According to Aboitiz One president and chief executive officer Sabin Aboitiz, the partnership with the country’s two leading telecommunications companies plays a crucial role in the success of E-Trace tracking service.
He said the widespread use of mobile phones and the cost-effectiveness of sending text messages make E-Trace the best platform for extending and enhancing Aboitiz One’s level of service.
"The technology is already there and it is just a matter of applying it to your business and getting people to use it," he pointed out.
He said the partnership with Globe and Smart was made at practically no cost to all parties. In fact, the two cellular companies will derive additional text-related revenues from E-Trace.
Aboitiz said Globe and Smart will provide the means by which Aboitiz One customers can reach the company. Aboitiz One has invested over P250 million to beef up its information technology infrastructure to support its E-Trace service.
He also explained that while the E-Trace service may seem simple, there is a lot of technology involved in it. From the moment a customer avails of the courier service, his package is tagged and tracked until it gets to its final destination. "We have a system that can monitor all our delivery vans and pinpoint exactly where they are at any given moment," Aboitiz said.
To check the status of their documents and mail sent via Aboitiz one, customers imply have to key in the word ABOITIZ followed by the consignment number. For cargo and parcels, the same procedure applies but instead of the consignment number, the customer types in his airway bill number.
Smart subscribers can then send their inquiries to 211 and for Globe subscribers, 2333. All inquiries are then routed to Aboitiz Express servers where they are processed and the answer sent back to the requesting customer in a matter of seconds.
Aboitiz expressed confidence that customers will respond positively to E-Trace the way they did to the passport direct service of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The DFA Passport Direct Service allows applicants to renew their passports by Dialing Aboitiz’s call center partner Pilipinas Teleserve Inc.’ 24-hour toll-free hotline (7371000). After a maximum wait of seven days, the passport is delivered door-to-door by Aboitiz One.
Since the service was launched, the DFA has reported a 50-percent reduction in the volume of walk-in applications for passport renewal. Aboitiz said they have received over 25,000 inquiries via text messaging regarding passport application.
Aboitiz said that even if the volume of inquiries increases dramatically, they would still be a long way off from reaching capacity. – Mary Ann Reyes