01 Jun 2022
TM R&D’s Customer-focused innovations recognised at the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards
In-house smart solutions for Fixed Wireless Access connectivity and customer experience platform for frontliners awarded under “Connectivity-Telecommunications” and “AI-IT Services” categories respectively
Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the innovation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), recently bagged two awards at the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2022, organised by the Singapore Business Review.
The Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards spotlights exceptional companies who are technology disruptors that boosts Malaysia’s economy. TM’s Fast Internet for All (FIRA) solution was bestowed the award under the “Connectivity-Telecommunications” category, while TM’s Single Platform on Intelligent Customer Experience (SPICE.ai) won the award in the “Artificial Intelligence (AI)-IT Services” category.
Commenting on these awards, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, “I couldn’t be prouder of my team as these awards reflect their commitment to meet the fast-evolving digital needs of today’s customers and strengthen our position as a research leader in these fields. This recognition also reaffirms our efforts in building smarter digital ecosystems to facilitate the ease with which Malaysians can embrace a more digital lifestyle, while also bringing progress to the nation.”
FIRA was introduced as a way to support the government in providing Malaysians with quality access to digital connectivity nationwide. Aimed at offering better internet service to underserved communities, FIRA uses Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technologies to improve connectivity in rural areas across Malaysia. Since its first deployment in Malacca back in July 2020, the solution has demonstrated promising success in improving download and upload link speeds compared to other broadband services. The solution has since been implemented at a rural school in Selangor and at Pusat Komuniti Desa sites under the Ministry of Rural Development. It has also supported an IR4.0 use case in Terengganu.
“FIRA is formulated to address two common issues: coverage and speed. The solution is capable to deliver connectivity up to 50Mbps within 5-8km range, compared to a traditional 4G cell within 1km range. Furthermore, with its quick deployment procedures, FIRA can help mitigate customers’ connectivity concerns in a cost-effective and timely manner,” shared Dr. Sharlene.
SPICE.ai, on the other hand, aims to assist frontliners in their daily task of addressing customer service enquiries and requests.
Dr Sharlene explained, “SPICE.ai consists of multiple components that cover different parts of an existing customer experience system. By integrating these components, frontliners gain a more holistic view of each customers’ profiles. The solution then implements real-time analytics to improve customer experience, giving frontliners the right information at the right time which allows them to deliver a better experience to customers.”
This analytics system has been deployed nationwide for nearly two years and becomes the primary touchpoint for more than 5,000 TM frontliners in most customer interactions across multiple channels. The performance of SPICE.ai has proven to be reliable and seamless even when integrated with more than 20 existing, standalone systems and was still able to relay the processed information through one single platform, on top of providing analytics and advisory.
Established in 2001, TM R&D is the innovation arm of TM Group focusing on creating smarter ecosystems to make business and life easier for a better Malaysia. TM R&D’s solutions are clustered around four pillars namely Intelligent Platforms, Data Brokerage, Connectivity/Tools and IR4.0/Digital Solutions. Growing from strength to strength, TM R&D has won multiple global awards and generated more than 2,800 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and 1,400 digital assets to date. TM R&D’s innovations are developed in-house and cut across multiple industries such as Utilities, Retail, Agriculture, Healthcare and Education, with safety and productivity as its top priority.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
TM ONE NAMED FROST & SULLIVAN MALAYSIAN CYBERSECURTY SERVICES COMPANY OF THE YEAR
TM One, the enterprise and government sector solutions arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (“TM”), was named the Frost & Sullivan Malaysian Cybersecurity Services Company of the Year for 2022. The award was decided based on a series of detailed evaluations following Frost & Sullivan’s best practices criteria, in which TM One excelled as a service partner in addressing Malaysia’s enterprise and government sector cybersecurity needs. “TM One is recognised based on its extensive cybersecurity capabilities and resources. With a full suite of cybersecurity services and infrastructure, coupled with a deep understanding of the Malaysian market landscape, TM One continuously upholds a strong reputation of effectively addressing its customers’ security needs,” said Anh Tien Vu, Industry Principal, Global Cybersecurity Research Team at Frost & Sullivan. Shazurawati Abd Karim, Executive Vice President, TM One, said: “We are honoured to receive the Frost & Sullivan Malaysian Cybersecurity Services Company of the Year Award. With cybersecurity emerging as a top priority for organisations in their transformation journey, we are committed to growing our end-to-end solutions so that we can provide our customers digital freedom and peace of mind as they expand their businesses in the digital space. Understanding their unique business needs, we work with organisations to assess their cybersecurity capabilities and provide advisory services through our dedicated TM One Cyber Defense Centre (CYDEC) – helping them make the right choices to respond to cyber threats more effectively.” Addressing Cybersecurity Gaps among Enterprises and Public Sector More Malaysian organisations are now investing heavily in cybersecurity. As they become increasingly present and vulnerable in the digital space, organisations need to adopt a stronger security posture in their information technology, operational technology, and cloud infrastructure capabilities. Shazurawati said, “One of the key challenges for organisations is the shortage of in-house security expertise, professionals, and tools, requiring them to outsource their security operations. By working closely with customers to assess their security posture, technology maturity, and business needs, TM One offers customised solutions for managed security services, consultation and advisory, and other value-added services to help them navigate today’s complex technological landscape.” TM One is also strengthening the public sector’s cybersecurity, working alongside the Malaysian Government to enhance digital connectivity and smart innovations for cities and industries to propel the nation towards becoming a digital economy. In addition to connectivity, TM One continues to invest in local data centres, digital infrastructure and services, ensuring data sovereignty remains within Malaysian borders while bringing global best practices to the nation’s public sector. Its investments to strengthen Malaysia’s Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) is one of its efforts to protect government and public data, with its cybersecurity solutions developed in compliance with Bank Negara Malaysia’s Risk Management in Technology (RMiT) policy and the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA). Anh Tien Vu said, “One consideration that stood out for Frost and Sullivan was that TM One has earned endorsements and collaborations from local cyber authorities, such as Cybersecurity Malaysia and the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) of Malaysia through its implementation of best practices, and world-class infrastructure backed by experts. Frost & Sullivan commends TM One’s steadfast efforts in providing cybersecurity services that exemplify this implementation of best practices, which have benefited customers and communities tremendously.” “On top of developing our own end-to-end solutions, TM One continues to strengthen its partnership ecosystem, collaborating with companies from various security domains to diversify its offerings and coverage. This includes FNS Value Co. Limited, the sole distributor of its Blockchain Secure Authentication solution in Malaysia, which helps secure digital transactions and online credentials, and Telefónica Tech – a global leader in cybersecurity, Cloud and IoT, as a partner in delivering Digital Risk Protection,” explained Shazurawati. “Our efforts to expand our cybersecurity services and to provide customers with cutting-edge security reflect our commitment to tackling today’s growing cybersecurity concerns. With next-gen technologies such as 5G opening up both new opportunities and threats, TM One is poised as the enabler for organisations’ next advantage and security, today and tomorrow,” she concluded.
TM and Telin collaborate to enable opportunities and enhanced experience for the region’s digital ecosystem
TM Wholesale, the wholesale domestic and international business arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) and Telin, a subsidiary of PT Telkom Indonesia, Tbk (Telkom), have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strategically collaborate and jointly explore opportunities on subsea cable business arrangements. The signing ceremony was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dubai recently, where TM was represented by Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, Executive Vice President of TM Wholesale and Telin was represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Budi Satria Dharma Purba (Budi). This new partnership will further strengthen the Business to Business (B2B) relationship between the two parties and broaden the collaboration while continuing to provide their customers with reliable, diversified and uninterrupted connectivity solutions. Commenting on the partnership, Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, Executive Vice President of TM Wholesale said, "TM Wholesale is committed to deliver greater reachability and resilient connectivity to our customers. This collaboration allows us to gain immediate submarine capacity in response to the growing demand for high bandwidth services. It also gives us more diverse connections and alternative routes connecting Malaysia to the rest of the world, while optimising our existing submarine capacity. Additionally, it will enable us to begin exploring the most cost-effective approach for future submarine cable investment projects that will benefit both parties and this region." Meanwhile, Budi Satria Dharma Purba (Budi), Chief Executive Officer of Telin said, "Telin and TM Wholesale share mutual interests, with the aim of serving our stakeholders with excellence. This time, we are excited to jointly explore opportunities in buying, selling, upgrading and investing activities, especially with regard to subsea cables. Telin's participation in global connectivity focuses on ensuring reliable connectivity in order to meet surging demand for fast internet due to trends such as flexible working arrangements, video streaming, and gaming. We believe that this collaboration will serve our stakeholders' needs accordingly." Currently, TM has 30 submarine cable systems, owned and leased, spanning more than 320,000 kilometres around the globe and Telin has 22 submarine cable system, owned and leased, with over 222,260 kilometres. Together, both parties can leverage on their respective capabilities to provide the highest service performance and best quality experience to all its customers. TM has been a long-standing partner of Telin in many aspects related to business solutions and are mutually delighted to work together in supporting ASEAN and other region's future digital demands for connectivity, digital infrastructure and solutions.
unifi introduces five #unificares initiatives as commitment to deliver the unifi promise on customer experience
The initiative is unifi’s commitment to place customer experience as its No. 1 priority With a strengthened commitment to deliver the ultimate customer experience, unifi, Malaysia's leading convergence provider, today introduced five #unificares initiatives to transform its end-to-end customer experience (CX). As a technology company, unifi understands that customer expectations evolve together with the adoption of technology. This is why unifi aims to transform end-to-end customer experience with a renewed focus that ensures the customers' needs are met -- this is the unifi promise. To deliver on this promise, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), has invested heavily over the years in both its customer support capabilities and network to deliver the best customer experience possible. The new #unificares initiative is also an expression of the company's commitment towards its loyal client base. unifi has the highest market share in the local Internet Service Provider (ISP) space. Speaking to the media at a virtual briefing from Menara TM today, TM's Chief Marketing Officer, Shanti Jusnita Johari, said #unificares is a testament of the company's continuous efforts to put customers first. "TM and unifi are walking the talk when it comes to customer satisfaction. Our 24-hour service restoration guarantee is the first of its kind in the industry. It is our commitment for unifi customers to continue to get the best broadband experience," said Shanti. She added that unifi's new bold undertaking was in keeping up with users' demands for reliable connectivity, among both the consumers and business segments especially as the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) focus on recovery and growth as well as consumers with continued hybrid working and learning arrangements following the pandemic. A good and reliable broadband access is highly critical in the "new normal". Five revolutionary #unificares initiatives unifi today announced five revolutionary initiatives to raise its game in CX. The 24-hour service restoration guarantee is among five new customer-focused initiatives under the #unificares campaign to enhance its broadband experience by reducing downtime to the absolute minimum. If unable to restore within 24 hours from complaint submission, customers will receive RM50 billing rebate compensation, redeemable via myunifi app within 30 days. It is the first of its kind in the local telecommunication industry and a commitment to its customer first strategy. This 24-hour service restoration guarantee starts 30 November 2021 and compensation eligibility is for customers subscribing to 100Mbps and above. Another innovation introduced with the campaign is unifi's Proactive Service Alert; an early detection and intervention system that ensures early notifications and speed of resolution to customers. Affected customers are alerted for restoration via SMS and the myunifi app push notification. Other customer-focused initiatives introduced in conjunction with the campaign are Easyfix self-serve tool, Service Tracker and unifi Elite experts. Easyfix is an easy visual based self-serve tool that enables customers to self-diagnose and do a quick troubleshoot on internet connection, telephony or unifi TV services. If an issue is unresolved, the Easyfix tool will automatically create a service ticket for immediate action by the unifi Care Crew or connect users to a unifi live chat agent for further assistance. Easyfix can be accessed anytime on the myunifi app under 'Support' or at easyfix.com.my. Service Tracker allows customers to view and track status of service and technical requests in real-time including details of the assigned TM Care Crew, via the myunifi app. Users can easily access the Service Tracker under 'My Activity' from their Account page. unifi Elite is a group of WiFi experts who are specially trained to provide customers with tailor-made consultation and solutions to further enhance their connectivity experience at home or business premises. unifi's track record in CX is well-established. Recently, it has been chosen as the sole Malaysian recipient for the "Brand of the Year'' award for the "Broadband / ISP" category, an award that is held under the auspices of the London-based World Branding Awards. This is the second consecutive year it won the award. Last year, it also won the "Best Fixed Home Broadband Service Provider" and "Best Business Fixed Broadband Service Provider" categories in the PC.com Best Product Awards 2020. TM continues to invest in future growth by modernising its network and technology platforms, to deliver the best current and future. TM is the only telco in Malaysia which has ventured into proactive service capabilities to elevate CX and digital tools to give added convenience to customers. Meanwhile, TM Chief Network Officer, Mohamed Tajul Mohamed Sultan, who was also present at the media briefing said the increase in usage and demand for unifi services following the pandemic had driven the company to up its connectivity game. "Even before this, public feedback shows that unifi's service quality is among the best. But we are not resting on our laurels. We want to raise the bar even higher because customer experience is paramount," added Mohamed Tajul. To achieve this, TM has invested over RM 1 billion in 2021 to uplift the customer experience in both its customer support capabilities and network improvements. This is to ensure that unifi continues to deliver unparalleled solutions to its customers. Users can visit unifi.com.my/unificares for more information on the unifi promise. The myunifi app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store as well as the Apple App Store.
NEWSLETTER
Just drop your details and stay updated with the world of Telekom Malaysia. We promise – no spam!