BPL Mobile leads the way in launching International
Voice SMS on Kirusa’s patented platforms
World's first commercial launch of International Voice SMS
Mumbai and New Providence, New Jersey; Monday, February
4, 2008; BPL Mobile, a leading cellular
service provider from Mumbai, India with more than 1.2 million
subscribers across Mumbai, has
launched International Voice SMS service, allowing BPL Mobile
subscribers to send Voice SMS messages to Mobile users across
the world. To launch the service, BPL Mobile has chosen Kirusa,
inventor of Voice SMS and a leading provider of Mobile value
added services, as its vendor. The two companies had partnered
in 2007 to provide Voice SMS service to BPL Mobile subscribers
within India.
The international Voice SMS service built upon Kirusa’s
patented Voice SMS platform allows BPL Mobile subscribers to
send a Voice SMS to people across the globe whenever convenient,
without having to worry about time zone differences or the high
cost of international voice calling. The recipient is able to
retrieve the Voice SMS with a local call, and reply to it easily.
With this launch, sending Voice SMS messages internationally
will become as simple and timely as delivering a Voice SMS message
within India. No special user training is required for either
the sender or recipient. A BPL Mobile subscriber dials *00 and
the international number; records a voice message; and then hangs-up
to send the message. The recipient gets an SMS from the BPL Mobile
subscriber, with an embedded Direct Listen™ link, which
is a local number in the country of the recipient. Kirusa's patented
technology enables the recipient to click on the Direct Listen
link to directly listen to the message.
Coinciding with the International Voice SMS launch and to take
the Voice SMS success story forward, BPL today also announced
the launch of an excellent value-for-money offer for all its
mobile subscribers. They can now send unlimited Voice SMS messages
to anyone in India for a flat fee of INR 50 (USD 1.26) per month.
The international Voice SMS service will allow BPL Mobile subscribers
to connect with more than 68% of the world’s mobile subscribers
at launch. Expansion to additional countries and subscribers
is planned in the future.
“We have always believed in innovation and have set benchmarks
in value added services offerings to our subscribers. Users today
are demanding compelling services that make their lives easier
and their work more productive. This service is another leap
we are taking in that direction,” said Mr. S. Subramaniam,
Director & CEO of BPL Mobile.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Sunzay Passari, VP-VAS and
Devices at BPL Mobile, said, “Our sustained effort towards
customer delight had initially prompted us to offer Kirusa’s
Voice SMS to our customers. The growing use of voice messaging
services, and the feedback from our customers led us to offer
the convenience and flexibility of Voice SMS on a global basis.”
Mr. Jaikishan Rajaraman, Director of Product and Service Development
for the GSM Association, noted that, “The success of innovative
messaging solutions such as Voice SMS depends on seamless interconnectivity
and the ability to deliver the messages without regard to where
the recipient might be. The launch of international Voice SMS
is going to increase usage and acceptability of Voice SMS worldwide."
The Kirusa International Voice SMS Solution is available to
Mobile carriers across the world with immediate effect. Any Mobile
carrier can use the Kirusa solution to allow their Mobile subscribers
to send Voice SMS messages internationally.
Mr. Taranjit Singh Batra, VP-Sales, Kirusa, added, “For
our current and prospective customers, this unique international
offering increases their overall value proposition in offering
voice messaging. Our customers can be confident in our ability
to help them deliver a world class service today and in the future.
The international messaging is especially relevant for the people
in South Asia, where many families are dispersed around the world
and business communication occurs on a global basis. We are pleased
to partner with BPL Mobile in offering a unique yet extremely
useful service to their subscribers.”
About Kirusa
Kirusa is a leading developer of value added Mobile services
that provide the freedom of multimodality. Kirusa’s solutions
include the hugely successful KV.SMS™, the world’s
most advanced “Voice SMS” solution, which allows
Mobile users to send and reply to SMS messages with voice,
and works on all handsets and on all networks. The Voice SMS
solution offers the industry’s most intuitive user interface,
with features such as Direct Listen™ for direct access
and reply to messages, Speed Codes™ for quickly sending messages
using codes, group messaging, Mobile number portability, interconnect,
and international Voice SMS. KV.SMS can be deployed in a matter
of weeks, and its fast user adoption has led to explosive revenue
growth for Kirusa's customers. KV.SMS is built on Kirusa’s
patented and patent pending technology and its highly reliable
and scalable multimodal platform. The platform’s ability
to manage and synchronize data and voice interactions, plus
its integration with IMS and 3G standards, enables customers
to cost effectively deploy additional revenue-generating services
such as messaging, search, information, and entertainment applications.
Kirusa’s solutions are deployed worldwide and used by
millions of Mobile subscribers. Headquartered in New Jersey
and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives
and technologists, Kirusa has sales offices in Paris, France;
Delhi, India; and Abu Dhabi, UAE; with a research and development
facility in Bangalore, India. ‘Kirusa Voice SMS,’ ‘Direct
Listen,’ and ‘Speed Codes’ are trademarks
of Kirusa, Inc. For more information, please visit www.kirusa.com.
About BPL Mobile
Having started its services in 1995, BPL Mobile currently operates
in Mumbai city with more than 1 million happy and satisfied subscribers.
In the latest TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) benchmark
study on quality of service of Mobile phone service providers
across all GSM & CDMA operators places BPL Mobile amongst
the top in Mumbai. BPL Mobile scored high marks in critical network
performance parameters of Call Set Up Success Rate, Call Completion
Rates & Percentage connections with good voice quality with
scores ranging between 98.6 - 99.5%. BPL Mobile has set benchmarks
in the sector with its innovative value added service offerings
like Voice SMS, m-commerce, Mobile Tracker, Mobile TV among others.
Please visit www.bplMobile.com.
Media Contact
For BPL Mobile
Schubert / Minesh
Hanmer & Partner, Mumbai
Ph: 022 6752 4600 / 9819792973 / 9821508025
schubert@hanmerpr.com, minesh@hanmerpr.com
For Kirusa
Anju T Makin
Alchemy Corporate Communications
Tel: +91 98101 70135
anju_makin@alchemycc.com
© 2001-2008 Kirusa, Inc.