Spotlight

The EMS connection

Unicel Technologies has emerged as a leading provider of Enterprise Messaging Solutions to enterprises, writes Nivedan Prakash

Unicel Technologies is into providing cutting-edge technology and marketing solutions in the wireless telecom space. The company offers products and services to enterprises in various market segments and is one of the leaders in Enterprise Messaging Solutions (EMS). Unicel’s primary offering is SS7 based solutions to Mobile Network Operators (MNO) across the globe. Besides, the company is an Application Service Provider (ASP) in the EMS space.

For Unicel, revenues have steadily augmented in the region of 100%-120% year-on-year growth since the last three years. The company hopes to maintain the same in the coming years. In 2006-07 the revenue was close to Rs 3 crores, which doubled to Rs 6 plus crores in 2007-08. And it is expecting to close this year with over Rs 15 crores in revenue.

“Enterprises need new and effective medium for data exchange, to maintain their competitive edge. Through SMSes, enterprises can leverage greater impact of communication and convenience, operational efficiency can be improved, would achieve aid in client acquisition in new markets and this will consequently contribute in maximizing revenues,” said Vinay Agarrwal, CEO, Unicel Technologies.

The foundation

Started in the year 2003 in Chennai, Unicel Technologies was founded by Vinay Agarrwal and Kishore Reddy. The idea of establishing the company came to Vinay when he was working with a major south Indian MNO where he was exposed to various components of the GSM network. It was during that tenure of three years where he realized that there were lots of inefficiencies when it came to providing a tailor-made solution to an enterprise. He also realized that each enterprise required a customized solution which best suited its needs. Identifying this gap, Vinay set out to start a company which would provide solutions to enterprises specific to their needs.

Unicel is headquartered in Basavanagudi, Bangalore. Apart from other corporate functional departments and sales, the technology development and support team is based out of Bangalore, helping in delivering products and services with continuous R&D. The company has regional sales offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, and will be soon opening offices in Ahmedabad and Kolkata. It has also recently appointed a distributor in Kolkata for the Eastern India market.

Unicel has over 400 plus customers from across various verticals, including the BFSI, IT and ITeS, government, retail, manufacturing and distribution, and media amongst others. It has a client base including leading IT and software companies, international as well as national banks, website companies, along with some of the leading sports channels. The customers usually sign a minimum of one year contract with the company that is renewed on a regular basis.

Agarrwal asserted, “The company’s objective is to meet the critical need of the enterprise to offer a medium to pull messages or to interact with either its customers or employees, without having its customers or employees to pay premium SMS charges for it.”

Line of business

The center point of the business still remains to be the same since the inception of the company, which is providing tailor-made customized solutions specific to the enterprise requirements. Some of the company’s services include Virtual Number Service, mobile banking, bulk push SMS, general HR communication, media integration, sales force automation, supply chain management, fleet management and LBS, transport and logistics facilitation, monitoring security applications, emergency response and Email2SMS alerts.

“Unicel is very strong in providing end-to-end services to enterprises. In fact, Unicel can be considered as the unparalleled market leader in this space. We at Unicel are in the business of providing management solutions to enterprises and our employees are committed to keep the customer happy. Unicel is also proud of its 24x7 after sales support,” added Agarrwal.

The most significant product for Unicel is the ‘GlobalOne platform’, which is installed at leading Mobile Telecom Operators in India that enables the company to achieve unparalleled performance and multi-functionality in the market.

GlobalOne Platform is an innovative SS7 platform, which is a combination of a SMSC and SMS Gateway. GlobalOne has capability to provide multiple applications out of single box. Following applications are currently deployed on GlobalOne Platform:

• Virtual Number platform supporting two-way messaging services
• Mobile Positioning System (cell ID based tracking)
• GeoOne—scrubbing tele-marketer’s database to check whether subscriber is on roaming before making a call or sending an SMS
• And shortly, GlobalOne SMSC will have a combined capacity of over 1000 SMS/second to offer to the enterprises

Highlighting its Virtual Number Service, Agarrwal pointed out that Virtual Number is a regular 10 digit mobile number virtually present on a mobile network. It’s not available on a handset, but is virtually alive on the mobile network that is integrated to an application. It is similar to a short code e.g. 57575, 56006, etc., but the economics are different—cheaper than a short code in terms of initial setup and recurring costs. In a Virtual Number scenario, the enterprise pays for either sending (push) or receiving (pull) the SMS. Also, the value for the enterprise is phenomenal depending on the application that the enterprise wants to launch.

“Virtual number application operates through the GlobalOne Platform, wherein a mobile subscriber sends the keyword to a virtual number (10 digit number). Virtual number platform sends it to the appropriate application where the relevant information of the sender is hosted. The backend application uses the virtual number platform (GlobalOne Platform) to push the right content back to the mobile number where the request has come from,” further explained Agarrwal.

Amongst the MNO services, Unicel provides a host of products and services in messaging, LBS and content delivery arena. The services include—carrier independent high capacity SMS Center (SMSC), missed call alerts, message router, routing solutions, inter-carrier messaging gateway, Virtual Number Platform, mobile positioning system, Instant Messaging, content delivery platforms and mCampaigner.

The company’s other extensive product line includes ready to use messaging solutions, a comprehensive e-mobile platform for m-commerce enablement with skilled and experienced personnel to develop custom applications at competitive prices. These products are geared to create revenue streams and productivity growth in a low cost and low risk environment.

Employee base

As of March this year, Unicel has about 50 employees across India. This comprises of over 70% in technology and operations and 20% in sales and marketing and 10% in other support functions. Moreover, the company expects that the year 2009-10 will see a growth of 100% in employee strength with the focus being on both technology and business development. By next year the equation would be—technology and operations equaling up to 50%, sales and marketing leading to 40% and balance 10% on other support functions.

Agarrwal commented, “We have been fortunate in having employees with an entrepreneurial mindset who have turned part owners over the last years. Passionate and diligent employees have automatically landed up with more responsibilities, position and rewards. Going further, we are arriving at a corporate structure like any other IT company but still with a personal touch at all levels. This will give employees at all levels more to look forward to.”

Future plans

Unicel is pursuing technology and business partnerships across the globe for business augmentation. The company is planning to extend SMS services to retail consumers in partnership with mobile operators. Apart from SMS, Unicel is also coming up with unique SS7 based and other boxes, extending to WAP, USSD and voice. The company intends to open at least one overseas office this year.

“Unicel would need bigger offices and more manpower, both in India and overseas. Therefore, within the next five years, Unicel Technologies would require over 200 employees to achieve its goals. Also, we are evaluating business opportunities in tier I and tier II cities. The presence will be either directly or through distributors and resellers that the company is currently evaluating to appoint,” emphasized Agarrwal.

In a short span of five years, the company is expected to achieve a remarkable turnover of Rs 15 crores by this financial year. The company is targeting total revenue of over Rs 40 crores by 2010 and Rs 100 crores by 2013. The EMS market is growing at a 300% growth rate YOY. In the EMS space, Unicel has about 30% market share.

Meanwhile, the company’s vision is to become a leader in enterprise solutions provider space through constant innovation, enhanced consumer focus, customized enterprise solutions and acquisitions.

nivedan.prakash@expressindia.com