A new application is being launched to offer data over voice as an alternative to voice over data in the electronic funds transfer market.
The innovation by iWise allows data to be transmitted over the GSM voice network.
Known as DOVe (data over voice), the system uses an intelligent GSM modem at the merchant`s point-of-sale terminal to initiate the call. An intelligent GSM router at the transaction switching company calls the merchant back and establishes a secure, encrypted, authenticated session.
"Everyone who has attempted to make a payment through an EFT gateway has heard the excuse that 'the bank is down`, when a credit card transaction fails to go through," says Russel Hawkins, MD of iWise.
"All a retailer wants from his EFT system is for every transaction that is processed to go through without any trouble, so we have created a solution that can authorise a transaction in just over five seconds, using the traditional GSM voice channel."
Hawkins says DOVe works over any network in any country, irrespective of where the call is being made, is not affected by roaming requirements and uses a prepaid SIM, to cut down on the potential for fraud or theft.
"A key advantage is that companies doing transaction switching can deploy the devices anywhere there is a GSM network and it can provide the same function as other EFT devices, but offer savings of around 25% on these other devices.
"This makes it ideal for organisations such as game farms in surrounding countries that need to authorise credit or hospitality cards and lack reliable local infrastructure," says Hawkins.
He says that although GSM networks do sometimes drop calls, this generally takes 20 to 30 seconds, but DOVe only takes a few seconds to complete a transaction, so there is little likelihood of a transaction failing.
"Because voice on the GSM network is predictive, data generally come out the other end totally incomprehensible, so when we proved to the networks that our technology works, they were - in a word - gob-smacked."
Hawkins says the company offers various packages for different segments of the market, from one that provides 250 transactions a month (at a cost of R160pm) to one that offers over 1 000 transactions at a cost of R295pm.
"We already have DOVe installed in 30 retailers, with a roll-out of a further 300 planned before the end of the year, in order to do a proper case study on how well it works over the busy December period," he says.
"We are also looking at using it in other low-bandwidth applications such as remote monitoring, asset and vehicle tracking and telemetry. The technology is also perfectly suited to loyalty systems, and hospitality and healthcare benefits management."
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