The Pastel group, a member of JSE-listed Softline Limited, has announced plans to add Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) functionality to its Pastel Accounting software through the PlanetPastel.com internet portal, giving its end-users the ability to use their cell-phones to access information from their accounting systems while on the move.
According to Mike Bryer, Operations Director of the Pastel Group, this means that Pastel's 100 000+ customers will be able to access desktop financial information about their business at any time or place, so long as they have a WAP-enabled cell-phone and are in an area covered by the GSM networks. The standard PC browser-based access will also be provided.
Pastel's implementation of WAP will allow mobile users to securely access vital information from the company's back-end accounting system, using the PlanetPastel.com portal as a point of entry. The new WAP support will be particularly useful for sales people and managers while on the road. They will be able to, for example, check stock levels in their inventories; look up customer credit information; examine outstanding and current balances; submit pricing queries; or examine a financial summary that presents a condensed view of the activity at the company such as sales figures over specific time periods.
Customers with PlanetPastel.com electronic storefronts will also be able to use their WAP-enabled mobile devices (or their web browsers) to check statistics such as hits on their sites, goods shipped, and the value of transactions performed in a given period.
In the next phase of the WAP implementation, Pastel will add capabilities for mobile transactions (m-commerce) at the portal. This will allow the customers of PlanetPastel.com tenants to search for stores, product information and purchase goods via their cell-phones. Pastel is currently in the final test phase of the WAP support to its software, and expects to roll it out for commercial use over the next few weeks.
Pastel Software, worked together with Softline group company, Opensoft to develop the WAP enabled accounting solution, demonstrating the effective use of the group's extensive R&D skills base. Says Bryer: "The integration of WAP functionality into our accounting applications is clear evidence that Pastel has developed world-class technology that is aligned with the latest trends in the software industry. It also endorses our investments in R&D and our belief in ownership of our technology as a way of keeping pace with new developments in the rapidly evolving Internet market.
"We expect to see the emerging local mobile internet market explode in the next two to three years as a result of the high penetration of mobile telephones into the South African market. By adding WAP support for business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions, as well as standard accounting software functions into our software, we are strongly positioned to capitalise on the trend towards mobile data and any future technologies that will support mobile workers."
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