INTELLIGENT BRANDS // MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
Archer Digital to introduce aero-rated
SMS+ in South Africa
S
outh Africa’s 35 million plus
mobile consumers are set to
benefit from a next generation
SMS (Short Message Service) service
which can replace the two-decade-old
USSD (Unstructured Supplementary
Data Service) and zero-rate it to boot.
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Archer Digital’s SMS+ is already in
commercial use by one of South
Africa’s big four banks and is
currently being trialled by a leading
multimedia company.
“SMS+ has the potential to completely
replace USSD. This means over 35
million people needn’t pay 20 cents
per 20 seconds to interact with
old-style USSD menus. That’s an
incredible saving to local consumers
who now have to contend with
an economy in recession,” says
Ongopotse Motlhanke, Chief
Operations Officer of Archer Digital.
Archer Digital is a global provider of
mobile engagement solutions and
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has been operating in South Africa
since 2006 where it is an active
member of the country’s Wireless
Application Service Providers’
Association (WASPA) and Direct
Marketing Association.
“Many consumers struggle with
USSD and find it clumsy as a
CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) messaging
technology. SMS+ enables a much
more personalised and intelligent
interaction between corporations and
their customers,” said Motlhanke.
While USSD’s best-known application
is the ‘Please Call Me’ service,
applications beyond this hugely
successful product often struggle from
the consumer’s inability to remember
lengthy USSD codes which can run into
ten digits.
SMS+ takes the conversational
element of USSD and adds layers
of simplicity and functionality while
greatly enhancing consumer-facing
reliability. Instead of featuring a
transient USSD menu that countless
mobile users have seen disappear
for no apparent reason, SMS+ does
not require new sessions for each
new interaction by the user and
consumers can store SMS+ messages
in their inboxes as useful references.
Archer Digital has created, built
and executed mobile initiatives and
campaigns across the globe. The
firm has developed industry best
practices by delivering country-
specific mobile initiatives from mobile
bank statements in South Africa to
personalised marketing videos in
the US.
“We expect tremendous uptake for
SMS+ from organisations wanting to
engage in two-way communication
with their customers that offers a
degree of intelligence while adding
the zero-rated aspect for even greater
client service,” said Motlhanke. ¡
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