The one thing about corporate etiquettes that doesn’t change from one company to another is the mode of internal communications. Emails that form all sort of communication from updates, requests and approvals become useless once you do not have access to your laptop, computer or smartphone. This being in direct relationship with productivity is a huge challenge for most enterprises.
Airtel, one of the leading telecom service provider in India has found a solution to this problem. Around 2000 of its staff are now connected with me-tize, a platform to communicate through SMS. The system is designed and implemented by IBM and the project is implemented over the past few months in phases. It is already a huge hit with the staff since 90% of the communication in the company is done through the new system now.
The best part about the system is it works with the same ease on any mobile. it makes life much easier as you don’t even have to open your laptop to check your mails anymore. Every SMS sent has a backup as the SMS’s are linked with company’s back end. This would benefit the sales team the most who spend most of their time out of office and do not enjoy the luxury of smart phones on the go.
Kris Shankar, the HR Head of Bharti Airtel commented about the effectiveness of the new system, “We have 4,000 employees on the field doing sales. Earlier, they required computers (with internet) to send requests, get approvals and even access their own data. It is never easy to access the intranet while on the go. It is this segment that has benefited the most – me-tize has boosted productivity of our sales force,”
The implementation of this new system has certainly made Airtel most wired office and has given a new dimension to corporate communication.