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BeVocal Creates ''Mobile Storefront'' -- a Self-Service Marketing and Distribution Channel for Wireless Carriers

Posted on: Monday, 27 March 2006, 09:00 CST

BeVocal, the leading provider of hosted customer self-service solutions, today announced Mobile Storefront, a unique shopping and fulfillment solution that lets callers use speech, SMS or WAP to shop for, purchase and self-provision carrier add-on products and services. In conjunction with its Mobile Storefront, BeVocal will be unveiling its revolutionary Ringtone Store at CTIA Wireless, April 5-7 in Las Vegas. With an extensive library of more than 1.2 million ringtones, the Ringtone Store enables wireless subscribers to use their voice to quickly and efficiently browse and purchase their favorite ringtones.

A Mobile "Storefront" in the Phone

BeVocal's multi-channel Mobile Storefront application provides a convenient, intuitive way for subscribers to learn about and purchase add-on products and services. Carriers can configure the Storefront as a stand-alone application with its own access point, or integrate it with the main customer care number. As a stand-alone application, carriers can brand the Storefront with an easily remembered key sequence, such as "#BUY." As an integrated solution, the carrier can drive subscribers to the Storefront by making targeted product offers during regular customer care interactions. If a subscriber opts to learn more about the offer, they are transferred to the Mobile Storefront in order to purchase the product.

"The Mobile Storefront mimics the retail store experience in its ability to educate subscribers about features and services, and enable them to purchase those services," said Mikael Berner, CEO of BeVocal. "But the similarities end there. The storefront's ability to integrate with Customer Care enables operators to capture a large audience -- those who call into the carrier for customer support -- and deliver highly targeted marketing campaigns with a built-in call-to-action response system. This is an incredibly powerful tool for carriers to drive awareness and adoption of new services."

Subscribers who enter the Mobile Storefront can use their voice to browse the products and services available to be added to their accounts, and to learn product and pricing information. When they are ready to buy, the system enables instant fulfillment and self-provisioning of add-on products and services, such as ringtones, data plans, games, roadside assistance, and enhanced calling features. This enables subscribers to begin using their new add-ons immediately following the automated purchasing process. Carriers can also send updates on new products and special promotions, which can be delivered to the subscriber via voice, SMS or email. The subscriber can then respond to the offer, and purchase the product immediately.

Another benefit of the Mobile Storefront is its ability to enable carriers to monitor sales in real-time across all channels -- voice, SMS and WAP. Mobile operators utilize BeVocal's web-based management tools to learn what services are selling most effectively, and through which channels. With this information, wireless marketing managers can refine their marketing and promotion efforts in real-time to generate optimal results.

Voice Search for Ringtones

Within the Mobile Storefront, BeVocal's Ringtone Store enables subscribers to easily search for and buy ringtones using their voice. Users simply call a carrier-designated number or short code, where they are greeted by a hip, youth-oriented persona. The user says the name of the artist or title they are looking for. They can also search by the most popular ringtones or search by music genre. The subscriber can then preview the ringtone, purchase it, and have the content sent directly to his or her phone.

The BeVocal Ringtone Store overcomes issues common to WAP/J2ME/BREW mobile storefronts, such as network latency, complex data entry on small screens, and lack of personalization. The Ringtone Store contains advanced support for personalization, built-in auto-suggestion and up-sell capability, such as suggesting a ringback tone based on current or past selections. Furthermore, the application can easily be extended to include discovery and fulfillment of other content and products.

BeVocal is sponsoring the BeVocal Ringtone Jukebox contest at CTIA Wireless. To enter, contestants simply need to come to the BeVocal booth (#5279) and use the application to ask for their favorite ringtone. Those who are able to "stump the Jukebox" will be eligible to win an iPod Nano or a prepaid cellphone with a $50 prepaid card.

About BeVocal

BeVocal is the leading provider of hosted customer self-service solutions for communications service provider and enterprise call centers. BeVocal's automated next generation solutions help its clients make the most of every self-service customer contact, enabling them to reduce the costs of customer care, increase revenues, and raise customer satisfaction.

Delivering a rich suite of integrated Voice, Web, and wireless data applications, BeVocal provides the only complete self-service solution for the total customer lifecycle. Clients can achieve immediate impact across all key business metrics -- including operating cost reductions, revenue increases, churn decreases, and elevated levels of customer satisfaction. BeVocal's award-winning solutions are deployed on a carrier-grade hosting network to answer, automate, and route customer self-service interactions across a variety of customer-selected self-service channels.

Source: Business Wire

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