Behind the Team....

Until recently, received wisdom was that US companies like Enron, WorldCom and Xerox, with staggering growth rates and astronomical share prices, were the market gods, while many European businesses with slower, more cautious expansion plans were boring and conservative. The fall from grace of the corporate giants may help to shift opinion in favour of the model exemplified by one of the UKs most dynamic billing companies, Tempest Technology Ltd.

Annie McNamara meets the team behind the logo...

If WorldComs problems highlight the uncertainty of the telecoms market, Tempests continued success proves the worth of steady, incremental growth, based on superb products, no debt burden and good client relationships.

Tempest focuses on the worldwide telecoms billing market, creating a range of scaleable solutions based on each customers level of operations and individual needs. Its Wave Billing System is flexible enough to handle any telecom call-pricing structure, enabling sales staff to offer the most comprehensive menu of tariffs, carriers and destinations with complete confidence. The company is also expanding its Customer Services role.

A privately owned business, Tempest has been recognised for the second year running by the Deloitte & Touche UK Fast 50" Awards, ranking 12th of companies in London and the South East who have shown impressive growth rates in the Telecommunications, Hardware, Software and Biotechnology markets. Tempest is also one of the national Fast 50" winners this year and, with growth of 380%, was also ranked 146th in the European Technology Fast 500".

Technical Director Sean Marsh acknowledges that The past year has been an unpredictable one for the technology sector", but he looked forward to good year-end results for 2002 and confirmed the intention to grasp every opportunity for future growth and development.

Since he founded the company in 1996, Sean has been a 'hands-on member of the team. Together with Systems Director Gavin Smith, he still programmes many of Tempests software systems, and their relaxed, unstuffy management style is clearly in evidence at the companys headquarters in Margate, Kent. The atmosphere is informal but there is a creative buzz in the air, along with the vital sense of urgency involved in getting customers billing runs completed accurately and on time.

However, there is none of the tension generated by the office politics of so many workplaces, and staff enjoy good working conditions, including a room for the smokers on the team. Unusually for the telecoms and technology industries, there is also a high proportion of female staff.

Typical of these is Jenni Millicent, Account Manager for FreeBill, the entry-level billing and customer care system targeted at the resale market. Jenni has been with Tempest from the beginning; starting as a receptionist, her potential was soon recognised and she is now a programmer, with responsibility for all FreeBills customers. As its name suggests, the system has zero setup costs, together with a handling ability of up to 500 accounts and 500,000 CDRs.

Jenni loves her work, from visiting customers premises to installing systems and answering phone queries. Its all about making the clients happy," she says. I spend my time with the most amazing people youll ever get to meet."

If FreeBills users move up to one of Tempests bespoke billing platforms, they get their own Account Manager, like Warren Dougherty, who is responsible for a number of the bureau clients. What really encourages and motivates me is the fact that Tempest is a forward thinking company -- its driven by the desire to enhance billing systems for its clients, old and new," he says.

Sales Manager Tim Sayer can offer them a superb range of products. He is particularly enthusiastic about c.View, the new online call-viewing and fraud management system. It gives people what they need, when they need it, with customised reports also available via email", he explains as he gives an on-line demonstration. It cuts fulfilment and staffing costs, saves time and helps prevent abuse of call traffic." It certainly looks impressive -- hosted by Tempest, its clear and user-friendly interface can be badged for each client, whilst its comprehensive interrogation criteria make it the most effective product of its kind.

However, c.View, like Tempests other products, wont be getting the hard sell. It just isnt us and anyway, we dont need to do it. Tempest sells itself really -- I just go out on the road and present it," Tim says modestly.

The great advantage of our platforms is that they really can give people whatever kinds of report they want, because we are in total control of the systems -- we create them and the database technologies they rely on. You want additional functionality? No problem. The system can grow dynamically and there are no limits to what we can get it to do for you."

Sarah Stafford is the Client Liaison/Sales and Marketing Co-ordinator. Though born in the UK, she lived in South Africa for fifteen years, where she ran her own business; she also has a wealth of marketing experience. Raising Tempest's profile at home and abroad involves intensive advertising campaigns/promotions, customer surveys and attendance at trade exhibitions. She is particularly looking forward to TMA in Brighton in October, where Tempest will have a huge presence.

Sarahs liaison role is more recent and provides an extra layer of reassurance for the client; as she is included in meetings from an early stage, she can provide a valuable bridge between customer and Accounts Manager/programmer.

Another busy person is Alison Laslett, wearing several hats -- Customer Services Manager, Office Manager and Human Resources. She is delighted by the recent recruitment of some very high profile clients by Tempests superb Customer Services department.

Ive never worked in an organisation like this one," Alison says. The atmosphere is laid back but we also work hard -- everyones very supportive and were definitely a team, although weve all got our own individual roles as well. There is always someone there to help with a problem or talk something over with." Its clear that, for her, Tempest is the only place to be. Although my job is very demanding, Im thrilled to be here and I love every minute of it!"

Programmer Mei Dong works exclusively on the development of web-based applications for the Customer Services operation and the new Wave On-line billing product. Mei came to Britain from central China nine years ago. Tempest has given me the chance to do some really creative work," she says, and, like Alison, she values the cooperation she gets from her colleagues.

Stephen Foad is Tempests Project Co-ordinator, with a background in project management for a wide range of industries, as well as the service and training sectors. Steve is responsible for determining, interpreting and implementing customer requirements, or, as he puts it, working out what clients need from what they think they need!

His brief includes staff training and the new team working system, set up to improve the service to clients. Each team has an equal division of technical skills and billing experience, with a Team Leader overseeing its daily activities and reporting to Steve as Project Coordinator. This maximises the number of people familiar with bill runs and provides additional points of contact within Tempest should the clients Account Manager be unavailable.

The move away from physical to digital delivery of billing outcomes -- CD ROM, email and PDF -- is creating a demand for sophisticated systems that are adaptable, flexible but also easy to use.

The client base is changing too, from smaller resellers and carriers to larger concerns, but Systems Director Gavin Smith believes that Tempest is more than equal to the challenge of retaining present customers whilst attracting new business. For example, Tempest now has a major client in Dallas, Texas who acts as an agent on behalf of the company in the US.

With a background in Civil Engineering and qualifications in both finance and computing, Gavin has been at Tempest from the beginning, as its first Customer Services Manager.
As well as managing the staff out on the floor, he is heavily involved in sales and still carries out the billing runs each month for Tempests largest client.

Like Sean, Gavin believes that a 'hands-on approach is vital to their success. It means that we know what the customers need from every angle and we design the products accordingly." One result is the development of Customer Services such as web interfaces for signing up new customer accounts, with on-line provisioning and de-provisioning of CDRs.

This is not a new product in itself, says Gavin, but it is new at this level -- provision with direct access to the switch. This means that traffic for a new customer can begin to be passed within minutes rather than days of sign-up, a huge advantage for everyone involved -- and they can even see it happening, on screen, in real time."

Constant innovation, as well as the creation of great customer relationships, means that nothing ever stands still at Tempest Technology. Future developments include IVR (Interactive Voice Response) services, like Prepaid Phone Cards, Number Translation and Premium Rate calling cards . As staff point out, this company is driven, but, unlike some recent casualties of the business world, only in the best possible way.

Contact the Sales Team on +44 01843 232 505, by email: sales@tempest-technology.com or on the website: www.tempest-technology.com