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New SMS Service Drives Consumer Requirements

DUBAI — What if you wanted a perfect Italian setting that promised a cosy dinner for two, but couldn’t figure out where to go! For most of us, that’s the sort of dilemma that can leave us with sweaty palms and a crinkled forehead.

Not any more. All you do is SMS your query to 4727 and voila, you have a complete list of Italian restaurants in the location of your choice that too in quicktime. This or anything else — from restaurants and movers and packers to lifestyle stores and automobile dealers, etc. — everything is now on your 
fingertips.

For those of you who haven’t figured it out, it has nothing to do with magic, but plain, simple technology, bought to you courtesy GetInfo, a Dubai-based company that launched the Middle East’s first interactive SMS search marketing at a Press conference held in Dubai on Tuesday. The service aptly called ‘getinfo’ is an easy to use SMS-based service that enables consumers to practically access any information by texting the key words to 4727. The service marketed as the “Magic of 2” was developed and delivered by vMobo, a California-based company for the GCC and North African countries.

Unveiling the details of the service at a Press conference, Mukkul Shyam, CEO of GetInfo said: “The UAE has been chosen as the launch pad as it enjoys the highest mobile penetration rate as well as one of the best organised retail sectors in the region. There are 10 million mobile users in the country and mobile penetration has grown by almost 200 per cent over the last four years. The solution is eco-friendly and will help companies reduce their carbon footprint in the region. Over and beyond this, we believe that this service will drive immense value to consumers and merchants alike and is also a direct initiative to support the small and medium sector.”

Speaking at the conference, Vinu Sundaresan, CEO of vMobo said: “We realise that the launch of this service in the UAE will bring the potential of our solution to a wider audience. It is a unique service that will take relationship marketing between merchants and consumers to a higher level where results are real time, targeted and measurable.”

Complementing the introduction of the SMS-based information service GetInfo will also introduce another vMobo initiative ‘1sec’, a first-of-its-kind facility which allows mobile users to create a personal domain on an SMS platform.

“‘1sec’ is your personal mobile assistant who can respond to your friends, family and associates with information you would like to share. Once you signup to the service, you can set your information on keywords for your phone number, address, directions, message and status. You can also set up your own custom keywords to share information like weddings, birthdays, jokes, appointments, etc., “ Sundaresan said.

SPI, the marketing and sales agents of GetInfo in the UAE are ecstatic about the potential of the product and its value to merchants and consumers. CEO Shantanu Phansalker said, “We understand the market and its needs. This service will change the ecosystem of direct marketing and bring merchants and consumers together and drive value to all.” — anshuman@khaleejtimes.com