BUSINESS NEWS
BUSINESS
NEW SMART NUMBER TECHNOLOGY CUTS ROAMING CHARGES SURE is helping Channel Island businesses slash their roaming costs by launching a new app that promises to reduce roaming charges by placing voice and video calls over the Internet.
QUALIFICATION SUCCESS FOR BARCLAYS’ EMPLOYEES ACROSS THE CHANNEL ISLANDS EIGHT Barclays employees from a range of areas across the business are celebrating having successfully completed qualifications in a variety of finance, investment and administrative courses. In Guernsey, Nicola Brown passed the Corporate Governance MSc course with a merit. The course, which is developed in collaboration with and fully accredited by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (ICSA), provides students with a highly specialised set of skills and helps develop the ability to appreciate and influence the factors governing corporate affairs. In Jersey, Francesca Frezza in Wealth Advisory was awarded a certificate for the best paper in the governance and reporting exam module as part of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) Diploma in Offshore Finance and Administration. The Diploma modules cover all aspects of regulation and supervision of the offshore financial services sector, including the most recent developments. Sarah Darwin, also from Wealth Advisory in Jersey, is now STEP Diploma qualified having achieved a distinction in the Trustee Investment and Financial Appraisal module of the STEP Diploma in International Trust Management. The Diploma requires the completion of four diploma modules including Trust Creation: Law and Practice, Company Law and Practice and Trust Administration and Accounts. A number of employees in both islands undertook the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) level six Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice & Management (PCIAM). The PCIAM Certificate enables practitioners to demonstrate their understanding of the principles of private client investment advice, within the context of the current regulatory environment. The syllabus includes financial advice within a regulated environment, investment taxation and principles of finance advice. In Guernsey, investment manager, Luciano Lombardo, and Michelle Boyce, vice president in the treasury team, both passed the exam with a merit. In Jersey, portfolio manager Joel Graves and assistant vice president, Chris Grant gained a distinction and director, Laythamm Malorey achieved a merit. “Seeing so many of our employees achieve such impressive results in professional qualifications is really pleasing and encouraging,” said Paul Savery, managing director, Barclays Wealth & Investment Management. “Supporting the personal and professional development of our employees is a priority and helping employees achieve professional qualifications is a key part of this focus, alongside training and mentoring. We want our clients to know that they are receiving the best possible service and advice and to know that our employees have the appropriate skills and knowledge to support them.” BECAUSE QUALITY MATTERS
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Smart Number is available for iOS, Android and Windows and Mac PC devices. It enables business travellers, when abroad, to make and receive video and voice calls on their mobile phone or via their laptop using a Wi-Fi connection, rather than the local mobile network. The Smart Number application is intrinsically linked to a customer’s mobile number and call package, so calls made using Smart Number are charged as though the customer was on their home network, and are deducted from the customer’s call minutes allowance in the usual way. When Smart Number users are not in a Wi-Fi zone, the call is placed over the mobile network, as normal, so there is never any danger of missing a call. As well as cutting roaming costs, Smart Number customers make and receive voice and video calls using their normal mobile phone number. This is a huge advantage over Skype and other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) platforms which need separate accounts to be created, resulting in calls often having to be arranged in advance. On top of the accessibility that Smart Number offers, it also provides complete flexibility because it can be loaded onto multiple devices so the user can choose whether to use a smartphone, tablet or PC when making or receiving a call. ‘At Sure, we are focused on innovating for our customers and roaming charges is one area in which businesses have told us they would like to reduce their costs,’ said Mike Fawkner-Corbett, head of mobile at Sure. ‘Smart Number has the potential to create great savings for Channel Islands’ companies whilst offering the accessibility and flexibility their staff need when working abroad. ‘Not only are we pleased to be the first to offer this kind of product in the Channel Islands but we hope it makes a real difference for companies, both large and small, in their efforts to develop business beyond the islands.’ The launch of Smart Number is the first stage of its development and it is hoped that in the future, instant messaging, presence identification (letting other users know whether you are available, busy etc) and BlackBerry and Windows Mobile versions of the app will be available.
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