Belcorp Leverages SMS to Enhance Communication with Consultants and Customers

“I’m responsible for detecting our company’s IT needs and identifying technology innovations we can use to boost the business,” says Tomas Polanco, Application & IT Analyst at Belcorp, Dominican Republic. “As one of the largest direct-selling companies in the region, it’s essential for our business to maintain regular contact with our more than 800,000 independent beauty consultants, giving them the support they need while also finding new ways to grow the business.”

Founded in 1968 with headquarters in Lima, Peru, and focused on scientific innovation and sustainability, Belcorp is a multinational leader in cruelty-free beauty and personal care products marketed under the Cyzone, Esika, and L´Bel brands. A multi-billion dollar company with more than 50 years of experience in direct sales, Belcorp is among the 20 largest direct selling companies worldwide and the top 3 in Latin America. With over 8,500 employees, Belcorp’s business operations span 15 countries across the Americas.

With a purpose that transcends economic results, Belcorp’s mission is to enable each of its consultants to promote beauty and achieve personal fulfillment, inspiring each individual to give their best and be agents of their own development and that of the community. Actively promoting female entrepreneurship in Latin America, Belcorp furthers women’s economic empowerment, helping millions achieve financial independence throughout the region.

The Challenge: Optimizing field and data center communications

Moreover, Polanco’s role as an IT analyst included identifying tools to help optimize data center operations. While encompassing maintenance and support for the network and IT systems, his responsibilities also included monitoring the facilities.

“Unless we were in the data center monitoring the console,” states Polanco, “we had limited visibility into what was happening across the network or in the data center. We needed a robust and reliable SMS platform that would meet all of our communication and alerting requirements.”

Ensuring 24×7 communications for essential notifications

“I searched for an SMS solution online, and one of the first to appear was SMSEagle,” states Polanco. “I was surprised by the number of features available and the use cases supported.”

Supporting global GSM, 3G, and 4G standards and full waveband coverage, SMSEagle’s radio modules deliver fast, reliable, and secure 2-way SMS connectivity. Bypassing the Internet and working independently of third-party providers, SMSEagle sends SMS messages directly to your cellular operator.

Designed and manufactured to work optimally in a wide variety of environments, SMSEagle provides a range of ready-to-use APIs and plugins for fast, easy integration with existing solutions, systems, and workflows, including a variety of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems.

“What stood out to me was SMSEagle’s reasonable price and its quick and easy integration,” says Polanco enthusiastically. “The user interface has a friendly look and feel, and the platform is extremely robust with great support.”

Supporting different cellular frequencies for delivering critical alerts

“We’ve been using SMSEagle for more than two years both in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico,” says Polanco, “and it’s been a very profitable solution for our company. Before implementing SMSEagle, we were operating blind when it came to receiving feedback from our consultants and clients. Now we can better understand our customer’s behavior and the impact of our campaigns through the comments received, resulting in better reporting and increased visibility.”

Furthermore, implementing SMSEagle in the data center provides Polanco and his team with real-time facilities and network alerting, enabling them to respond to critical incidents rapidly.

“SMS is super-effective!” declares Polanco. “Every day, we are more and more convinced of the benefits of using SMS in our business, and we see new applications for SMSEagle within the business. In the future, we plan to expand our use of SMSEagle to increase the speed and volume of communications with both consultants and customers.”