Comms Business Magazine (CBM): Can you briefly describe the kind of control the new platform developments are giving partners and customers?
Keith Curran (KC): my.plan is designed to give plan.com partners and customers the power and capability beyond that of a national telecoms network, with the simplicity and flexibility they’d never expect. It’s a fully online and automated platform designed with Customers (rather than IT professionals) in mind. It is straight-forward to use with support built into the platform, giving customers and partners everything they need to connect, configure and instantly control all their services via a web browser or through the my.plan app.
This presents a huge opportunity for customers and partners alike – from cost savings and productivity gains, to unrivalled insights and detailed reporting:
• Robust, enterprise-level support and features
• Easy-to-use controls for managing productivity, spend and device security
• Location tracking, from a single worker to an entire workforce
• In-depth reporting on every text, call, and byte of data on any device, at any time from any location, without the need for third-party software
CBM: What kinds of value can these developments bring to the partners? What market changes drove these changes to the platform?
KC: As a society, our reliance on telecoms and digital technology has never been greater. Customers and businesses are demanding more data, better service, and lower barriers to access than ever before – all delivered at the best price.
But in this new world of unlimited connectivity, how does the partner channel prove its value when the only real differentiator is price? They need a proposition that is genuinely better than the competition and adds real, tangible value.
my.plan delivers instant usage and charges insight combined with the tools partners and customers need to control them. In other words – customers can see the value that my.plan instantly delivers. What’s more, my.plan offers upgrade packages, which for a small monthly cost opens up access to even greater insights and tools. Customers choose the level of control they need. So, rather than saving a few pounds upfront, customers save hundreds of pounds over its lifetime while partners benefit from an additional revenue stream.
my.plan is designed to empower our partners to grow their business with features that will boost retention and drive new business. Across every stage of the customer lifecycle, partners can access insight that highlights unique upsell opportunities and gain competitive advantage. And by putting the tools directly into each customer’s hands, partners can focus their attention on the customers that need it the most, as well as winning new business.
CBM: Has COVID sped up your development cycle in these areas? How has the pandemic changed what your partners need/are asking you for?
KC: Business communications was evolving long before the pandemic. However, the lockdown acted as a catalyst and the move to remote working accelerated it from being a ‘nice to have’ to ‘business critical’ overnight.
These days, selling the same unlimited voice, text and data packages for slightly less than the competition is not a differentiator: it’s a race to the bottom. Ultimately, the level of customer care and support will be eroded, and both the customer and the partner will lose out.
Businesses now demand instant connectivity and complete flexibility. The answer? An online platform that delivers everything they need to stay connected and in control, and my.plan leads the way.
CBM: Plan.com has always been big on mobile, how is your platform bringing other services to market and what kinds of functionality is that driving?
KC: The convergence of fixed and mobile telecom services is giving rise to a host of new technologies that are shaping the future for business connectivity. As a result, my.plan has been designed to span multiple channels, networks and devices. One simple solution for businesses to control all their communications, at any time, from anywhere.
Initially launched to incorporate our mobile offering, the plan.com team is already hard at work testing and deploying the technology across multiple solutions; from eSIMs and tethering enhancements, to VoIP, IoT, fixed line and hosted telephony. All with the goal of creating the ultimate connectivity platform for any business.