By JOAN RAMPERSAD Thursday, July 2 2009

TO REMIND consumers about what they have to offer, Digicel Trinidad hosted a Customer Appreciation event at the Zen Rooftop on Friday.

The telecommunications firm also took the opportunity to showcase the Blackberry and what the smart phone can do for them and their business. Marita Laurent, Sponsorship Manager-Digicel said the event provided their corporate sales team an opportunity to meet with customers in an effort to better serve their needs.

After a brief welcome by Minesh Samani, Head of Digicel Business, Chris Hayman, the company’s Sales Director, gave overview and update of Digicel’s operations in TT. He said Digicel had invested over US$2.5 billion in the region and Digicel now operates in 31 countries.

Digicel Trinidad was launched in April 2006 with CSM and Edge, and now WiMAX in 2009.

Hayman also revealed that the company started Digicel Business in April, after finishing the last fiscal year with over 600,000 customers.

He explained that Digicel Business and Cisco has teamed up to deliver advanced communication products to businesses in TT, including the spread of payments over a 36-month period, thus freeing up working capital.

Richard Burey, RIM (Research In Motion) Manager, Blackberry USA, spoke about “Extending the Value of Your Blackberry”

He said: “Blackberry is more than just a smart phone with a keypad.”

After referencing its advantages that include mobile, landline voice, conferencing, data & IP services and internet, Burey told of ways of extending the value of the Blackberry beyond e-mail. He said: “It’s not about technology or wireless access anymore, it’s now about mobility and Real-Time Business Processes. Applications are there that can make you more efficient.”

He said Blackberry now has some 3,000 ISB partners developing applications to suit businesses to make them more efficient, as well as improving the productivity of vertical professionals such as those in education, finance and insurance, healthcare and pharmacy, utilities and retail.

He urged Blackberry users to think outside the inbox and discover how Blackberry can take them much further. During the networking and appreciation that followed, Dale De Mille, a Cient Relations Officer with CMMB was the lucky winner of Blackberry’s latest product, the Storm.

National footballer Carlos Edwards, one of Digicel’s newest endorsees, was on hand to make the presentation.