A significant investment in state-of-the art technology has enabled iTouch, Cape Town-based leader in mobile communication products, to roll out its revamped ShareLINE service locally and internationally in record time.
ShareLINE`s pioneering new portfolio information service enables mobile users to personalise the share information they want to hear each time they call for the latest JSE prices. It is the first South African-developed commercial application to be built on the Tibco technology platform supplied by Fluant.
Just released from its pilot phase in South Africa, the enhanced ShareLINE is being simultaneously rolled out in Britain, Israel, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand after two months in development.
iTouch managing director Sean Stegmann says that the pressures of operating internationally requires leading-edge technology that facilities rapid development and deployment of robust yet flexible products.
"This is such a competitive market that we have to be confident we can get to market first with new reliable and tested products that give us the edge over competitors," he adds. "Our new technology platform supports that strategy."
ShareLINE gives mobile phone users instant access to live share information on WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), SMS (Short Message Service) IVR (Interactive Voice Response) or the World Wide Web.
The portfolio service enables callers to use their cellphones to register the codes of all the shares in which they have an interest and, each time they call ShareLINE only the latest prices of those shares will be relayed. The share information is updated as soon as a change in value takes place.
"This saves a tremendous amount of time as the caller does not have to key in the share`s code each time ShareLINE is called," says Stegmann.
The new information software platform draws together content across divergent publishing channels, allowing a single application to be written for all four delivery technologies - WAP, SMS, IVR and WWWeb. The application integrates with iTouch`s new Sybase database.
Apart from the tremendous time and cost savings this standardisation brings to all iTouch`s information services, the speed with which information is delivered to the caller is a major boost to service quality.
This fluency also enhance the sound quality of the recorded information, allowing a more personalised and humanised experience, adds Stegmann.
Devco, iTouch`s software development arm, in partnership with Fluant, developed and implemented the product, and will help with the new ShareLINE`s international rollout.
Fluant chairman Wolfgang M"uller says his firm is "delighted to help iTouch achieve its goal of becoming a major international provider of value-added services to mobile customers".
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