Hitwise: Wising up to the benefits of mobile working.

“T-Mobile’s devices and services have allowed us to significantly improve efficiency and productivity, whilst at the same time, its tariffs have allowed us to reduce our mobile expenditure by up to 30 %.”Stephen Newton, General Manager, Hitwise UK

Company Background

Hitwise is the world’s leading online

competitive intelligence service.

Each day, Hitwise monitors how more

than 25 million Internet users interact

with over 800,000 websites across

160 industry categories. As Hitwise

staff spend a lot of their time out of the

office visiting clients and prospects,

the company turned to T-Mobile for

a range of mobile solutions that enable

its account managers to provide

a better level of service to an increased

number of customers, at all times,

wherever they are.

Hitwise is a marketing intelligencecompany, specifically focused on onlinemarketing. By monitoring more people,more websites, more often, Hitwiseprovides marketers with timely andactionable marketing insights on how theironline presence compares to competitivewebsites. Hitwise customers use thisinformation to maximise the return on theironline investment, in efforts such asaffiliate programmes, search marketing,online advertising, content developmentand lead generation.

Founded in Australia in 1997, thecompany now has offices in New Zealand,Hong Kong, Singapore, New York andSan Francisco. The London office, whichemploys 45 staff, is responsible for thecompany’s operations in Europe, theMiddle East and Africa (EMEA).

The Challenge

Such is the nature of the market in whichHitwise operates that most of thecompany’s employees are sales people.Divided into teams of account managers,who service and support existing clients,and new business managers, that look fornew opportunities, both groups requirea great deal of mobility. The ability to stay in touch and exchange information withcustomers, prospects and the office backin London at all times, is essential,wherever they are.

Some account managers service up to40 customers each, located all overEurope. Therefore, international travel isan essential part of the job and Hitwiseemployees need fast, reliable andeffective mobile voice and datacommunications in order to provide afirst-rate level of support to their globalcustomer base.

Business

Overview

Industry: Marketing Research and IntelligenceNumber of employees: 45 in UK Number of locations/offices: 1 for EMEA

Solution

n MDA devices for mobile emailn Web’n’walk mobile data cardsn Voice solution

Benefits

n Improved productivity and efficiency n Reduced mobile expenditure of

25-30 % n Faster client response times

The Solution

To implement a successful mobile workingpractice, Hitwise adopted a number ofsolutions from T-Mobile, including handsetsfor communication; Personal DigitalAssistants (PDAs) for email and internetaccess on the move; and 3G data cards forthose who use laptops more frequently.

“We first decided to switch our mobilecommunications from Orange to T-Mobilethree years ago. Since moving across, wehave noticed a real improvement in ourcommunications, and these benefits haveimpacted upon our efficiency, productivityand ultimately on the bottom line,” explainsStephen Newton, General Manager ofHitwise UK.

All of Hitwise’s account managers and newbusiness managers have been equippedwith a T-Mobile PDA device – some withthe MDA Pro but most with the latestdevice, the MDA Vario II. Due to the natureof its IT infrastructure, Hitwise opted to gofor the MDA devices rather thanBlackBerrys. It was also felt that the MDAdevices were more appropriate due to theadditional functionality they possess suchas access to Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Hitwise also adopted three T-Mobileweb’n’walk data cards for those staff thatneed to be able to work on a laptop whilstout of the office. It was felt that these cardswould benefit those people that neededto draft documents and work onpresentations on a large screen, whilst onthe move. The data cards providebroadband speed (HSDPA) internet accessand are quad-band, meaning that theywork on mobile networks in the US andacross Europe, a vital benefit as many ofHitwise’s customers are located overseas.

The Benefits

Reduced costs

Since switching to T-Mobile, Hitwise’smobile expenditure has fallen by 25-30%,thanks to T-Mobile’s innovative bundledprice plans. The company now uses T-Mobile Business 1-Plan, which allowseach of the company’s mobile users toshare a tailored allowance of voice, data,text and HotSpot usage. Calls from theUK to Europe and North America areincluded within this allowance as well asin-company mobile to mobile calls.

“The fact that we have this tailoredpackage means that I know exactly whatour mobile spend will be each month.As a company, we use a huge amount ofdata. Many of our users download up to600 MB each month. Being on this priceplan has led to a significant reduction inour overall mobile expenditure,particularly on overseas communicationwith our colleagues in New York and SanFrancisco. It really doesn’t matter whereour account managers are located,whether in the US or Europe, I know thatwe won’t have to pay additional chargeswhen we call them,” says Newton.

Smarter working and better communication

Since switching to T-Mobile, Hitwise’semployees have used a range of T-Mobile’s PDA devices, including theMDA Pro and the MDA Vario II. Over 25 of the company’s employees currentlyuse these devices. Staff are allowedto choose the device that most suits their needs.

“The MDA Pro and MDA Vario II really dooffer our staff a virtual office. Whereverthey are in the world, they are able tocheck and respond to emails, work onWord, Excel and PowerPoint documents,and access the internet. Those staff thatuse the Vario II, such as myself, can nowbenefit from T-Mobile’s new HSDPAnetwork, which is so fast that it is likehaving fixed line broadband speeds but on your mobile device.”

Improved client services

Newton also believes that customerrelationships have benefited since histeam have started to use T-Mobile’s rangeof mobile communications solutions.He says: “Having fast and reliable mobilecommunications in place has meant thatour account managers are now able torespond to clients more quickly whilstthey are out of the office. Also, being ableto work effectively whilst in transit hasreduced downtime amongst accountmanagers, making them more productiveand able to look after more accounts.

He adds, “Indeed, some of these accountmanagers are now responsible for over40 customers, which would have beenunthinkable before they had PDAs. Thisincrease in efficiency and productivity hascertainly impacted on the bottom line.”

The Future

Whilst Hitwise has clearly already reapedthe benefits of using T-Mobile’s devicesand services, Newton is keen to continueto look for new opportunities to increaseclient response times, efficiencyand productivity.

As Newton says, “We are confident that T-Mobile will continue to provide us withnew and innovative devices, services andtariffs to allow us to further increaseefficiency and productivity in the future.”

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To find out how T-Mobile can help your business, please call us on 0800 956 5001, email businessenquiries@t-mobile.co.uk or visit www.t-mobile.co.uk/business