SK Networks’ Speedmate offers emergency roadside service, the first attempt ever made in Korea
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2005-03-02
SK Networks (CEO: Jung Man-won) reported that effective March 3, Speedmate will start providing the ERS (emergency roadside service), the first of its kind in Korea. Under the service system, a customer having a problem with their car can get help from the closest service team. The customer’s location, along with the details of their insurance, is automatically checked through the LBS (location-based service) system linked to the database of the relevant insurance company. The information technology-based system is expected to enhance the quality of customer service greatly by reducing the lead time required to dispatch a service team to a troubled car. A total of about five months and KRW3 billion has been spent to develop the system. A total of about 1,200 service crew members will be provided with GPS-equipped PDA handsets by the end of March. Mr. Kim Tae-jin, Head of SK Networks Speedmate Business Division, said, “With the launch of the ERS, a customer having a problem with their car can expect the service team to come to their aid in ten minutes, compared to 20∼25 minutes in the past. This kind of highly efficient service is made possible thanks to our vast wireless network and Telematics technology that we have accumulated. This will help us secure the groundwork for promotion of new businesses, in addition to enhancing the quality of customer service. Vehicle insurance companies, such as Tongyang, Kyobo, Korea and DaumDirect, which have a relationship with Speedmate, expect that SK Networks’ launch of the ERS will place them in a more advantageous position in attracting customers. Back in 1999, SK Networks’ Speedmate became the nation’s first vehicle repair franchise integrating online and offline. Since then, it has come a long way in enhancing the nation’s vehicle repair business to the level of more advanced nations. Recently, it has pushed ahead with the effort to advance into the Chinese market in close cooperation with a local partner there, thus securing the position of a global vehicle repair business. The launch of the hi-tech ERS, the first of its kind adopted in Korea, is expected to serve as another occasion to enhance Speedmate as a leading brand in the automotive aftermarket and enable SK Networks to provide one-on-one total service to vehicle owners under the banner of integrated marketing.