mReach: your cloud-based communication server

With the introduction of Xpedia's hosted mReach offerings, this powerful communication server is now accessible to more companies.

mReach is a flexible communication framework that can be integrated into any systems environment. It can be used to optimise communication to and from CRM, HR, ERP, or any other business system.

With proper communications, operations will run far more smoothly. Organisations can utilise mReach to keep the channels of information consistent and accessible.

The diagram below illustrates how mReach can be used to automate communication between systems and end-users:

As an example, the financial module of an ERP system could integrate with mReach to send the procurement manager an SMS asking her to approve a purchase order. The procurement manager can reply to the SMS to approve or reject the purchase order. mReach can intelligently process this SMS and execute the correct action in the ERP system, to either approve or reject the purchase order. mReach can be applied similarly to improve efficiency of interaction between people and systems in virtually any domain, including HR, ERP and CRM.

All organisations have two common goals:

1. To keep their existing customers satisfied; and
2. To attract new customers.

Successful communication with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders is important to achieving both these goals. The importance of cellular phone communication in Africa is evident from the high percentage of cellphone subscriptions.

In Africa, the ubiquitous use of cellphones, combined with relatively low Internet penetration, provides a perfect opportunity to use simplistic cellphone communication like SMSes to automate communication and improve processes with negligible marginal infrastructure cost.

mReach fills this gap. It is a communication and rule processing server that automates interactive communication between a company's systems and their clients or end-users.

This includes:

* Automated SMS sending.
* Intelligent processing of received SMSes based on configurable rules.
* Integration with back-end systems.

Xpedia encourages companies to integrate the mReach communication server into their communications model. Companies can simultaneously gain business process efficiency and cost savings through automated communications integrated with their systems.

The benefits of using mReach to automate communication are numerous, as some of the examples below illustrate:

* Lowers communication costs through bulk SMS service and automation.
* Improves process efficiency and capacity through fast, two-way communication 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.
* Improved customer satisfaction through immediate response to customer enquiries.
* Interactive communication can provide real-time assessment of situations, so that time is not wasted.
* Other communications are technologically dependent. The mReach system can connect to any e-mail or SMS service provider for greater flexibility.
* Companies will save themselves from replacing the systems already in place, as it integrates with any ERP, HR or CRM solution.
* Companies can improve on their processes by analysing detailed reports of SMS usage and conversations.

Correctly configuring and maintaining a product such as mReach can be daunting. There are also additional costs involved in maintaining a suitable server environment and qualified server administrator. For these reasons, Xpedia also offers mReach as a cloud-based service.

mReach is services-oriented architecture (SOA) compliant and all communication uses Web services. This allows customers to integrate with mReach using most mainstream technologies and programming languages. Xpedia also provides services to assist customers with integration, so even organisations that don't have the capacity for this kind of integration development in-house can benefit from mReach's communication improvements.

The exact type of service will depend on the communication volumes and criticality. Xpedia can assist in customising a solution to suit every client's needs and pocket. Xpedia manages all solutions to make sure customers' communications are running 24/7.