Emeka Aginam
21 November 2007
column
Lagos — AT last, the much expected Smart Numbers-0-700/ 0-800 as a new advertising tool for business profitability for ease of of branding individuals, businesses, products and services has been introduced into the Nigeria market by Alpha Technologies Limited The introduction of the new advertising tool which has continued to tickle Nigerian market.
According to the Managing Director of the company Mrs. Maggie Peters in a press conference last week in Lagos, is first of its kind in the country, adding that it is expected to change the face of f socio-economic activities in Nigeria.
"It is a new era where business has to move with what you are known for. It is a brand people have been waiting for. We do not give you new numbers but we add value to the existing number. It is also useful in an environment where yellow pages are poor . Alpha Technologies Limited has the capacity to offer the service to the Nigerian market. Any company that has not subscribed to our Smart Number services is losing business. Any business that does not carry a 0-700 or 800 number is losing profit. By the introduction of this tool, we know that lives and businesses will never remain the same again. Alpha Technologies wishes to make this novel services the face of connect in telecommunications " she assured.
The tool which would cost N15,000 for an annul subscription, according to her are telephone numbers where the letters associated with the number digits on th telephone spell a name or word of value to the subscriber. It could be a business name, services offered or product lines including UBA,0-700-Care-hire, 0-7-flash me cash among others, she explained.
On the non toll-free platform-0-800, she explained that services available on this platform are such that the recipient of all call pays for the cost of the call he/she receives, adding that it is a symbol of profitability, integrity, customer care, social responsibility and successful enterprise.
Alpha Technologies being a license cross network operator, she said, provides smart number services across all networks, whether fixed or mobile lines.
Communication accessibility, portability, profitability, image, cost effective and ability to remember names, she said are advantages of having a smart numbers.
On 'One Number Dial Service' which is a value added services available on the new advertising tool, she said that the service permits an organization to have up to 20 phone lines masked under one smart number such that a call to the smart number automatically hunts for an available phone line from the list of all the lines programmed therein.
"Our switch does the automatic hunting to connect the caller to any available line at the time of all call. It removes the frustration of many attempts to get a number which is either busy or number or unavailable . At the individual level, we can program phone lines into single number such that a person does not need to carry 4-5 handsets for the purpose of receiving calls" Peters explained.
Explaining further on 'Conference Bridge Service', another enhanced value added services, she said that the service permits up to 20 people from different locations and networks to participate in a conference at the same time. The advantages, according to Peters include the fact that it saves cost, reduces the frequency of formal meeting, reduces risk involved in frequent travels among others.
Senate President, David Mark (Chief launcher), Col. Sani Bello (rtd), Director, MTN Nigeria, Former Nigerian President, General Ibrahim Babangida, according to her, are expected to grace the formal launch this Friday in Abuja at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
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