Gunther Richter: working from home has its advantages and disadvantages since he is on call 24/7.

By Sharon Lym

What do designer Claudia Pegus, Janouras, Chaconia Hotel and Long Circular Mall have in common? Gunther Richter. He is the man responsible for getting them all on the Internet.

Richter is the founder of Ultra Consulting Network Ltd and TrinidadShopping.com.

The German-born computer specialist first visited T&T in 1992 at the invitation of a friend who worked at the local branch of the United Nations.

“What I found here was a tropical paradise,” Richter said during an interview at his home/office.

After that first visit, he returned twice. However, none of these visits were for Carnival.

“One day, I met SuperBlue who could not believe I never came for Carnival. He said I had to come and experience it, so in February 1995, I came back and played with Poison,” Richter explained.

He returned the very next year for Carnival, but in 1997 his mas plans were placed in jeopardy when his boss in Germany told him he had to cancel his vacation.

“So I cancelled my job instead,” he smiled.

At the time, Richter thought he would just have an extended holiday, but that turned into a lifetime vacation, especially as romance soon followed.

During his 24-year career, Richter worked for software manufacturers in Silicon Valley in the US, and in Germany and Austria, where he gained experience as a product specialist, customer support manager and software developer.

Using this experience, in 1998 he formed Ultra Consulting Network Ltd, which specialises in network security, project management, Web development, programming services and network design and implementation services.

Richter, who is a member of the Information Technology Professional Society of T&T, said while the local IT sector has improved over the last seven years, it has not kept pace with the rest of the world.

“This is because of a lot of monopoly restrictions here and there is not really competition,” he said.

Richter said one of the drawbacks of having one telecom player (apparently referring to TSTT’s monopoly) was the lack of timely information so that people like himself can plan their work schedule or plan for new improvements.

This, he said, would not happen if there was competition. “For example, when they (TSTT) announced DSL, the high-speed Internet access, they did not inform anyone what areas would be covered and when it would be available. So its difficult to do any planning,” he said.

Working so closely with computers and the Internet in his company, Richter realised it was easier to find products in Miami or Canada using the Internet than it was to find something in Trinidad.

“You always have to know somebody who knows somebody to get a product. You really have to know your marketplace,” he said. “I thought it would be good to have information on-line available, not only for people in Trinidad, but also to give local industry global exposure.”

And so TrinidadShopping.com was born.

Despite its name, the Web site is not completely a shopping network.

Richter said the site is more of a business information network, where one can find information on careers, tourism and financial information.

He said a study undertaken in the US revealed that the majority of online shoppers like to get information on the Internet first, but instead of buying online, they go to their local store to buy the actual product. “I had a different approach. I did not want to immediately offer e-commerce because the level of trust is not yet there,” he said.

However, Richter assured that on-line shopping in Trinidad is as secure as any international Web-site as he has to implement the same security measures.

While some links such as “De Right Stuff” allow for full e-commerce, Richter says the area that has grown the most is the Web site’s catalogue facility.

For instance, one can log-on to www.trinidadshopping.com, link to a Web site such as FernandesWines.com, research the company’s catalog; choose a wine and go to the local store and make a purchase.

Another area that has grown is the bridal registry which some stores now offer.

The network also includes links to information about other Caribbean countries like Barbados and Jamaica under the domain BarbadosShopping.com and JamaicaShopping.com.

He even has links to piarcoairport.com and crownpointairport.com.

While companies who already have a Web site can sign on to TrinidadShopping, Ritcher along with two other web developers, offers his clients a full service, which incorporates the design of a Web site, the paper work regarding the licensing of a domain name and web hosting. (See box for rates)

One of the most important jobs Richter does other than maintaining a company’s Web site is maintaining that site’s domain name.

What people fail to realise, he said, was that domain names are only licensed for a certain time and when that period is over, it will expire if it is not renewed, and someone else may take it up.

Such an oversight can be very costly to a company since all information linked to that domain name is lost. Richter offers the service where he monitors when licensing fees are due and pays it on behalf of his clients. Presently he looks after about 250 domain names.

He said one of the hazards of being connected to the international highway was junk mail.

“That is one of our big advantages now. We have a very good junk mail filtering system,” he said. “In addition, we are connected to most search engines such as Yahoo, and can be found easily.”

The company also offers a virus filtration system which is important as some sites can receive up to 30 viruses a day.

Security is an area Richter is very conscious of; so much so that unless the client requests it, he does not reveal a company’s e-mail address. This system is part of the junk mail filtration process.

Companies can contact Ultra Consulting Network through a contact form and it is the company’s decision to reveal their e-mail address.

The popularity of TrinidadShopping.com has grown to the point where the site receives about 1.6 million hits a month and that figure increases every month. Hits come not only from the region, but Canada, the US, UK, France and even as far as Iceland and Korea as well.

The Web site takes up much of his time since it requires updating every day. Therefore, Richter said, working from home has its advantages and disadvantages since he is on call 24/7.

TrinidadShopping.com is growing, he said, and with the Government’s plans to give every citizen access to the Internet, he may soon have to move out of the comfort of his home and get a real office.

Subscription Rates

Free Plan

TrinidadShopping.com contains currently over 2,500 business and retail outlets in its business directory. All are established and maintained by the Web site at a basic level showing information that includes:

n name of business, telephone number, opening

hours

location

business categories

further keywords like brand names

real-time updating on account information.

Link Plan $350 per year

Promote your Web site. Get a link from the network of TrinidadShopping.com to your Web site.

Bronze Plan $660 per year The Bronze Plan is attractive to owners looking for more exposure for their businesses. Subscribers are more prominently displayed than basic level entries and have that competitive edge.

Free Plan +

Business Info Page (BizPage) with detailed store

information

Choice of designs and company pictures and logo

Advertise your existing Web site or show the site directly

Silver Plan $990 per year

For businesses looking for even more of an edge on the competition, the Silver Plan lets subscribers stand out of the crowd with their own tailored design and product and service highlights.

Bronze Plan +

E-Mail address e.g.

MyStore@StarliteShoppingPlaza.com

Web address e.g.

http://MyStore.StarliteShoppingPlaza.com

SilverPlus Plan $ 1,320 per year

SilverPlus subscribers get their own domain name, maintained by TrinidadShopping.com and benefit from their own branding and promotional campaign. “Get your own corporate identity”

Bronze Plan +

Own domain name e.g. MyStore.com

E-mail address e.g. Sales@MyStore.com

Web address e.g. http://www.MyStore.com

Note: Price might vary depending on the type of domain name