Mobile interactivity solutions Incentivated has been appointed by British Airways as…
Mobile interactivity solutions Incentivated has been appointed by British Airways as its exclusive SMS communication supplier for a number of global services with immediate effect. This follows a competitive tender earlier in the year during which suppliers were asked to pitch on the basis of complex technical and security requirements (e.g. simultaneously interfacing with SMPP, SMTP and XML) as well as cost.
The first three British Airways services to benefit from the mobile medium are; passenger disruption notifications, cargo logistics alerts and staff communication. British Airways has several other plans for the adoption of the use of SMS communications within both marketing and customer service activities in the future.
During 2005 British Airways has been testing the willingness of customers to give their mobile number through the online booking for the purpose of improving communication with them. The airline has established the need to have an instantaneous method for disseminating updates to the flying public. The immediacy and relevance of the information has seen strong customer support.
Within the business-to-business logistics operations of British Airways and in particular World Cargo, customers are often on the road and email does not get through to them in time. SMS is a better solution.
Nico Le Roux of British Airways World Cargo said, Integrating fifteen automated applications with a supplier seemed like a mammoth task. With the help of the Incentivated Technical Team the whole task was completed seamlessly in two days.
The introduction of an IP Telephony system within the airline has provided the opportunity to integrate mobile and fixed telephony solutions, providing a simplified solution for retrieving messages. Staff will receive SMS notifications of voicemails and other communication.
Julie Fleming of British Airways IT Procurement said, “We needed a supplier who could integrate with a multitude of legacy applications as well as our new IP Telephony system which is being implemented now. Not only did Incentivated offer a thorough understanding of the SMS medium, they were flexible in their approach and accommodating of our complex needs. Earlier trials proved the effectiveness of SMS communications and we look forward to rolling this out further in all parts of the business.”
Jonathan Bass, Managing Director at Incentivated, said “The addition of the mobile channel to marketing and customer service functions brings substantial enhancements to operations, along with cost savings. This is another example of where we have successfully integrated with numerous legacy IT systems. Having met with different departments at BA, and indeed other clients we work with, I am forever surprised by the number of additional uses for the mobile medium that those at the sharp end come up with. We will be working closely with British Airways to help them employ this technology for reaching their global customer base throughout their business.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
