USSD.

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. Not many people know it, but that’s how the thing called which delivers account balance when you dial short numbers like *100#. It’s an old technology, which wasn’t taken seriously and many people were simply unaware of it. Now we can see that it’s becoming more and more popular. It is often looked at as a rival of SMS. However, it can be a nice addition to SMS or WAP service and significantly increase revenue. It’s not bad as a standalone mobile service either and provides maybe the best user experience on mobile phones due to its simplicity.

Technical stuff.

What really distinguishes USSD from SMS is a session based nature of USSD. Information is not stored anywhere. It goes directly from USSD center to a mobile phone in a real-time session. It means that unlike SMS, every action is performed immediately. This hugely improves user experience as response time is almost as fast as browsing cell phone’s menu. It gives a mobile service interactivity and engagement which any other types of technologies lack.

It also has two modes: pull and push. Pull mode is when users initiate requests. (i.e. browse your service). Push mode handles network initiated requests. It can be used to notify users about any kind of news regarding your service.

Popularity.

There are no exact numbers, but you can rest assured it is very popular. It’s used by almost all operators as balance enquiry technology and used all over the world for self-care services. People are familiar with USSD and there will be no problems to get them familiar with your service.

Where do you get your money from?

You can set price for using a service as a whole or charge clients for every click they make inside service. Both have some specifics.

To charge clients once, operator sends mobile terminated (MT) SMS to a user either when he/she enters service or leaves it. To do this you should go to aggregators which will supply this SMS. There are some issues, though. For example, a user has 2$ on account balance and your service cost 5$. If you charge when user leaves service, then he/she will actually pay only 2$. That’s why it is better to charge with a welcome SMS which can block usage of service if there is not enough funds.

The second option is to charge for requests. It removes the global aspect of a service as you need to go to a carrier and negotiate the terms of billing users for each click.

Pros and cons.

Pros:

• Interactivity. Probably the biggest plus which gives the edge over other technologies.

• Simplicity of use.

• Works on all mobile devices.

Cons:

• Actually, there are no disadvantages if USSD is applied creatively and well thought-out.

Next stop is WAP. Stay tuned.

SMS

Short Message Service. The most popular component of mobile phones in the last decade. It’s a method of communication by sending short text messages between cell phones (in case you didn’t know).

Technical stuff.

It’s called short message service for a reason. The number of characters is limited and depends on alphabet. For Latin alphabet the limitation is 160 characters and for Cyrillic alphabet (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Bosnian, etc.) and languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Arabic it is 70 characters.

SMS uses store and forward technique. A message is sent to intermediate station where it is kept and can be sent at a later time. It means that if your client’s phone is turned off or out of range he can receive message later. The message can be stored at service centers for days and months (it depends on operator).

Popularity.

In 2009 5.035 trillion were sent. According to Informa Telecoms & Media in Q1 if 2010, 1.475 trillion messages were reported. The figure at the end of the year is expected to be around 6.5 trillion. So, yeah, it’s popular.

Where do you get your money from?

There are two ways to charge money with SMS. The first one is when you simply take money straight from clients’ mobile account for every SMS they receive. Then, you share income from each SMS with operator/aggregator based on your arrangements. The second one is called sponsored service. With this one you don’t charge clients at all because your service is sponsored by another company. Usually it means that ads should be placed at the end of SMS message. The income is still shared with operators as they send your messages.

Pros and cons.

Pros:

• Highly popular.

• As a result user experience is simple and crystal clear.

• Huge amount of aggregators due popularity which helps to find suitable deal.

• Messages are stored on mobile devices

Cons:

• Your multimedia possibilities are limited by 160 or 70 characters.

• Fast delivery of messages during periods of high traffic is not guaranteed.

• Message can’t be received if user’s inbox is full.

Next in line – USSD. Stay tuned.

[photo: flickr/mangee]

Mobilization is high as ever nowadays, you hear that everywhere and this might be the reason you decided to go mobile. Nevertheless, there are one or two things to consider before jumping on the bandwagon. Creating mobile service is a process of several steps and if correctly executed it can be a great way to advertise your current business or it can be a successful business in itself.

First of all, research market and look for similar services, i.e. competitors. How many of them are successful? What exactly makes them successful? Do you think you can offer something new or improve on existing ones? At last, is there any demand for your service?

Target audience defines technology you choose to run your service on. Technologies at your disposal:

• SMS

• USSD

• WAP

• Java

• WEB

The best way is to research the target market and choose the appropriate. Creating web site is the easiest way as you bypass carriers and simply make it at home. However, the primary audience for web sites is smart phones. You should also examine different smart phones, for example smart phones with touch screen. This means web site have to be adjusted for different devices. Significant advantage of web is that service can be accessed from any carrier.

WAP is another option where carrier is not involved and which can be accessed worldwide. It can’t provide decent, let alone great user experience, though. Few people know how to set up it on mobile phones and you need to consider its low popularity.

SMS/USSD combination is the best combination for setting up a mobile service. It gives the best user experience which is one of the key factors of service success. Remember, though, if you want to concentrate on particular local area, remember that people have different carriers. It means you literally have to start service several times. Multiply costs too.

When everything is ready and you came up with business strategy the next step is to launch service. This is where you go to aggregators. Aggregators are companies that operate independently from mobile operators and serve as intermediary. They are your destination as it’s not always easy to reach operators. Aggregators naturally want (surprise) share in your income. You don’t have to deal with operators as aggregators make contract with them and handle all issues for you.

If your service is SMS/USSD based you should get short code. Aggregators usually already have a number of such codes (CSC) for use. However, if they don’t have any or you are dealing directly with operator, obtaining CSC takes about two months. Costs may vary from country to country, typical US costs:

• One-time operator setup – $1,000 to $2,000

• Random number – $500

• Aggregator fees – $1,000 to $2,000

It takes about six weeks after submitting short code to carriers to get an approval. Service should meet carrier’s marketing strategy as users will recognize it as if its operator’s.

Don’t forget about law if you make a worldwide service. Law is different around the world so make research. For example, in some countries there is a ban of dating services, so setting one up is penal action.

Creating service is complicated thing so we’ll come back later and look more deeply at how to make it properly. Stay tuned.

Mobile service should serve one particular task, and it helps if this task is unique. It’s not a necessary condition but it can certainly be good for your pocket if you occupy a new niche. However, as said this is not essential.

What essential is user experience. There might be dozens of weather forecast services, but if you make one where you have to press less buttons it can have success. Look at Google and Apple, for example. Companies with no mobile background released just one phone each and now nobody can touch them in terms of sales. Nowadays there is no lack of functionality. What separates the best from others is user experience. No matter how many options and features your service have, if it doesn’t provide convenient and easy experience its doomed to be left unnoticed.

People don’t want to dig out hidden “gems” you carefully placed for them. In fact, they don’t want to spend more than 10 seconds to find out how service works. They are busy with their lives, standing in a queue or driving a car and they really don’t want to think hard about their mobile phones. Its there to ease their lives, if they want to get some info fast, or entertain them if they have some time to kill. Both these functions presume efficiency so your primary task is to make user experience of your service efficient.

What you need is to come up with an idea and implement just the minimum to make it work. Don’t add some stuff just because you can. The function of any service should be crystal clear as its interface. Imagine a car where a steering wheel, pedals and gearshift are replaced with just two buttons – go and stop. Thats what we call a proper user experience. Make effortless UX the primary thing to achieve and results won’t take long to appear.

We’ll explore user experience more in the future. Contact us at info@eyeline.mobi if you want additional info.

[photo: flickr/kirainet]

So, how to improve revenue of your service? The short answer is…USSD. A good old technology that can be used in a rather new way. Let’s say you have WAP service and you want to attract new consumers. The thing with WAP is, well, it’s not so popular. First of all, it takes time to set up it properly. And this is where WAP end for most people with mobile handhelds. Ask anybody on the street whether they know how to set up and use WAP. You won’t get much information.

One thing people know for sure is to how dial number on a mobile phone. And this is what USSD is about. Fast and simple. Essentially, USSD is a menu which a user gets when dials a short USSD number like *555#. What it all has to do with WAP? Well, you can put USSD number on any ads of your service. For a start, with the help of it people can learn how to set up WAP in order to access your service. This can increase your audience quite well.

Everybody also knows that it’s quite unpleasant to type long web addresses on a mobile handheld. Just create a copy of your WAP site sections which a user gets in the form of USSD menus. There he/she can choose necessary section and access it in the matter of seconds just pressing buttons a couple of times. It improves user experience drastically as there is no need to write essay in the address bar now. Even more, you can use USSD as just another part of your service and move information there. Unlike WAP and SMS it provides interactivity which is the key factor to keep interest of a consumer.

Basically, USSD can be added to any mobile service, be it SMS, Java or WAP to improve user experience. It is considered an old technology, but it one of the best things mobile phones can offer in terms of interactivity, engagement and simplicity. Read about USSD here or contact us to learn more.

[photo: flickr/nathangibbs]

What makes it so easy? Apart from very fast access it is fast to navigate. USSD is a session-based unlike SMS. There is no delay between actions and response time is very fast. A merchant don’t have to wait forever to get receipt of a payment. The session is represented in the form of menus, which is very user-friendly. So, for a start we have: fast access, fast response time, easy to navigate. Not bad yet.

On to the next benefits. You probably don’t want to waste a couple of month or more setting up your service. Instead, you can just contact us and we give you pilot to see how it works. On top of that, we provide WAP and Java support. It helps you to save a lot of time, money and you get familiar with the technology. Easy to start and low cost are another benefits.

Now, security. In short, USSD is not 100% secure, but it is as secure as SMS. If your service involves big money transactions, then sophisticated levels of security can be installed, but it can harm user experience. To keep the balance between security and user experience you should come up with scenario which in itself ensures proper security level. We already covered this topic, so if you are interested read to learn more here and here. The conclusion about security is: it’s not less secure than any other mobile technology, but it has great user experience.

You can use USSD for all kinds of services. Starting with a quick way for gamers to fill up accounts, bypassing credit card hassle, ending with health services. There are currently projects all over the world using USSD technology. Some examples would be txt4baby – notifications and surveys sent to pregnant women educating them for the benefit of a healthy baby. Priority Health USSD Apps which helps sick people in Africa to diagnose and treat illness and Anti-Corruption SMS/USSD application which allows informing about bribery are other examples.

If you are interested in technology that is simple for your customers and simple for you – look no further than USSD. Contact us at info@eyeline.mobi to learn more.

[photo: flickr/juicyrai]

If something is simple and catchy like top 50 chart song, it is bound for mass success.If there is one company who knows that, it is Google. They made it simple with AdWords and now they open up new lands called mobile industry. Doing it Bill Gates style, they acquired mobile ad network, AdMob, and now they are pushing the open mobile platform Android to set the global dominance and conquer the whole galaxy.

They made Android bearing in mind that time, money and simplicity are the key factors which attract developers. In 2007 the Android release statement said: “Through Android, developers, wireless operators and handset manufacturers will be better positioned to bring to market innovative new products faster and at a much lower cost. The Android platform will be made available under one of the most progressive, developer-friendly open-source licenses, which gives mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products.” In the first quarter of 2010 Android OS based phones ranked second among smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. It took Google just three years to take Android where it is now.

Android App Inventor which was released recently is a natural step for Google to attain a wider audience. Now not only a developer but any person with an Android phone can create apps using simple drag and drop blocks of code. No skills are required apart from knowing how to press buttons on a phone. Of course the end result is simple programs; you can’t make Office 2011 by putting two graphic blocks together, but still it can attract more consumers and it is something that can help Google in the war against Apple.

Now, Eyeline is following the same trend of simplicity and has something unique to offer for people who want to make money in mobile industry. Now virtually everybody with some knowledge of HTML can make their own mobile service. Granted, it is not as simple as Android App Inventor but it is something developers can use to create service of any complexity using our API. Here is the most important part of the offer: Eyeline Mobilizer (SADS) allows you to fully focus on creating and implementing ideas of your service, avoiding the need to go to operators and solve paper issues. Service can be accessed by USSD, WAP and Java.

Keep it simple, learn more about it here. And then contact us at info@eyeline.mobi.

[photo: flickr/laihiu]

Blogosphere now discusses that the only way to improve mobile advertising is to concentrate on the soft ways of delivering ads, bearing in mind consumer privacy. Of course, the very nature of mobile phone as something private should not be forgotten or privacy violations may put this industry to end before it even sets off in a proper way. Of course you need to think of scenario where a potential customer gets engaged, becomes interactively involved and receive relevant information. Of course all these things are essential for making successful mobile ad campaign.

These conditions for mobile advertising to finally thrive have been repeated for quite some time, and by now we would’ve seen some improvement which manifests itself in numbers of companies who successfully used mobile for advertising. Sure, they are and were companies who benefited from it. Strangely it is always mega companies like Coca-Cola or Adidas. Here is the list of top mobile marketing campaigns from 2006. As you can see, again, it were big names like Nike, American Express and NBC. Also, as written in that post they used these key success factors:

• Relevant to the consumer
• Welcome invitation to participate
• Entertaining
• Drives a specific action
• Integrated where appropriate
• Connects what was previously disconnected
• Simplicity

That was four years ago, but still in 2010 these factors are presented as something that companies “don’t get” in order for mobile marketing to blossom. Maybe there is something else?

Look at Google Ads. In the first quarter of 2010 Google earned 30% of its revenue with this service. Every person, every company, no matter how small it is, using it, can start advertising in the matter of minutes. It is highly accessible.

To start advertising on mobile phones you have to go to mobile operators. A startup of a mobile campaign requires much effort and expenses. You can’t spend five bucks and test it for a while to see how it works, like you do it at Google Ads. For small and middle sized business it is much easier to go for paper, radio or TV advertising. So, maybe in order for mobile advertising to breakthrough it has to be available to a wider audience? Maybe that’s the reason it makes uncertain steps every year?

It produced a great layout for doing marketing and business. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have several millions users. On top of that, we have services like Flickr and Youtube, where all content is user generated and shared with real enthusiasm.

The era of Web 2.0 marked the global prevalence of the Internet. To the point where virtually everybody is involved. From a 10-year-old to a 99-year-old. To some, its refreshing to know that their grandmother has her own Myspace account and is proficient with google and surfing the net. Marketers, on the other hand, find it more and more difficult to address message to their potential clients.

Indeed, with such a mixed audience it often happens that a teenager gets a Mercedes-Benz ad, while an executive is recommended to buy a designer handbag. No surprise that social networks continue to see low returns on ads. Moreover, they are now experiencing privacy issues for sharing members’ information with third-party companies. The very same companies that are eager to sell Mercedes’ and handbags.

So, the next question will be – were do we go from here? The right answer is – make personalization more personal and intelligent.

Everybody in the world owns a mobile phone. It is something that nobody leaves home without. Yet, the strange fact is – only about 6% of companies use mobile marketing.

Mobile advertising pushes personalization a little bit further and allows you to deliver much more targeted advertisements. However, it shouldn’t be considered just another method of delivering spam. The exciting thing about it is that it serves as a convergence point for traditional media and provides a channel for measuring the effectiveness of the whole marketing campaign.

How mobile marketing can help you to earn more money?

Scenario:

1. Traditional media advertisements (TV, radio, billboards, magazines) include a customer service number so that if the reader is interested in the offer, he/she can dial the number to receive information about the product or get a discount.

2.The interested customer can now subscribe to your new offer or news. This is an important point as he or she is doing so voluntarily, and it opens a marketing channel with customers, thus avoiding any legal issues.

3.Users are now engaged, and you start to collect data about them to deliver targeted ads. Not only their preferences can be recorded, but also their geographical position.

4.On top of that, it gives you the opportunity to measure the efficiency of your advertisement in traditional media, as now you can see how people react to it.

More and more companies are looking to jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon. Studies show that 56% of companies plan to increase budgets for mobile marketing in 2010. Hopefully 2011 will be the year when mobile marketing will really blossom.

The goal is to reach the widest possible audience and that can be done by simplifying and removing all the unnecessary functions and features. Although, you may come up with really brilliant idea, if the user needs to sift through a ten-page manual to enjoy it, you’d better not implement it. Everything should be done to ensure that a user won’t have to waste five minutes to get through the list of menus in order to quit an application.

Lets look at Apple. Imagine a company who decided to produce a computer without a cd-rom. They were the first to do it and seems like they had success with MacBook Air. Now they are having success with iPads and iPhones, which don’t support Flash and don’t have multitasking. Flash is used by millions of website, by the way. As Macquarie Group Ltd says iPad sales may reach 5.5 million units worldwide this year and 13 million next year on higher-than-estimated demand. This basically means that people care about simplicity and design more than anything, and Apple hits the mark yet again.

When creating a product, leave out all the minor details and instead, stick with fundamental. Avoid unnecessary complications if you want your product to be successful worldwide. Think about the millions of people of different ages and nationalities who will use your service and what their needs and wants are. Start with something simple, and if it attracts people then add something more. Hope that helps. Stay tuned.