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Telstra Takes Second Crack at Apps Marketplace

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Australian telco Telstra announced the Telstra Apps Marketplace for business customers looking for online apps such as Box and DocuSign. The apps featured on the Telstra Apps Marketplace, which will be gradually introduced in the coming months, will be for “small, medium and large businesses across a wide variety of industries”, says Brendan Donohoe, director of solution sales at Telstra Business.

The launch follows the release of research that estimates Australian SMBs are wasting $608 million per year due to their reliance on traditional paper-based tools.

Donohoe says that after launching Telstra’s first app marketplace T-Suite in 2008 “we listened to feedback and looked at a way we could improve the apps experience”.

“The new Telstra Apps Marketplace is a much more user-friendly platform for our customers, from discovering the apps, right through to buying and using them. For example, customers can now access all their apps from one single sign-on so there’s no need to remember multiple URLs and logins,” Donohoe says.

“The apps we are bringing to the Telstra Apps Marketplace undergo rigorous testing and review so we are getting the right apps that will be both a good strategic fit with our current catalogue of apps as well as our other core products and services. We also test the apps to ensure they are security compliant and easy to use.”

The Telstra Apps Marketplace launch focused on two business applications – Box and DocuSign. Telstra has a strategic investment in both companies, Donohoe says.

“[Box and DocuSign] are applicable to all sorts of businesses, in lots of different shapes, sizes and industries, but they are particularly relevant for businesses who need access to information when they are out of the office. Both apps also integrate with each other and other apps in our catalogue such as Microsoft Office 365 and Canvas,” Donohoe says.

“We’re looking to add more apps to the Telstra Apps Marketplace over the coming months, and early next year we’ll also migrate our current T-Suite apps and users over too,” Donohoe explains.

Want to Win in 2014? Be More Tech Savvy, Telstra Tells SMBs

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Small businesses had to be more tech savvy to thrive in 2014, Telstra said in its predictions for the coming year.

Industries that practiced traditional business would be impacted with innovative new business models designed for the digital, global marketplace, said John Boniciolli, Telstra’s executive director for small business.

“In 2014 even the smallest of businesses will face both the challenges and opportunities the new digital world brings, whether that means embracing social media for marketing,
an online retail function or the digitisation of business data in the cloud to improve efficiency and reduce administration,” Boniciolli said.

“We’ve seen the internet and multimedia technologies advance at a rapid pace. E-business has been the buzzword, pushing businesses to take a close look at how they operate and what they must do to remain relevant to customers,” he added.

SMBs needed to know four key lessons to carry them forth in 2014.

1. Business was still about personal relationships. Face-to-face time was still crucial to build relationships in business despite email and mobile communication. Video conferences shortened and sharpened up meetings so decisions were reached quicker.

2. Paper based systems no longer existed. Mobile business apps allowed small businesses flexibility such as the ability to work from anywhere at any time with their devices, instead of being tied down to the office.

3. Two-way communication was a must. Small businesses needed to know how to best communicate with their customers, and social media allowed feedback and interaction that potentially helped business growth.

4. Generation Y employees called the shots. Young people in their 20s demanded immediate access to information and had high expectations of software and apps to complete tasks. Small businesses’ technology had to keep up with the pace of the digital world and nurture a flexible environment.

 

Telstra to Sell Job Scheduling App GeoOP in Cloud Suite

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Telstra has added job scheduling cloud program GeoOP to its cloud platform of business software, T-Suite.

“This deal enables one of the biggest brands in Australia to use their staff channels to further market GeoOP and provide a business application that makes a real difference to business cash flow and the productivity of mobile workforces,” said Leanne Graham, CEO at GeoOP, in a press release.

The telco spent four months integrating GeoOP into T-Suite so it could be automatically added to smartphone and tablet sales made online, through business centres or by Telstra’s 1,500 T-Suite dealers, Graham told BoxFreeIT.

GeoOP was a cloud-based job management program that aimed to update trades and services companies using pen and paper to run their businesses. While the app was originally developed in New Zealand, Australia represented 43 percent of its customers.

“We have huge growth expectations for the Australian market. I think it does great things for our brand having one of Australia’s biggest brands working with us,” Graham said.

Trades and services was one of the biggest industry sectors and was well suited to using mobile devices and data plans which made it very appealing to telcos, Graham said.

By selling a job scheduling app, Telstra’s sales people could open a conversation about how they can they provide a complete solution for the business, Graham said.

Telstra investigated several job scheduling programs sold in Australia and chose GeoOP because the telco had worked with the vendor already, Graham said.

GeoOP was sold by a number of Telstra dealers and had run joint marketing events with Apple and Telstra.

“Telstra also set GeoOP up for themselves and saw it a was a product that could scale and didn’t need a huge implementation time,” Graham said.

GeoOP changed its pricing in Australia to make it easier to sell through Telstra T-Suite. Admin users were now free and mobile users cost $20 per month. “We just monetise the mobile users that are out and getting the productivity gains from doing the work on the run. People don’t mind paying for where they get massive value,” Graham said.

Telstra Drives Tablet Sales with Cloud Bundles

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Telstra has created several industry-specific technology packages comprising a bundle of cloud programs that it sold with Samsung tablets and high-speed mobile broadband connections.

The packages, marketed under Business Mobile Broadband Solutions, were tailored for accounting, tradesmen, nursing and real estate agencies which had high numbers of field workers. The packages were designed to help staff complete paperwork such as timesheets and reports electronically, order stock and supplies, obtain digital signatures from clients and collaborate on the road.

All four packages were based on a 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet connected to Telstra’s high-speed 4G mobile network, MozyPro Remote PC backup and cloud forms program Pronto Forms.

The accounting package also included the Microsoft Office 365 cloud email, messaging and document management platform, Xero’s cloud accounting software and Telstra’s mobile device management service.

The tradesmen package included a Belkin leather case for the tablet, mobile insurance from Telstra, cloud scheduling and job management program GeoOP, for a total $76 a month per user a 24-month contract and after a $69 upfront fee.

The nursing package added Telstra mobile device management, GeoOP and online prescribing and drug reference guide MIMS for a total $66 per month per user on a 24-month contract and after a $14.06 upfront fee.

The real estate package included Microsoft Office 365 for a total $69 per month per user on a 24-month contract.

Alternatives offered to the Samsung tablet were the Apple iPad with retina display, Telstra’s 4G USB modem and Telstra’s mobile 4G WiFi device that could be used with up to five devices.

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Digital First covers news and opinions on accounting technology and is read by tech-savvy accountants who understand the importance of technology in establishing competitive advantage.
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