Company News

OPEN TELECOM LAUNCHES GETS LICENSE TO OPERATES NEW LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE SERVICE

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 19:29:00 GMT

On January 14th 2006 Open Telecom Ltd. secured a license to operate a long distance telephone service from the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. This License will allow for a more comepetitive environment in the Long Distance market and will at long last give consumers the choice that they have been clamouring for which will drive down the costs of long distance telephone services tremendously. We are now in Trinidad and Tobago going to enjoy

Open Telecom Ltd. expects to launch its Long Distance Telephone Service for the Home and Office by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Gillette Group Announces Partnership with the Tobago House of Assembly Information Technology Centre

Tue, 03 May 2005 01:05:40 GMT

May 2nd, 2005 saw the Gillette Group expanding its Call Centre business in the sister Isle of Tobago. In a ceremony to mark the launch attended by a host dignitaries from the Tobago House of Assembly, at the THA Technology Centre at Signal Hill in Tobago, Mr. Peter Gillette Chairman of the Gillette Group signed the Memorandum of Association with the THAs Chief Secretary, The Honourable, Mr. Orville London.

The Joint Venture Partnership draws on the resources of three of the Gillette Group ICT companies DirecOne, Voice Works and Computers and Controls and is for the management and establishment of a offshore call centre outsourcing company located at Signal Hill, Tobago. It is another example of the development and commercialisation of new technologies undertaken by the Gillette Group. The Gillette Group will be capitalizing on the existing medical transcription infrastructure and expanding it to include a full fully integrated inbound and outbound call centre facility, similar to its facilities in Trinidad.

Call Centre Director Mr. Damian Hares commenting on the joint venture, attributed the expansion in Tobago as a natural outcome of the increase in Call Centre business that has been coming into the DirecOne Group over the last three years. Trinidad and Tobago, he said, is clearly becoming an attractive proposition, as the near shore destination of choice for many of the Fortune 500 in the United States. About the Technology Centre itself he said, The Tobago Center represents a unique opportunity for us as an ICT Group to develop the intellectual capital of our nationals and thus prepare them for inclusion in areas outside of the fields of energy and tourism. We are proud to play a role as private sector nationals in this project, and hope that the Center will act as a catalyst to the development of ICT industries here in Tobago."

Population IT Readiness assessment

This Partnership will begin with an assessment of IT Readiness and will focus on gathering information as regards computer literacy skills in Tobago. This Partnership will create opportunities for the employment and training of Call Centre Agents. These agents will be trained to the highest standards in Customer Service and telemarketing skills and should they migrate from the Call Centre into other jobs they will benefit from being professionally trained in a first world environment.

Partnership Goals

Through this Partnership with the THA we have firmly fixed in our minds the milestones that we the THA and the Gillette Group need to accomplish. They are:

The creation of new employment opportunities in Tobago
To continue to deploy new knowledge based facilities throughout Trinidad and Tobago
To increase the reservoir of ICT technologies in Tobago
To increase the marketability of Tobago as a near shore/ call centre destination
To establish Tobago as a key player in the Global Market
To drive the implementation of state of the art IT infrastructure in Tobago
Assist the THA in sharing knowledge and making communication amongst all sectors faster and more profound.

The Chairman, Mr. Peter Gillette in making this announcement said, There is a Tidal Wave of Offshore work to be had. It will be there for those that are best prepared. Trinidad has the opportunity to become a World Leader in this arena. What we in the Gillette Group have long recognized as a key component of the success of any business is right sourcing your outsourcing In the Tobago House of Assembly the Gillette ICT group feels that we have once again accomplished this objective. During the course of our negotiations we came to realize that we shared many common beliefs as it relates to the respective development paths that our nation must embark, if we are to take the next generation on a transformational step towards developed nation status and make Trinidad and Tobago the Intelligent Islands that we know they can become.

The vision of the Gillette Group is the continuous creation of employment for our Nation along the lines and models dictated by knowledge based economies. It is based on the appreciation that a Technology-literate and connected community will help Trinidad and Tobago build a leadership position in the Information economy.

DirecOne Opens doors to Second Call Center in Trinidad

Mon, 28 Mar 2005 21:05:40 GMT

28th March 2005

The DirecOne Call Centre Group a subsidiary of the Gillette Group of Companies opened its doors to its second Call Centre facility in Trinidad and Tobago. This Centre is located at the heart of the city of Port of Spain on Independence Square and is a full service inbound and outbound call center facility, with a seating capacity of 300 seats and is currently operating two shifts per day, translating into 600 agent postions.

The Chairman of the Group, Mr. Gillette in making this announcement said that, This expansion has become necessary to facilitate the influx of new contact center business that has been sourced by the group. He said, Since the launch of the Sprint PCS help desk and programmes at the DirecOne Chaguaramas facility, DirecOne has seen a steady influx of new business originating out of the United States. The success of DirecOne (Chaguaramas) has spurred the demand for us to increase the loading capacities in all our centres.

DirecOne (Down Town) is currently running two outbound telemarketing programmes for Pacific Monarch Resorts originating out of the United States. Pacific Monarch Resorts is one of the largest privately held hotel chains on the western seaboard. They represent a total of eight world-class Pacific Monarch Resorts locations with 1,901 luxury villas in the California and Las Vegas areas and is a well-established developer of five-star vacation ownership resorts specializing in resort locations and recreational amenities designed for active adults and families.

PMR has consistently exceeded owner expectations and has earned a well-deserved reputation for delivering quality vacations. Since its founding in 1987, Pacific Monarch Resorts Inc. has concentrated solely on the business of vacation ownership and resort development. Pacific Monarchs 1,450 employees serve more than 75,000 owner families who now reserve and enjoy their vacations. Pacific Monarch Resorts Inc. aggregate sales are in excess of $950 million. Revenues for 2003 were $140 million. It is expected that the privately held company will top the$100 million sales mark in 2004, with projected 2004 revenue of $145 million.

Call Centre General Manager, Mr. Roger Gordon in commenting on the rollout has said that, The Pacific Monarch Las Vegas getaway packages and timeshare and vacation ownership packages are one of the most exciting programmes conducted by DirecOne, our TSRs have responded with exuberance and enthusiasm to the Pacific Monarch packages themselves and to the level of professionalism of the Pacific Monarch representatives, these two factors have made it an invaluable learning experience and has contributed to the resounding success of this programme.

Gillette Group ISP Division launches first High Speed Dial Up Internet Service in T&T

Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:05:40 GMT

October 3rd 2004

Exclusive to Carib-Link, Interserv and CableNett and another first fromt the ISP Division of the Gillette Group comes the latest in Internet technology for dial up Internet Users, Turbo Dial Up High Speed Internet Service.

Turbo is a subscription- based service that uses patent-pending technology to provide DSL-like speed over 56K dial-up lines. Turbo works with an ordinary dialup account, so you wont need to change anything to begin enjoying Turbo charged speeds. Turbo goes way beyond competitive products that simply "tweak" windows network settings. Turbo is true "Virtual Broadband", providing DSL-like speed over a single dial-up connection, at a very low monthly cost. The benefits are:

Turbo delivers consistent speed improvements in real-life Internet usage scenarios, it accelerates web browsing, web-based file transfers, uploading and downloading of all native FTP file transfers, and all types of email from simple web-based email systems like Hotmail and Yahoo Mail to POP3 and SMTP based email systems such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Exchange. Additionally, email attachments including Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and others will also be accelerated.

Speed, Speed and More Speed

Turbo "turbo-charges" your dial line performance and lets you browse the web more than five times faster than with a 56k dial-up line--speeds comparable to DSL.

Ad Blocking

Are you tired of the constant intrusion of Internet advertising? Turbo blocks these annoying ads to enhance your Internet experience and speed up the delivery of your requested information.

Ultra-Secure Firewall

Turbo ultra-secure firewall and security features provide the complete coverage required to protect your PC from unauthorized access. The Ultra-Secure Firewall blocks unwanted access from the Internet. With its stealth mode of operation, prying eyes from the Internet do not even know that your computer is there, so hackers move onto an easier target.

Enhanced Parental Control

Turbo now supports both "White lists" and" Black lists". For example, you can choose a "walled garden" approach where parents simply create a list of all sites their children can visit or you can take the opposite approach and create a list of restricted sites that you do not want your children to access.

Easy to get - easy to install

Turbo is available by simple download or via CD. In a matter of minutes, you are up and running and enjoying your new-found speed.

Even easier to maintain Automatic updates

Uninstalling old versions of software and reinstalling new ones are time consuming and often frustrating. With your software is always current. Thats because it is self-updating. Each day when you first start Turbo, it will check to see if any updates or new features are available. If there are, you can immediately upgrade your product or you can choose to do it at a later time. Updates include only components of the product that have changed, so updates are completed quickly. For the ISP, this means no new CDs to issue.

Works with existing ISP and e-mail account

Turbo works with most ISPs and browsers so you wont need to change your ISP or your current e-mail address to begin enjoying Turbo speed.

No new hardware to purchase and install

With cable and DSL service you are often required to purchase additional hardware and, even worse, expected to install it on your own! With Turbo simply install the software and you are ready to go.

Portable broadband - available everywhere

Turbo is available anywhere theres a telephone, cellular phone or wireless connection, so now you can enjoy high-speed Internet access from work, home, while on the road, or even on vacation.

Low monthly charge - subscription-based service

Unlike cable and DSL services which can be quite expensive, Turbo is a cost-effective, subscription-based service with a low monthly fee.

Corporate Communications Division