THUNDER BAY – A local team of entrepreneurs have developed an idea for an app, which will help Tbaytel customers deal with basic problems.
Last weekend, a group of business savvy individuals from Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal joined forces at the Waverley Resource Library to work together in finding solutions to Tbaytel’s problem areas.
In less than three days, eight teams went head-to-head to create their own start-up company, which would eventually provide Tbaytel with the support they need.
The winning team, involving mainly students from Confederation College and Lakehead University, came up with an idea that Tbaytel president and CEO Dan Topatigh couldn’t pass up.
Lakehead University student David Nistico’s team designed an idea around a virtual support centre for Tbaytel.
“We are developing an app or wanting to develop an app that can monitor what problems people may or may not have with the devices they have with Tbaytel,” Nistico said.
“It’s meant to provide an easy walk through in regards to problems that may be occurring.”
If the internet connection is lost on the person’s computer, essentially, the app would allow them to follow a step-by-step guide on how to fix the problem or point them in a direction where they can find photos and videos of guidance as well.
The group designed the app to make the process easy for those who aren’t as technologically able.
If individuals are still experiencing problems, the app will send the information back to Tbaytel illustrating the steps that have already been taken. The Tbaytel representative would be able to fix it quickly from there.
“We want it to be a very personalized experience for the customers, so they feel very important.”
The app’s goal is to save Tbaytel time, so they can provide more customer support to those individuals who are having more difficult problems.
Nistico said there will be a small or even a large demographic who will call Tbaytel anyways, but he said if they can save them two customers out of ten then the app has done its job.
The group is currently working with the Innovation Centre to figure out what the next smart step will be in regard to creating the app.
“The big step for us right now is making sure which direction we should go and making that smart next step, so providing Tbaytel with the app we want and getting the funding to build this company.”
Tbaytel president and CEO Dan Topatigh decided to take a different approach to problem solving inside of his own organization.
“We really thought that there were certainly a base of entrepreneurs and innovators in this community that we wanted to showcase,” Topatigh said.
“We identified four pinpoints inside the organization that we felt could be solved with the help of innovators and entrepreneurs.”
Through the cooperation the Innovation Centre, Topatigh heard seven complete pitches, which would help with some internal problems Tbaytel deals with on a regular basis.
“We decided to take an approach with helping reduce the time customers spend inside of our cues, contact centres and technical support that would being some efficiency to the organization.”
The successful team received complete access to the Innovation Centre’s programs, access to non-technical competencies, pitch development for additional investment, coaching and connections, and financial investment.
