QuestNet's e-store plays a pivotal role in the rapid growth of the company's multi-level marketing business. Containing information about Goldquest and QVI's products and services, the e-store functions as an online shop as well as a communication channel between QuestNet and its global sales network.

"QuestNet does not sell products directly to customers; we use our TCOs to recruit customers who would eventually become TCOs themselves and part of the QuestNet global network. The success of this venture relies on having a constant and reliable communication between the QuestNet, network of customers and TCOs around the world," said Dennis Aguila, Chief Technology Officer, QuestNet Ltd.

An even bigger driver of QuestNet's business is SMS (Short Messaging Service) which is used by TCOs in countries like India and Indonesia where Internet infrastructure is poor and Web access is scarce. Aguila said SMS is a perfect compliment to QuestNet's customer email system which is based on Microsoft Outlook and which TCOs and customers also use to communicate with the company. "Our messaging system receives 5,000 emails a day, 3,000 of which are from customers," said Aguila.

QuestNet's email platform was hosted and managed by global carrier MCI. Though its email platform and SMS system effectively managed external communication, the systems were running independently requiring a dedicated team to handle and process communication coming from each of the system.

Furthermore, QuestNet's Microsoft SQL 2000 database server which stores customer and product information was not linked with the email server on MCI's side.

"QuestNet is growing. We need to manage our own messaging environment using a system that is scalable, secure and integrated into our existing SQL 2000 and IIS 6.0 Web server farm. We would like our SMS communication system, e-store, email system and back-end servers to work together to enhance the productivity of our staff and serve our customers better," said Aguila.

SMS Integration and mobility features enable anytime, anywhere and any device communication
QuestNet sales staff gets an SMS notification each time a customer sends them an email. The staff will then either access the email from the Exchange 2003 Server through Outlook 2003 or smart phone using ActiveSync, the synchronization software for Microsoft WindowsR Mobile powered Pocket PCs.

"SMS is critical to our global operation. It supports our marketing pool of which 20% uses the mobile phone to communicate with us. Each SMS we receive had to be read and immediately acted upon by our staff. Having our own messaging system and giving our sales people access to the messaging system and the database enable us to respond to our customer requirements the fastest way possible," said Aguila.

Aguila said that prior to the integration, the company gave themselves 48 hours within which to respond to each customer request. That window is shortened to only 24 hours with the new messaging environment already in place.

Greater adaptability and usability with enhanced OWA interface
QuestNet staff is used to sending email through Outlook and therefore finds it easy adapting to the look and feel of Outlook Web Access.

"We need not train our staff in using the new messaging platform as it looks similar with the messaging platform they were using before. With a familiar User Interface (UI) and single log-on capability to access email as well as product and customer information, our staff needs not switch between different applications to perform different functions. The new OWA interface greatly improved the productivity and responsiveness of our staff.

Better security with automatic log-off policy
There is always the possibility that QuestNet sales agents would misplace their smartphones or leave them unattended on a public place, rendering the QuestNet network vulnerable to attack. "Windows 2003 has an automatic log-off policy which automatically shuts down the system after a certain period of inactivity. When this happens, the user will have to log on again. So the company information remains safe even when a QuestNet staff misplaces his handheld device," Aguila explained.

Aguila added that QuestNet also benefited from Outlook 2003's real-time Safe and Block lists and Inbound Recipient Filtering which reduces the amount of unsolicited mail delivered to the organization. "Spam is a problem in the company - about half of the emails we receive are spam mails," he said.

Cost savings with integrated data source
That QuestNet doesn't need to have separate data source to hold customer information meant cost savings for the company.

"Integration of systems that are previously independent saves us a lot in terms of deployment cost and the need to develop backend structure again. With Exchange Server 2003, we can easily both scale up our database and messaging environment when business calls for it. It also means lower overhead for IT staff," Aguila said

Next Step
With the Proof of Concept completed and the company is now ready to undertake full scale deployment. Eventually, QuestNet will implement a Customer Relationship Management solution integrated with its existing infrastructure. "We would like our staff to be more proactive and using available customer information, be able to anticipate what our customers would need in the future, drive corresponding promotion and bring revenue," Aguila said.

He added that the company is also looking to implement workflow solutions to simplify and automate business process such as logistics and administration.