Bamboo Technology Group Ltd, the Cheltenham based provider of managed Information and Communications Technology services, has announced the launch of a new customisable alerts service for mobile business customers.

Bamboo says the new automated alerts give telecoms administrators and users more control over their monthly spend by allowing them to configure the usage alerts they receive.

Mobile network providers typically only alert end-users once they reach 80% and 100% of their usage limits respectively. The specific nature of the alert (such as the usage threshold which triggers the alert, how it is delivered etc.) is often fixed by the network provider and cannot be configured by the customer beyond turning the alert on or off.

Crucially, these standard alerts are only sent to the end-user when they have exceeded their allowance, but not to the bill payer (i.e. mobile administrator). By enabling its customers to tailor the alerts they receive to match their own needs, while ensuring the administrator is never out of the loop, Bamboo says it is addressing all of these elements.

The new alerts - part of Bamboo's standard service wrap - can be configured to run across the entire account, set in batches (i.e. by department or cost centre) or defined against an individual user. Key features include:

• Automated SMS sent to the user once they hit a specific data usage limit (threshold)

• The data usage limit (threshold) which triggers an alert can be set by the administrator - it does not have to be tied directly to the user's data allowance but can be activated at lower/higher thresholds to suit

• Automated email sent to the administrator(s) when data usage reaches 80% and/or 100% of the threshold, ensuring the mobile administrator is fully informed and costs are controlled

• Ability to auto-bar the user at specific limits defined by the administrator. This can either be a blanket policy across the contract or tailored to individual users (e.g. exceptions can be made according to business usage requirements)

• Warning messages can be configured according to the specific terms of the contract e.g. user will be barred or usage will continue at their defined contractual rate

• Automated alerts and auto-barring can be configured to activate according to regions; either UK, EU and/or rest of the world (ROW)

Lorrin White, MD of Bamboo (pictured) commented: "Regardless of declining costs across the industry, Bamboo continues to experience companies with unexpectedly high bills. End-users are often unaware of their usage levels, with many of them travelling in and outside of the EU with no administrative controls set to monitor and manage costs.

"Combine this with the trend of businesses consuming more data than ever and you can see that monitoring the individual usage of mobile users has never been more important."

She added: "Whilst spend management and automated barring isn't for everyone, it's a solution that is too often requested 'after the fact'. Nobody likes surprises in their bill, so why wait when we offer this as part of our standard mobile service wrap?

"The level of control is entirely up to you. You tell us what is acceptable and we will work with you to set the appropriate monitoring and alert criteria. If you want to enforce a strict cost policy, then auto-barring can also be added at the click of a button. Ultimately this is about offering better choice to our customers. If you want to choose your own user policies rather than being dictated to by the network, then this is for you.

"The launch of our alerts service is one of many new customer-centric features and builds on the significant investment we have made as a company to set ourselves apart as a breath of fresh air in the market. We look forward to announcing more services in the near future as we continue to invest in our infrastructure and services, to help enable growth for all through the power of ICT."

The new customisable alerts service is available to Bamboo's business customers on request. Bamboo's channel partners also have the option to white label the service through the Total Partner Programme.

Resellers can enquire at partners@connectgrow.co.uk.