Storm Telecom makes the Microsoft call for effective CRM

Storm Telecom has rolled out an end-to-end Microsoft-based customer relationship management (CRM) solution at its Johannesburg and Cape Town offices. The Onyx CRM system went live on Friday 9 June 2000 and is the company`s largest IT investment, second to its telecommunications infrastructure.

Having to manage an organically grown customer base of almost 500 South African corporates, Storm Telecom has turned to technology to ensure that it delivers on the service promises it makes. The company provides high quality, low cost telecommunications services to corporates, including some of the big names in the local banking and hotel sectors.

Pierre Mulder & Associates (PMA), an enterprise systems integrator and local reseller for the Microsoft-based Onyx product, was tasked to build a CRM solution that would integrate with the existing Microsoft infrastructure such as Microsoft Excel 97 reporting, while providing customised applications to suit Storm Telecom`s needs. The company has decided to standardise on Microsoft technology throughout its organisation locally and in Europe, based on the benefits offered by the products.

"In the telecommunications industry, consistent service delivery is key to remaining competitive and provides an important differentiator," says Sven Blom, operations manager for Storm Telecom. "We promise our customers guaranteed turn-around times for queries and due to our intense growth over the past year, we require an effective management system that will allow us to monitor and evaluate the service we`re providing."

The easy-to-use reporting function of the Onyx software which utilises Microsoft SQL Server`s database capabilities, allows Storm Telecom to monitor internal processes, as well as create a continuously updated record of customer usage and billing. This information is then used for targeted marketing to customers. For example, call rate reductions to France can be flagged with customers who phone the country regularly. From an internal perspective, the different departments have access to the same customer information through a single front-end view of the database - now marketing, to sales, to support know the status of a customer enquiry in real-time.

"Some of the solutions available on the market don`t deliver on true-CRM enablement or scaleability, and as a result don`t prove to be value-for-money," says Blom. "We anticipate material benefits such as improved process turn-around as well as better sales closure ratios, which will give us a return on our IT investment and improved service levels for our customers."

It is imperative that Storm Telecom runs a reliable billing system and Microsoft SQL Server delivers real-time data, allowing customers to determine immediately on request at what times and to what destinations they have called for any given period. As part of the value-add, Storm Telecom provides customers with fully itemised electronic billing, including an analysis so that customers can see the savings they make.

Integration with both its existing and future technology is a key requirement for Storm Telecom. "We have made a lifetime commitment to Microsoft since all the new products which we plan to launch to our customers are Microsoft SQL Server-based," says Blom. "The Web component of the solution will be extended externally soon, allowing customers to report and monitor the logging of support issues online."

"Storm Telecom runs off the Microsoft software platform and Onyx provides a Microsoft SQL Server-based CRM solution that delivers on the customer`s needs," says Joel Rothman, director at Onyx Systems. "Providing a competitive edge for customers is what drives our CRM solutions and resultingly, Storm Telecom can face the pace of a fast-moving market."

"The Storm Telecom implementation demonstrates how customers are a company`s biggest asset and that managing them properly is a win-win situation for both parties," says Garry Hodgson, ISV and developer group director at Microsoft South Africa. "Customer retention is easier than customer gain. By providing the service demanded, as well as anticipating customer needs, Storm Telecom can focus on developing its business, while the technology takes care of the rest."