PRS Connectivity and support key to developing the telemedia business, says txtNation

Connectivity and service are the two key business drivers in the expanding premium rate telemedia market, according to content, messaging and billing from txtNation, which has recently expanded its connections in to India and China and has upped its already high level commitment to support with the launch of txtNation SD, a dedicated, centralised support service.

The company – which will be appearing at CTIA in San Francisco next week and at Ad:tech in London later this month – has already gone live in China and India, and has two clients using its connectivity in these regions. One, a large consumer electronics brand, is using it to offer add ons to pre-loaded memory cards in phones in the UK and China.

Alongside connectivity, txtNation – which has connections in 45 countries globally – sees the key to success in the premium messaging, billing and content market as being support services. Michael Whelan, director of txtNation says: “Retention is starting to improve in the industry, as are pay outs and connectivity, so now support to clients is the key to staying ahead”.

For this reason, txtNation has rolled out txtNationSD, its support and distribution arm, which will give a total range of support options using a centralised support system. Whelan admits that his company puts a lot of resources in to support – offering, in his words, “true 24x7 support globally, on a solid platform and two account managers – in fact we spend more now on support than sales as its so key to getting and keeping clients”.

In Whelan’s view “one in five” prospective clients come to us complaining about lack of support [from other companies]. We don’t want to be one of those companies so we have support all over the world to follow the sun.”

As well as offering unprecedented levels of support, txtNation has also rolled out version 5 of its Control Panel web interface, which allows clients to set up and run any of the mobile services that txtNation has on offer. “It’s a one-stop-shop of everything we do,” says Whelan.

According to Whelan, Control Panel 5.1 (CP5) is an exceptionally powerful tool for the billing and delivery of rich content and services. Via a streamlined, accessible Web-based interface, CP5 serves the enterprise in powering a range of award-winning content, messaging and billing solutions. CP5 also provides a plethora of options that allow clients to customise every aspect of how they use the services provided by txtNation, he says.

“Whatever services you use, you get 24x7 access to a control panel that enables you to fine tune those services, request an upgrade, buy new services and to keep a close eye on data related to your account,” adds Whelan.

CP5 is the next step in the evolution of txtNation’s successful content management and applications platform, built on years of experience, and industry expertise in delivering both common and bespoke mobile services. Among other things, CP5 provides centralised and intelligent content store, intuitive access to SMS, MMS, WAP and email solutions, as well as wizard-driven templates for common services. It also brings easier integration with industry gateways, premium billing and alternative billing, and lets clients create content portals easily, as well as administer subs and one-off purchases.

It also offers full real-time statistics, campaign management and flexible support for white label and resold services and DRM.

The service has already been put to use by wine seller Blossom Hill, which is using CP5 to manage an SMS and MMS competition on its wine labels, where consumers could enter by text or by sending a picture to shortcodes on the bottle label.
04/09/2008 - By Michael Whelan