Phonon Automated Outbound Dialer in the Economic Times
The Economic Times, National Edition, 01 December 2006.
Passengers get info on flight glitches via Phonon.in tech
Our Bureau VADODARA
A VADODARA-based firm is planning to free the world of the hassles an airline passenger goes through when a flight is rescheduled. It has developed a system that will help airlines automatically inform all passengers of a flight about the delay in the event of the flight being rescheduled.
The company, Phonon.in which was launched by Samish Makhija, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad alumni, provides new media customer interaction and automation solution.
His son Ujwal Makhija, an IIMCalcutta alumni is the chief executive of Phonon.in while Mr R Ramaraj, founder and former chief executive officer,Sify.com is an advisor on the board.
The automated flight reschedule information system has already been deployed by UBICS, the information technology services arm of the UB Group for Kingfisher Airlines.
Now, the company is also planning roll out a solution for airline ticket booking through a GPRS system and simple SMS.
Mr Ujwal says that the automated flight reschedule information dialer for aviation industry would enable airlines to reduce costs as well as bail them out from aggravated customers on account of the delays in flights. The company is targeting a flourishing breed of private airliners that are facing immense challenges in maintaining the flight schedules due to congestion on airports and weather conditions.
“There are great opportunities ahead with increasing applications of telecom technology in business with changing dynamics. We are developing applications for new generation industries such as organised retailing, aviation, travel and tourism, banking and finance among others,” said 27-year-old Mr Ujwal Makhija with prior work experience at Tata Consultancy Services and overseas travel companies.
Makhijas are in talks with national and international information technology companies for marketing and technological alliances.
It recently joined hands with Conterra Systems of Netherlands for technology and shortly going to ink a marketing agreement with Pune based Onesutra, travel technology marketer. Mr Ujwal claimed to be working for number of Indian companies to design and manage their IT requirements.
The father-son duo are also planning to set up a marketing office overseas. “Our exposure to the industry, technology and management would have enabled us to set up company in any part of the world. But Vadodara is the place where the cost of operations is minimal. The availability of talent in the city is not a problem with large number of graduates from all the disciplines passing out,” said Ujwal, an electronics engineer from city-based Maharaja Sayajirao University.
Read the full article here.