Ufone launches Kirusa’s Voice SMS service
in Pakistan
Ufone Awaz SMS enables subscribers to send SMS messages
in their own voice
Islamabad, Pakistan and New Providence, New Jersey;
Tuesday, April 08, 2008: Ufone, one of the leading mobile carriers in
Pakistan, has launched the ‘Awaz SMS’ service based
upon the pioneering Voice SMS technology from Kirusa, the world’s
leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile
value added services.
Ufone subscribers across Pakistan can now send personalized ‘Awaz
SMS’ messages to friends, family and colleagues across
mobile networks in Pakistan. The Awaz SMS service is available
nationwide to all Ufones’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
To deliver the Voice SMS solution to Ufone, Kirusa has deployed
Voice SMS application and multimodal platform, integrated with
HP open call media platform in the Ufone network in Islamabad.
Kirusa’s Voice SMS technology allows its clients to
offer the ultimate seamless Voice SMS experience to their mobile
subscribers. The service provides a user the facility to send
SMS messages without having to go through the pain of typing
a message on mobile phone keypads; instead a user is simply
required to dial “99” followed by the recipient’s
phone number, and records a short message of 30 seconds, in
the language of his/her choice. A Ufone subscriber will get
a network call that will take him to his Voice SMS. If the
recipient is on another network he/she will get an SMS message
from the sender, and can directly dial a predefined number
in the message to access the recorded message. After listening
to the message, Ufone subscribers can reply to an ‘Awaz
SMS’ by voice, or by text, and can also forward the message
if they like. He/she can also dial *0* to retrieve new messages,
and *1* to retrieve old messages. The user also has the option
to schedule the Awaz SMS for sending the message at a later
predefined time. A subscriber on another network also has an
option to reply to an Awaz SMS sent by a Ufone subscriber.
A number of other enhanced features are also available.
Ufone subscribers will pay PKR 0.75 (USD 0.018) to send an ‘Awaz
SMS.’ They will be able to listen to the message free
of charge for the first time, and will pay PKR 0.50 (USD 0.012)
per minute for subsequent listens.
“We have always believed in maintaining a strong focus
on high quality of service and providing innovative solutions
to add value to the lives of our subscribers. We believe that
Awaz SMS will be just the right market initiative to fulfill
the need of the masses. We are happy that we worked with Kirusa
to bring this service to the market mainly because of their
proactive stance and industry leading technology platforms,” said
Asher Yaqoob, CMO, Ufone.
“Awaz SMS will have tremendous appeal to youth along
with servicing the messaging needs of the low literacy market
segment. It will have all the colors of emotion and will allow
our subscribers to give a personalized touch when they communicate,” said
Mr Ali Ikram, Head of VAS, Ufone Pakistan.
"Our customers can be confident in our ability to help
them deliver a world class service today and in the future," said
Kirusa CEO, Inderpal Singh Mumick. He further added, “We
are pleased to work with Ufone to bring the Voice SMS service
to their mobile subscribers in Pakistan and we congratulate
Ufone on the launch of the Voice SMS service.”
About Ufone
Ufone is an Etisalat Group Company and is Pakistan’s
second largest cellular operator. The company’s customer
base has now crossed 15.5 million. Ufone’s service is
available in more than 3072 cities, towns, villages, tehsil
head quarters and highways. The company employs more than 2200
people. The company operates with a franchise network of 300
plus and 25 company owned customer service centers along with
a distribution network of 150,000 outlets across Pakistan.
About Kirusa
Kirusa is the world’s leading vendor of Voice SMS and
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
subscribers 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 subscribers. 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 subscribers 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 Mexico
City, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; 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.
Media Contact
Kirusa
Anju T Makin
Alchemy Corporate Communications
Tel: +91 98101 70135
anju_makin@alchemycc.com
© 2001-2008 Kirusa, Inc.