A new SMS product will aid businesses of all sizes to market or communicate directly with their customers through their own networks. Storm SMS Mail allows businesses to direct short messages via a GSM modem, to individual or group users of cellphones.
Storm, a telecommunications company launched in Cape Town in 1999 has based its offerings on an ethos of low cost, high quality voice and data communication services provided to business.
Its current offerings include a low-cost international call, fax and cellular solutions. The company has introduced a new product making commercial use of the short message service (SMS) functionality of GSM mobile telephony. Storm SMS Mail is the forerunner of a number of applications the company intends to roll-out this year, including an SMS solution that adds creative interaction between the host of a Web site and visitors to that site.
Tim Wyatt-Gunning, MD of Storm, discusses the decision to go into SMS communications.
"About this time last year we started looking at getting into the data market well, believing in the model of converged technology with voice and data. We came across an ISP for sale, ITI Corporate Access, which we bought, and which is now Storm Internet. And through them we provide Internet connectivity via dial-up and via leased lines to the corporate market. Within the next two to three years we hope to be able to offer all our voice and data products over an Internet IP network, nationally and via the UK, internationally.
"That's our long-term strategy - to build up a big medium-sized and corporate customer base, and then to offer the entire range of voice and data communications over one single network.
"We developed our SMS product because firstly, it's a cost saving to the customer, secondly it's a value-add to the customers in the functionality that we provide, and thirdly it's an illustration of a data product - SMS being data used over a voice network - it's kind of a step one for us following that converged theory."
Storm SMS Mail works on a thin client principle; the software package is loaded onto the user's PC or network, enabling the user to create his or her own phone book. Messages are then compiled and sent to a single phone or a selected group of cellphones via a GSM modem. The GSM modem is able to send up to 600 messages per hour, eliminating the need for Internet dial-up. Alternative connections are available for customers wishing to send bulk broadcasts of up to 500 messages per second.
Loet de Swart, special projects manager at Storm, comments: "It works on both Vodacom and MTN, and will work with Cell C; you can use it on any international GSM network that has a roaming agreement with Vodacom."
The product features a rapid two-way communications function called Quicksend, as well as address book functionality and the ability to manually set a time period for which the short message service centre will poll a particular handset when sending a message.
Current clients include Clover Danone, SelectCredit, the Durban branch of the South African Post Office, and a number of Gauteng-based clients including the largest branch of the pizza franchise, Debonairs.
Storm SMS Mail costs clients 26c per message, excluding VAT - as opposed to the normal rate of 60c. There is a monthly subscription which covers the software and the SIM card, and an initial hardware cost which covers the GSM modem.
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