Aurora's rebrand this summer was more than a simple name change. Underpinned by long-term strategic planning the new package carries far more weight than first meets the eye, says Managing Director Derek Watson, who provides an update on developments since the revamp was made official.
In June this year billing firm Aurora Kendrick James signalled the next phase of its development with a company name change and a rebrand. Known simply as Aurora, the move included the launch of a new website that offers customers login access 24/7, a new corporate logo and software developments to the billing platform which was rebranded as the Affinity Software Suite. Aurora also re-categorised Affinity into six core modules. "These changes not only reflect the business we have become, but have been designed in line with what we know our customers and their customers require to operate efficiently and successfully in an increasingly complex and competitive market," said Watson.
The strategic timing of this development was significant. With the communications landscape and channel rapidly diversifying, Aurora's services and software needed to reflect these changes, according to Watson. "No longer do our customers sell just one product. In fact, 70 per set of our customers bill multiple products, so it was crucial that we moved in line with the industry to secure the trust of our customers."
Since these developments in the early summer Aurora has gained traction and multiplied opportunities for its partners through the initiative. "We have had a positive response to our brand revamp with the focus being on our fresh and contemporary new website," added Watson. "Our customers have been impressed with the re-categorisation of the Affinity suite which has made understanding and using our full modular platform much easier. Also, by offering our customers a new online resource centre they now have all the tools required to use our billing platform to its full potential. This is a core component of the site and has many new features including software and industry webinars along with 'how to' videos."
Watson's main focus at this point in time is to ensure Aurora's customers continue to create business opportunities, improve efficiency and grow. "We do this via our Affinity platform as this helps existing and new customers to be the best that they can be," he added. "Affinity helps businesses increase revenue, integrate easily and get into new markets quickly, and our customers have reaped the benefits just by using the platform."
While Aurora will always be able to offer sophisticated and bespoke solutions it is also focusing more on roadmap growth items with capabilities that will be adopted across the base. This means that as a customer of Aurora a reseller has the opportunity to gain from its expertise and consultative input. "On a functional level we have added further capability for mobile supplier integration and mobile management. This shows how we enable our customers to compete and deliver effective customer service to their customers," said Watson. "We will continue to apply this concept to entering new market areas allowing our customers to offer more diverse products while continuing to streamline the user experience."
Aurora has always been on the radar screen of resellers seeking to bill complex products such as mobiles and switch-based SIP trunks, and Watson has witnessed significant gains in these areas where customers have sought larger, more complex billing solutions able to support a wider range of products. "The concept of a single entry point for new customer data entry and no re-keying is a major benefit for resellers using the Affinity platform, and our provisioning integration capabilities are a key part of this," explained Watson. "The integration with larger carriers reduces our customers' reconciliation burden down to a minimum. Strong billing capabilities remain a distinct advantage, and our tackling of age old industry issues such as supplier reconciliation, provisioning and customer management keep us ahead of the curve."
Watson also noted that customers are diversifying, and there is more emphasis on mobile billing from previously fixed line-only resellers. CPs are also moving towards more complex product bundling options as margins erode on calls. "Telecoms resellers are also diversifying into other IT products," added Watson. "This means that Aurora can't stand still as our customers rely on us to provide leadership and guidance as they go through this evolution.
"This approach will also nurture higher growth levels for our partner base by offering them better facilities to sell and manage higher margin products, and providing the tools that allow our partners to grow efficiently. The evolution of our software platform means that all stages of the reseller operational life cycle, from quote to billing, can now be managed by the Affinity platform.
"This capability makes it easier for our customers to win business and manage it through a single solution. And for resellers seeking to incorporate our solution with other in-house systems we have enhanced our integration capabilities. The flexibility to offer both options means that Aurora can offer solutions to meet the requirements of sophisticated resellers."