ATS Debuts Voice Short Codes

Toronto – For years, marketers using premium rate solutions have been frustrated by an inability to reach mobile phones with an ideal solution. Unlike European countries where cell phone users can dial premium rate 900 numbers, in North America this is simply not the case. When it comes to 900 numbers, cell phone users need not apply.

Cutting the Cord In the United States, 20.2% of all households no longer have a landline phone, according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a trend that shows no signs of stopping. From 2007 to 2008, an additional 3% of American households cut the cord to their landline phone and became cell phone only households. The three percentage point increase in 2008 is the same as it was the previous year.

In Canada, cell phone only households are less common, but growing nonetheless. Eight percent of Canadian households are now cell phone only, according to the Residential Telephone Service Survey.

Demographics of cell phone only households are similar in both the United States and Canada. Not surprisingly, it is young, unrelated adults who are most likely to have dismissed the idea of a landline phone as a household necessity. In addition, African-Americans and Hispanics, with a younger and more urban presence than Caucasians, are also more likely to not have a fixed landline phone.

Premium Outlets

Premium SMS was the solution that many marketers were excited about when it debuted a few years ago. In many cases, premium SMS has been a great addition to the premium rate marketer. Popular television shows like Deal or No Deal certainly placed premium SMS solutions in the minds of the public.

But, premium SMS has been slower to catch on than most marketers would have liked. Promoters are buried under a plethora of frustrating and ever-changing rules and regulations, as the carriers find their way with this new technology and billing methodology. Compounding the concern is the fact that each carrier continues to act independently with its rules and its stringent audit process. Promoters are finding it to be a full-time job simply to keep up with the myriad of regulations.

While North Americans are certainly becoming more tech-savvy when it comes to text messaging, there is still a common reluctance on the part of media to promote premium SMS services that are commonplace throughout Europe. “I can’t charge my listeners,” is common in the North American radio industry, for instance, despite the fact that premium SMS solutions could greatly make up for some of the lost advertising revenue that the radio industry is facing in the economic downturn.

Finally, premium SMS simply does not offer the same user experience that pay per call 900 numbers do. Text messages are limited to just 160 characters and although the response message is usually immediate, there is no chance for the same kind of excitement provided by a celebrity voice on an IVR 900 number program. Interactivity within the program is also not possible, as it is with interactive voice response.

Gaining Pounds

Enter the pound code.

In Europe, pound codes are known as “voice short codes.”

Pound codes offer the same ease of memory that mobile SMS short codes offer. Consumers need only remember four digits and they are on their way to accessing the exact same voice program that is available via the IVR mechanism.

In the case of pound codes, consumers dial the pound sign (known as the hash sign in Europe) plus a four digit code. Access is provided to the same audiotext program, only on the cell phone. For the first time ever, consumers can be charged for a voice phone call to their cell phone bill.

Well, most consumers anyway. Currently Bell and Rogers participate in the pound code technology, as does their prepaid brands Solo and Fido respectively. Virgin Mobile is anticipated to be accessible shortly. The major carrier missing from the puzzle is Telus. When Telus begins using the solution, penetration of the pound code in Canada will rise from 2/3 to nearly all Canadian mobile users.

“Pound codes are like a 900 number for the cell phone,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services. “This is precisely what our customers have been looking for to access the growing mobile phone community,” added Bentz. “And, the number is actually way easier to remember than a 10-digit 900 number.”

Not only does the pound code provide billing to the cell phone, but it also taps the ever-increasing on the-go community in North America.

“People want it now more than ever,” said Bentz, a 21-year veteran of the telemedia industry. “A pound code provides that immediacy to the consumer whether he is at home, looking for the best bargains at the mall, or wanting to get a traffic report while on the road.”

Anthony Wayne works in the marketing department at Advanced Telecom Services. He is also a frequent writer for major marketing publications.

Advanced Telecom Services, founded in 1989, is a premium rate service bureau and mobile marketing company headquartered in suburban Philadelphia. It also has offices in Chicago, Austin, Toronto, Calgary, London, Dublin, Prague, and Bratislava.

Advanced Telecom Services debuted its first pound code program in Canada in November, 2009 in an interactive TV program. It expects to debut the pound code technology in the USA in 2010.

Contact an ATS representative today by email.