Contact by phone
It is said no matter where you are in the world today an individual or business is no more than 10 phone calls away!
Perhaps Telkom is taking advantage of this 1990s adage as part of its revenue growth strategy. It certainly seems like it at times.
I recently retuned to Indonesia and needed to use Telkom's Directory Enquiries Service, 108, to contact companies which had moved or changed telephone numbers.
Using accurate company names, I was given an incorrect number on about half of my inquiries. Telkom uses the address if the first number it gives fails to connect you. After a second failure, I would revert to my own network of contacts. I connected successfully, all in five calls or less -- proving for me the truth of this modern axiom.
But if this is the level of service Telkom provides for small to medium-sized companies employing between five to 10 people, how much business must these unwittingly "incommunicado" companies be losing?
Telkom is Indonesia's largest internationally listed company and one of its most profitable; what is it doing to improve this aspect of its customer service?
Certainly, responsibility for accurate information on any customer database lies firstly with its customers who rent a line. But given the frequency of wrong numbers and company addresses, I can only assume Telkom is also at fault -- perhaps it's database is cluttered with inactive account names or worse -- more than one entry for the same number. Does this partially explain the high incidence of "wrong numbers" we all receive?
Telkom sells us our connection and charges by the number of pulses it records we use. The use made of the line connection at our end (phone, fax, e-mail) depends on us, the customer. In the evolution of telecommunications, this seems like "bare bones" stuff. Telkom and other telecommunication providers would be adding value to services they provide by improving such an apparently simple -- but extremely useful -- public information service.
Telkom charges remain relatively high for international calls. For example, the new daytime rate to the United Kingdom is Rp 5,200 plus 10 percent tax (US$2.40) per minute according to international inquiries, 104. The new maximum domestic long distance rate of Rp 2,062.5 per minute as stated in the lead article in the year-end edition of The Jakarta Post would be a welcome maximum target for international calls by 2000 -- equivalent with tax to under $1 per minute -- but, alas, I fear I am dreaming to hope for this.
Indonesia's fixed charges system limits competition to service aspects. Wouldn't it benefit Telkom's own efficiency and that of the economy to embark on a policy of raising customer service levels and reducing charges more aggressively to move quickly in line with international levels? Present tariff rates make international calls something of a "luxury good" -- encouraging the use of international "call back" services, coupled with a dramatically increased use of the Internet in Tomorrow's World. In the near future, Telkom monopolies with their supernormal profits will be a thing of the past.
Such bold action would help reduce the cost of living and of doing business in Indonesia, and help to maintain this country's international competitiveness. It may also increase Telkom's revenues as greater use is made of its phone network -- both within Indonesia and from international traffic en route to or via Indonesia.
SEAMUS MCELROY
Jakarta