The End of the Messenger: The Case for Firm Counter/Bunker Pulse

Paul Hardy, CEO, Firm Counter

My old company was a relatively late adopter of Yahoo messenger back in 2003. This ushered in a new form of compliance/paranoia whereby the owner would fill his brief case friday afternoon with a wad of messages to sift through the info and mine for information he did not want to find.

It also brought about the rise of the 'corner office trader' (you know who you are). This person merrily taps away vigorously all day in the knowledge they cannot be overlooked- great bets are placed on gambling sites and nights out planned but not much bunkers traded!

Over night the trading floor became silent and some of the dark arts were lost. There was a certain tongue in cheek enjoyment for all parties of having 2 telephones and trying to persuade one side the market is collapsing and the other is about to go through the roof.

What will happen now?

It is necessary to focus on why messenger became so popular. The answer is simple.........it was a quicker and more efficient way of communicating than the telephone. The primary reason why it was used was to buy and sell bunkers.

I would like to put forward a simple case for Firm Counter/Bunker Pulse as a replacement. Firstly, It is completely confidential. It is not possible to access someone else's contact list and is a key differentiator to many products. Secondly, unlike other platforms it is 100% independent from any player in the bunker market.

The Bunker Pulse platform is simple to use and familiar to anyone using social media. It affords great marketing opportunities and the ability to put relevant content in front of a target audience. As technology has moved on many people are now using social media platforms instead of static messenger type applications as they integrate many other features and benefits.

The key benefit though will come when we re-integrate the trading software into Bunker Pulse. The simple RFQ format will automatically interrogate the database for port/company contacts and allow easy placing and working of enquiries.

Why do this via a platform?

The platform creates a comprehensive audit trail- for every action there is an automatic reaction. This is important for compliance but also for analysing purchasing and trading functions. By capturing the data we can extrapolate and provide reports to let you know any number of things including:

• Which supplier is supporting you in which port?
• Which trader is getting the best numbers in certain markets?
• How well is your broker covering the market?

It will allow you to put more science behind your sentiment and to over time achieve greater profit or savings dependent upon which side of the fence you sit.

In addition, it creates efficencies of working and an ability to share access with colleagues which messenger does not.

Of course many social media platforms have incorporated basic chat functions essentially taking their lead from yahoo messenger functionality. As such it is a simple process to integrate such a function into Bunker Pulse. We can offer the benefits of marketing, trading and the ability to chat whilst maintaining the core concept of confidentiality of connections and data. We can also keep compliance departments happy and your client lists safe from prying eyes.

Lastly, an account with Bunker Pulse is free.

The trading floor maybe quiet but it is now possible to see what it going on without having to learn what someone else is having for dinner.........this is surely a good thing!