Pricing transparency expected to drive growth in new markets

London, UK, July 3rd, 2012 - IMImobile, a global mobile data technology infrastructure and solutions provider to telecom operators, media companies and enterprises, has today announced the introduction of cross-network free-to-user Voice Short Codes (VSCs). The service is the first of its kind to be made available in the UK by IMImobile, and allows consumers to benefit from a zero-rated price point.

VCSs are five digit codes that allow consumers to contact businesses, retailers, enterprises, such as financial and utility services, directly from their mobile phone via SMS, MMS and, more recently, voice. Until now, high Voice Short Code prices have discouraged inbound communication, as consumers have been reluctant to incur the heavy costs associated with these services. With a free-to-user price point available, IMImobile is removing the cost barrier allowing businesses to provide their customers with a worry-free service. Well-established and trusted short code services can now be either called or texted giving users a unified mobile experience across multiple platforms, which drive customer interaction. In turn, greater mobile interaction can lead, for example, to new revenue-generating opportunities, or help reduce customer churn and revenue leakage.

With additional lower premium price points, IMImobile’s customers will benefit from a greater level of pricing clarity. A transparent pricing strategy is vital in driving the growth of VSCs in sectors such as utilities, retail and broadcasting, where customer contact centres are prevalent.

“Customers are still facing significant call charges if they are calling non-geographical numbers, such as 0800 numbers from their mobile phone,” says Martin Bolsover, Head of Enterprise Europe, IMImobile. “The new free-to-user Voice Short Code service provides cost transparency allowing brands, marketers, enterprises and other businesses to improve the mobile customer experience and interaction.”

“IMImobile will be able to integrate the Voice Short Codes in two possible ways, either directly into existing direct dial-ins (DDIs), or into IMImobile’s interactive voice recognition (IVR) infrastructure. This not only ensures that there is minimal impact of existing services, but will also allow us to deploy individual DDIs for each of the mobile operators,” continued Bolsover.