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Dedication of 1213 toll free service

The Sri Lanka Telecom 1213 Toll Free Service to find Residential Directory Information was dedicated for public use by Sri Lanka Telecom, Chairperson Leisha De Silva Chandrasena at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo amidst a large and representative gathering.

SLT Publications CEO Malraj Balapitiya said that during the recent past, the SLT customer base has increased drastically and it is impossible for SLT to include the names of all the customers in one printed directory. Since the printing of a single complete directory that includes the entire SLT customer base has not been feasible, SLT publishes provincial and district based directories to overcome this problem. However customers have difficulty in seeking numbers outside their province.

SLT Rainbow Pages General Manager/Sales and Marketing Ruwan Wijetunga said that as a responsible corporate entity that seeks to give customers the ultimate satisfaction and convenience, SLT studied this situation in depth and obtained customers views at various forums, seminars, outreach programs and surveys to find viable solutions.

From feedback it was revealed that when customers referred the printed directory, surnames like Perera, Fernando etc., ran into over 75 pages and thereby searching for the particular contact number posed many problems. In some instances the telephone had been registered under one name and used by the entire family but the family members or actual user names were not listed in the directory. It's very common that the person who is seeking information knows only a part of the name and a phrase of the street, town or the house name.

Obviously in such situations, manual search is practically impossible. Further, the Directories are only published in English and don't cater to the Sinhala and Tamil masses. Furthermore, the printed directory is only published annually and hence the latest updates cannot be included in the directory thus, SLT was keen to eliminate these problems and seek a viable solution to make access to residential directory information easy.

Finally, SLT came up with a very convenient solution to offer Residential Directory Inquiry services through their Call Centre Service to SLT customers free. A special user friendly short code - 1213 has been introduced to help customers to obtain this service 24 hours of the day, 365 days of the year.

SLT feels that the new 1213 service will be advantageous to the public in conveniently finding any contact number islandwide in the customer's preferred languages of choice. Unlike the annually printed Directories, the Call Centre database is updated continuously and subscribers will have access to the latest contact information.

The SLT Call Centre comprises well experienced customer friendly, efficient staff and a powerful state-of-the-art search engine has been developed to enable the location of a number in seconds. This powerful mechanism will help the customers to find a name in seconds by knowing a phrase of the street, address or the name.

During the Directory distribution for Western Province customers, choice of the customers for the proposed 1213 Call Centre Service has been collected and got an overwhelmingly positive response and selected some customers via a raffle draw. The winners of this draw received valuable gifts including airline tickets from the SLT Chairperson at a ceremonial function held at the Hotel Galadari.

SLT Chairperson Leisha De Silva Chandrasena said that the new subsidiary SLT Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., is doing exceedingly well and is on par with international directory publishers by introducing innovative solutions to customer needs via other media such as the Directory CD, Rainbow Pages Web Portal and WAP for mobile phone users.

Browns to open centre in Kurunegala

Brown and Company PLC, opens a new centre in Kurunegala on January 21 to serve its customers.

This centre would cater to a wide spectrum of customer categories from farmers to housewives to busy corporate executives in this region.

Group Managing Director/CEO, Murali Prakash said, "This new centre will cater to sectors such as agriculture, construction, power generation, consumer electronics and office equipment.

Our Centres are unique as they market products and services for a wide spectrum of customers with differentiated needs. In short, our centre is much more than a consumer electronics store."

Browns Retail, General Manager Panduka Weerasinghe said, "The uniqueness of this Centre would be that we offer not only products but also high standards of service to the customers.

Tigo Sales Diploma expands to South

Partnering Sri Lanka's National body for marketing, SLIM, Tigo have introduced the Diploma in Professional Selling, to recognize, educate and award emerging sales and marketing enthusiasts, free of charge. Now in its second phase, the program is conducted in Galle, although Tigo hopes to expand education centres islandwide, while the first batch in Colombo is nearing completion.

This one year program, dedicated to the development of sales and marketing as a profession, is founded on a method of evaluation, where the salesman is not only geared on an academic foundation but also on his sales performance, giving it a hands on, practical side.

Notably, this program extends beyond social investment to the spheres of economic and national investment, creating opportunity for a pool of potential professionals to not only grow as individuals but also contribute to the country.

Tigo CEO Dumindra Ratnayaka said that this sales diploma is distinctive since it is the first of its kind offered by a Sri Lankan company. He said, "The program is geared to teach the science behind selling, the essence of sales and marketing techniques and a street smart practical approach.

It is an all encompassing professional qualification, in line with our company's personal conviction that one's accomplishments are determined by their goals, ambition, and commitment." It is indeed a unique opportunity for the salesman, emphasizing effort on making him/her a professional.

In order to be a part of the course, interested candidates are invited to contact Tigo.

Students are expected to study, face examinations and engage in practical sales activities in the market place, prior to graduating. Graduates who complete the program will be awarded the Diploma at the annual convocation ceremony.

Amaya Resorts and The Fortress get European Spa Certificate

The European Audit Institute Wellness and Spa awarded three Sri Lankan hotels with a special certificate for spa quality and standards:

* The Fortress in Koggala / Galle with the Wellness and Spa Europe Certificate and the grade 'Premium Spa Selection'.

* The Amaya Lake Eco Resort in Dambulla with the 'Ayurveda Spa Europe Certificate' (grade: 'Quality Spa Selection')

* The Amaya Hills Resort in Kandy with the 'Ayurveda Spa Europe Certificate' (grade: 'Quality Spa Selection')

The audits of these hotels were made by mystery check and included inspecting more than 850 single items in the hotel area (Front office, Housekeeping, F and B, Wellness and Spa, Safety aspects, etc.). The auditors for these checks were medical doctors who have special five star hotel experience as well as experience in natural medicine.

All audits of the European Audit Institute Wellness and Spa are especially focussed on high quality standard in service and sustainability within hotel and spa area.

The Fortress was awarded with 'Premium' because of its special and outstanding service quality in all areas of the hotel. The Fortress 'Lime Spa' has a standard which is perfect and comparable with the best hotels worldwide.

The European Audit Institute Wellness and Spa (EAWS) is an international non-profit institute for standardization and evaluation in the wellness and spa area. The institute awards selected hotels with high quality standard in wellness and spa orientation with the Wellness and Spa Europe Certificate.

Metropolitan rewarded:

For timely tax payments

Metropolitan Office (Pvt) Ltd was awarded a best corporate citizen award by the Colombo Municipal Council Competent Authority Omar Kamil for being among the top private sector companies to settle taxes on time in 2009.

"The Colombo Municipal Council can develop and beautify the city as well as improve the services to the public only if its citizens and corporates pay taxes on time," said Omar Kamil at the event.

The reward and recognition scheme introduced by the Municipality is one initiative to encourage companies to settled their dues to the CMC on time.

As an initial step, the CMC has selected the top 100 prompt tax paying citizens and corporations over the last five-year period, and presented awards in recognition of their support to the development of the city.

Among the top 100 citizens and corporates are the highest tax paying companies and individuals over the last five years as well.

In order to facilitate and encourage more citizens to pay their taxes on time, the CMC has taken an innovative step in introducing tax payments through credit cards.

This would be the first time in Sri Lanka that credit cards are being allowed as a mode of payment to settle municipal taxes.

Country's best A/Level student opts for ACCA

Having achieved a record Z-score of 2.8354 in the commerce stream at the National GCE Advanced Level examinations held in August last year, Pasan Malinda Katipearachchi from Mahinda College Galle decided to follow the ACCA professional qualification in pursuance of his career goal of being in the financial services industry.

Pasan has always been a financial whiz kid, a competency he realized he excelled in while in Grade eight. "Business, accountancy and related subjects were certainly my passion and from then on, I drew up a plan to increase my average in class and as the years went by, I began gaining the best marks in the school", he said.

His dedication paid off when he was ranked 34th in the district for his GCE Ordinary Level examination and began studying accountancy, business studies and economics for his Advanced Levels.

Pasan is quick to commend his school teachers for his extraordinary results, counting them among the best in the island.

"Mahinda College has always had some of the best results in the country and so, when I saw where I was going, my goal was to become one of those students," he said.

Trendz introduces natural hair transplant

Trendz Advanced Hair Care Solutions, introduces the latest and the most sought after method of hair replacement currently available - natural hair transplant.

Trendz will be launching the "Natural Hair Transplant Division" in Sri Lanka for the first time, in partnership with Prosper Medi Care Services (Pvt.) Ltd in the United Kingdom. Natural Hair Transplant is the only natural method to re-grow hair on a bald scalp. It is suitable for both male and female alike and does not have any age restrictions.