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Business Reporter
WITH the future of mobile telephony now premised on innovative value-added services, local mobile operators, especially Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ), are now making significant investments in overlay services. EWZ, in particular, which is the largest telecommunications company by assets and subscribers, has since announced the establishment of a team of freelance service providers called Technites that will be able to provide technical support to the company’s various services
In essence, Technites are registered service providers who are trained and have particular skills to provide high quality services for products such as home security installations, Econet Connected Car fitments, solar and home fibre installations and electrical work.
Econet said in a recent statement the new team will be able to efficiencies within the group.
“The team is already being deployed to drive efficiencies within Econet group operations at the same time providing much needed income for qualified, skilled but unemployed Zimbabweans.
“Technites work through an Econet platform — the Technite Platform — where customers can use their mobile devices to have access to products and services such as Econet|ConnectedCar, Econet|ConnectedHome as well as an increasing wide range of Handyman services,” read part of the statement.
In addition to providing technical services, the platform will be able to aggregate the value-added services that are currently being offered by the mobile company, including providing a payment platform for the services through EcoCash.
Through the platform, customers will have access to a mobile application that they will use to register to the Technite platform and request for a particular service from a particular “Technite” and make payment using their Ecocash account. On the overall, the Technite mobile application will allow customers to manage their requests and get notifications from the “Technite” such as arrival and job completed notifications as well as rescheduling of appointments confirmed by the “Technite”.
After the service has been provided by the “Technite”, the customer can use the mobile application to rate the level of service provided and this will constitute the overall rating of the “Technite”.
Added Econet: “Any trained artisan, qualified individual or a company already providing related services can apply to become a “Technite” or “Super Technite” with Econet.” Individuals that will be able to satisfactorily meet the expectations of the mobile company will be registered on the platform and provided with an android mobile application for them to use to access the Technite platform that links them with Econet customers.
Naturally, the Technite will be able to use the platform to respond to customer requests, update and notify the customer concerning their request and exchange messages. It is believed that the platform will provide an ecosystem of service providers trained and ready to provide quality services to Econet customers as well as providing a pool of customers providing business to“Technites”.
It is envisaged that many skilled individuals will be able to benefit from the new service. Through the envisaged system, Steward Bank, a unit of EWZ, will provide the much-needed financing for Technites, particularly through financing requirements such as toolkits, iPads, uniforms and transport.
Currently, service providers such as electricians, solar technicians and auto electricians are being registered in the system. Estimates suggest that service providers could make up to $50 per day.
Online Reporter