate different employment/unemployment rates using different reference period indicators:A reference period of 1 year gives: Usual Activity Status (The employment status of an individual during the entire year)A reference period of 1 week gives: Current Weekly Status (Week-to-week employment status of an individual for the year)A reference period of 1 day gives: Current Daily StatusThese statuses give different rates. As an example, from 2011–12 report:The unemployment rate using Usual Activity Status was 2.2%But, the unemployment rate using daily status in 2011–12 was 5.6%The current report does not even mention what activity status is being considered for arriving at 6.1% rate!Irrespective of the contents of this report, I would be viewing this with suspicion. Had it shown a dramatic decrease in unemployment rate, I would have suspected the Government. Obviously a lot of politics is being played over it.I think all we can do is to wait for (or demand) the full report and to understand the actual process of survey collection and verification.Footnotes[1] India - Employment and Unemployment, July 2009 - June 2010, 66th Round[2] http://mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/nss_report_554_31jan14.pdf

Short answer: Vicidial (officially titled “VICIDIAL” or sometimes “VICIdial” by its developers) is a call center suite specializing in predictive auto dialing and inbound call routing, featuring management, chat, full reporting, and email communication modules. Vicidial has been in active development for many years and has added several powerful features over that time, but perhaps its strongest strongest advantage is that it’s open source (AGPLv2 license), making Vicidial free to distribute and use. I’ve installed hundreds of Vicidial systems, and not one of these clients have had to pay the developers of Vicidial a penny for the software (though they sell a set of manuals which I strongly recommend).Longer answer…Vicidial is a Disruptive Steamroller Flattening the Proprietary Telemarketing Equipment IndustryWhen I was working as a lowly “IT guy” at a call center several years ago for a large call center in Las Vegas, Nevada, my duties included mostly fixing people’s access to email and rebooting one of the dozens of desktop computers installed across the many cubicles organized in long rows across two floors of agents. This particular call center focused on the timeshare industry. We were still in the grips of the Great Recession, so many of the employees were desperate for deals (and the commissions they added to their paychecks). At the center of it all (and the thing I wasn’t allowed to touch because it was so complex and expensive that it required a service contract that cost my employer thousands of dollars a month) was a propriety auto dialer system. It was huge, and I mean “huge” in the literal sense – it took up two racks in the server room and made more noise, when all its fans were spinning, than a jet at takeoff.It consisted of several boxes that looked a bit like this, but each was far bigger, and even more dated in appearance:When the system failed, and the people being paid the expensive service contract were quoting a fix of “several hours”, the commission-based employees who relied on the phone system to generate their paycheck practically rioted. This system cost well into the six-figures and now wasn’t making or taking calls (or making money). My boss implored me to find a solution – fast.I downloaded and installed vicidial onto a machine that looked like this:I’m not kidding. It was just some cheap piece of junk tower we had laying around. About an hour and a half later and it was making test calls using a VoIP account. For the rest of the day the agents, the management, and I were learning as we were going, but Vicidial had us back up and running for exactly $0.00 (excluding the deposit made to the VoIP account provider). Even the minutes were cheaper using VoIP than what the local telephone provider was charging to power the old system. We were using our Internet connection in a completely new way, and it redefined how this call center conducted its business.That’s disruptive. Horace Dediu (in his extremely informative “Disruption FAQ”) defines disruption as:Disruption happens when the strong are defeated by the weak. More precisely it’s when those with unconstrained access to resources have them taken away by those with minimal or no resources. It’s a phenomenon that is in contrast to sustaining competition where the strong get stronger.You cannot tell me that the huge publicly-traded company making that unbelievably expensive (and now broken) dialer ever saw anything like Vicidial coming. It took about a month, but the owner of my call center broke all of his service agreements, sold that broken system, and moved completely over to Vicidial. He called himself a sucker for not knowing about Vicidial when he first bought that system. Vicidial notes on its for-profit website that Vicidial is:In use at over 14,000 companies in over 100 countries around the worldThat’s definitely a lot of business snatched up by a software suite that costs nothing to install and operate. Someone thinking of opening a call center today, for either outbound or inbound service (or both), would be crazy to not consider Vicidial; yet not too many years ago you were considered crazy if you didn’t buy a dialer that cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.What Vicidial Offers a Call Center Beyond its Price of Zero DollarsHere’s just a sample list of the features that Vicidial provides, which is likely out of date as new features are constantly added:Ability for an agent to call clients in succession from a database through a web-based screenAbility to display a script for the agent to read with fields like name, address, etc. filled-inAbility to set a campaign to auto-dial and send live calls to available agentsAbility to dial predictively in a campaign with an adaptive dialing algorithmAbility to dial on a single campaign across multiple vicidial dialers, or multiple campaigns on a single dialerAbility to transfer calls with customer data to a closer/verifierAbility to open a custom web page with user data from the call, per campaign, per In-Group, or per listAbility to autodial campaigns to start with a simple IVR then direct to agentAbility to broadcast dial to customers with a pre-recorded messageAbility to park the customer with custom music per campaignAbility to send a dropped call to a voicemail box, queue or extension per campaign if no agent is availableAbility to set outbound CallerID per campaign or per listAbility to take inbound calls gathering CallerIDAbility to function as an ACD for inbound and fronter/closer verification callsAbility to have an agent take both inbound and outbound calls in one session(blended)Ability to start and stop recording an agent’s calls at any timeAbility to automatically record all callsAbility to manually or automatically call up to two other customer numbers for the same leadAutomatically dial unlimited alternate numbers per customer until you get an answerAbility to schedule a callback with a customer as either any-agent or agent-specificAbility in Manual dial mode to preview leads before dialingAgents can be logged from anywhere with just a phone, web browser, and an internet connectionFaster hangup and dispositioning of calls with one key press (HotKeys)Definable Agent Wrap-up time per campaignAbility to add custom call dispositions per campaignAbility to use custom database queries in campaign dialingRecycling of specified status calls at a specified interval without resetting a listDialing with custom Time Zone restrictions including per state and per day-of-the-weekDialing with Answering Machine Detection, also playing a message for AM callsMultiple campaigns and lead-lists are possibleOption of a drop timer with safe-harbor message for FTC complianceVariable drop call percentage when dialing predictively for FTC complianceSystem-wide and per-campaign DNC lists that can optionally be activated per campaignAll calls are logged and statuses of calls are logged as well as agent time breakdownsLoad Balancing of call across multiple inbound or outbound Asterisk servers is possibleAgent phone login balancing and fail over across multiple vicidial serversSeveral real-time and summary reports availableReal-time campaign display screens3rd party conferencing(with DTMF macros and number presets)3rd party blind call transfer3rd party conferencing with agent drop-offCustom Music-On-Hold and agent alert sound for inbound callsEstimated hold time, place in line, overflow queues and several other inbound-only featuresSkills-based ranking and call routing per inbound group(queues) and campaignQueue Prioritization per campaign and inbound groupSingle agent call queuingAbility to set user levels and permissions for certain features and campaignsAbility for managers to listen-in on agent conversationsAbility for managers to enter conversations with agents and customersAbility for managers to change the selected queues for an agentAbility for agents to select a Pause Code when they are not activeAbility for agents to control volume levels and mute themselvesAbility for agents to view the statuses of other agents on the systemAbility for agents to view details for calls in queue that the agent is selected to take calls fromAbility for agents to select and click to take calls in queue from their agent screenAgent shift enforcement by day and time, defined per user groupMulti-function web-based agent API allowing for control of agent sessions including click-to-dial outside of the agent screenLead import web-based APIWeb-based data export utilitiesSeparate Time-clock application to track user work timeWeb-based administrationDID, phone and carrier trunk provisioning through the web interfaceInbound email handling through the agent web screenChat with customers from a website through the agent web screenChat with managers and other agents in the agent web screenThe agent web application is available in English, Spanish, Greek, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Slovak, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Traditional Chinese and Japanese.The admin web pages available in English, Spanish, Greek, German, Italian, French and Brazilian Portuguese.Again, this is an incomplete list. I follow Vicidial’s developer twitter feed as new features are announced there when they are enabled.Because it is Open Source, I Add Custom Features ConstantlyPerhaps the best features of Vicidial are the ones it doesn’t currently have yet. What I mean is, because it’s an open-source software program, someone like me (or you!) can edit Vicidial to do anything you want. Try getting one of the proprietary suppliers of auto dialers to grant you access to their source code!My clients have asked me to write up customization for just about anything you can think of, and as long as it isn’t a request so time consuming that it would be ridiculously expensive (think “hire a team of developers to implement”), or a something that would conflict with an existing “core feature” of Vicidial, then I’m able to quickly able to write up what they want.VoIP is Cheap, and Getting Cheaper; It’s a Disruptive Technology all by ItselfEven though Vicidial itself is free to download, you still need to pay someone to provide actual voice service to and from your server. Years ago, that meant paying you local telephone monopoly, but today, there are thousands of companies providing service over the internet (VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol) competing on service and price for your dollar. Rates deep into the sub-penny-per-minute are now the new normal, and Vicidial allows you to switch carriers on the fly, meaning you can move to carriers offering the lowest costs (or simply request a rate decrease from your current carrier under the threat that you can simply leave!). These VoIP companies are sometimes just a single person with networking experience, a far cry from the massive workforces of the “twisted pair” copper telcos of yesteryear.ConclusionVicidial is, in other words, the future of the call center industry. It’s a phenomenon within the telecommunications business, improving the fortunes of everyone who has taken the time to master its features and deploy them effectively.

To answer this question first we need to understand what are certifications, how they help a professional in upping his game and improve employability chances, how having the right certification from right certification body will make you stand ahead of your competition in the market and present you as worthy candidate for the job.To begin, would like to define a certification, so a wise decision can be made!Certification - It is a third-party attestation of an individual's level of knowledge or proficiency in a certain industry or profession. There is less clarity about the value and significance of the certification in the market place.Certification is primarily an acknowledgement of educational and training achievements. After completing a course of study or training, certificate is earned by passing an exam usually accredited or recognized by any organization or association. Thereafter certified candidate develops the knowledge, skills and experience to perform a specific job or task in his or her domain.Key characteristics that a certification program focuses on are :Certification helps in distinguishing individuals to demonstrate their domain knowledge or skills needed for a specific profile. It offers tangible benefits to both the individual and the employer.There are a lot of certification bodies offering different courses for working professionals in the field of Accounting, Finance, Banking, Analytics, IT, Data Sciences, Digital Marketing. Some of the popular certification bodies are Coursera, Simplilearn, Vskills, Udemy, and the list is endless. It is true that Certifications certainly can make a difference, but not all certifications create equal value.You must be wondering that I have been explaining more about certification and have not yet come to the answer raised, but until we understand the basics, we cannot make a conclusion.About Vskills CertificationVskills is the largest professional certification body of India. It conducts skills testing and certification exam to improve employability. Candidates use Vskills Certifications, which are well recognized in the Industry, as certification of skills and knowledge.Through Vskills Assessments, individuals with learning acquired outside of a formal classroom setting have the opportunity to get certified by appearing in standardized exams conducted throughout the nation at proctored centres.Vskills Professional Certifications is a win-win for everyone – For individuals taking the certification as well as the organization in terms of their continuous need for expert professionals, such that their financial, employment, ethical and regulatory goals are all met. It provides certification more than 200+ certification courses in 30+ domains.Vskills Certification adds value to the profile of the candidate in terms of following factors :Relevance and Applicability - Certification is a step towards skills updation and training, to promote continuous learning so as to accredit the progress of the professionals and help the recruiters and market in general to filter out the best.Build Confidence - An in-house survey conducted by Vskills found a high level of agreement on how certification impacts the perceptions of the candidate about themselves and how it helps increases the person’s confidence. The employees do view certification as a worthwhile career investment.Marketability - With such an increasing competitive global employment landscape, certification surely allows individuals to distinguish themselves from others. For any recruiter be it in any field, certification assures that the applicant is determined to achieve, committed to their profession and, definitely, possesses validated knowledge and skills. So a resume that indicates professional certification is more likely to be placed in the “interview stack.”Increased Salary - There is no denying to the fact that certification improves an individual’s marketability, as well as the earning potential. Many studies reveal that individuals who hold a vskills certification tend to be in a higher salary slab than those who do not.Academic recognition - Certifications are another way to recognize the academic and inferential ability of the candidate. Organizations place a high value on professional credentials and work-ex.Good Reputation - In addition to the skills and salary benefits, certification improves your professional image, leading to new career prospects and advancement. In a recent study, 80% of IT professionals view certification as a positive addition to their career. Furthermore, 65% reported a measurable, positive impact on their professional image after becoming certified.If getting Vskills certified empowers you with such benefits, then you yourself can judge the worthiness. But still we come across multiple reviews for everything as our thought process varies.People usually go by brand and not by the value a product offers, from my own experience, Vskills has been one of the most vertically and horizontally spread platform that offers each one of us with the opportunity to come up, learn and upgrade. There is no denying to the fact that there are a number of certification bodies in the market which offer multiple certifications but one must weigh it as per the deliverables offered and relevance in the market.Following questions further answer your queries to know if Vskills certification is worthy enough!1. Does Vskills offer some specific certification courses only or it has number of option to choose from?Vskills has more than 200 certifications in more than 30 domains. One should wisely choose the certification as per their educational qualifications, interests and future endeavors.2. How many working and non-working professionals have taken Vskills Certification?There is a huge list of candidates who have registered and cleared the certification exam and are working with top tier. Indeed the companies also give due acceptance to it.3. Do we get dumps or mock tests to prepare for the exam?Vskills have a pool of practice tests which as per my knowledge none of the online portals provide. These questions are widely spread across various domains and is a one stop mechanism to evaluate and upgrade our skills set.4. Do we get any placement or job support after getting Vskills Certified?If you visit the top online job portals like Shine or Monster India, they provide a verified badge to the candidates having a Vskills certification which clearly shows that Vskills certified candidates can highlight themselves and get better acknowledgement from employers.5. Are Vskills certified candidates satisfied with the services offered?You can look for the feedback shared by genuine certified candidates who have actually used the service and have reaped the benefits.6. Is Vskills certification authentic?Those who still have some doubt can check the sample certificate, which states that the certificate is issued by a JV of Govt of India and Govt. of Delhi Co.7. Is there any specific time duration to complete the certification?No, Vskills gives the feasibility to select the exam center and exam date as per candidate’s convenience. For cherry on the cake, the access to the study material is for lifetime. This gives working professionals the chance to manage time easily to avail the certification.8. Can an employer verify a Vskills candidate?Yes, the employer or any other person can verify the certified candidate profile using the verification code available on the certificate to check the authenticity.9. Is Vskills well known in the industry?You can easily judge the credibility and acceptance of Vskills certification with the rating and reviews shared on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn.10. Do Vskills certified candidates get job in top companies?Vskills have thousands of certified candidates from major MNC’s like Accenture, TCS, IBM, Infosys and the list continues.For reference -Candidates working with AccentureCandidates working with IBMCandidates working with TCSTo conclude I would say, that certifications are not for everyone but only those who wish to achieve their goals to reach high in life, where they are the doers and rest are the followers!And as per the above information provided, there is no doubt left to the fact that earning Vskills certification is worthy! If you are looking to work in your dream company, want to have higher package, or if you just want to be a pro in your field, there is no better option than to get a Vskills certification. It will surely open door to whole new opportunities and help you go in confidently in this competitive market.Hope this helps!