Vodafone Business Solution clients hail cutting edge technology but…

Vodafone Business Solutions' (VBS) clients have expressed satisfaction with the massive improvement in technology coupled with first class services being rendered, but cited slow response to their problems and needs by the company.

The clients, comprised of mainly corporate institutions, praised Vodafone Ghana for establishing the specialist business solution unit that serves large, medium and small businesses as well as the government sector in Ghana, noting that more needed to be done to timely meet clients’ needs and aspirations.

Vodafone Ghana aims to be the network provider of choice and a total communications provider for all business needs. The VBS helps businesses to make the best investments in communication that enable businesses to grow and be better connected with its customers.

“It’s about time we take customers serious. You can have all the best cutting edge technology, but if your response time to our problems and needs is bad then there is something wrong,” a client said as part of a platform on Wednesday in Accra to get feedback from VBS clients in order to address challenges in service provision.

Majority of participants indicated that Vodafone’s products and services are classic but the implementation needed improvement.

The event, which was on the theme: "Better Customer Experience for Efficiency and Productivity,” heard from William Darkwah, Sales Operations Manager of Vodafone that, issues raised last year by clients with regard to customer service had all been addressed.

Mr Derek Appiah, Head of VBS, said the unit since last August, had set standards in Ghana given the fact that it was achieving what it set out to do – providing full range of fixed and mobile communication services – both voice and data – for the Corporate and Government sectors.

He said with VBS now in Ghana, companies were getting best internet enabled network where they did not have to depend on satellite and radio anymore but on fibre.

The company’s latest software, Web Self Care, can now allow clients to track their payments and their internet bundle usages. The software offers six month backdated data history for clients.

Vodafone Ghana is currently migrating its clients to the multi protocol label switching (MPLS) which backbone is fire optic to ensure performance enhancement.

IP-based networks is said to lack the quality-of-service features available in circuit-based networks, such as Frame Relay and ATM but MPLS brings the sophistication of a connection-oriented protocol to the connectionless IP world.

“Come on board to the MPLS. Vodafone Ghana has expanded the length and breadth of Ghana. Fast net service has ended, migrate to the MPLS and experience the new technology in fibre rather than copper,” Mr Jerry Ayeduvor of Vodafone’s technology unit urged clients.

He said since the introduction of the new technology, Vodafone Ghana’s SMS service and billing had improved with 1,011 new cell sites introduced.

He said for fixed service, the company would continue its expansion programme over the new technology – MSAN (Multi-Service Access Node).

MSAN also known as a Multi-service access gateway (MSAG) is a device typically installed in a telephone exchange (although sometimes in a roadside service area interface cabinet) which connects customers' telephone lines to the core network, to provide telephone, ISDN, and broadband such as DSL all from a single platform.

Prior to the deployment of MSANs, telecom providers typically had a multitude of separate equipment including DSLAMs to provide the various types of services to customers.

He said through the MSAN, Vodafone’s mobile voice had improved greatly showing improvement in call drop rate, reduction traffic congestion. Mobile data had also improved. **