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Ufone Sales Force Automation

Written by kanwar

Thursday, 29 June 2006

Ufone Sales Force Automation

A Surge for Automation

Ufone a major GSM Cellular company in Pakistan- was taking up a huge task. The communications services giant was about to dramatically expand its service offering to consumers by launching a nationwide acquisition campaign to become the fastest growing GSM company of Pakistan. Providing customer support, and in particular field service support, to this initiative was going to be a challenge - the existing computer system was insufficient. In addition, the effectiveness and job satisfaction of sales representatives was hindered by the use of two separate computer systems - retyping all sales information from one system into another - for every sales call.
Successful companies have long known that a well-trained, highly motivated and efficiently connected field force is critical to their continued growth and success. Ufone realized that to stay ahead of the competition, they must replace traditional paper based systems with mobile solutions that enable access to key information directly from the field.
Today, Ufone's sales team is armed with PDAs loaded with GPRS and a new software application built on the Microsoft CE Framework; the team retrieves data from the company's accounting stock system through an Oracle database and uploads new data in the same manner. Known internally as U SFA (Ufone Sales Force Automation), this application allows sales staff to create orders, add details, fill in electronic outlet cards, review daily activity, and synchronize for real time information on stock availability.

We have clear competitive advantage because of wireless mobility and the capabilities U SFA provide us. Our whole operation is more professional and efficient.
Mubashir Naqvi
VP Commercial, Ufone

Further down the track, Ufone will be able to track the in trade time, and can make complex analysis of productivity of sales persons. Also, adding new line of products is just plug_and_play through their PDAs. Early skeptics have changed their tune about U SFA and are already singing its praises
Ahmed Abdi, Distribution Manager for Ufone, says under the old system sales people had raised their concerns about spending so much time away from customers due to the demands of manually punching orders, completing route cards and sending information through to distribution and accounts. "We knew there had to be a more efficient way for them to collate and send information to us," he says. "We also knew there was probably other information that the sales force would find valuable while out on the road." Abdi adds that it was critical for the resulting solution to have futuristic approach and rugged to face to harsh environment. "Ideally we were keen to find an off-the-shelf solution," he says. "But this was not to be." Ufone approached Autobar about providing PDAs for the sales force, and they suggested talking to Canada-based Psion Teklogix, a company that specializes in designing and developing rugged solutions for the mobile device market.
Harvesting the Rewards
Abdi says that while it's still early days for U SFA, he predicts by the 3Q of 2006 there will be increase in sale productivity. He says that this productivity pay back will come from time savings and increased efficiencies in the field and at head office, through call cost savings, increased accuracy and timeliness of information to the sales force and head office and cost savings around the processing of accounts.
Atif Hameed, Finance Manager for Ufone, says “looking from the financial perspective automation is the backbone of the industry. SFA provides effective inventory controls, timely sales booking and deposits checking. Linking it with our sales data base is the main advantage here as it enables us to provide accurate inventory and sales position to the management”.
“One of the things we always look at with the site is what’s going to help sales persons better sell our products” says Noman Zafar in-charge Retail Operations. “A big part of that is to give them the latest information regarding features, key selling messages, competitive analysis, and pricing which changes on regular basis. When our sales persons are out trying to sell our products, they are oriented to making the sales not to looking things up or trying to find information”.
Mobile Handheld Terminals- Key to Automation Project
When Autobar (Pakistan) won a field force automation project for Ufone, the Autobar decided to stick with a handheld computer it knew well. "The Psion Teklogix (Canada) Workabout Pro series is the most common Psion product we sell," says Kanwar Raees, Regional manager of the Mobile Systems Division at Autobar. "We have customers in all sorts of vertical markets using these devices." Indeed, these devices have proven themselves many times in markets such as transportation/logistics, retail, field service, and public safety. Ultimately, Autobar sold 230 Psion Workabout Pro to Ufone for this project.
Ufone needed a device that could accommodate Autobar's least-cost-routing function, enabling seamless switching between GPRS and wireless wide area networks. The Windows CE-powered Workabout Pro met this requirement.
Another fundamental requirement for the handheld was to meet the safety requirements for working in harsh environment. The Workabout Pro is sealed to IP54 standards (enclosure protection from dust and water) and can withstand 4-foot drops to concrete
The Workabout pro's touch screen display, backlit keyboard, and bar code scanner make it easy for Ufone service sales persons to input data to e-forms such as work orders, time sheets, and e-mails. "They can also use these units for signature capture," Kanwar explains.
The units come with 64 MB of RAM (random access memory) and 64 MB of ROM (read-only memory) to deliver ample storage capacity for data and applications. Some other features include:
·         miniature scan engine
·         rechargeable lithium-ion battery
·         Multiple keyboard options.
Going Forward
Abdi says that the first version of U SFA has caused such excitement that already the development team are working on extending its features. "During 2006 we hope to introduce real time mapping of field force’s route on a digital map" he says. Longer term, we believe there's potential to use devices like these to help in the warehouses - from stock monitoring to logistic performance tracking.”

About Ufone

Ufone, a 100% owned subsidiary of PTCL was established to operate cellular GSM 900 services. Currently, with a market share of over 24%, and an aggressive commercial plan, the customer base has more than tripled from the last fiscal year to over 6 million subscribers. For details please visit www.ufonegsm.com

About Psion

Psion Teklogix Inc. is a leading provider of rugged mobile computing solutions to a range of industries around the world. For over three decades, companies have turned to Psion Teklogix to empower their mobile workforces by increasing efficiency and productivity. Psion Teklogix offers a wide range of rugged mobile computers fully supported by responsive and reliable customer service

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