Tag Archives: Cloud Services

Why Does Inbound Call Management Matter?

Posted by Gintel on 20/05/2013 None comments

We recently wrote about key requirements for inbound call management platforms, but it’s also worth exploring the value of such solutions from a business perspective. Why do inbound call services matter and what benefits do they offer?

Well, let’s start with the obvious. The purpose of an inbound call management system is to define destinations for enterprise numbers. There are essentially two kinds of numbers – the company main number and individual direct lines. That is, callers can dial a number and reach the company or they can dial a specific individual or group within the organisation.

This means that the solution needs to determine how incoming calls are routed in both cases. If someone calls the company main number, should the call be delivered to a receptionist, an attendant, an IVR or queuing system, or a combination of these? That’s down to the company, but it’s clear that the flexibility to be able to choose how calls are delivered and terminated offers valuable advantages.

The same applies to attempts to reach a specific extension. Should the call be delivered across devices, should it be routed to an alternative if it remains unanswered, and so on? What these choices add up to is the means by which an organisation avoids missing calls.

The inbound call management system maximises the opportunities for the caller to reach someone who can help or answer his or her requirements. In small organisations, this is particularly important. As there are fewer employees, there is more possibility that the designated recipient will be otherwise occupied: implementing an effective inbound call management service helps ensure that organisations don’t miss calls.

Another important benefit is the ability to customise routing to suit calendars, schedules and business hours. The desired destination for a call might be different during the weekend. Similarly, the receptionist or attendant might not be available after office hours. The ability to programme routing to fit into such patterns is simply an extension of the ability to make sure calls reach the right person, but no less important for all that. This flexibility helps companies present the right face to the outside world and is an essential part of the service.

Similarly, many organisations experience fluctuations in inbound calls – perhaps due to marketing programmes and activities, for example. Being able to flexibly manage call routing or change patterns to cope with busy periods is essential.

There are many benefits that inbound call management can offer to organisations of any size. But they all depend on the ability of the service provider to deliver flexibility. Organisations need to be able to configure calling options to suit their business and the lifestyles of their employees. Without such flexibility and options, inbound call management cannot deliver benefits – but with them, it can dramatically increase efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.

That’s why service providers trust Gintel. The flexibility of our solutions enables them to offer a wide range of services that can be configured by their users to give them exactly what they want. Organisations enjoy the benefits while the service provider builds a loyal customer base and develops competitive advantage in its market.

Why not talk to us and find out what we can offer and how we can help you do the same?

Reducing Service Risk

Posted by Gintel on 29/04/2013 None comments

When launching a new service, there is always an element of risk. Of course, many service providers are risk averse – but too much risk aversion leads to inertia and diminishes competitive effectiveness. It’s easy for competitive advantage to be eroded. The trick is to manage that risk and to ensure that it is fully accounted for, so that new services can be launched and competitive advantage maintained.

There are several approaches to this. One is to target services that have proven effective in other markets, to emulate these and launch in your own market ahead of competitors. This is a sensible approach and one that can lead to great rewards. Another is to emulate existing services in your own market with proven success – but to do so better and more effectively than your competitor.

We help our customers in both models: our success in delivering advanced services for business users in different markets means that we understand how to do it and can help our customers with the right approach. Because our solutions include customisation capabilities, it’s possible to rapidly achieve differentiation from competitive offers and to ensure that such differentiation is maintained through on-going service evolution.

Alternatives to this include adopting cloud-based offers, with no CAPEX requirements. Such an approach shortens time to market and shifts expenditure to OPEX models. At a time when CAPEX budgets are constrained, this can enable service providers to stay ahead of the game while protecting their overall financial goals.

Gintel can help you make the right decision, determining the best approach for your market and situation. Our flexible solutions enable service providers to get to market fast, to evolve and enhance their offers, and to do so with limited risk.

If you are thinking of targeting enterprise and SME customers, we can help remove the uncertainty from your service plans. Why not talk to us and see how our expertise, proven solutions and different deployment models can help you reduce risk and build new revenues, quickly?

Becoming a Differentiated MVNO #MVNOIS

Posted by Gintel on 22/04/2013 None comments

The subject of how to achieve differentiation in the crowded MVNO market is gaining traction. Many are discussing how to move beyond being simply a low-cost option and how to attract higher ARPU customers. There are several approaches, sometimes based on brand extension and specific consumer groups.

Another approach is to target enterprise and SME customers. We have a number of MVNO customers who are doing just that. Having observed the success of MNOs in focusing on enterprise and SMEs, MVNOs are becoming aware of the opportunity this presents – both in terms of securing revenue and in terms of achieving differentiation.

The simple fact is that, while enterprise and SME customers need mobility, they are also cost conscious. They want to obtain the best value and will seek the provider that best meets their needs. This can be a traditional MNO and it can also be an MVNO.

Most MVNOs don’t often deploy infrastructure or value added services. But it’s easy for them to do so as part of their agreements with the host MNO. The question is, what kind of service will help MVNOs most easily and quickly target enterprise and SME customers, and which will generate the best ROI.

Enterprise and SME users need enhanced communication services. They want to have features such as those available from a PBX, conferencing, messaging and so on – but without the cost of investing in any premises-based equipment.

With Gintel’s Mobile Cloud UC platform, that’s exactly what MVNOs can offer. They can deliver advanced PBX, conferencing and messaging functionality via any mobile device, and offer extra features to smartphone users via intelligent client applications – but without CAPEX from the customer.

It works both ways too – so the MVNO can deploy services in an OPEX model and grow according to the success of their business. MVNOs can select the services they want to deploy, tailored to their marketplace and leverage a mature, turnkey solution that enables them to get to market fast and secure rapid ROI.

Instead of struggling to identify growth opportunities or competing on price alone, MVNOs have an alternative. Deliver a differentiated service for which there is proven demand, using applications from a leading vendor that has years of proven success and stability.

Why not talk to Gintel and find out how MVNOs can achieve differentiation and build a business focused on enterprise and SME customers?

Join Gintel for MVNOs World Congress 2013! #MVNOIS

Posted by Gintel on 18/03/2013 None comments

Gintel is delighted to announce that it will be exhibiting at this year’s MVNOs World Congress in Rome – the flagship event that focuses on the world’s leading MVNOs.

The exhibition takes place from 22-24 April 2013. Come and meet Gintel and learn how we have delivered solutions to enable MVNOs to offer services for the SME and Enterprise markets.

Gintel will be launching its new cloud based offers at MVNOs World Congress – watch out for more details in the run up to the event.

If you would like to schedule a meeting, please use this form , or contact us directly.

 

Simplifying Go-To-Market for #Cloud Services

Posted by Gintel on 18/03/2013 None comments

Service providers trying to get to grips with their cloud strategy and approach to this market could do worse than review an interesting report written by renowned consultancy Arthur D Little. The report “Cloud from Telcos – Business distraction or a key to growth” offers useful insight on ways to build a cloud portfolio that addresses customer needs.

In particular, the authors point to various go-to-market approaches and highlight the importance of addressing SME customers. We well understand this point. SMEs represent an attractive market with strong appetite for services and a willingness to pay. In this environment, cloud services, which offer OPEX-driven models are proving to be increasingly attractive.

However, while we understand that there can be complexities in bringing cloud services to market, there are ways to mitigate these. As ADL reports, certain cloud services are complex, potentially involving multiple stakeholders and tough choices regarding the role of the service provider – as aggregator or creator, for example.

One approach is to focus on an area in which service providers already have expertise and to leverage this in order to obtain a foothold in the market and to provide a platform for enhancing with additional services. In the report, ADL refers to Embedded Web Servers (EWS) as offering a potential Trojan horse to achieve this goal – but such a strategy requires close co-ordination between multiple stakeholders, including device manufacturers for example, which, in reality, may be more challenging to achieve.

As an alternative, we think that the provision of voice and call management services from the cloud offers a simpler route to market and can deliver the momentum required to support the launch of additional services. In our analysis, hosted voice (in the shape of the mobile PBX) would be, to borrow ADL’s term, the ideal Trojan horse, as it takes advantage of existing capabilities, does not require the mediation of device manufacturers and delivers a service for which all SMEs have a clear requirement.

By focusing on Mobile PBX and delivering a service to SMEs, service providers can rapidly launch a cloud service portfolio that can then be incrementally expanded in scope to address additional needs. As ADL notes, service providers need an “ecosystem for the sale and support of services” – they already have such an ecosystem for the provision of devices, voice, packages, plans and connectivity. It is a more modest effort to purpose this towards SME customers than it is to create an entirely new ecosystem for less familiar services.

Of course, we can help with this. We can help you plan for the launch of cloud-based voice services for SME and enterprise customers, differentiate your service and ensure successful execution. What’s more, we can offer OPEX-driven models that ensure service launch can be achieved cost-effectively and to affordable budgets.