Zain launches Voice SMS for its customers
in Kuwait
National and International Voice SMS Launch on Kirusa Platforms
Kuwait and New Providence, New Jersey, December 23,
2008 - Zain,
the leading mobile service provider in Kuwait, has launched
a nationwide Voice SMS service on Kirusa platforms. All prepaid
and postpaid subscribers of Zain Kuwait can now send Voice
SMS to mobile customers in Kuwait and to over a billion people
across the globe. Kirusa is the world’s leading vendor
of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value added
services.
Voice SMS enables users to send messages in their own voice
rather than typing an SMS, enabling them to communicate their
emotions in any language. Voice SMS will put life into the
messages sent by Zain customers to their family, friends and
colleagues, making messaging a unique, lively and personal
experience.
“We see a great opportunity for Voice SMS in Kuwait
and are also delighted to offer our customers the flexibility
of reaching
out to their friends and families overseas. Voice SMS gives
them an option to communicate with voice messages across
borders and time zones,” said Khaled Al-Hajeri CEO of
Zain Kuwait. He further added, “Kirusa’s leading
Voice SMS offering has huge proven potential, and serves as
the platform for many
other value added services, including International Voice
SMS and broadcast of voice messages.”
“Kirusa’s Voice SMS solution enables Zain customers
a greater freedom to communicate and provides an emotional
touch
to their messages within Kuwait and to mobile users across
the globe,” said Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO and
Founder of Kirusa. “We are very excited to be a part
of the Zain Kuwait’s Voice SMS launch and are sure
that Zain subscribers will welcome the flexibility that
the service offers.”
To make the service available to its customers, Zain has
incorporated Kirusa Voice SMS Solution integrated with
the HP Opencall Media
Platform into its network.
International Voice SMS enables Zain customers to communicate
with over a billion customers across the globe. Sending messages
internationally is just as easy as sending a message across
town. A Zain subscriber can dial * 88 followed by 00, country
code and the international number; record a voice message and
disconnect.
About Zain
Zain is a leading emerging markets player in the field of telecommunications
aiming to become one of the top ten mobile operators in the
world by 2011. Zain was established in 1983 in Kuwait as
the region’s first mobile operator. Since 2003, it
has grown significantly becoming the 4th largest mobile network
in the world in terms of geographic presence with a footprint
in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa
providing mobile voice and data services to 56.3 million
active customers (as on 30 September 2008).
Zain operates in the following countries: Bahrain, Burkina
Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Gabon, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi, Madagascar,
Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania,
Uganda and Zambia. In Lebanon, the company manages the network
on behalf of the government operating as mtc-touch. The company’s
mobile operations in Ghana will begin by the end of 2008.
The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications
Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock
ticker: ZAIN). The company had a market capitalization of over
US$ 23.4 billion on 30 September, 2008.
About Kirusa
Kirusa is the world’s leading vendor of Voice SMS and
a leading developer of mobile value added services. Kirusa’s
solutions include the hugely successful KV.SMS™, the
world’s most advanced “Voice SMS” solution
that has been selected by more than twenty five carriers around
the world. The Voice SMS solution allows mobile subscribers
to send and reply to SMS messages with voice. Kirusa’s
solution works on all handsets and on all networks, and offers
the industry’s most intuitive user interface, with features
such as DirectListen™ for direct access and reply to
messages, Speed Codes™ for quickly sending messages,
group messaging, mobile number portability, background music,
interconnection, international Voice SMS. KV.SMS can be deployed
in a matter of weeks, and its rapid user adoption has led to
explosive revenue growth for Kirusa's customers. Kirusa offers
an exchange service for interconnection of Voice SMS messages
between carriers, and is pioneering a suite of applications
that touch mobile users through voice. Kirusa has partnered
with Qualcomm to deliver a Brew client for sending and receiving
Voice SMS messages. Kirusa solutions are built on Kirusa’s
patented and patent pending technology and its highly reliable
and scalable multimodal platform. The platform enables subscribers
to cost effectively deploy additional revenue-generating services
such as messaging, search, information, and entertainment applications.
Kirusa’s solutions are used by mobile subscribers millions
of times every day. Kirusa has been recognized as one of top
100 technology companies by Silicon India, and one of top 25
emerging technology companies by Smart Techie magazine. Headquartered
in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom
executives and technologists, Kirusa has sales offices in three
continents, with research and development facilities in New
Delhi and in Bangalore, India. ‘Kirusa Voice SMS,’ ‘DirectListen ’and ‘Speed
Codes’ are trademarks of Kirusa, Inc. For more information,
please visit www.kirusa.com.
Media Contacts
Kirusa
Anju T Makin
Alchemy Corporate Communications
Tel: +91 98101 70135
E-mail: anju_makin@alchemycc.com
Zain Kuwait
Besma Al-Nafisi
Zain Kuwait Corporate Communications & Relations
Tel: +965 99005494
E-mail: besma.alnafisi@zain.com
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