Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTERNET
0800
A new number for Cerj to give its 1.6 million customers a better service
0300 Televoto
TV Cultura now uses the first ever interactive research system
FastNet Dial Up
More attractive discounts for volume of calls
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Editorial Council
Federico Gallart, Amos Maidantchik, Leonello Patitucci, Luiz Cludio Gonalves and Luiz Freitas
Director of Advertising, Press and Public Relations
Wallace Grecco
Supervision
Luiz Freitas
Executive Editor
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Copy Desk and Revision
Jorge Moutinho
Photography
Octales Gonzales, Oswaldo Maricato, Cesar Diniz, Davi Fernandes, Alexandre Machado, Jos Lira, Silvio Alencastro, Beto Fotografia, Paulicolor Foto Video and Maurcio Ercolin.
Contributors
Jos Ricardo de Aguillar Pinho, Patricia Carvalho and Francisco Domingues Pereira
Mailing address
Av. Presidente Vargas, 1012, 14 andar, Centro, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil, CEP 20179-900 Phones.: +55 21 2519 8427 and 2519 7545 Fax: +55 21 2519 7791 and 2519 8661 The articles published herein may be reproduced provided that the source is mentioned. Circulation: 38,000 copies a month.
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2 Via Embratel - January 2002
Personalized services
Via Embratels first issue in 2002 gives important examples of the variety of services offered by the company. They are technological solutions for a wide variety of applications, always meeting customer requirements and seeking to satisfy their every wish. The increase in the companys internet backbone capacity now over 2 Gbps, with the start-up of another four international circuits is one of the main features of this edition. Now the internet overseas connection via Embratel is entirely through fiber optics. More traffic capacity and less latency are the immediate benefits for firms that use the carriers services. Via Embratel also shows how to make the most of the internet for remote learning. This edition also informs about FastNet Dial Up, a service that offers security, flexibility and attractive discounts, and about the importance be used by the Rio de Janeiro electricity company (Cerj). And for those who still have doubts about the importance of investing in information technology, the example of Bahia Sul Celulose demonstrates the guaranteed return of such an enterprising idea, in the fact that the company won the 2001 National Quality Award. Therefore, for the corporate market or residential customers, Embratel always offers all its customers personalized services. of a well-structured service, such as the 0800 to
Editorial
3
contract
Single channel
Cerj is 80% controlled by Endesa and 20% by the Portuguese EDP group. As Jos Carlos de Sousa Rocha, head of the telecommunications department, says, the new number will attend commercial, emergency, rural power, theft warning calls and other services. The new 0800 service will be provided by Embratel with alternatives. It will arrive via three 2 Mbps routes in contingency one by digital radio and two by fiber optics, to prevent any problem with the 0800. This is a guaranty that our communi-
Jos Carlos Rocha (E), Mario Rocha (C) and Julio Moratalla, Cerj
its possibilities. With our new Embratel number 0800, besides bringing Cerj closer to its market, we will also be attending customers, as a single provider, in 73% of the Rio de Janeiro State. Embratel offers us much better quality, states Mario Rocha, commercial director for Cerj. Cerj, one of the biggest electricity distributors in the country, considers phone services as important for the company as the electricity it sells and
The international band capacity of the Embratel internet backbone is now over 2 Gbps, by starting up another four international circuits. With these new circuits, plus the other existing 13, the international internet connection via Embratel is now entirely via fiber optics. The immediate effect of the international connection made solely by fiber optics will be less latency and more traffic capacity,
ensuring better quality, availability and reliability. The benefits provided by increasing an international band will be felt not only by the direct internet customers of Embratel but also by those customers own customers. For example, the user of an access provider that uses Embratel may access an international news site much faster than he could before. Embratels internet unit has been constantly investing in the expansion of its backbone,
internet
BNDES
BNDES contracted International Roaming to provide a better connection with the internet during business trips abroad, without inconvenience, and at lower costs compared to the traditional services available on the market. We also have Embratels traditional technical competence and the reliability of its network. Luiz Alfredo Caf, telecommunications coordinator, BNDES
Aside of lower expenditure, it is possible to have guaranteed security and quality. The connection velocity is 56 Kbps and, in some countries, even faster, due to the use of ISDN (digital) technology.
Partnerships
The range of the Embratel service (155 countries) is the result of alliances with other carriers (the North American
WorldCom, the Embratel holding, and Gric), which facilitate communication with countries such as Angola, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Jamaica, Pakistan and Thailand, as well as the European and American continents. Previously, Embratel offered only roaming in national terr itor y, present in 90 places (local number for connection) and a nationwide 0800 number. t
following services: dialed access (Business Dial) and dedicated access (Business Link), Business Hosting, Business Security and application service (Emvia).
internet
Moreover, when sending data and information via internet, the service is much more secure, practical and
Telephony
Maggioni says that, although the internet has brought much more productivity and efficiency in operations, telephony is vital for company business: Because we export a lot, especially to the Pacific Rim, Australia, Russia, Latin American countries and the United States. We are now into China and the European Union, after being awarded the European Community Quality Seal (EC). And we are in constant contact with our international customers. We also have a business office in Florida, United States, and four offices in Brazil Salvador, Piracicaba, Campinas and the newest in Rio de Janeiro. He says that the entire industrial plant is concentrated in Ribeiro Preto, the company headquarters, and where the whole administration is centralized. Today we have a telecommunications structure that gives us better business management and an excellent cost-benefit ratio, he stresses. We have been Embratel customers for at least ten years and we have found the service Slvio Mazzei excellent, not only in fast problem-solving but also in proposing new technologies that might be useful 0 21 16 605 8119 for our business. It looks like we will continue to be customers for another few decades. t
6 Via Embratel - January 2002
mazzei@embratel.com.br
internet
to Vip-Phone we were also able to Domingo Braile, Braile Biomdica set up our 0800 lines by which we communicate with our distributors and representatives in Brazil. We have forty agents all over the countr y. We also have a 0800 number for our customer call center, for phy sicians and other related professionals.
the only Brazilian firm in this industrial segment with 100% Brazilian technology. It develops a range of products from the biological line to electro-medical and disposable products having launched the extra-corporal circulation pump -, in addition to external pacemakers, thermometers, membrane oxygenators and blood filters, for example.
services. Before the Vip-Phone, for instance, we had a lot of problems with lines going dead and unanswered calls. Now we not only can save money but also have the accessibility we need, since we are in upstate So Paulo and attend the whole of Brazil and numerous international customers. We cannot keep our customers hanging on the phone, he argues. And thanks
As Braile explains, the firms next step will be to automate the sales area at home and abroad. We have always had a very fast friendly service from Embratel. We are very pleased with this partnership.t
Leandra Venturini 0 21 16 605 8190 leandra@embratel.com.br
Via Embratel - January 2002 7
internet
No piracy
imusica permits internauts to download
This new idea in Latin America fully attends the demands of millions of music lovers. You are somewhere far from a large shopping center and cannot find a record by one of your favorite artistes. Or worse, you enjoy listening to one or two tracks of music by some artiste but very often have to buy one or two CDs just because of them. Now, with imusica, this situation has changed. Rio de Janeiro-based imusica Empreendimentos Ltda. has been on the air since July 2000. It is a firm of wholesale distribution technology and copyright controller, with logistics solely for this kind of business. It is also a gate through which the fully authorized music tracks are downloaded. In fact, imusica is also a music digital distribution firm a B2B site with increasing presence in other partner sites. The successful formula is to sell download and install technology in sites and gates. imusica, which is now on MSN, may soon be found in the iG, Usina do Som, Compaq and Vrgula portals. As customer of the Embratel Business Hosting service, imusica is fully secure and accessible for the comfort of its customers.
Security
Roberto de Brito Nunes, technology manager for imusica, says that the choice of Embratel for hosting was due to factors not encountered in competitors, such as total guaranteed security, velocity and flexibility in contract negotiations. Embratel Webfarm holds our entire phonographic collection. To ensure distribution facilities, we are in the Embratel backbone, a real cloverleaf through which everyone goes, sooner or later, who are traveling through the web in Brazil. The contract is very flexible and lets us pay at the end for the total traffic. This is an unquestionable benefit, he stresses. If we have a link here we would have to spend much more. Also, with Embratel, our customers can download their music anywhere in Brazil, depending only on their own equipment.t
Clio Madeira 0 21 21 2519 8697 celioam@embratel.com.br
Variety
Owner of the worlds largest Brazilian music catalogue on the internet, imusica now provides more than 10,000 licensed titles from almost fifty recording companies. The firm has developed a technological system that, unlike MP3, which is a completely open download format, permits purchase of music via the internet with total security and copyright management. We formed a three-sided partnership with Embratel and Microsoft to supply the best audio technology and best condition for distributing music online, asserts Claudio Campos, CEO for imusica. In our business, transmission speed is fundamental. Users should be aware that they pay for a service with competitive edge over pirate systems. With Embratel hosting, our customers find download velocity, audio quality, security, comfort and easy navigation.
Upcoming provider
Intercanal increases access capacity
The Marsico family, from Taquaritinga, in the state of So Paulo, owner of businesses that include Radio Canal Um FM, a metal working plant and a daily newspaper, did not think twice when it also invested in the internet about five years ago. We knew we couldnt stay away. And we were always the first to do things in the region here, principally in communications. Our natural course was to set up Intercanal, an internet provider, states Vanderlei Jos Mrsico who, together with his son Ricardo, runs the groups communication business. And we began with Embratel and right from the beginning, it has given us support, he concludes. Intercanal, an Embratel customer of the Direct Business Link service,
internet
Competitive edge
With the focus on an accessible price and strategic competitive policy -, for example, dental care for all users, free distribution of generic medication and similar and preventive and home care programs -, the secret of growth, in the opinion of the Admed president, is personalized service. If the
was until recently operating in the 64 Kbps velocity and moved to 256 Kbps. Now we are extending our links to be able to offer our customers more access velocity, stresses Mrsico, adding that the firm has been heavily investing in the regional corporate market, which needs faster and more efficient access.
Growth
As Ricardo Rebechi explains, the specialist responsible for the provider, the Direct Business Link capacity is
now 512 Kbps: We kept the same number of lines but increased the band in order to control the growth of the company as provider and to increase the loyalty of subscribers through quality. We have just enabled the link and, if necessary, we will increase it even further as we attract more subscribers. Mrsico believes that what is most important now is precisely to consolidate Intercanal as the local and regional provider, including working more with content and offering the custo-
mers more services: Today we have around five hundred users, a reasonable number since we are in a relatively small town but with potential growth. He talks about the importance of the partnership with Embratel: We have the help of Embratel to set up the provider and to grow and its service has always been VIP.t
Slvio Mazzei 0 21 16 605 8119 mazzei@embratel.com.br
telephony
Marketing
The idea of using 0300, says Munhoz, arose from a suggestion by Embratel itself, partner since TV Cultura first began. In two months we negotiated the new service and put it on the air, he says, adding that the system functions so that the
Flvio Prado
telephony
Map of Brazil
Munhoz explains that TV Cultura soon intends to use the 0300 Televoto in its other programs, especially news casting, such as the famous Roda-viva and Vitrine. Furthermore, the system enables us to broadcast a map of Brazil, produced by our Graphic Production Center during the programs, showing the participation of each region while the calls come in. In other words, the viewer will see the contribution of his or her vote there on the screen, seconds after having called in, he says. He believes that, with the dissemination of the new service, the calls tend to increase, since it was clear that the viewer wanted to participate and was unable to do so because the system could not meet the full demand. This year, with the World Cup and elections, there are no end of topics to be broadcast for people to give their opinions. We have a great tool and we would like to use its whole potential, in terms of inviting our audience to interact with us and also to help us in our planning, says Munhoz. In other words, the 0300 Televoto tends to raise program audience, since the public has been showing a clear tendency to give
their opinions and appreciate whoever respects them. The possibilities are enormous and we have the support of Embratel, who has proven to be efficient and dynamic in its service to us and have made this experiment a success. He says that now the working partnership with Embratel tends to strengthen the relationship: And the 0300 will undoubtedly be a very valuable communication, marketing, research and planning tool for TV Cultura.t
Marco Antnio B. Oliveira 0 21 11 3268 2085 marcool@embratel.com.br Marilis Fernandes Affonso 0 21 11 3268 2752 marilis@embratel.com.br
highlight
Excellence rewarded
Bahia Sul Celulose awarded National Quality Prize 2001
Bahia Sul Celulose, acknowledged as one of the largest Brazilian companies in the pulp and paper segment, concerned with environmental preservation and socio-environmental projects, in 2001 was rewarded the National Quality Prize (PNQ) for its management excellenIn this context, she explains, the role of information technology has been fundamental: IT is mostly responsible for providing solutions to support the excellence management, since Bahia Sul s management model requires accurate, efficient and simple information for the end user. Therefore, we have in Embratel a genuine partner, since keeping business management compatible with the PNQ requires more than quality providers - it requires partners who are committed to our business and aware of our challenges. As Cristina understands, Embratel plays this role very well, caring about the service and quality, including monthly reports on circuit downtime, which ensures quality control of the services and ongoing improvements. She explains that since October 1999 the firm has been using the Topnet service for national connections and FastNet for international connections in data communication: Topnet is used in the major interconnection, which is the link between the main office in So Paulo and the plant in Mucuri, in the far south of Bahia. This communication supports the commercial, logistics and financial processes. And we even have, for security purposes, a contingency via Salvador, the company headquarters, should there be a break in the southwards fiber optics.
Videoconferencing
Cristina Moreno adds that another vital service hired from Embratel to run the company is Digidial: Digidial supports videoconferencing, today an indispensable tool for our administration. Today, therefore, this service is used to the utmost on a daily basis, in board meetings, operations, commemorations and training, for instance. The PNQ news itself was announced to the whole firm using videoconferencing. Bahia Sul Celulose was in 1995 the first Brazilian firm to obtain the British BS 7750 certificate (Environment Management System) and has been awarded the ISO 9002 and 14001 certificates. It has also won the Millennium Business Award Environment Achievement, granted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the United Nations Environmental Program (Unep).t
Roberto Schmalb 0 21 71 320 6291 schmalb@embratel.com.br
ce. Cristina Moreno, the firms information technology manager, says: It is very important for a Brazilian organization to be rewarded for its striving for excellence. What is exceptional is the assessment of the overall firm, like a great orchestra where all the instruments areas and processes need to be tuned.
12 Via Embratel - January 2002
integration
Speed
The Embratel satellite service, Infosat, enables interconnection with places that have no other kind of infrastructure whatsoever, as in the case of highway inspection stations, important for collecting state revenue. Other important examples are police stations, prisons and other establishments in rural areas. Providing access to the internet helps Prodemge offer the different state agencies speed and availability in connecting to the network. The services provided by Embratel in the data telecommunication area meet the expectations of Prodemge, mainly with regard to the internet, guarantees Antonio Carlos Carvalho. The managing director highlights the fact that, through the V-SAT network
Links
In the telecommunication area, Prodemge uses a V-SAT communication network via the Embratel satellite, consisting of a dedicated master antenna of 7.6 meter and 217 secondary antennas of 1.8 meter, installed in several towns in the interior of the state, attending the different Minas government agencies. In the master antennasecondary antennas direction, the firm has two channels in the 512 Kbps velocity each, and in the secondary antennas-master antenna direction, 12 channels with 128
via satellite, it has been possible to provide online data communication in six mobile technological vehicles, in order for them to provide any service, including access to the internet, for efficiency and mobility anywhere in the state. The use has already been proven in support applications for revenue inspectors, and preventive police operations, with instant online access to the state databases, guaranteed by Prodemge.t
Guilherme P. Franciscani 0 21 31 3279 3640 guipf@embratel.com.br
global solutions
link, using the Embratel VipPhone service. Two channels were for internet and the others for telephony, including international calls.
Better quality
The executive continues: A year later, we noticed substantial improvement in the quality and speed of our phone communications and stability in the internet service, which is essential. Cestari also points out the financial benefits of
Broadband Internet
Moreover, says DeChecchi, the company required the broadband internet which Embratel knew how to meet: Today we have 512 Kbps internet services for each of our buildings, with online quality access, so that the users are constantly connected. Our customers increasingly request this service, since they need to work online and very often their decisions depend on real-time contact with their branches and/or parent companies.
global solutions
Vip-Phone, which establishes a direct link from the PABX of the firms with the carriers fully digital network: Cestari incurred no cost with the radio infrastructure, due to hiring the service with a four year loyalty agreement, ensuring a monthly minimum consumption. We also obtained an excellent discount in the cost of calls.t
Slvio Mazzei 0 21 16 605 8119 mazzei@embratel.com.br
He points out that the videoconferencing service was the last item to complete the telecommunications structure and also broaden business horizons for the company in Brazil: We found that the demand for videoconferencing services has been growing every year, mainly because it is a tool that helps considerably to reduce corporate travel costs, and is only one of the various options for this service. The technology director continues: We not only offer the customers of our outsourced offices and videoconferencing rooms, but also the service to other companies who are not our usual partners but who wish to use this service sporadically. Today, in Brazil, we have ten videoconferencing sites. The business trend undoubtedly is to grow.t
Nelson Moraes 0 21 11 3268 3775 nlopes@embratel.com.br
Pitu is one of the most famous reputable national sugarcane rums (cachaa). It is investing in telecommunications to consolidate its top market ranking in exports and the concept of quality on the home market. We feel that the partnership with Embratel was the right decision, because Embratel offers us the solutions we need, with an efficient personalized service, says the firms network supervisor, Flavio Jos da Silva. With its enviable market status Northeast Brazil leader in sales, the second most sold brand in all Brazil and with exports to Europe, United States, Argentina and Japan , Pitu, founded in 1938 in Vitria de Santo Anto, where its industrial headquarters are today, has also a head business office in Recife. Through the Embratel Intranet, for example, we have today succeeded in connecting up our two main units, with a link that has capacity to carry our management software and expedite the entire production and accounting operations, for example. We are also at the stage of installing the whole process, but it is already possible to see the benefits. Moreover, Business Link Flex has greatly reduced the manual work overload we had. Now, the data enters automatically, leaving more room for phone calls and streamlining the work, explains Silva. With offices in a number of Brazilian cities, such as Natal, Fortaleza and So Paulo, plus around fifty representation offices at home and abroad, the idea is that by 2002 all units are to be interconnected via intranet.
a very satisfactory performance, Silva recalls that the company has also hired the VipPhone service. Our DDD traffic is quite heavy. So we decided to hire the service because of its facility and quality, plus the saving in phone bills. He proceeds: We also have our 0800 service with Embratel, basically to answer customers, end consumers and also representatives, to pass on orders and information. This service is used frequently. Silva believes that the partnership with the carrier will definitely tend to grow. Because the service is an example. The Embratel staff come here to the plant, talk to us, propose new solutions. And thats what we need.
Essential services
The company, responsible for over two million liters of cachaa exported every year, began exporting during the 1970s. Today, Pitu has become almost an emblem of Brazil abroad, especially because of the caipirinha a traditional Brazilian lime, sugar and rum cocktail. In order to meet national and international demand, we need to have a telecommunication system that lets us have good management and, at the same time, gives our customers impeccable service, says Silva. With Embratel, we are sure of having technological solutions with a good cost-benefit ratio. Moreover, should there be any problem in the network, we know that it will all be settled quickly and no headaches, he concludes.t
Elizabeth Rego 0 21 81 2416 3262 elirege@embratel.com.br
Via Embratel - January 2002 15
Satisfaction
Praising the speed in data communication offered by Business Link Flex, which has been giving
fastnet
Challenge met
Cambuci uses FastNet to link up units
Cambuci is headquartered in Itabuna, Bahia. Another plant, also in Bahia, is in Itajupe, and a third in Joo Pessoa, Paraba. Plus an office in So Paulo and a plant in Machado, southern Minas Gerais. The challenge for Cambuci S.A., owner of the Penalty brand, was to link them all up with quality and economically. Our solution was to change our system to FastNet, which gave us the data interconnection we needed and also major savings in telephony, since we put voice, data and internet in the network, explains its information technology manager, Luiz Pagan. With new FastNet FR 300, we can run our management software to every unit and the entire administrative, commercial and industrial control is centralized. Our customers and suppliers can now consult us online, he continues. The next step is to effectively work with e-business, so that we can do business via internet with our representatives and customers, storekeepers and suppliers alike. We will first update our firm with the new network, then we will begin using it at its full potential. With the data center installed in So Paulo and the plants elsewhere, the most important thing for the company was to fully integrate its units, with good performance, high speed and accessibility. That is exactly what we have today, enthuses Pagan.
Luiz Pagan, Cambuci
All Brazilian
Cambuci, an all-Brazilian firm, was founded in 1945 as a small business. In the 1970s, the company began producing sports materials and launched the brand Penalty, exporting to practically every country. It was the first firm to supply a complete line of products for field and indoor soccer and put logos on the club uniform. It was also the first to obtain quality approval seals from federations and confederations. The firm is a sponsor of major soccer clubs, namely So Paulo, So
FastNet Dial Up
Security, flexibility and attractive discounts
Embratel is always innovating to offer its customers top quality. A good example is the FastNet Dial Up service, ideal for whoever needs to remotely connect to the corporate network, with total security and flexibility. The service provides not only attractive discounts according to the volume of minutes used in the calls, but also a complete report with information of all accesses to the corporate network, listing the user, date and duration of call. The minutes are counted on a monthly basis. If in a certain month a customer uses 300,000 minutes of the service, for example, it will receive the discount corresponding to the first band. If for the next month it uses a million minutes, it will automatically move to another discount band. And the customer does not need to register to enjoy the progressive discounts, which will be automatically credited to its bill. It only needs to use the quantity of minutes for each discount band. With FastNet Dial Up, the corporate market has yet another important tool with the Embratel trademark within its reach to attract new customers.
Carlos Alberto Silva 0 21 21 2519 8266 caralbe@embratel.com.br
Fininvest
Our option for FastNet Dial Up was to have better integrated telecommunication services, mainly through the Embratel services we have hired. Used as a contingency network, FastNet Dial Up places more than two hundred of our branches in the carriers backbone, thereby ensuring ongoing secure communication. Also thanks to this service we were able to inaugurate
fastnet
Caetano, Ponte Preta, Coritiba, Bahia, Gois, For taleza and Ava, and has been investing heavily in technology, especially in information technology, which is essential for any business, as Pagan emphasizes. Besides the saving with the network, there are factors such as practicality of inter-extension calls, fast communications between the units. Plus the internet and data communication, which give excellent performance, he guarantees. t
Guaranteed integration
Laponia invests in velocity and security for corporate data transmission
Laponia, one of the largest Volvo concessionaires in Brazil, has hired the Embratel FastNet service for corporate data transmission between the head office in Sorocaba (So Paulo state) and branches in the So Paulo towns of Ribeiro Preto, So Jos do Rio Preto, Ourinhos, Regente Feij and So Manuel and in the towns of Carazinho, Caxias do Sul and Estrela in Rio Grande do Sul. Another point is linked to the Volvo truck and bus plant in Curitiba. Information technology coordinator for Laponia, Cristiano Sulzbach, informs that the head office site operates at a speed of 512 Kbps, the assembly line at 256 Kbps, with guaranteed band (CIR) of 192 Kbps, and the rest at 64 Kbps, with 32 Kbps CIR: This is what we need to meet the whole range of data circulating between the head office, branches and plant, with full security and quality of the Embratel services. Sulzbach continues: We work with buses, trucks and Volvo parts. FastNet helps us integrate the assembly line system, whose access facilitates the orders of parts, checking consortium quotes and inventory management, among other services. Moreover, we can calculate the monthly quotes for parts and vehicles for each concessionaire and make online orders. When we confirm the order, the invoice is issued and the parts are immediately dispatched by the producer. With the Embratel FastNet, Laponia also works with an intranet, permitting instant message traffic, chat, e-mails, distant support and management.
Direct access
The concessionaire also uses another service, Business Link Direct, for direct access to the internet, which enables customers to access the corporate site and obtain all information considered relevant, including inventories, unpaid notes, billing track record and services in progress, for example. Laponia also has FastNet Dial Up in the Embratel FastNet infrastructure, through which more than fifty users 35 being sales representatives working in the field have direct access to the network anywhere in Brazil. Another carrier service used by Laponia is the 0800 for customer service, especially in the post-sales period. The 0800 redirects calls to the branches closest to our customers, emphasizes Cristiano Sulzbach. t
Rosana Monteiro Gomes 0 21 15 224 8113 rosana@embratel.com.br
another forty stores in 2001 alone and start them up even before the local telephony access was installed and made operational. We think the discount offer by volume of use very welcome, and we are pleased with the constant availability of this Embratel service.
Igmar Dornelas, telecom manager, Fininvest S.A. Retail Business Rio de Janeiro
education
Educational tool
With telecommunication support, Maristas (UBEE) ensures quality teaching
The partnership of Maristas Brazilian Union for Education and Teaching (UBEE) with Embratel began in 2001 when they both created the best solution to meet the requirements of the institution. UBEE and Embratel have provided all human and technical resources for the better configuration of this solution. The result was way beyond expectations. The partnership was, then, consolidated, asserts Marcelo Mello, information technology manager of the maintenance agency of the Marista Institute in the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Gois, Tocantins and Federal District. He tells how the institution acquired a corporate link from Embratel in June 2001, connecting the units in Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Goinia, Palmas (Toc antins), Colatina and Vila Velha (Espirito Santo), Montes Claros, Patos de Minas, U beraba and Varginha (Minas Gerais). This is the link that also interconnects all units with the central office in Belo Horizonte. The link consists of voice, videoconferencing and data channels through the Embratel FastNet solution, he explains.
Infrastructure
Providing the project in conjunction with Embratel, made UBEE rethink the entire infrastructure of educational processes with regard to information technology, the manager says. He remembers that even remote units will have online access to the latest processes in the information technology world for education: Consequently, something in Palmas, for example, may be immediately announced in Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro or Montes Claros. UBEE, also customer of the Embratel internet services and VipPhone, was able to guarantee access of its students to the world computer network in modern well-equipped laboratories. Each unit is integrated in the UBEE network, connected with the Embratel backbone in a broadband IP channel. This concept ensures the socialization of the resources based on egalitarian processing for everyone, with top security, he guarantees. Mello concludes that For all our ideas and projects, the technical support of Embratel has been invaluable as we go along. This is not a relationship between supplier and customer, but rather an enriching close partnership.t
Busy operations
UBEE operates as a priority in the educational and social areas and employs 1,600 educators in the various states where it operates. FastNet acquired from Embratel by UBEE has added value to all administrative and managerial processes and, even more important, to the educational processes. All work stations are interconnected through the link, enabling every area in the institution to process information from their operations, points out Mello. In the administrative and managerial area, he says, UBEE has R/3 SAP, which runs on FastNet. It involves all the processes in the financial, material administration, including assets and controllership. The system and database are in servers at the central office in Belo Horizonte, and the users of all units access this information as if they were all in the same plant, in the same place. Both the routine and managerial processes are accessed in real time, permitting UBEE to immediately monitor all its activities, says Mello.
CORPORATE
Citizen
Casa Viva, a big family
Around fifty poor kids between 4 and 5 years old in Vila Velha (metropolitan region of Vitoria, Espirito Santo), are sheltered from the dangers of urban violence, lack of hygiene, malnutrition and the lack of formal education for this age group. They are attended by the philanthropic organization Casa Viva, a school where they receive food, notions of hygiene, education and learn to give value to the human being, with the support of Embratel. Casa Viva, founded and maintained by a group of businessmen from Espirito Santo, began operating in March 1999. The institution, which today has the support of Embratel, focuses on the holistic service for children who are admitted when 4 years old and stay there for three school years so that they can participate in the complete program cycle, including learning to read and write using the Casinha Feliz method, created in Rio de Janeiro forty years ago. Voluntary work includes dental care for basic treatment (although the institution does not yet have its own complete equipment), barbers shop, actors, and professionals for accounting, legal and psychological care. We still need support to accompany the kids that leave here until they grow up, and to give psychological support to parents and guardians, explains engineer Horacio Duarte de Lemos, director and member of the institution who runs Casa Viva.
Solutions
Borba explains that UEP performed market research to check which carrier could offer the solutions it required. We called every firm and the capillarity of services and technological range of Embratel with such resources as communication via satellite or fiber optics, in addition to its support, made us decide in favor of the partnership. We noticed that we had found the best support right from the start. The staff who give us assistance are excellent, he praises. Today, the Paran Virtual University has approximately 2,700 students in 18 towns where the system is already in operation. We will soon have a total of 25 towns with their structures ready with teaching and reception units.t
Vnia Lago 0 21 41 331 6195 vlago@embratel.com.br
nal universities and Embratel, has been developing several distant learning programs. Using one of the latest modalities distant learning with interactive media, by means of videoconferencing, conference calls and internet, for example, based on Topnet and Datasat Plus services , the university has been transmitting knowledge to the entire interior of the state of Paran in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in a network that already includes 21 classrooms in 18 different towns. The idea of UEP began in 1998, explains Reinaldo de Oliveira Borba, one of the mentors for crea-