Called Visibility, the new convergence service provides company executives and their mobile workforce the capability to communicate seamlessly with partners, business associates and fellow officemates through their personal digital assistants (PDAs) or laptops wherever and whenever needed.
Visibility is the brainchild of the Enterprise Business Group (EBG) composed of GlobeSolutions, the Corporate Wireless Group of Globe; and GlobeQUEST, the Corporate Division of Innove. Together, they lead the first convergence effort of both fixed line and wireless services, thereby, allowing for a single face to corporate customers.
"In a highly competitive environment, traveling businessmen and remote office workers expect to be connected to the Internet, corporate applications, ecommerce and even entertainment anytime and anywhere. The challenge is to provide these users a seamless way of being always connected, masking the complexity of convergence between mobile and IP communications," said Jesus C. Romero, GlobeQUEST Head.
He added: "As a highly mobile workforce ourselves with a lot of road warriors, we have successfully translated our experience and learnings to be the first to successfully integrate connectivity options such as GPRS, EDGE, WiFi and Dial-up using a single logon, under one account and presented in an integrated bill."
Visibility clients can choose from four access plans designed to address their various needs: Universal Access 2500 with unlimited GPRS, EDGE, WiFi, and Dialup, is perfect for upper management and other executives who are on-the-go all the time; Universal Access 1700 which offers unlimited GPRS and EDGE with per minute WiFi and Dial-Up charges, fits sales and field agents and employees who need to send day-to-day sales reports; Universal Access 1500 which is a consumable plan, is perfect for mobile middle-management employees; and Universal Access 0 that charges per use based on discounted rates, is best suited for employees with light mobile requirements.
Enterprise customers who subscribe to Visibility, likewise, have the option to avail of devices – PDA phones, PC cards, and laptops – that enable customers to connect to the Internet or their corporate network from anywhere. These devices are available to Visibility subscribers at discounted prices.
"What makes Visibility a true convergence project, however, are the business applications that are offered with the plans such as MobileOffice. MobileOffice enables customers to share office data, e-mail, and other necessary information through a secure network and ensures that no matter where they are, important office information is available when needed," said Dan David, Head of GlobeSolutions.
MobileOffice allows a user to receive and access corporate data through a wireless handheld. It acts as a "remote control," giving the customer access to his desktop even while doing fieldwork or on the way to a meeting.
Likewise, for the first time, a mobile worker traveling abroad will be able to use the best access method at the optimum cost through EBG’s international roaming partners such as iPass and GoRemote and its wide range of GPRS roaming agreements.
To support its fixed-mobile convergence strategy, Globe has also partnered with leading IT providers such as HP and Intel. HP’s offering span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. Intel is committed to developing the Philippine PC consumer market, promoting Intel’s brand awareness, and helping to grow the Philippine computer market.
"This is only the first of many convergence efforts of Globe and Innove. In the long run, we aim to build on a common infrastructure to allow convergence of Globe-Innove services and products for real mobile business functionality," David said.
