Last year we told you about a promising startup called Tello that was aiming to change the way consumers give feedback to companies.

Today, the company has launched a suite of services for businesses as well as announced a $2.7M round of funding from True Ventures and Bullpen Capital. Tell previously had raised angel investment from folks like Chris Sacca, Shervin Pishevar, Dave McClure and Ron Conway.

Tello’s current offering allows customers to leave feedback for companies in a more structured way than you’d find on sites like Yelp. By sharing feedback about particular employees at your favorite location, as well as share a quick review with a thumbs up or down. While Yelp is for long-form reviews, Tello captures quick feedback that can help businesses react in real-time.

To support that real-time nature of customer service, Tello has launched a suite of business services including a backend that allows managers to see all of the feedback coming into the service and allow them to interact directly with its customers.

CEO of Tello Joe Beninato had this to say about the new business offerings:

Tello for Business gives companies both big and small a scalable platform to monitor customer feedback and resolve service issues that can have a direct effect on sales.

Tello for Business is available as part of its iOS and Android apps as well as mobile versions that work on any device:

The company is also giving businesses ten digit numbers that customers can text reviews to, as well as mini-sites that they can bring up on their smartphone’s browser. The basic version of the service is available for free, with a premium version available for $99/month per location. This service is definitely geared toward stores with a lot of locations like Wal-Mart or Best Buy, but can work nicely for a privately owned store, bar, or restaurant as well.

➤ Tello for Business

BankSimple has announced a few things, including a name change. The company is now called “Simple” and has started rolling out its first invites to the service.

The company had this to say on its blog:

We’re thrilled to be welcoming our first customers. We want to understand what works for them and what can be improved. We also want to learn how our customers prefer to reach us so that we can intelligently grow our customer relations team. Using this feedback, we’ll rework and revise; the experience we’re launching today will continuously evolve. There is still a tremendous amount to be done, but as of today we are live to our first customers, and that’s a huge milestone for us.

The company has been working on its banking platform since early 2010, and the first “Simple” Visa cards have been sent out.

Simple replaces your bank, but isn’t a bank the company says. It partners with chartered banks to hold your money, as Simple’s service assists you with managing it.

Using Simple, you can make purchases with a Simple Visa® card, pay bills, earn interest, set up and track savings goals, and much more. Simple replaces your bank, but we are not a bank. You use our mobile and web apps and speak with our customer relations team when you have questions. We partner with chartered banks that hold your deposits in FDIC-insured products. They take care of money, we take care of customers, and together we’re delivering a new type of financial experience that’s easier, faster, and friendlier.

With a focus on customer service, Simple aims to make the banking experience a better one for consumers, focusing on both web and mobile experiences. To date, online banking hasn’t been the best experience, with companies like Mint helping you manage your money more effectively.

Here’s a demo video that Simple provided in September, with an overview of how the service works:

BankSimple Demo from BankSimple on Vimeo.

Simple is still accepting invite requests, so be sure to get in line.

With all of the talk about Facebook vs. Google+, you might forget another company that Google is gunning for. Twitter.

With the history of Twitter well-known, the micro-status updating site has been arguably slow to release new features in recent years. Having launched in 2006, Twitter has grown widespread adoption among celebrities, TV outlets, journalists, and teenagers who love the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber.

But Google has visibility that neither Facebook and Twitter has. Google+ seems to have come at exactly the right time, and Twitter should take notice if it hasn’t already. Today’s release of Google+ Pages shows a potentially long uphill battle for Twitter.

Businesses

Adoption of businesses on Twitter is still in a testing pattern. Companies like Virgin America and Comcast have done really well at interacting with complaining customers on the platform. However, how can you really help someone publicly in 140 characters or through direct messages? An email or phone call is still necessary.

The Google Apps offering is where Google+ really can destroy Twitter limb from limb. If someone complains about a brand on the platform, the brand can go directly to them and discuss the issue. The email will sit in a Google Apps account, which is a more official and professional way to interact with a customer. It’s easier to track, and can be fed into a CRM solution like Salesforce. Oh yeah, they have Google Voice too.

The company also has an Analytics product at its disposal that it can plug into Google+ at any time. Twitter has been piloting an analytics package, but not much has been seen or heard about it as of late.

Celebrities and Musicians

The tipping point for Twitter was adoption from celebrities. When Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN with the race to a million followers, everyone in the world knew what Twitter was. Celebrities are starting to join Google+, and the platform allows them to interact with fans in ways that 140 characters can’t compete with. Google+ Hangouts and live streams on YouTube provide a way for face-time that Twitter just doesn’t give you.

Instead of attaching media via links on Twitter, I think celebrities will starting to look for a more holistic platform that lets them do everything from one place. Google+ is easily that platform.

For the teams behind celebrities, just being on Twitter is no longer enough. The return on Twitter investment isn’t as strong as it used to be, and Google can provide analytics that will help celebrities become more proficient on its platform. Let’s not forget that Google has its own music service, too. If Google+ can integrate music into its platform the same way that Facebook has done with companies like Spotify, it’s going to get harder for celebrities and musicians to ignore it.

Journalists

More and more, mainstream journalists are turning to Twitter to break news first. In the earlier days of trending topics, you could get a really good idea of the days events just by looking at them. Now they’re overrun by strange memes and mis-information. It seems like an inaccurate report of someones death trending on Twitter is almost a daily occurrence.

Plugging information directly into Google’s search results alone is attractive for journalists to spread news, as well as gain a following for themselves and their publications. Twitter’s search shows the last 5-7 days worth of tweets, and gives little or no information about the origination of a story. On the other hand, shared stories on Google+ keep important information intact in a way that is more relevant than a retweet. Add in features like Ripple and What’s Hot, and it’s a perfect place to propagate your message.

The rest of us

Even though Twitter embeds photos and videos into its web version, Google+ holds the power of a direct integration with YouTube. Having the #1 video site feeding into your platform is a huge advantage. Users no longer have to search for a funny video, copy the URL, and tweet it. As much as Apple has done to integrate Twitter into iOS, it still feels like a broken experience to tweet content.

I’ve said it a few times, and I’ll say it again, Email is still the #1 social network in the world. Everyone uses it, it works cross-platform, and it drives businesses and personal lives. With Google+ integrated into Gmail, it makes sharing information and getting updates simple. Will people get tired of visiting yet another site like Twitter or downloading yet another app? It’s too early to tell, but at the end of the day, everyone likes things to be easy.

Google, which is one of the hardest companies in the world to figure out, is using social to make sense of all of it. Google+ is getting stronger with each feature release, and it’s too strong to ignore.