News

Verdict on Lib plan: 'We might as well stay in the Dark Ages'

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:55:00 GMT

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS industry has savaged the Coalition's broadband policy, calling it a ''grab bag'' of old ideas and rejecting it as a solution to long-term competition problems.

Nor does the Coalition's plan accommodate demand for higher download speeds, according to the managing director of Telcoinabox, Damian Kay, a franchise company reselling fixed, mobile and data telecommunications.

Read the full article here

Industry slams Coalition plans

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:51:00 GMT

THE telecoms industry has savaged the Coalition's broadband policy, calling it a ''grab-bag'' of old ideas and rejecting it as a solution to long-term competition problems in the industry.

Nor does the Coalition's plan accommodate increasing demands for faster speeds, said the managing director of Telcoinabox, Damian Kay.

Read the full article here

Little Change from Telstra Separation

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:22:00 GMT

The debate around the functional separation of Telstra presents a very varied set of opinions. This depends on who is making them and what their interaction is with Telstra. As a pure reseller customer of Telstra Wholesale (TW), Telcoinabox enjoys a strong relationship with Telstra that is pro-active and mutual.

In many ways the functional separation of Telstra will make absolutely no difference to the relationship or how we operate on a day to day basis. Currently we have access to all levels of Telstra Wholesale from the GMD through to The Executive Director of Sales, the Sales Director, our account manager and in addition, access to the marketing team. We choose to have an “open book” relationship and we get the same in return. Whether Telstra is forced to separate or not, as interesting as it is to try and predict what changes it would bring, is not really the issue. Commentary on this subject shows that people think just because Telstra is separated they will be able to have a better relationship with the Telstra Wholesale. Separation will not change the relationship a provider has with TW, it is the way that providers engage with TW that will change the relationship. If a provider fully engages Telstra then they deserve to get (and demand) the same in return.

Separation however may change some of the ridiculous, bureaucratic and rigid policies that prevail within the Telstra wholesale. A number of systems that would allow TW to gain more business are not allowed to be provided by the wholesale division as they are considered “retail differentiators” but in reality it would lessen the manual processes by both the provider and TW. It is simple things such as this, that one would hope would change under separation. Then there is the big one, access to Next G. As a wholesale aggregator, this has been a disappointing decision by Telstra but understandable. Would this really change under separation? Who knows, but one thing that I do know is that I have a choice, I can choose to use another carrier that will provide the systems required to manage extra products and we have very successfully launched Optus 3G mobile. Separation may also allow wholesale partners to use the Telstra logo to show they partner with Telstra just like Cisco and other vendors allow. It is an antiquated view and one that would change with Separation I am sure.

The pressure on Telstra to separate is growing and inevitably it will. If Telstra looked internally and voluntarily removed the highly inefficient roadblocks TW has due an outdated "retail only" policy that only costs the business money, along with other aspects, the pressure may not be so great. Sometimes Telstra is their own worst enemy and do not look at the bigger picture. The wholesale division and the Telstra partners get frustrated at pure bureaucratic/legal idiocy..

How much would really change, I think not too much of real substance depending on who you are and for us this would be the case.

Damian Kay

Welcome to the Third Edition of Engaged

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:13:00 GMT

Welcome to the third edition of Engaged. It's been a while since you last heard from us but we wanted to give you all time to recover from your seasonal festivities and Australia Day celebrations and get well and truly over your back-to-work blues. It's been a fairly hectic few months at Telcoinabox since the last edition. Among other things we've gone out all guns blazing with our largest product launch ever on Optus mobile, wireless broadband and Blackberry, signed an agreement with a master franchisor for our New Zealand operation, sponsored a yacht in the Sydney to Hobart race and conducted our first ever global business review in London (taking in the GSM expo in Barcelona and the slopes and après ski of St Anton in the process).

While you were tucking into your left-over turkey I hope you were sparing a thought for Damian Kay (our managing director) and Leo Rodriguez (the owner of Voice2net and one of our franchisees) who formed part of the crew of Telcoinabox Merit for the world-famous Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race. If you missed the extensive newspaper articles and television coverage of the heroics that this crew got up to you can catch up on the amazing exploits and tales of derring-do in Damian's first-hand report of what it's really like to sail in one of the toughest offshore ocean races in the world (although from the sound of it the post-race celebrations in Constitution Dock were more of a survival challenge than the race itself).

For those of us back on dry land we were coping with riding the peaks and troughs of a major new product launch. The response to the new Optus products has been phenomenal and has enabled some excellent growth, in particular the wireless broadband and timeless plans which have sold like proverbial hot cakes. One of our service providers that has really thrived on the new Optus products is IF Telecom. In this edition of Engaged we put IF Telecom in the spotlight and find out just what they're doing to achieve their success.

As with any launch it hasn't all been plain sailing (pun firmly intended). There have been a few hiccups along the way and as a result our support teams have been placed under a huge amount of pressure. I'm glad to say that on the whole they have come through the experience with flying colours although it may take a while for the mental scars to heal. We're continuing to work on those areas that still need fine-tuning and are preparing for our next major launch (ADSL2+) early in the new financial year.

Across the ditch we've been busy setting up our New Zealand operation with Shannon Fisher (one of our successful Australian franchisees) coming on board as our master franchisor for New Zealand and re-locating to Wellington and Zac Crofts (Stepping Stone Team Leader) about to become our second international transfer from the Australian operation. Read more about the progress of the New Zealand operation in the article from Laura Jacob who's been closely involved in getting the business off the ground.

If you're reading this as one of our franchisees you will recently have received (and hopefully completed) our annual Franchise Relationships Institute (FRI) survey. This is your opportunity to give us your feedback on all elements of the franchise system. We take the results extremely seriously and they guide and direct our strategies for continuous improvement of the business. We'll be sharing this year's results with you all shortly but in this edition we managed to grab a quick chat with Debb Lowe, the Operations Director with the FRI, who gives us her take on what's going on in the world of franchising.

So what else has been happening in the industry? Well the big news back in February was that Hutchison (3) and Vodafone announced a merger that will take the number of mobile carriers in Australia from four to three and see the '3' brand gradually phased out. The deal was kept closely under wraps until it was announced and will result in a combined market share for the new entity (Vodafone Hutchison Australia - VHA) of 27%, a close third behind Optus (32%) and Telstra (41%). So what does this mean for Telcoinabox? Since neither party is a major wholesale player the ramifications are more likely to be at the retail level. Mergers of this size are notoriously difficult to manage and it could result in both parties taking their eye off the ball while they focus on it. If anything it's likely to make the retail market more competitive as VHA seeks to take 2nd spot from Optus but, on a positive note, if Optus responds, as I'm sure it will, then it will result in an even more competitive product offer from them which we are well placed to take advantage of through our wholesale relationship.

As I write the latest news is all about Telstra's decision to start charging for national (STD) and international calls in 30 second blocks. This comes off the back of another set of impressive results for Telstra and the not entirely unexpected announcement of the departure of CEO, Sol Trujillo. When combined with the tightening of the Australian economy (and the use of the dreaded 'R' word) this news is a great for our service providers who now have an even better opportunity to pick up some disgruntled Telstra retail customers by offering plain and simple good value with no "smoke and mirrors" or hidden catches.

So sit back and enjoy the latest news from us here at Engaged and, as always, please let us know what you think and what topics you'd like to see discussed in future editions.

Author: Paul Line
Email: paul@telcoinabox.com

Mission Hobart - Writing the script

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:20:00 GMT

Who would have thought that when I agreed to sponsor Leo Rodriguez in the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race that 1. I would participate in the race and 2. the "Telcoinabox" name would be exposed through every newspaper, radio and TV station in Australia. You could not have written the script that well. Initially I was not to participate as it was possible that Tash and I would be on our way to London with the boys in February, when this changed I eagerly joined a great bunch of guys on one of the most dangerous ocean races in the world. Given my sailing experience was limited to racing "Lasers" as a kid, a few corporate sailing events and a couple of bareboat charters, I am not ashamed to say that I was more than a little anxious. Tash was incredibly supportive of my decision to partake in the race and this made it a lot easier as I had someone to talk to about what I had agreed to do.

In the months leading into the start on December 26, I was racking my brain on how I could maximise the investment. I figured that unless we sank, or we won it was going to be difficult. Even after getting out the heads, with Spinnaker flying and sitting on the rail, I was trying to work out what I could do. I obviously had not factored us saving 14 people from a stricken boat would solve my issue.

On race day the buzz around the CYC was awesome, with people everywhere including boat crews making last minute preparations and the general public on the dock for a gawk. Leo made strict instructions for everyone to meet for breakfast at 7.30am at a nearby hotel. When Leo turned up at 8.30am because the alarm did not go off, I knew things were going to be interesting. Once we got the boat out onto the harbour everyone relaxed and the concentration was needed due to the incredible number of boats. After hoisting our storm sales for the Race Committee which was the last safety check requirement, we started positioning ourselves for the start. Now that is a thrill. 15+ tonne, multi million dollar boats tacking a manoeuvring in what is a relatively small space was mind blowing. We missed the start by a couple of boat lengths but given it is a 700 mile race nobody was particularly worried. We got our self close to the heads and we missed a boat under us which had right of way, so as a penalty we had to do a 720 turn which dropped us further behind the leaders.

Once we got out Sydney Heads and hoisted the kite we were truly on our way and we found ourselves catching the boats that passed us due to our penalty manoeuvre. By about Wollongong we had caught up and were running about 20th.

At 6PM the 3 hour rotating watch system started with 1/3 of the crew on Deck, 1/3 of the crew either on Deck or below fully kitted up ready to assist if required, and 1/3 of the crew sleeping. Around 10.30pm I was on deck when I heard Leo shouting "@$#%, @$#%, @$#%"and came on deck to take over the helm. As it turned out we were the closest boat to a mayday call from a sinking boat. The Radio operator on the stricken boat, "Georgia" a Farr 53 ocean racing boat sounded very stressed as she was at the radio/nav station with water up to her waist. In heavy seas and a blowing wind there was no doubt that they were in trouble. They could not bail out the water fast enough and were losing the battle to stay afloat. We hauled sails and motored to the aid of Georgia. I must add that Leo was not pissed off at going to the aid of the boat, it was an initial reaction as he knew exactly what it would mean to our race plan. At no stage did he hesitate or was upset at our task ahead. By the time we got to Georgia the bow and Stern lights were 6 inches off the water and the boat sinking was inevitable.

Leo ordered the Georgia crew to launch their life raft and we would take the crew in two batches of 7. The experienced crew of Telcoinabox Merit jumped into action and in a text book procedure rescued the crew of sinking boat. I got to hold a torch :). Within 10 minutes of the rescue and after we "knifed" the life raft, Georgia sank in 500 metres of water. They had hit something which had ripped out their rudder which then pulled through the deck of the boat allowing the water to rush in. Within an hour and a half the police rescue boat met up with us and due to heavy seas and a very dark night we motored for over 6 hours toward shore and they crew were transferred at about 6.30am. We resumed our race, but had slipped back from 19 place to 74th. Despite losing our weather pattern and being 30+ miles off course we managed to haul in 46 other boats and cross the line in 28th position. That in itself was an incredible achievement.

Once in the Bass straight later that day, we enjoyed reasonable conditions and allowed the 7 experience skippers to have some fun surfing waves in a 27 knot wind while reaching. The boys managed to get the boat up to 28+ knots surfing down some great waves with the stern of the boat at the top of the wave and the bow at the bottom. Definitely an experience that I will not forget. I got some great footage of this.

We were lucky enough to get a great wind just after lunch on the third day to get us up the Derwent river. Tash, the boys and my parents were at the finish line very excited to see us and be part of the experience. The dock was packed for our arrival in recognition of our exploits at sea which was a massive thrill as you can imagine. When we docked we were met by reporters and cameras which was exciting. I think over the next 2-3 days Leo did 25+ interviews. The better thing though was the crew of Georgia had arranged an enormous amount of piss to meet us at the finish line. Awesome!!!

After cleaning up the boat we all went to the pub where we found out that an international race panel had taken our submission that took into account that we had lost our weather pattern and we were a long way off course. We were awarded a very fair 18 hours and meant that we officially crossed the line in 16th place, we won our Division (PHS Division 1) and the Overall PHS category. What a result!!!!

At the awards, Leo and the crew also won a seamanship award or the rescue.

Leo in his first Sydney to Hobart race, did one that he will never forget, Telcoinabox had the biggest amount of exposure that I could have ever dreamed of, I got to participate and 7 of the crew had promised for years to get together and do a Hobart race as they were great mates. What a great result all round.

Author: Damian Kay
Email: damian@telcoinabox.com

Telcoinabox New Zealand

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:07:00 GMT

Telcoinabox continues its global expansion with the establishment of an office in Wellington, New Zealand and has appointed Shannon Fisher as CEO.

Shannon Fisher was previously Managing Director of Creative Telcom, a privately owned Telecommunications Solutions Provider based in Australia as well as held prior roles with Alcatel, a multinational Telecommunications company. Whilst with Alcatel, Shannon held various positions in the management, sales, solutions and delivery areas of this organisation in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Belgium.

With the plans to expand the Telcoinabox model globally, New Zealand was identified as an untapped market with a lot of potential and was perfectly positioned for Telcoinabox to enter the market and take advantage of the ground floor opportunity to take its position as a market leader of innovation in the telecommunications wholesale and franchise industries.

The launch into New Zealand is progressing very well, with signed carrier agreements with Telecom NZ and TelstraClear. Telcoinabox NZ has also signed its first Wholesale Service Provider and have another 4 Franchise Service Providers in the pipeline, staying right on track for a launch date of April 1st 2009.

Stay tuned for further exciting updates!

Author: Laura Jacob
Email: laura@telcoinabox.com

Supplier Profile - Debb Lowe, FRI

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:09:00 GMT

In each edition of engaged we catch up with key people from within our supply base. This month we thought we’d eschew the usual telco people and focus instead on Debb Lowe, Director of Operations for the Franchise Relationships Institute. Here’s what Debb had to say.

Engaged: Debb, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your background and how long you’ve been working at the Franchise Relationships Institute (FRI)?
Debb: I spent 13 years with McDonalds in operations, training and senior people development roles including Professor of McDonald’s Hamburger University (I am not joking, there are 6 around the world) I have also held senior people development roles with Foodco (franchisor for Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue) and Krispy Kreme. Greg and I met when I was working at Foodco 5 years ago. I was very passionate about developing effective field manager training for our team and he ran a session for our team That was 5 years ago. I started working at FRI 18 months ago.

Engaged: Can you tell us a bit more about what the FRI does? Do you have a mission or purpose?
Debb: Our mission is to help franchisees and franchisors create profitable partnerships. We have been in business for 17 years helping franchise companies to better manage their people issues. We have developed specialised publications, tools and processes for the franchising sector. Everything we do is aimed at helping franchisees and franchisors to work together constructively so they can create happy customers, build brand value, make a reasonable profit and enjoy their work. We believe these to be worthwhile goals of a franchise system.

Engaged: We met your managing director Greg Nathan at one of our conferences and he seemed like an interesting person to work with. How would you describe the culture at FRI?
Debb: Some of our core values include being creative, sensitive, making a contribution, having courage and never giving up. We also like to stay grounded and keep our sense of humour. Our business is about helping to develop more confident, caring and competent people — franchisors; franchisees and our own team.

Engaged: And what kinds of things have you been working on with Telcoinabox?
Debb: Telcoinabox uses our scientific Franchisee Selection tool, the Nathan Profiler and we are in the process of conducting a Franchisee Satisfaction Survey which helps us understand the health of the culture, and will inform the Telcoinabox management team of the areas that are working well and areas of opportunity for improvement.

Engaged: You’ve worked quite closely with Telcoinabox for a couple of years now. What would you say are some of Telcoinabox’s strengths?
Debb: The leadership and vision of the senior management team, the determination to ensure that they have the best system and processes to ensure the franchise system is successful and the genuine commitment to be the best (and I wasn’t bribed to say these things!).

Engaged: And on the flipside are there any areas you feel Telcoinabox should be focusing on to make improvements?
Debb: While I don’t really know the business well enough to comment on specifics I’m sure that any areas for improvement will be highlighted in the results of the latest FRI survey that we have completed for Telcoinabox. On a positive note, I think it’s good that Telcoinabox is open about that the fact that they’re not perfect and actively seeks feedback on areas for improvement.

Engaged: What trends are you seeing in the franchise industry and are there any other franchise systems that you think are setting a really high benchmark?
Debb: Those franchise systems that have a genuine interest in franchisee profitability and the health of the culture are the franchise systems that do well in the long term.

Engaged: You work with lots of franchise businesses. What’s the FRI’s view on the outlook for franchising in the current economic climate?
Debb: Our recent research survey suggests that the franchising sector is in good shape, this is where the power of franchising really kicks in; collaboration, the sharing of ideas and knowledge and a genuine interest in helping each other.

Engaged: And if you could give one piece of advice to our franchisees to help them maximize their opportunities in the current economic climate what would it be?
Debb: Focus on the basics and keep your eye on the game… share your ideas and knowledge, keep your passion alive.

Thanks Debb, can’t wait for the survey results to be published this year to see how we’ve fared. For more information on the Franchise Relationships Institute visit www.franchiserelationships.com

Author: Paul Line
Email: paul@telcoinabox.com

Success Stories - IF Telecom

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:09:00 GMT

In this edition of Engaged we took the time out to have a chat with the hard working Rich Branson of IF Telecom. Rich gives us a little insight into what it takes to run a successful franchise, why he chose the Telco Industry and how the Credit Crunch has affected them.

Company : IF Telecom Pty Ltd

Location : Central Melbourne – 462 William Street

Who is Richard Branson? : I am 26 and moved over from Bristol in England in September 2005.

What were you doing before Telco and what made you give Telco a go? : Before getting into Telco I completed a Marketing Degree in Bristol, England. After a few months off catching up on festivals I dropped everything in the UK and moved to Melbourne. Since then I’ve not looked back.

How long has IF been running for? : The IF Group of companies has been running since October 2004, IF Telecom since October 2005.

Tell us a little about IF Telecom, How it started and how many people you have on board? : Both myself and brother Andy run the business. Andy takes more of a sales role, and manages the sales team while at the same time running a very successful campaign for NAB selling merchant services. The NAB campaign has led us to recently open a sales office in Adelaide – this will soon lead to a base for some IF Telecom sales staff.
We currently have 5 full time office based staff managing IF Telecom Customer Care and Sales Support for both the IF Telecom and NAB campaigns. At present the IF Telecom sales team comprises of 4 full time staff – 3 on the road doing face to face appointments and 1 on the phones. Plans are to constantly expand both teams in the near future.

What was the hardest thing to get your head around? : Some of the annoying procedures Telstra have to manage their lines. Understanding the money go round and the importance of good financial planning.

So what made you approach Telcoinabox? : Telco In a Box gave us the opportunity as newbie’s in the Service Provider game to offer a wide range of products and services. All factors including Billing, Printing and Technical Support were instantly sorted.

Key factors to your success? : I think a number of things have led to our success. Initially it was not spending much money on marketing materials, websites etc. and solely focusing on selling and getting customers on board. As we grew and brought on staff it’s been important that we have had a team atmosphere and a fun, friendly working environment.

By running multiple sales campaigns it has meant that we have had a busy office, even in IF Telecom’s early days, full of people motivated to do well. Andy’s experience in Sales and Sales Training has meant we can bring someone with little or no sales experience to become a ‘Sales Gun’. Opportunities and progression within the company has led to staff being with us for 4 or more years!

How has Telcoinabox contributed to your success? : By offering support when needed and by delivering a billing platform that we simply could not have done on our own.

What is a typical day like for Rich? : On a work day the alarm goes off at 7am – quick shower – then a 5 minute walk to the office – i’m very lucky that I’m not in the rat race of traffic jams and early morning road rage. Usually at my desk with a coffee at 7.30ish.
Mornings would involve checking payments, making sure the guys have their list of collection calls. Then the day to day huge range of different things that crop up with managing 1000 business customers. Luckily we have a very good team to help – and things have changed considerably from the days of taking customer calls on the mobile while shooting around town.
At the moment I usually have a quick lunch, continue working for the afternoon before finishing up in the office at 5 or 5.30pm.
In the evenings I try and fit in some sport – swimming, squash and we have our 5 a-side indoor football (soccer) team. Then of course there are the odd midweek drinks, nights out and the likes Melbourne has to offer.
Weekends are very different. :)

What is the best thing you like about running a Telco? : I like the fact that it is a very changing market. Technologies across the board are always moving forward and developing. It’s a 24 hrs business, so whether you’re in the office, at the pub or on the beach – people are always making phone calls! The opportunity is still absolutely massive!

How has the credit crunch affected you and what measures have you implemented to survive it? : To date I think it has opened up more avenues to sales. Cold calling b2b is now a viable option, when at one stage it seemed exhausted - businesses are keen to save money! It has however meant that we have to keep an even closer eye on collections – and regular contact with customers is needed to understand how their business is going.

What other advice would you give to new Telco Franchisees? : Focus on sales, as without customers there is no-one to care for and no money coming in! Don’t go nuts with salaries & expensive handsets as you won’t make money from a customer for at least 2 months! And don’t be afraid to bar a customer – as they’ll generally pay you the same day!

Where do you see IF Telecom in 5 years? : In 5 years we want IF Telecom to have kept growing at the same fast rate that it is now. Hopefully billing in excess of $1 million per month. More sales staff and more customer service staff. We’ll need another new office by then – with a balcony!

How can we get in touch with you for more info? : Email is probably the best method – as I’m never that far away from them – rich@iftelecom.com

Author: Bill Kang
Email: bill@telcoinabox.com

NBN and the reseller opportunity

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:38:00 GMT

The National Broadband Network (NBN) presents an interesting situation for players in the $40 billion telecommunications industry and to some degree it will level the playing field between network operators and resellers.

Telcoinabox is a wholesale, value added aggregator, supplying more than 110 retail resellers in the industry and as such relies on its relationships with the major networks. Telcoinabox accesses networks from the carriers and then adds value and on sells to its resellers’ who in turn on sell to the end user (predominantly SME/SMB).

Regardless of the network (Telstra, Optus and AAPT) we use, we find we end up competing against their retail divisions which in many situations is at pricing less than we can buy from their wholesale channels. You have to wonder how this is the case. Our total spend with the carrier is infinitely more than the individual end user buying from their retail divisions, so how do they justify this? They can't; A classic example is Telstra, 2 years ago increasing the wholesale cost of residential line access higher than its retail price. We save Telstra money by managing the line, wearing the bad debt and having to bill the line, yet we pay more for it, go figure!

Given that the premise of wholesale business for the carriers is that it is cheaper than retail to supply and is one of the main reasons that it represents nearly all the EBITDA of AAPT despite how poorly Paul Broad runs the business. AAPT is notorious for selling at retail, less than we can buy at wholesale. Given their profits come from wholesale it is hard to rationalise.

So where am I going with this?

The NBN opportunity (in theory) levels the playing field, and depending on how wholesale access pricing is determined, everyone has the same opportunity for access and revenue.

This effectively means that say Telstra wins the right to build the network, Optus, AAPT and other major networks will access the network on the same terms as resellers in the industry.

Then it comes down to what each provider chooses to put down the network, e.g. converged voice and data which theoretically should be cheaper than supplying a fixed-wire service (copper) and a “2nd lined”/fixed DSL service that are separate. In other words it comes down to innovation and good management.

What an opportunity!

The added opportunities are the value-adds such as ‘hosted voice’ which removes the need for in-office CPE/PABX hardware and expenditure.

It does not get any better than that.

Damian Kay

Account Management - How crap is it?

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:37:00 GMT

We all know that it costs infinitely more to acquire a new customer than to retain a customer. If this is the case, why is the Telecommunications industry so crap at account management. It forms the corner stone of any business that has high value customers (or for that matter any customers). Businesses can be made or lost on the quality of their account management.

As an example we pulled a multi million dollar annual spend from AAPT and moved it to Telstra due to poor account management. When we "pulled" the traffic, AAPT hardly battered an eye lid. In the end we were taken for granted. Now this obviously did not hurt AAPT to a massive extent, but just to maintain their volumes they need to find a few million a year in revenue. How much will this cost them? It could have been avoided through good account management.

We see it time and time again. Even our major competitor in the market has no idea (we are a customer of theirs also) with little to no follow up and getting a return phone call is all but impossible. Yet, our experience at Telstra has been sensational to say the least. For a massive beast of a company they seem to have got it right. It is a major focus of theirs and they seem to nurture good people.

I used to argue with our previous billing house that they just did not get it, and why?, they never took the time to understand our business or understand our expectations despite many attempts by us. In the end we left and found an alternative solution. At one stage we had a great account manager but their opinion was that she "over serviced" her customers. In the end she left and worked for me :)

Coming from a FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) background such as Colgate Palmolive, Mars (Masterfoods) and others probably taints my view as everything is about account management, but surely the fundamentals that have made this industry so successful translate to our own beloved industry. Many operators just don't get it. We have seen so many times, the only time we hear from our account manager is if we are 1 day late in paying our monthly invoice.

As I often ask rhetorically, where am I going with this?

Nobody can deny, we are coming into tough times. Reducing our overall costs while maintaining growth and reducing debtor days is key. So if retaining customers is cheaper than acquiring customers, why does account management in telecommunications seem to be a lost art (in general)?

Who knows. In any case, this begs the question, what is good account management?

Successful account management is more than making a scheduled phone call, sending them their monthly reports or ringing them looking for payment? It is about immersing yourself in your customers business, understanding their business, knowing their people and forming a relationship at all levels within their business (account penetration). By doing this, you form a true partnership and can better make informed decisions on how to grow and make more money out of that account. A good account manager is the one that fights for their accounts cause within their own business and goes beyond the call of duty to find solutions for their customer. In some situations a good account manager will play business coach and other times will just be an empathetic ear to the concern of their account.

By building a strong rapport with an account is gives the account manager the ability to push back on their account when they push too far or they do the wrong thing. This is because they will have the respect of the account and done in the right way will not damage the relationship.

I would personally speak with our Telstra account manager 3-5 times a week and I know that she also speaks with our General Manager, National Operations Manager, Business Development Manager, Product Manager a number of times during a week and she makes the effort to speak with our admin person every time she is in the office. We will present an opportunity to her and she will fight like a bulldog within the Telstra business until we get an outcome whether positive or negative (more often than not positive). In the whole process she keeps us updated by phone call or email. Communication is key to building a successful relationship.

If you want to know if someone is a good account manager, ask them when was the last time they were driving or having a shower or on a train and suddenly they had a great idea or the solution to a problem for an account came to them and they just had to ring their account immediately. Also ask when was the last time they rang their account and just said "hello" with no agenda or reason.

So what do I think of our business and our account management. Without being too detailed, we are average. We have a great framework and "tool chest" of tools and internal training for our account managers, as well as systems and processes, but we could be much better at building lasting relationships of respect and a complete understanding or our customers businesses. We go someway in immersing our self in our customers business but not deep enough. We do not get the level of respect that is required to truly help grow our accounts. The good news is that we know this and we are working on improving our performance all the time.

I will say that we piss all over our competition and most of the carriers, but as always we are never happy and want to be better. As the Managing Director, I cannot ask any more than that.

Damian Kay

Staff Profile - Introducing Carolyn Myers

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:23:00 GMT

In this 3rd edition of Engaged with have a special treat for you. We have managed to pin down the hard working and friendly Carolyn Myers. We ask her the hard hitting questions about where she comes from and we delve deep to find out what makes her tick. So get comfortable and read on!

Engaged: Can we ask how old you are?

Carolyn: 25

Engaged: Tell us a bit about your background?

Carolyn: I was born in New Jersey, USA and lived in Florida when I was younger.

My family moved to Australia in the 1990’s and have lived in the South West

Sydney area ever since.

Engaged: Whats your job role at Telcoinabox?

Carolyn: My role within Telcoinabox is Product Manager. My role as Product manager is to manage the lifecycle, pricing and competitive positioning for all Telcoinabox products & services to support Telcoinabox’s strategic objectives & purpose.

Engaged: Family Members?

Carolyn: Mother, 1 older sister, 3 dogs, 2 fish, and 1 ferret

Engaged: Any Interests/hobbies we should know about?

Carolyn: Music. I am a performance and competitive player in a Scottish Pipe band called Southern Cross Pipe and Drums. I play the drum and I also teach music and kit drumming.

Engaged: Previous career experience?

Carolyn: My past employment covers a wide variety of roles. Once I completed schooling I started out in Admin/Office roles in the financial sector. Prior to joining the Telcoinabox Team I spent 5 years working with a company called Giesecke & Devrient in their Telecommunications & Banking division assisting in managing our corporate accounts who where Optus, Vodafone, other small MVNO’s and CBA/ANZ .

Engaged: How have you found Telcoinabox so far?

Carolyn: My roles undertaken so far within Telcoinabox have been both challenging and exciting. TIAB has enabled me to grow so much in the last 2 years since starting as a Stepping Stone/Customer Service Representative, to Client Support Team Leader and finally to Product Manager. The amount of knowledge I have gained over this time is unbelievable, however in saying that I am also learning new things everyday which keeps me interested and enthusiastic. That’s Telco for you!

Engaged: What makes Telcoinabox different?

Carolyn: It would definitely be the people and our purpose. The Telcoinabox team is young, dynamic and passionate about the work and the people who they work with. I see this every day through the Managers, Team Leaders and Team Members. Also, our partner carriers and service providers are so important to our business, it is a great experience to be able to deal with such a wide range of people and businesses. The Telcoinabox purpose has improved the business in so many ways as everything we undertake and challenge ourselves with must fit into our “reliable support framework”. If it doesn’t fit, it ain’t good enough!

Engaged: What do you hope to achieve in your time here?

Carolyn: There is so much that is happening within the next 12 months with new products coming on board and I am excited to be key in launching these. I am hoping that I will be able to make these new products sellable and get our service providers excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for them. Our launch of ADSL2+ is so exciting for the business and I am looking forward to seeing our first connection go through! I am also hoping to be able to have our existing product set well defined, documented and profitable and ensure that our team’s and service providers have access to detailed product training and support. That, as well as world domination.

Engaged: How do you think you will do that?

Carolyn: A lot of caffeine ! I know that I have the support of some fantastic people within the company as well as our carrier partners.

Engaged: 3 albums you cannot live without and why?

Carolyn: Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails, OK Computer by Radiohead & Revolver by The Beatles. However this list of albums will be completely different in a week’s time. It always changes.

Engaged: What makes you tick?

Carolyn: I think I am pretty balanced. I am open to other people’s opinions, experiences and friendships. I enjoy my music and love exploring new things. Basically, I like to keep busy.

Engaged: Has listening to Claire’s (Claire Smith - National Operations Manager) music all day had a negative impact on you? Physically or Mentally?

Carolyn: Mixed results I would say. I really enjoyed the time just before Xmas holidays when the only music I was hearing was cheesy Christmas albums from struggling pop singers – Bliss! I also recall a Christmas Carol by the Spice Girls in there which I don’t think I will ever recover from!

Engaged: What thing pee’s you off the most in life?

Carolyn: I would have to say (in no particular order) paying tax, having shopping bags break open when walking down the street, being lied to, waking up early and Cityrail.

Author: Bill Kang
Email: bill@telcoinabox.com

What Crisis?

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:43:00 GMT

Finally the Doom and Gloom of the global economic crisis has got to me. There is no doubt that there are issues with the financial framework and the actions of some greedy bastards in the financial sector have been the catalyst for the current situation but really!!! It is a self fulfilling prophecy. If we stop buying our lunch from the food court at work then the guys that own the food outlet cannot buy the Holden car they were going to buy and then the Holden company need to lay off workers and so on. The key here is to keep spending. I take a "cautious aggressive" view to recession. Like any chaos within business, and a recession is definitely a chaotic situation for business, it creates opportunity. While my competition clams up like a hetro guy at a rave party, we have employed more sales staff and more resources to handle that growth. from July 1 alone our wages bill increased by $500K. Bring it on I say.

If more companies took this approach, rather than taking a "woe is me" attitude, we will skip a long drawn out recession and defy the rest of the world. Granted that this is not everyone's cup of tea. Even internally we have looked at any unutilised resources, but we have looked to re-allocate those resources to where they are more highly valued and can generate either more growth or support more growth.

The next person who sits next to me at an industry lunch and lets loose about tough conditions, I am seriously going to rip their ears off. Before the current environment, they were whinging about how hard it was to get good people and now there are lots of them in the market due to redundancies they are whinging about the environment. What a great time to employ good quality people. Please understand that I am not advocating stupid spending and reckless behaviour, but a positive approach to the situation and a removal of the blinkers of the daily press and look for opportunity and growth.

Mind you the Wayne Swan's of the world do not exactly inspire confidence and action. At least Costello was funny and generated opinion. Wayne on the other hand is as animated as a shop mannequin.

Tough times create huge opportunity, it creates the environment for change, for re-invention and for a chance to take market share. Consumers, or any purchases of goods and services change their habit in tough times. They break habits of buying the same brand and think, "what else is available". Telco is no different, SME's and Residential customers look for options. Telecommunication resellers stand to benefit from this the most. If well run they should be (in general) offering a sensational service at a value price. "Sensational Service" is relative to the performance of customer service functions of the largest telco's. Have you ever tried to ring them and get an answer from the one person (let alone waiting on hold for 20 minutes)?. So back to my point, " Sensational Service at a Value Price", in tough times why would an SME or a residential customer not at least take a look at this.

I laugh while writing this, because we have taken an aggressive approach to the current market and I sit at my desk telling the Telecommunication reseller industry to wake up and go hard (or go home) which only makes my job harder through other aggressive competition. At the end of the day resellers play against the big guys and that is where we get our market share. so I am not too worried. If a Senior manager reads this from one of the lumbering giants we call carriers, by the time they get sign off it will be all too late.

M2 impresses me. They have taken a very aggressive approach to the market and have used the opportunity to acquire poor performing businesses. Love it!!.

In my last Blog I ripped into the useless and pompous Franchise Council of Australia (I am yet to hear from them. Mind you apparently the head of the FCA has other things on his mind). I look to see the leadership they are showing in these times. To date there has been none. Franchisors are incredibly placed to take advantage of the current market. With redundancies everywhere, people have some cash in their pockets disillusioned about the fact that they thought that working for someone gave them more security. They are now reassessing that mind set and looking to secure their future with something they have more control over. The Franchise industry will be a huge beneficiary of this and the FCA should be preparing and talking up this situation. The industry leaders and industry bodies need to start talking up the opportunity and lead through communication to their members and their greater industry. People are looking for answers and good news. I was looking on their website this morning to see if they had provided any leadership in this matter and surprise, surprise their website is down.

To all who read this, start spending, talk up the opportunity and above all have a good time doing it :) Damian Kay

Franchising: How healthy is it?

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:07:00 GMT

As the Managing Director of one of the most successful franchise systems in Australia I was recently invited to speak at the Franchise Council Of Australia (FCA) national convention here in Sydney. I was asked to speak about the success of Telcoinabox including what and how we did it. One of the guidelines provided by the organizers was the question, what would I not do again?. I addressed this is true Damian Kay style, bluntly!

So what was my answer on this? FRANCHISING!!

Arguably it was not the time nor the place for the tirade that followed but given I had left numerous messages for the head of the FCA and none of them returned, I thought this was the perfect forum. In any case, I was just answering the question

So why do I feel this way?

Franchising is supposed to represent a safe and proven environment for people wishing to go into business for themselves. There are many unscrupulous operators that set up a Franchise front and sell franchises then effectively shut down. Speaking with a number of Franchisees at the conference I realised that this was a too common occurrence. I then asked myself what the Industry body was doing about this and the only major campaign that was evident was “Don’t Sign Without the Sign”. Great concept and great intention. The problem with it was that there was absolutely NO substance behind it. Basically if, as a Franchisor you paid your membership fees, you get “the sign” or in other words the FCA logo to use.

This means that potential franchisees were led into a false sense of security as the unscrupulous operator just pays their few hundred dollars and they have “the sign”. I likened it to handing out condoms with random pin pricks in them. You think you are safe but……………………

The council members that were in the audience walked out on my presentation (as to be expected) which was disappointing as I was interested to get their feedback. I guess they were living their reputation

At the end of the session, I was “mauled” by Franchisors and Franchisees alike congratulating me on standing up and telling it as it is as in the past nobody was game to speak out against the council. I have never shaken so many hands in such a short period of time in my life. The feedback since has been astounding and people sending me emails thanking me for making a stand. What touched me the most was a franchisee after the end of the session with tears in their eyes hugging me and telling me that if only someone had stood up years ago they may not have been “ripped off” by those operators that prayed on the unwary.

Many service providers that service the Franchise industry have come out and also congratulated me, telling stories of bullying and other interesting issues.

I have had absolutely no communication from the FCA to discuss my opinion (and that of many other people) which has been more than disappointing and I find this incredibly gutless.

The “Don’t Sign Without the Sign” campaign is a winner as long as it has a report of key areas that the franchise system has met such as systems, support, infrastructure, experience of the operator/franchisor etc. A bit like the Heart Foundations ticks of approval which means that the food has met and passed stringent criteria. Is this too much for the FCA? Probably, they are more intent on travelling to Canberra weekly than really doing what they should and that is building a robust, trustworthy and stable framework for Franchisors and Franchisees to operate in.

So if you are a Franchisor, I encourage you to NOT pay your annual fees, it gets you nothing and if you’re a potential franchisee do not rely on and FCA registered Franchisor, do your due diligence. More than anything ring the franchisees in the system you are looking at including those that have left. Hopefully the FCA will grow some balls and confront the issue.

Author: Damian Kay
Email: damian@telcoinabox.com

Welcome to the latest edition of engaged

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the second edition of engaged, keeping you informed on what’s been going on in a whirlwind few months for Telcoinabox. This year’s annual franchise conference, held in Sydney for the first time, was undoubtedly the highlight. To get the juicy details on the goings on during conference week read Tom Fry’s conference diary in this issue but suffice to say that every year we seem to raise the bar a little higher.

This year, according to your feedback, was no exception. Featuring, for the first time, senior representation from our major suppliers not to mention detailed training on Optus mobile and Blackberry, some great workshops and a karate-style board breaking exercise aimed at turning fear into confidence, there was plenty for all delegates to take away and apply in both a business and personal capacity.

As usual it wasn’t all work-work-work and, on the social side ten-pin bowling, karaoke and a gala awards dinner on Sydney Harbour were enough to deliver the required quota of fun. Finally, a fast and furious charity auction (ably presided over by Brendan Hede from Westalk – thanks again Brendan) that raised thousands for our Oxfam 100km walk teams finished the event on a high and sent at least one of the Optus management team home with a snowboard!

While on the subject of the Oxfam walk please join me in congratulating the two Telcoinabox teams who, after months of rigorous training, completed this grueling event and raised bucket-loads of money for charity. If you think this sounds like a nice stroll in the park then I suggest you read Tash Kay’s article where you can get the inside scoop on just how tough a 100km walk is.

Broadening our horizons outside of Telcoinabox, anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock for the last few weeks would have seen that it’s also been a grueling time in the financial world (as your superannuation fund statements will no doubt remind you). The “credit crunch”, as it’s now universally come to be known, has taken a huge toll on some of the largest financial institutions in the USA and Europe resulting in unprecedented government intervention and financial rescue packages running into the trillions of dollars. John Paul Getty once famously said “If you owe the bank $100 that’s your problem, if you owe the bank $100 million that’s the bank’s problem” to this we can now probably add “If you owe the bank $100 billion that’s the government’s problem”.

So what does all this Wall Street chaos mean for “Main Street” and, more importantly, for you and your business? Don’t miss Damian’s article for some top tips on what to focus on to ensure that your business can weather the approaching financial storm. We’ve often said that the telco industry is well-placed to ride out a recession, it seems like we’re about to find out.

To end on a positive note we should all take heart from some encouraging signs for our industry that it’s not all doom and gloom. Recent figures released by Australian telecommunications analyst Paul Budde show that the telco market in Australia is still showing healthy growth and that growth is set to continue at almost 5% for both 2009/10 and 2010/11, well above the rate of inflation and impressive for such a large industry, with broadband services, mobile services and increasingly mobile broadband services leading the charge.

I hope you enjoy this latest edition of engaged and, as always please let us know what you think of the content and what topics you’d like to see discussed in the future.

Author: Paul Line
Email: paul@telcoinabox.com

telcoinabox in the UK

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:54:00 GMT

After arriving into the UK in early March and being given one of its only free things, the world’s worst flu, TIAB’s first international office didn’t exactly get off to a flying start.

The ‘one or two’ Pommies in the Sydney office had warned me this may happen and all of a sudden my own memories of why I left here in the first place came flooding back. Just kidding Pommies, calm down.

Since the initial ‘gift’ from Her Majesty the Queen though, TIAB UK has been moving in a much more positive direction and is now fully up and running.

With only one Service Provider as a client, TIAB UK has just reached 4500 mobile connections in only 5 months of operation. We expect this SP to be at 7000+ by the end of the year along with 10,000+ PSTN services all being well.

TIAB’s main carrier agreement in the UK is with Gamma Telecom, one of the UK’s largest Tier 2 carriers. Gamma has over 400 Service Providers and is the only UK carrier to solely sell to Service Providers or to ‘the channel’ as it is referred to here. Via Gamma TIAB UK gets access to Three’s mobile network as well as Gamma’s own national fixed wire and IP network.

TIAB has recently become Gamma’s biggest mobile Service Provider and therefore has already made an impact in the UK telecommunications market. Gamma has already starting sending smaller potential resellers to TIAB which is extremely pleasing given the short amount of time we have been here and the huge choice of resellers Gamma could be sending them to.

Whilst the UK may be leaps and bounds ahead in bad weather and nasty flu’s, I think it is fair to that Australia is miles ahead in the telco space and, more specifically, in the MVNO/Franchise/SP space.

The 5 mobile networks here (Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Three) have done their very best to minimise the amount of Service Providers that buy wholesale services from them and operate under their own brand. Each network probably only has 3 or 4 companies that have a wholesale agreement, yet there are 2500 Service Providers registered with OpenReach (BT’s network that was spun off as a separate company as they have often talked about doing with Telstra in Australia). This has made it quite difficult for TIAB UK to gain access to all the carriers it wants to but it is in the final stages of signing an agreement with T-Mobile which is very positive and will give our clients the ability to connect 2G services in addition to the 3G services that Three offers.

The difficulty in gaining access directly to the carriers is exciting for TIAB UK as it reflects the state of the market here and only shows there is more opportunity for TIAB to help breakdown the barriers as we did in Australia. We look forward to giving individuals and organisations the ability to share in the profits that the telecommunications market offers, rather than letting carriers be the only ones to profit.

Next time you go to swear at Utilibill for taking longer than half an hour to port a mobile number, spare a thought for the folks in the UK where it recently changed from taking 3 days to now ‘only taking’ two days.

On the subject of Utilibill and billing in general, Australia is also way ahead of the UK market in this respect. Most billing systems I have viewed here are similar in look and functionality to Utilibill’s predecessor. Currently TIAB UK is using a third party’s billing system, which although this one is web based unlike most others here, it comprises 4 different systems (one for provisioning, one for billing, one for payments and one for reporting). And yes that means 4 different logins. So again all of this whilst making life a little difficult currently outlines the opportunity for TIAB once Utilibill is operational in the UK and can simplify the operation of a telco like it has done in Australia.

Now this update was not meant to be about taking the piss out of the UK market, no matter how easy it may be to do, so I will get back to the positive things going on.

On Monday 18th August TIAB UK is proud to welcome the arrival of its first employee, Forster’s favourite son Ben Arabin. Ben’s role will be a very varied role if ever there was one and will be a mix of CSG, Stepping Stone, BAM and Billing. Thankfully Ben is the perfect candidate for this role and no doubt will have a great time getting stuck into both his role as well as England’s national dish, the Chicken Tikka Massala.

Apart from seeing Ben’s smiling face, his arrival will be most welcomed as it will allow TIAB UK to get out and start looking at new SP opportunities. The UK telco market is at least 3 times the size of the Australian one and although it is fiercely competitive, the competition is closely controlled still as mentioned above. I have already had meetings with various prospects including a couple of Premier League Football clubs, one of London’s largest radio stations, one of the UK’s biggest pop star’s management company that is looking to cash in on the ‘brand’ of their client by launching a mobile service in his name (strange but true) as well as the UK’s largest online DVD rental business (with over 1 million members) who are looking to launch a broadband product to compliment their DVD service. Whilst it is early days with all of these opportunities it gives me great confidence that the TIAB model interests such a wide variety of organisations.

In addition to focusing on the growth in Service Provider numbers for the UK, we will be working hard on bringing in-house some of the functions that have currently been outsourced to third parties. TIAB has a call centre in Newcastle that provides our Stepping Stone functionality. We also have another call centre in Newbury (an hour outside of London, some of you may know it as the home of Vodafone) that provides some of the functionality of CSG. This organisation also provides our billing services as well. Over the next 12 months we will be looking at building up the team here which will allow us to have more control over the service that is provided to our SP’s and the end users.

The first of these services to come in house will begin with the arrival of Utilibill which is currently scheduled for October. The Utilibill nerds have been working hard to make this happen and without this system I am convinced selling the TIAB solution to the UK market would be a much more difficult task.

For those of you that know London, TIAB has set up the world’s smallest Global HeadQuarters (currently one desk) in Clerkenwell, in the heart of East London. I am not quite sure what it is famous for, maybe just EastEnders, but nevertheless it has definitely been a great home for TIAB’s first international operation.

Please feel free to drop by should any of you be coming to England and I will be happy to show you round. It won’t take long I promise. Unless you want to port your mobile number that is, in which case you better give yourself an extra couple of days.

Author: Damien Gould
Email: damien@telcoinabox.com