Real-time billing software from Ontario, Canada an international success

Redknee Inc. provides antidote to wireless "Bill Shock"

From Lebanon to the Hong Kong, from Australia to the E.U., wireless phone and Internet providers are improving customer service and increasing revenues thanks to award-winning Ontario software innovator Redknee Inc.

Cutline: Chris Newton Smith, Redknee’s General Manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa talks with a visitor to the Redknee booth at Mobile World Congress

Now, Redknee is setting its sights on boosting sales in India. The company plans to double revenues to more than $100 million by 2012, and India is integral to that plan. Redknee Inc. already has some 100 R&D staff in Pune and a contract with Mumbai-based cellphone service provider Loop Mobile. "Our partnership with Redknee is an exciting opportunity to increase value-added services," says Loop Mobile's networks vice-president Shajil Viswanathan. "It will help drive subscriber satisfaction and growth."

Redknee founder Lucas Skoczkowski is no stranger to the sub-continent, having worked in India for Nortel Networks before he and three associates established Redknee in 1999. "We see great sales opportunities in India," said Skoczkowski as he prepared to join an Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade mission to the Telecom India trade show in New Delhi, December 9 to 11.

It will be Redknee's fourth Ontario trade mission, but its first appearance at Telecom India, the country's largest trade show for a sector that is expected to experience a $150 billion growth spurt in just the next five years.

"India has a huge group of telecom operators that are purchasing other telecom groups around the world," Skoczkowski says, "and Redknee can offer them vast international experience."
Indeed, Redknee has multinational telecom customers like Vodafone, T Mobile and AT&T in more than 50 countries. The Toronto-area company provides software that helps their customers manage some 22 billion transactions every month.

One of Redknee's most popular products allows for real-time billing, an effective counter to "bill shock." The patented software allows telecom service providers to inform customers in real time of their usage levels as they approach plan limits so there are no surprises when the monthly bill arrives. "Subscribers want to be in control of their services and fully aware of the consequences of their choices," says Skoczkowski. "A smart operator realizes that bill shock can lead to a loss of trust, and a loss of trust means lost opportunities."

The lack of transparency and customer control over telecom services has produced a consumer backlash that has led to government regulations that should benefit Redknee. The European Union has implemented cellphone roaming regulations that include mandatory usage alerts and cut-off mechanisms. The United States and Ontario are considering similar measures.

But the ability to alert customers to charges before the bill arrives is not the only benefit of real-time billing. Explains Skoczkowski: "With our software, the operator can warn the customer as he approaches different threshold levels - and offer solutions tailored to the customer's needs. It's a chance to upsell new services."

For example, to avoid roaming charges when travelling, customers might decide to purchase phone services locally. With Redknee's software, customers can be informed of cost-saving alternatives, perhaps persuading them to remain with their regular provider throughout the trip.

Real-time billing also makes customer service more efficient as telecoms apply their knowledge of account data and subscriber preferences. Says Skoczkowski: "Our clients have moved from solving only two-thirds of the complaints from their customers in one call to 95 per cent first-call resolution. That's helped them reduce operating costs by one-third."

Results like that have made Redknee an eight-time winner of Deloitte and Touche's 50 Best Managed Companies list.

Besides India, Redknee maintains offices for its 500 employees on six continents. Head office is in Mississauga, just outside of Toronto. Bucking the trend of many successful exporters, nearly all of Redknee's sales are in the export market. "Canadian companies suffer from a rock-star syndrome," Skoczkowski says. "You have to establish yourself elsewhere before they give you a chance at home."

• Ontario boasts more than 5,000 companies in the digital media and ICT companies, including names like Research in Motion and Open Text. Annual revenue for Ontario's ICT companies exceeds $75 billion - half of the Canadian total.
  
  
• Trade between Ontario and India has increased by 44% (from 2005 to 2009).
  
  
• There are approximately 600,000 people of Indian descent living in Ontario.
  
  
• Earlier this month, Canadian Trade Minister Peter Van Loan opened formal talks with Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma on a strategic economic partnership between the two countries.
  
  
• The Ontario delegation of eight companies will visit Mumbai and New Delhi during the trade mission.