txtNation, a specialist in global premium rate billing services, has announced it is now offering Voice Short Codes otherwise known as a VSC in the UK market. Available across all UK mobile operators, the new short codes have proven to be a very successful marketing tool due to their convenience, claims the company.
Voice Short Codes are compatible with SMS Short Codes, which means they complement existing SMS or Premium Rate services, and an provide an effective marketing vehicle to allow the combination of voice and data components for any campaign or application. The same 5-digit short code number can therefore be used for both voice calls and SMS messaging, keeping costs to the business to a minimum.
The revenue generated from the charge to customers for Voice ShortCode services is shared by txtNation, the network operators and their clients. Customers pay for these premium rate calls in the normal way; either on their mobile phone bill or out of their pre-paid credit.
Michael Whelan, Director txtNation "I predict that in 2010, shows like the X-Factor, Deal or No Deal and other high grossing interactive TV shows will be using VSC's for enhanced user participation. If you look at the issues with premium rate numbers and how difficult they are to advertise when compared to Voice Short Codes, this alone will result in better acceptance."
According to txtNation, the major advantage that txtNation see for Voice Short Codes over other types of customer engagement and billing types, is that with a VSC end users only have to call a 5-digit number, which is much more memorable than a standard phone number or premium rate number. This means that users are more likely to remember the short code and therefore re-use the service. The overall experience is that much better, resulting in improved revenues and less customer service incidents.