| Daniel Norjidi |
TELEKOM Brunei Berhad (TelBru)’s recent attainment of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification is a significant achievement that is directed towards quality and serving customers better.
David Kay, the Chief Executive Officer of TelBru shared this while speaking in an interview with the Weekend Bulletin.
“The award is a physical recognition of all the work that we have done. It is a fantastic achievement. I think behind all of that is the fact that it is directed towards quality and serving our customers better, and links to our values which are all related to customers,” he said.
TelBru’s ISO 9001:2015 (the Provisioning of Telecommunication and Enterprise Services) journey began in May last year with the engagement of experts. The official handing over of the ISO certification to TelBru from BSI Malaysia – one of the official certification bodies for ISO – took place in a ceremony on September 12.
ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organisations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.
As part of the initiative and to facilitate its move towards the achievement of international standards, TelBru formed a new Process Improvement Unit for the purpose of process documentation, process improvement analysis, organisational structure change, support-to-system development, performance indicator evaluation and process culture orientation.
The TelBru CEO noted, in particular, that it was able to successfully attain the certification in 10 months.
“The important thing is that it has now set the base for us to move forward. It is only a beginning, it is not the end. The certificate is great, yes, wonderful, but it is just a milestone along the path which will take us to higher quality service to our customers.
“So we have got the platform, now we will build up. So we have got all our procedures documented, and we keep to them, and now we have got to make them even more efficient and better.
“At the end of the day, it will result in fewer mistakes, it will result in more efficient service to our customers and an overall improvement in the quality of the services and the way we treat our customers.”
On what the ISO certification means for the customers, he said, “I hope in practical terms that when they want services or products from TelBru, even when they are existing customers, that they will be served in a consistent manner, ie no mistakes, that when they buy things they know what they are buying and they get what they ask for, and when there is a problem on the network, that they get a response from TelBru which is appropriate, ie they do not have to wait weeks for reparations to align, we get it within a few days.
“If people want new services, we are committed to doing that in a week. We need to commit to these things so that customers will see an improvement in service levels over time.
“As we build on this now, because this is all in the start, the process improvement team is charged with improving those processes,” he said.
“Where are they inefficient? Why does it take this long to do this particular step? We are looking at all these and each step along the way to serve the customer is being questioned. Why does it take four hours? Why doesn’t it take one hour? Why doesn’t it take one minute? Some people take three days, why does it take three days?
“The customer at the end of the day will see a better service standard from TelBru and a more consistent one,” he affirmed.
Asked what is next for TelBru after having achieved the ISO certification, Kay said, “In terms of how we serve our customers, we will continue to improve those processes, but it is not just for the customers, it is actually internally through the organisation.
“So it is how departments relate to others. They will be looking at that, as to how those internal customers can be better served. So we will be looking to improve.
“I think businesses have to continue to improve, particularly in telecommunications, where the technology is moving every day. We have to move with it and so do our service standards.
“We can’t have modern equipment and serve our customers in a bad way. So we will continue to improve upon that,” he continued. “It is really becoming more efficient. In terms of the broader picture, we will continue investing in our network to bring the latest products and services and speeds to our customers throughout the country.
“And then, there is an opportunity for other services to overlay on the network. Now we have got a very good network. Five years ago we did not have a very good network.
Now we do. Now we are able to offer very, very good services. So whatever comes out and what is going to come out tomorrow, we don’t know, but we will have the network to support it.”
The post ISO certification is a milestone achievement, says TelBru CEO appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.