Telecom
Firm Launches App to Help Nigerian Businesses Automate their Processes
Smartplugin, a cloud-based solution, has launched an application that would help businesses in Nigeria automate their current manual processes into digital process.
In a statement released on Thursday, the company said that “Its digital platform will enable thousands of companies to manage their visitor records, track employees in real-time, generate detailed customer data, and keep tabs of their assets, without the paper records or physical effort often required to do these things.
The app unites several technologies in a single application: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRM), project management, payroll solution, and organization-wide communication tools, are all provided for.
Darlington Onyeagoro, co-founder and ceo, Smartplugin, said that it’s a tool that could give Nigerian businesses a tech-driven competitive advantage in the markets they target.
“Out of the 3.1 million registered organizations in Nigeria, hundreds of thousands of companies fit this profile. They urgently need an upgrade,” Mr. Onyeagoro explained.
Smartplugin’s solutions include a Visitors Management Solution for formal business establishments.
Its tablet-based system captures such things as visitors’ names, contact details and photos, stores them, and informs the host of the visitors’ presence via SMS.
It cuts out the bulk and clutter of the traditional log record book at security posts and gives your organization a professional look.
With this tool, HR personnel can take on several employee-related processes on a single digital platform.
These include onboarding, approvals, leave policy, travel, and time and attendance. HR officers can manage these from wherever they are.
It also has a Time and Attendance module that uses the latest in Geo-fencing technology to ensure that your employees only clock in within the premises of your organization.
It provides data on your employees’ real-time location and their attendance behavior within a period (Now, 1 Hour ago, Today, 1 week, 1 month, last 3 months, etc.) and places them in categories that show how much they have complied with attendance rules.
Smartplugin integrates a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution that gives you insights into your customer data.
It shows you where they are in the deal cycle, so you know how to bring them nearer to making a purchase.
And if they are already paying clients, this tool reveals data about their previous interactions with your business. This information will help you manage your relationship with them better.
Accounting departments can use this app’s payroll solution to automate employee salary payments.
Your admins can deploy it to keep tabs of your company’s physical assets, manage and invoice projects, and stay connected with the wider organization through the app’s email and chat functions.
Smartplugin has a variant designed for gated communities (Estates). These estates can use its special security feature to automate visitor identity management and tracking and ensure the safety of their environment.
With just ₦10,000 per month, companies with less than 50 employees can enjoy the Smartplugin solution.
Companies can also choose to buy their own hardware or allow Smartplugin to handle both hardware and software.
Smartplugin is accessible as a web tool, and can also be downloaded as an application for desktops, as well as for android and iOS-powered mobile devices.
A partner program offers you the chance to recommend this tool to companies that may need it.
To be a partner, you will be required to provide a minimum of two businesses, estates, or residences that are willing to use the application.
Partners earn up to 20% of the total revenue earned from a customer. There’s more information about the partner program on the Smartplugin website.
Telecom
Telcos Record N27Bn Loss from Damaged Fibre Cables
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables are estimated to have cost Nigeria’s telecom industry almost N27bn ($23m) in 2023, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show.
On Feb. 28, a cut in its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company, and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than N11bn —enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines in areas without coverage.
Broadband fibre optic cables form the backbone of modern communication infrastructure, enabling the high-speed data transmission that underpins a wide range of personal, business, and societal activities.
On several occasions, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator, has acknowledged this challenge and expressed willingness to work on measures to address it.
These measures include stricter regulations to deter vandalism and improved collaboration between telcos and government agencies responsible for construction activities.
According to the NCC, the telecom sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5 per cent in the third quarter of last year.
Telecom
NCAIR Relaunch: Pantami, Tijani Fight for Credit
Isa Pantami, former minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has voiced his discontent over the relaunch of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) by Bosun Tijani, his successor.
Tijani announced the revitalization of NCAIR, highlighting enhancements in its capacity and partnerships with global tech firm Cisco.
However, Pantami took to social media to assert that NCAIR was already established during his tenure in November 2020, dubbing it “the first of its kind in Africa” and emphasizing its effectiveness in training numerous Nigerians.
Tijani responded by detailing the new initiatives accompanying the relaunch, including increased computing infrastructure, dedicated research labs, and remote connectivity for AI hubs across the country. He also unveiled outcomes from the Ministry’s National AI Workshop, such as the country’s first Multilingual Large Language Model and partnerships aimed at accelerating AI development projects of national significance.
The exchange between Pantami and Tijani underscores ongoing efforts to advance AI research and application in Nigeria while navigating questions of continuity and leadership transition within the Ministry.
Telecom
ABoICT Lecture 2024 to Focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) In A Digital Economy
This year’s Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership lecture will focus on the role of artificial intelligence in a digital economy with the theme: “Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Good, The Complex and The Anticipated”.
The lecture which will herald Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Awards hold on May 25, 2024 at Four Points by Sheraton.
The sixteenth edition of the award ceremony according Ken Nwogbo, editor-in-chief of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek the organizers of the event, “is a special edition to recognize and celebrate organizations and individuals in the ICT industry that have been distinguished in delivery innovative services in the sector.
“Most of these organizations and individuals have consistently being voted by our readers as leaders in their areas of operations and we have decided to reward them in this especial edition”.
He added that, AI is considered to have the potential to instigate a fourth industrial revolution,1 and is dramatically changing people’s patterns of interaction and economic activities.
“The traditional factors of production and physical capital and labour may no longer promote substantial economic growth. It is generally believed that AI will be one of the most important factors determining future economic growth.
“However, unlike traditional machines, which replaced the use of human and animal labor for simple manual work and heavy or dangerous activities, AI-related inputs may change the type of human work in a comprehensive way.
“In contrast to previous industrial revolutions, AI does not simply involve the invention of a new machine or technology. Instead, AI has similarities to the accumulation of human capital, as it can learn and accumulate knowledge by itself,” he said.
The Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture is designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global Information and Communications Technologies map.
The lecture series however is reserved for distinguished achievers in the ICT sector.
Past lecturers included Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Dr. Jean Luc Fort, CEO at OR System France and a specialist in Counterparty Risk; and Professor Chris Nwagboso, Chairman, Knowledge Factory International, United Kingdom.
Others are: Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; Peter Adedayo Arogundade, managing director and chief executive officer, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited; Dr. Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode and John Obaro, CEO and founder of Systemspecs; Prof. Isa Pantanmi, minister of Communications and Digital Economy; among others.
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