Telenor Fires One Whole Department, in a Single Go: ProPakistani

Telenor Fires One Whole Department, in a Single Go
Zong Introduces ‘Facebook Mobile Alerts’
Warid Increases Helpline Call Charges by 50%
Nokia E7 Now Available in Pakistan!
Allied Bank Signs Agreement With Multinet for Its Nationwide Branch Network
Microsoft Pakistan – Delivering Digital Success

Telenor Fires One Whole Department, in a Single Go

Posted: 21 Apr 2011 11:35 AM PDT

Telenor Fires One Whole Department, in a Single Go is a post from: ProPakistani

Telenor Pakistan, the most sought after employer, as claimed by the company, has fired its whole Network Security and Maintenance Department in a fickle, told us sources close to the situation.

Our sources further confirmed us that the decision was sudden and without any prior notification whatsoever. Perhaps Telenor did not want its other employees to feel insecure about their jobs – who, as a matter of fact, should feel insecure – that's why no internal memo was circulated.

When we asked Telenor the details about the incident, Aamir Izhar, a company spokesperson confirmed that company recently outsourced its network maintenance and security contract to a multinational vendor.

"As part of the contract Telenor Pakistan’s network security team has been absorbed by the vendor to ensure the existing high standards of network security for Telenor Pakistan infrastructure", added Mr. Izhar.

This apparently means that whole Network Security and Maintenance Department was given away to Huawei, and employees will have to work under new employer and of course with new contracts, terms and maybe the pay scales.

This has happened amid the mist of recent vendor change. Telenor Pakistan's contract with Nokia Siemens Networks ended this month and now its Huawei that will be looking after Telenor's Network Maintenance and Security across the country.

On other hands, we are told that some of the terminated employees, including Babar Ghayoor Khan, Network Security manager, is not joining Huawei as a protest against sudden termination.

Even after repeated attempts, we could not establish a direct communication with Babar Ghayoor to know his viewpoint.

This is not only unprofessional and unethical on Telenor's part, but also bears a testimony to the unstable and uncertain culture perpetuating in the private sector too. One can concatenate this to the earlier incidents of the strike by PTCL's employees, the outburst of KESC's employees and later the bout of PIA's workers. It is indeed a sad moment.

Zong Introduces ‘Facebook Mobile Alerts’

Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:00 AM PDT

Zong Introduces ‘Facebook Mobile Alerts’ is a post from: ProPakistani

Since people prefer to stay updated with their Facebook network, ZONG offers Facebook mobile alerts. Subscribers can now be sent alerts that keep them up to date on their favorite social network, without being online.

How to Activate?

To activate Facebook alerts, the subscriber will be required to login at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/mobile

Once logged in, the user will be required to click the Account menu and select Account Settings from the drop down menu as shown below:

Next, the user will click Mobile tab as shown above.

To register follow a simple three step process:

Step 1:

Users will click Register to Facebook Text Messages. ZONG users will be required to select “Pakistan” as country and “ZONG” as carrier and click next.

Step 2:

User will be asked to send “f” to 32665 from their mobile handset to get confirmation code. The letter “f” needs to be sent without quotes.

Step 3:

Enter confirmation code in the opened dialog box and click confirm. User will then be directed to the notification setup page and will be confirmed about their Facebook Text Messages activation feature.

On this page users can edit all notification settings e.g. what kind of notifications to receive, what should be the time of notification, number of notifications to be received, etc. To save setting users will be required to click Save Preferences button.

Note:

Users can also add multiple phone numbers to a single profile or remove existing phone numbers as well, however notifications will only be sent to a single number.

Charges:

All SMS sent to 32665 will be charged Re 1 plus tax.
All notifications received are free of charge.
For GPRS access, standard GPRS charges apply

Complete list of Facebook functionalities is mentioned below:

To update Facebook status:

Send <new status message> to 32665, e.g. “I’m in at a party” to 32665. There is no need to use inverted commas.

To Undo Status Change:

To immediately remove an updated status through SMS or restore previous status, send “Undo” to 32665

To send Message to a Friend:

Send “MSG <friend’s name> <text>, to 32665 e.g., “MSG Salman hey man where are you” to 32665
Or
Send “M <friend’s name> <text>, to 32665 e.g., “M Salman hey man where are you” to 32665

To write on Friend’s Wall:

Send “Wall <friend’s name> <text>, to 32665 e.g., “Wall Salman hey did you pass the exam?” to 32665
Or
Send “W <friend’s name> <text>, to 32665 e.g., “W Salman hey did you pass the exam?” to 32665

To Poke a Friend:

Send “Poke <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g. “Poke Salman” to 32665″

To Subscribe to a Friend’s Status Update:

Send “Subscribe <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g. “Subscribe Salman” to 32665″
Or
Send “Sub <friend’s name> to 32665″ e.g. “Sub Salman” to 32665″

To Un-subscribe to a Friend’s Status Update:

Send Send “unsubscribe <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g. “unsubscribe Salman” to 32665″
Or
Send “unsub <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g. “unsub Salman” to 32665″

To search for Friend’s Information:

Send “Find <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g., “Find Salman” to 32665 and get their information on name, e-mail, status, marital status, mobile number and more.

To Add a Friend:

Send “Add <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g., “Add Salman” to 32665. User will get a list of people matching their criteria with closest matches of their friend’s name.

To find a Friend’s E-mail:

Send “Email <friend’s name>” to 32665 e.g. “Email Salman”. User friend has to be on facebook to retrieve the email address.

To get Help on list of commands:

Send “Help” to 32665.

To De-activate Notifications:

Send “OFF” to 32665. User will no longer be able to receive notifications on their handset.

To Re-Activate Notifications:

Send “ON” to 32665. User will start receiving notifications again. However user already needs to be a registered user to SMS mobile notifications.

Reply to Notifications:

ZONG users can also reply to notifications they receive. Following is detailed list and format of notifications received on user handset. User will only be required to reply to the notifications.

Poke notification:

You have been poked on Facebook by <Friend Name> Reply ‘P’ to poke <Friend Name> back.

Message notification:

Facebook msg from <Friend Name> Subj: <subject> <Message Text> …(‘n’ for next) Reply to msg <Friend Name> back.
User can only reply back to message when they have read the complete message. To read remaining message they will reply back to SMS with “n”

Wall notification:

<Friend Name> wrote on your Facebook wall: <Message Text> …(‘n’ for next) Reply to msg <Friend Name> back.
User can only reply back to message when they have read the complete message. To read remaining message they will reply back to SMS with “n”. Reply to this message will be posted on friend’s wall.

Add Friend notification:

<Friend Name> has requested to add you as a friend on Facebook. Reply ‘add’ to add, or ‘info’ to get profile.
User can reply back with “Add” to 32665 to accept the friend request or get information about the person by replying with “Info” to 32665

Photo-tag notification:

<Friend Name> added a photo of you on Facebook. <photo-link>

Photo comment notification:

<Friend Name> commented on your photo. <photo-link>

Users can view the posted photo or comment on the photo by visiting the <photo-link> link on their handset. This would require GPRS activated handset to access the link.

If the user does not send an MO in 45 days his account will be inactivated and the following reminder message will be sent to the user

You have not used Facebook texts in over 45 days. Notifications will be turned off. To continue receiving Facebook Mobile Texts, reply “ON” within 48 hours

Picture Upload through MMS:

ZONG users can now also upload their pictures straight from their handset on to their facebook profile. To upload a picture user will be required to login into the below link get their unique email address. http://www.facebook.com/mobile

Once a user is logged in, they will acquire a unique Facebook-MMS Email ID as shown below. They can find the Email ID under Upload via Email heading. For example purposes only, the Email ID for the logged in account whose snapshot is attached is:agatha703lepton@m.facebook.com.

Or users can simply click “Send my upload email to me now” link under Upload via Email heading and then can receive their unique Facebook-MMS Email ID on their email or mobile handset.

To upload a picture from mobile, user will only be required to MMS their picture to the provided Facebook-MMS Email ID and their uploaded picture will appear on their Facebook under Mobile Upload album.

Warid Increases Helpline Call Charges by 50%

Posted: 21 Apr 2011 01:52 AM PDT

Warid Increases Helpline Call Charges by 50% is a post from: ProPakistani

Warid helpline ad 239x300 Warid Increases Helpline Call Charges by 50% Warid Tel has increased its helpline call charges by 50 percent. From now onwards all calls made to Warid customer service representatives will be charged as Rs 1.50 plus tax per call to be effective from May 20 onwards. The announcement has been made for prepaid customers on Wednesday.

Warid is the third operators hiked its call charges to customers care centers following Mobilink and Telenor, which spiked 100 percent of their helpline call charges in the past few months ago.

Mobilink and Telenor helpline call charges have been increased to Rs 2 per call in Nov 2010 and April 211 respectively. Mobilink charges have increased to Rs. 2.42 including taxes whereas Telenor has surged its helpline cost to Rs 2.79 including tax and IVR applied charges.

The help line charges will be translated at Rs1.80 per call after inclusion of 19.5 percent taxes. Besides call charges by IVR for specific inquires will remain 50 paisa plus taxes as the company claims.

Ufone and Zong are left to enhance their helpline charges at present, which are apparently seemed to follow the same suit in the future.

Source: TelecomRecorder

Nokia E7 Now Available in Pakistan!

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 10:03 PM PDT

Nokia E7 Now Available in Pakistan! is a post from: ProPakistani

The much awaited Nokia business smartphone, Nokia E7, is now available in Pakistan. With its tilting 4 inch Clear Black display, full keyboard and a fast access to a wide variety of apps directly on the homescreen, the Nokia E7 is the key to having a successful day in or out of the office. Importantly, the device supports business applications from leading enterprise technology partners including Microsoft and IBM.

Haseeb Ihtisham, Head of Marketing, Nokia Pakistan & Afghanistan, said:

People are continuing to look for solutions that suit both their work and personal life; in business circles this is known as the 'consumerization' of IT. The Nokia E7 gives people the confidence to bring their own smartphones to the workplace to connect securely to corporate messaging servers. On the other hand, whether you are an artist, entrepreneur, university student or aspiring world traveller, the Nokia E7 is the only smartphone you will need to get the world's best mobile navigation and mapping application, thousands of apps, millions of music, and a rich messaging experience.

For business users, Nokia E7 provides direct, secure and real-time access to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and the corporate directory through Microsoft Exchange servers, as well as Office Communicator Mobile, developed by Microsoft for Nokia smartphones, which brings presence and corporate instant messaging.

Additionally, a wide range of entertainment and social services available on the Nokia E7 make it the perfect off-duty companion, and the Ovi Store offers a wealth of apps such as Bloomberg, Angry Birds and Sports Tracker.

The new arrival offers drive or walk navigation in 80 countries. The latest commercial version of Ovi Maps, available immediately via Ovi Store or Ovi Suite, adds visibility to subways, trams and trains, real-time traffic, safety alerts, visibility to parking and petrol stations, speed limit warnings, and improved search and location sharing capabilities.

The Nokia E7 is heralded as the all-in-one business smartphone because it allows the user easy access to private and business email, create, edit and share office documents and view PDF files with Adobe Reader, fast, secure intranet access with the built-in VPN, high-resolution photos and HD video with the 8 megapixel camera and dual LED flash, HDMI connectivity to project files, videos and images onto large screens and 16 gigabytes of on-board flash memory and USB-On-The-Go, enabling easy file sharing by connecting a USB stick to the smartphone.

Price:

Nokia E7 is available in Pakistan for Rs. 54,000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Allied Bank Signs Agreement With Multinet for Its Nationwide Branch Network

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 10:00 PM PDT

Allied Bank Signs Agreement With Multinet for Its Nationwide Branch Network is a post from: ProPakistani

Allied Bank Limited (ABL) signs an agreement with Multinet Pakistan to enhance it’s intra-branches connectivity and to upgrade it’s network throughout the country.

ABL Multinet Allied Bank Signs Agreement With Multinet for Its Nationwide Branch Network This upgrade will provide optical fiber connectivity to the branches which will result in the better network connectivity as well as bringing good name to the bank.

ABL initiated an intensive vendor evaluation to find the best solution to support continued expansion of its nationwide core online banking application. Upon completion of the online banking applications rollout, ABL branches will be better able to serve the needs of their customers through speedier routine transactions such as loan applications and inter-bank transfers.

Under the agreement, Multinet will provide end-to-end fiber optic access supplemented by IP Ethernet services to link ABL's nationwide network and data centre in Lahore with its branch offices across Pakistan. On the network management side, MPPL will provide Managed Network Services from its central Network Operations Center (NOC).

As the main network management facility of MPPL, the NOC will constantly monitor the entire ABL network and provide early fault diagnosis and prevention services, as well as monitor the network performance to help ensure maximum efficiency.

Mr. Mujahid Ali, Group CIO for ABL, said:

Our goal is to dramatically improve our customers' in-branch and online experience through extensive investment in our customer centric core banking application, as well as improve our operating efficiency and enhance internal communications.

Mr. Arif Hussain, COO of Multinet Pakistan, said:

Multinet is proud to partner on such an important milestone initiative of ABL and greatly honors the trust ABL has placed in MPPL's solution. We have built a solid reputation in the Pakistan business-2-business connectivity solutions market via our core expertise in Optical Fiber networking and are committed to helping ABL achieve their goals and building a long term partnership with them.

Microsoft Pakistan – Delivering Digital Success

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 10:00 PM PDT

Microsoft Pakistan – Delivering Digital Success is a post from: ProPakistani

mslogo black 2 Microsoft Pakistan – Delivering Digital Success Before the advent of PCs in our lives, computing was just for those with high IQs and degrees in mathematics. It was in the early 80s when Microsoft broke the myth and was instrumental in making the first truly personal computer.

With the mass-market computer, Microsoft truly brought computing to the masses. For the first time, the elderly, the young and the technically illiterate were empowered to use computers. In the beginning, the luxury was limited to just the affluent people. But now the computer is almost as much a part of the home as the television-set or the microwave.

Many marketing and project management programs in the world's leading universities quote Microsoft as an example of how to develop an organization and sustain the position as the world's biggest software company. Organizations around the world also consistently recognize Microsoft as one of the leading global corporate citizens. In line with their global philosophy of "Your potential, our passion", Microsoft decided to extend its reach arms and entered the Pakistani market to tap this talent-rich region. Similarly, Microsoft’s masterful integration of the internet within Windows means that for most people the internet MEANS Internet Explorer.

It is a brand which has touched and changed millions of lives. The moment you click the Send/Receive button on your Outlook, you get a number of emails and the tasks of your entire day are decided.

Microsoft Pakistan Country Manager Kamal Ahmed says that it is essential for a company to stay ahead of the latest technological developments. "They’ll rise and fall in a matter of years if they don’t have a technology sustainable business model. Microsoft has been able to out-maneuver the competition and achieve success through relentless research and development," said Kamal Ahmed and added "Microsoft has achieved success by always providing what the market needed."

The Microsoft formula is to achieve the right balance by spreading the software development costs. This formula was applied repeatedly over the years, slashing the price of software until everyone could afford it. Their revolutionary approach showed that computer programs, which cost over a thousand dollars, could be sold for a fraction of the price. This approach drove forward the computing revolution of the 80s and the net revolution of the 90s. Microsoft’s aggressive approach made computing far more affordable, leading to today’s society, where we truly afford to have a computer at every desk.

"If we look at the business strategies in 1980's, Microsoft tops the few best. The Company recruited young college graduates and empowered them with the passion of inventing wonders. Since then Microsoft has continued to pursue the agenda of expedient computing, empowering thousands of small businesses, often without the funds to employ dedicated IT admin staff, to manage their own computer networks. These businesses are now able to sell on the web via Microsoft’s standardized point and click administration interface." Professor Dr. Zahid Saleem from Federal Urdu University lauds Microsoft's successful business model.

As the world's largest software company, Microsoft is also active on its social responsibility front and helps create social and economic opportunities. Its technology innovations, people and partnerships make a meaningful contribution to the prosperity of communities and the sustainability of the planet. This commitment is rooted in Microsoft's culture and reflects how and why they do business.

Microsoft played an eminent role in the massive rescue and rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of the recent floods in Pakistan. In the first and the most urgent phase of this humanitarian assistance, Microsoft Pakistan team volunteered to donate and distribute food items comprising flour, rice, cooking oil, sugar and tea to hundreds of families left destitute by the heavy monsoon rains, which ravaged different parts of Pakistan. A number of groups of individuals from Microsoft team visited different flood relief camps to deliver relief goods which reached over thousands of people through the emergency intervention.

For all these efforts, Microsoft has been recognized by the US Chamber of commerce as the most significant corporate donor to the Pakistan Flood Disaster with a contribution of over $ 5 million.

Keeping up its trend of innovation, Microsoft has also globally adopted a unique approach of corporate philanthropy – the employee volunteer day. Every year employees are given a day off with pay to adopt a socially responsible cause.

Microsoft executed the novel idea of Employee Volunteer Day for the first time in Pakistan last year when a group of employees decided to spend their time and talent with the children of Gehwara – an orphanage on the outskirts of Rawalpindi. This year a team of 36 employees spent their day with the members of Fountain House which is an institute for the mental health. The activities of the day included recreational activities like painting competition, music and sports. Microsoft also upgraded software and hardware for the computer lab at Fountain House.

Microsoft, a company that may well spend more on R&D than any other business believes its strategy is paying off, and in the present day the proof is the Windows 7. The launch of Microsoft’s new products like Windows 7 is described as an end to frustration for millions of computer users who, unlike most of the readers of this article, have neither the time nor the inclination to discover the highly logical (but also deeply complicated) way that computing systems such as Windows work.

Millions of dollars of research and observation, funded by Microsoft’s amazing success and commitment to research and development (currently $ 9 billion every year), have gone into creating an operating system that is the most intuitive yet, especially for people new to computing.

Most professionals today want to instantly access and effectively manage their work in the office, at home or on the go. IT professionals, in particular, are challenged to deliver business value to their companies while continuing to reduce their costs. In addition, businesses need to comply with new and increasing regulatory mandates and security protocols, while also focusing on driving efficiencies.

Addressing such needs in Pakistan, Microsoft kicked off "Open Door" the biggest IT event of 2010 in Karachi. The 2-day event which was attended by over 1400 IT professionals and experts from all over the country, showcased the latest innovations in the industry comprising of mobile solutions and business applications like Microsoft Communications Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM / ERP and Microsoft SharePoint 2010. The overall theme of the event reflected how evolution in technology can enable IT products to become more purposeful and flexible, meeting the needs of the people regardless of how, where and when they work.

Microsoft Pakistan intends to continue with such initiatives in the future, by bringing more of its products to this market, finding effective IT solutions for business concerns and making more and more people Windows-savvy!

Blog of Asad Mirjat

Popular Posts

Thursday, April 21, 2011