Mobilize Your Customer Interactions
Paul Griswold, Air2Web
TASSCC Conference – August 2, 2010
Air2Web at a Glance
• Mobile Experience
Air2Web provides
turnkey mobile
solutions that reduce
the cost of customer
care and increase the
effectiveness of
targeted marketing
campaigns
• Founded in 1999
• Fortune 1000 customer base
• Global Delivery
• Offices in Atlanta & Mumbai
• Expertise and focus
• Mobile customer care
• Mobile marketing & campaign
management
• Professional services
Air2Web provides one platform to satisfy all of your mobile
requirements across the breadth of your business
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |2
Gartner – State of the State
#6 Mobile and Wireless
#7 Unified Communications
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |3
Agenda
• Today’s mobile landscape
• What can you do with mobile?
• Technical implementation details
• Mobile in the big picture
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |4
why mobile?
TODAY’S MOBILE LANDSCAPE
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |5
Why You Need a Mobile Strategy
[ what most people don’t leave home without ]
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |6
The US Mobile Landscape
• Mobile phone penetration is 87%, exceeding that of cable
television, internet access and PCs in the home
• Of the 270 million mobile phones currently subscribed, over 96%
of them are SMS capable
• Over 84 billion text messages are sent each month
“In the mind of the US consumer, mobile is not an emerging
channel. It’s a fact of life. It’s a digital life link throughout the
day. For the consumer, mobile is not optional.”
- Patrick Moorehead, Director of Emerging Media, Razorfish
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |7
[sources: CTIA, Pew Foundation]
iPhone
4% overall
market
share
The iPhone is an incredible device
• Nearly 60 million units sold
• 28% of the smartphone market share
• 200,000 apps in the app store
• Over 1 billion apps downloaded
However…
• iPhone represents only 4% of the overall
mobile phone market
• 40% of iPhone users have an income of
over $100,000 per year
• The most common activity on the iPhone
is sending text messages
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |8
[sources: Nielsen, Apple]
The Four Faces of the Mobile Phone
[100% of subscribers]
[96% of subscribers]
[43% of subscribers]
[22% of subscribers]
Voice
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SMS
Mobile Web
Mobile Apps
[source: Nielsen]
SMS is The Most Pervasive Mobile Activity
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Why SMS works
96%
4
minutes
97%
Percent of
mobile users
who have SMS
capability
Time after
receipt within
which SMS
messages are
typically read
Open rate of SMS
messages
(compared to 1624% of email)
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80%
6.6
trillion
Percentage of
18-29 year olds
who use text
messaging
SMS messages
predicted to be
sent in 2010
(up 20% from
2009)
[sources: eMarketer, Pew Foundation, Portio Research]
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH MOBILE?
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2-way, self
service to provide
data to end user
upon request
and/or in context
2-way, interactive messaging
to collect end user data &
answer pre-defined queries
time-sensitive, one-way messaging
pre-addressed, static, one-way, bulk messaging
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |13
value of mobile
Hierarchy of Mobile Interactions
Batch alerts
Commercial Example
Government Example
Upgrade Offers
Renewal Notices
YSP: You have only
20 minutes remaining
on your pre-paid cell
plan. Please call
888-333-3333 and
use code DJ84Z to
get 2-for-1 minutes.
TX: Your SNAP
benefits have been
renewed. Effective
July 14, your
LoneStar Card
balance was:
$238.57.
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |14
Batched alerts – technical details
• Text file containing messages
to be sent is created from
existing system
• (s)ftp usually used; files can
be encrypted
• Scheduling can be used
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Real-time alerts
Commercial Example
Government Example
Outage Notifications
Appointment Reminder
CableCo: We are
experiencing
technical difficulties in
your area. We
expect your service to
be restored by 4pm.
TX: reminder: you
have an application
renewal appointment
Friday at 3. If you
can’t make it, please
call 888-333-4444.
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Real-time alerts – technical details
• Existing application triggers
message
• Messages sent via an
application programming
interface (API)
• Email notifications can often
be converted to SMS to avoid
programming
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Static 2-way interactions
Commercial Example
Store locator
Government Example
Office locator
Text your zip code to MYSBUX
Text your zip code to TX211
Nearest Starbucks:
Forrest & Park Central, 7718
Forest Lane, Dallas, TX,
75230, 214-369-3228.
http://mobile.starbucks.com/s
tarbucks?Id=75402
Nearest HHSC office: 302 W
NINTH ST, DALLAS,
TX,75208. (214) 942-2323.
http://maps.google.com/4829
jfsuj94920
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Static 2-way interactions – technical details
• User requests information
using a keyword, followed by
some sort of identifier (like a
zip code)
• Lookup performed against a
relatively static data set
• Information requested is
returned in a matter of
seconds
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Dynamic 2-way interactions
Commercial Example
Government Example
Account Inquiry
LoneStar Information
YSP: Your balance is
$123.43. Your last
payment was posted
on July 29. Your next
payment is due on
August 30.
TX: Your LoneStar
balance is $123.45.
The last deduction
was $13.30 on July
30. The next addition
to your card will be
$200.00 on August 1.
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |20
Dynamic 2-way interactions– technical details
• Information in existing backend system accessed to
provide response
• Personalized response for
each user
• Useful to consumers and
cost-effective for
organizations
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |21
HOW ARE MOBILE PROGRAMS
IMPLEMENTED?
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |22
The Need for SMS Aggregators
Tier 1 Mobile Providers
Other Mobile Providers
7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless • Airlink Mobile • Alaska Communications Systems • Alaska Digitel • Alaska Wireless • Amerilink
Wireless • Appalachian Wireless • ASTAC • BeyondMobile • Blue Wireless • Bluegrass Cellular • Broadpoint • call4care • Cap Rock
Cellular • Cellcom • Cellular One Bermuda • Cellular One Montana • Cellular One of East Arizona • Cellular One of East Central
Illinois • Cellular One of East Texas • Cellular One of Northeast Pennsylvania • Cellular One of San Luis Obispo • Cellular South •
Centennial Wireless • Chariton Valley Wireless • Cincinnati Bell Wireless • Clear and/or Clearwire • Clear Talk • CloseCall America
• Commnet Wireless • Consumer Cellular • Cordova Wireless • Corr Wireless • Cory's Mobile Tech Support • Cricket
Communications • Cross Communications • Dobson Cellular • DTC Wireless • Eclipse Mobile • Edge Wireless • Einstein Wireless •
Epic PCS • GCI Wireless • Golden State Cellular • GoPhone Prepaid • GTC Wireless • Helio • i wireless • Immix • Indigo Wireless •
i-wireless • Jitterbug Wireless • Jolt Wireless • KTC • Leap Wireless • Liberty Wireless • Locus Mobile • Long Lines Wireless • Lucky
Wireless • MetroPCS • Mid-Tex Cellular • Movida Wireless • NEP Wireless • NET10 • Nex-Tech Wireless • nTelos • Page Plus
Cellular • Pine Cellular • Pioneer Cellular • Plateau Wireless • PlatinumTel Prepaid Wireless • Pocket Communications • Pure
Mobile • Pure Prepaid • Pure TalkUSA • ReadyMobile • Revol Wireless • Shaka Mobile • Simmetry • SouthernLINC • Stelera
Wireless • STI Mobile • Straight Talk • Syringa Wireless • TerreStar • Thumb Cellular • TracFone Wireless • Trumpet Mobile • Túyo
Mobile • U.S. Cellular • Union Wireless • Viaero Wireless • Virgin Mobile USA • West Central Wireless • Westlink • Working Assets
Wireless • XIT Communications • Xtreme Mobile
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Air2Web’s Messaging Platform
Tier 1 SMS Aggregator
Customer
Message
AT&T
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T-Mobile
Dobson
Bluegrass
Cellular
Metro
PCS
(100+
others)
You need a lot more than an aggregator
• Sending the message is the easy part
• For truly useful programs, you have to get the data out of your
existing back-end systems
• Some approaches require custom code, which can take months
and cost lots
• Other approaches can re-use existing integration techniques and
require no new code
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Configuration-based approach
• Uses web services
• Can often re-use the services
created for the website
• No new code (and associated
costs)
• New services can be set up in
a matter of hours
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Impact on existing architectures
• SMS application providers are generally Software-as-a-Service
• Hosted platform
• Communication performed over secure channels
• No new servers or software to procure, deploy, or maintain
• Existing web services re-used for mobile
• Application provider handles all delivery considerations
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |27
Security considerations
• SMS used by major financial institutions every day
• Balance inquiries
• Information lookup
• Alerts
• Use various tricks to not expose sensitive information
• Never send full account numbers
• Never send personally-identifiable information
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MOBILE IN THE BIG PICTURE
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How mobile fits in
• Mobile (especially text) is evolutionary, not revolutionary
• Compliments web and IVR
• Provides some of the same information as mobile
• Limited to short, text-based interactions
• Pro-active notification mechanism
• Pennies each
• Easy to set up
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What about apps?
• Apps definitely have their use
• Consider the type of
information you want to
provide or collect
• Short interactions: better for text
• Longer interactions: better for
apps
• Consider the platforms
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[source: Gartner]
Mobile web is a useful alternative to apps
• Focused on quickly providing
relevant information to the
mobile user
• Rich user interface allows
more complex interaction
• Lightweight and fast loading
• Optimized for a variety of
phones
• Direct links to pages via SMS
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |32
Key Takeaways
• The mobile channel provides tremendous opportunity to provide
customer service and reduce costs
• There are a variety of services that can be provided, from simple
notifications to fully-interactive 2-way programs
• Implementation does not have to be difficult or time-consuming
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |33
thank you!
questions?
Paul Griswold
Air2Web
paul.griswold@air2web.com
©2010 Air2Web, Inc. |34