PREVIOUSLY: Mobile Voice Services are only the beginning
If you are a regular follower of our blog, you know that Mobile Voice Services is a first step towards building voice usage (see our post here), as an effective and fast way to monetize and educate the customer on voice topics.
In this post, we will reveal you the 5 key steps to set up Mobile Voice Services with a time estimate based on an 8-hour working day, the necessary budget (i.e. $0) and the actions of each party.
PRELIMINARY: Setting the Stage
Naturally, before launching a project, it is necessary to identify the contributors to the project and to highlight the constraints to which each party is subject.
As far as Mobile Voice Services are concerned, only 5 players are needed around the table:
- A project manager in charge of SIM cards
- A project manager in charge of the Network
- A Marketing / Customer Service Project Manager
- A legal expert
- And you! Whether you are VAS Manager, Partnership Manager or Business Developer
Are all these people together? Are you familiar with each other’s time constraints? Then we can start:
1. STEP 1 : the feasibility study
This is the first crucial step for the project but it is also one of which the quasi-unanimity of the operators is able to answer in the positive! The checklist of things to verify is the following :
- The possibility to create short numbers (all operators since the 2000s are able to do so)
- Check the legislation in your country on value-added services
- Check the existence and availability of an OTA platform to update SIM cards. This point is not essential but it is a real plus for a quick rollout!
2. STEP 2 : the creation of short numbers
This step must be performed by the Network Project Manager who will be responsible for creating numbers on the operator’s network. Most of the time, these are 4 or 5-digit numbers that are specific to each operator and enable special billing on calls (whether free or paid). Be careful, in some countries such as France, the legislation requires operators to broadcast a free 10-second tariff information message before invoicing the customer. It is the operator’s responsibility to implement this precaution.
Example of T9 keyboard on a mobile phone
They are either existing – and in this case you just need to reassign them to another service (see step 3) or to create them – and in this case, the configuration does not take more than one day.
We recommend setting up a little trick so that the number can be more easily memorized by the customer. The number must correspond to the first letters of the service on the T9 keyboard. For example, for the horoscope service, ideally the number should be “4676” :
- the “4” key corresponds to the letter “h”
- the “6” key corresponds to the letter “o”
- the “7” key corresponds to the letter “r”
- the “6” key corresponds to the letter “o”
3. STEP 3 : implementation of short numbers
Once these short numbers are created in step 2, they must be assigned to a Mobile Voice Service corresponding to the identified need. The Mobile Concept provides the black number (so named because it is invisible to the customer) to which the call made from the short number is redirected. It arrives on our servers, which allow the customer to interact with the content both by voice or by phone keypad if necessary.
This configuration step at network level is also performed by the Network Project Manager. It is simply a matter of deploying a file containing the correspondence table that takes no more than half a day.
The other part of this step is performed by the SIM Project Manager who must integrate the short numbers into the SIM cards. In general this is done through the creation of so-called SIM profiles that allow you to add pre-embedded numbers to SIM cards, at the contact or toolkit level. Count one day of work.
4. ETAPE 4 : Test and Go To Market
Once you have managed the creation of short numbers, you only have to perform tests in real conditions. Nothing difficult in this acceptance phase, but it is necessary to check both the service, i.e. that the calls are made correctly, than the QoS, and also the whole invoicing part, as well as the reporting of call data and, in general, all the data feedback in the information systems.
The other essential element to be properly implemented is the Go To Market. These are all the actions necessary to market this new service:
- the preparation of communication materials according to legal constraints (updated in brand brochures, in the General Terms and Conditions of Sale, on the web, etc.)
- customer service training to prepare all responses to service questions from customers
Our experience and know-how show that it is not necessary to spend a budget on customer acquisition. The optimizations we make are more than enough to set up a viable service.
The tests will take all participants 1/2 day, while the Go To Market managed by the marketing department will take about 5 working days.
5. STEP 5 : Update SIM cards and Service Monitoring
Finally, once the service is implemented, it can be deployed in two ways:
- Slowly through acquisition on its own: i.e. only customers changing SIM cards (conquering or renewing) will be able to use the services.
- Quickly by updating SIM cards Over The Air (OTA): for this purpose, the SIM card provider usually has a platform that allows you to deploy firmware updates of the SIM cards via OTA. This makes it possible to update the fleet and very quickly distribute services to all your customers.
The programming of an OTA campaign is done by the SIM Project Manager and it takes about 1/2 day.
Finally, monitoring all the KPIs defined for the project, consolidating data and establishing reports will be part of your daily life as Project Manager but will only take you 2 hours per month since we take care of all this for you!
Congratulations! You have deployed Mobile Voice Services in no time!
