MDSI’s Advantex r7 will be install company-wide, providing more than 12,800 of Telkom’s mobile field technicians, field managers and operations center personnel in Access Network, Network Operations, Data & Special Services and Public Services business units with the tools to manage the flow of real-time data, all in an effort to improve operational performance.

According to Johan Mare, Telkom’s managing executive, Operational Support Systems, Telkom selected MDSI’s solution because of its ability to meet the needs of the "entire workforce and the proven scalability of Advantex, which will allow Telkom to accommodate thousands of technicians and tens of thousands of orders."

• MDSI Advantex r7

• Advantex Vehicle Tracking
• Advantex Decision Support

• Husky CE devices
• GSM wireless network

MDSI’s Advantex will provide up-to-the-minute information to enable telecom workers to monitor, manage and execute field service operations at all times. Advantex will transmit real-time data between the field and head office over GSM networks. Using Husky CE devices, mobile workers will be able to connect to Advantex and process their work orders. Advantex will allow Telkom to widen its selection of devices to include pen-based tablets, PDAs or mobile phones. The solution also integrates with Telkom’s multiple host systems.

MDSI said that the enterprise-wide scheduling solution intelligently schedules complex and related service requests and, using business rules, assigns them to the best available mobile resource. Advantex then dispatches work order details to the mobile resources who use the solution to process their work throughout the day, and sends status updates and order completion information back to the office, all wirelessly and in real-time.

Telkom can also take advantage of Advantex Vehicle Tracking to enable dispatchers to track the location of technicians and to manage field operations all in real-time. In addition, Advantex Decision Support tools will enable the telecom to collect and transform workforce management data, providing decision makers with the means to manage, monitor and evaluate operational performance.