COMMON SHORT CODE (CSC), A PARED DOWN PRIMER

COMMON SHORT CODE (CSC), A PARED DOWN PRIMER

These notes are a pared down version of the complete mobile marketing associations’ common short code (CSC) primer[1].

Common short codes are phone numbers that are used by cellphone users to request for information, sports scores, weather alerts as well as other services that can be delivered through this novel medium.

Why are common short codes advantageous?

1. They are fast. Subscribers of wireless carriers along with marketers of mobile content can respond quickly and timely to the push or pull messages generated in a CSC communication.

2. CSCs are convenient. Entering long stretch of text through a mobile device takes time, user’s patience and sometimes, deftness with the keypads.

3. User response to adverts and marketing promotions increases. A CSC that is creative gets immediate response in a world where the cellphone or mobile devices have become an always ready, always available, communication appendage.

4. Facility of consumer content customization. Subscribers, the target consumers of this medium, can choose or opt-in for whatever content they want to receive and given the ease of an opt-out if they so desire.

To launch a successful CSC campaign, it is important to plan well for it. Better to consult experienced companies in this field if one is a new entrant. Some Wireless Application Service Providers (WASPs) one can consider in Nigeria are M-tech and Cellulant Nigeria Ltd.[2].

Some issues that have to be considered if a CSC application has to be approved and launched are:

1. Choosing a capable WASP.

2. A clear and concise outline of campaign goals, targets, period it’ll be run, intended start date if tied to a brand, etc.

3. Know the guidelines of major players in the CSC application, provisioning and launching process.

4. State clear billing rates and if the service is standard or premium. Premium services are billable in addition to carrier base charges, while standard services are not billable, although carrier could still bill for base charges.

5. Estimate a reasonable and realistic traffic volume so the carrier’s staff and technical personnel can anticipate subscriber requests.

6. Have clear cut opt-in, opt-out and help instructions for the short code campaign.

Note that as in every other media, content that could give birth to subscriber backlash should be avoided, especially intense profanity, intense violence, graphic depiction of the sexual act, nudity, hate speech and/or any activity deemed illegal in Nigeria, noting especially our indigenous customs.

Footers:

[1]. You can get the pdf file, http://www.mmaglobal.com/shortcodeprimer.pdf., that contains a clear-cut common short code primer, but the perspective is American.

[2]. A list of WASPs is available at Celtel’s site, www.ng.celtel.com . As for those recognized by Glo and MTN, well…

SETTING THE TABLE OF WIRELESS CARRIERS

SETTING THE TABLE OF WIRELESS CARRIERS

For traditional reasons, one is tempted to think wireless carriers should and tend to concentrate on their telephony functions[1]. They’d only be building beautiful houses without anyone setting the table for humans to really live in them. Content provision, especially for premium services, is as much valuable as revenue from telephony.

But one doesn’t just set anything on the table for the house; it has to be the right food and a healthy diet.

Before the video and film censors board was established any and everything was fed to the masses which provoked reaction from the general public who were stuck to public televised offerings from NTA. Same could happen to our wireless carriers if proactive steps are not taken to, at least, to set guidelines for what could be defined as content on their networks.

For one, you’ll agree with me that content with insulting sexual innuendoes and affiliation would get a failing grade. Tribal and racial slurs for another. Politically motivated and inciting campaigns fall into this class also. There are classes of films rated as for Adults only, for the eighteen and above, those that must be viewed with parental guidance etc. It would be appropriate for such assessment to be introduced into this medium, the mobile medium[2].

Appropriate safety measures, government initiated or self-regulating schemes from our national carriers, can and should be put in place now more than ever when the mobile landscape still seems virgin, where it concerns content provision and content provision issues.

If we throw a coin, heads the government wins, tail self-regulation from wireless carriers gets the vote, what face will we see? What face would you want to see? Much more at stake is the question of who pays for establishing content assessing policies before deployment, whether carried out independently or interdependently. He who pays the piper dictates the tunes!

These are problems that must addressed to avoid consumer backlash and a possibly harakiried resort to face-saving short-term solutions, to keep the industry safe from abuse, whether financial (as the recently purported Celtel promo), sexual, or political; whether self-regulated by the wireless carriers or a governmental instrument, the essential is that a defined framework should be seen to exist.

Footers:

[1].Those who are familiar with Nitel (now Transcorp!) will tell you that saturation of the telephony channel will come soon or late.

[2].Celtel has a rudiment of required guidelines on their website. http://www.ng.celtel.com/en/wasp-resources/index.html. You can click on the content provider, local or international links. As for Glo and MTN, I didn’t find any reference to content or valued services. I tried writing to the Glo customer care centre from the website, the attempt failed. This is not the first time too.