June 2006, Gurgaon
Excerpts from the report by Ken Wieland, Telecom Magazine
Abdhul Choudhury, IT operations manager for British Airways (BA) Connect - the UK arm of BA - perhaps speaks for many enterprises when he sums up the relationship it has with its mobile service provider Vodafone.
"We have a love/hate relationship with them," he says. "They are fantastic when it comes to price discounts for high volumes of voice and data traffic, but when it comes to working with us on developing bespoke applications, they don't really want to know. We're probably not big enough for them to make it worthwhile.
But this apparent reluctance among mobile operators to give what their business customers want -- over and above price discounts -- can open up opportunities for others. "We wanted to use SMS for mission-critical applications but Vodafone wasn't able to offer the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) we needed," continues Choudhury. "That's why we chose TynTec."
This level of SLA is proving to be appealing among larger enterprises. TynTec counts Accenture, Unilever and TNT Airways -- as well as BA Connect -- among its customer base. "SMS is very cost-efficient and easy-to-use," adds Choudhury, who explains that BA Connect's SMS- based "mission-critical application" revolves around notifying appropriate people immediately in the event of a plane delay. "We have business rules in place so that, if say, a baggage handling crew damages a plane when loading, a pre- determined list of people is contacted -- such as manufacturers, insurance companies and passenger help desks."
Prior to the SMS system, installed over a year ago, notification was done by the lengthier process of phone calls and emails - with no guarantee that emails would reach their intended recipient. And the increased efficiency that this sort of SMS alert application can bring is crucial for cutting BA Connect's costs. According to Choudhury, every minute of delay in the airport can cost the airline up to £1,000.
Source: June 6th 2006, Current Analysis
http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_2142
