The global explosion in instant messaging has in many ways been fuelled by the uptake of the mobile phone. Research companies world-wide predict that spending in the cellular industry will continue to grow and stimulated predominantly by applications making use of the popular Short Message Service or sms.

But until recently companies looking to harness the power of mobile messaging platforms have had to face barriers to entry which included: price, technological complexities, and the lack of available applications. Choice has been limited and companies have had to use specialist companies whose forte in the sms arena has made them in many cases a luxury afforded by a very niche set of blue-chip companies with massive marketing muscle behind them.

That said the pervasive nature of the mobile industry has allowed the devices / phones themselves to creep into the hands of people everywhere. The increase in the number of global and more importantly local users makes it the perfect delivery mechanism for companies and individuals looking to get a message directly into the hands of the user.

It is against this backdrop that we bring you iMessage, Your personal mobile messaging platform.

iMessage is a mobile platform that allows you as a business or even an individual user to harness the power of instant mobile messaging. A text-based mobile messaging platform, iMessage harnesses the power of sms and translates it into a tool for users which is an easy and effective means to communicate, generate marketing and business opportunities, or even just a way in which to better deliver personal information.

The iMessage solution has been designed to accommodate the simplest or most complex text-message campaign, and is delivered in a cost-effective, user friendly and manageable Web-based format.

With iMessage you own your campaign and you own your keyword, there are no hidden costs and lofty campaign development fees, no need to pay third parties to get onto the sms bandwagon, and you determine the actual costs. With iMessage you hold the ultimate control.

The beauty of iMessage is that it is flexible enough to be tailored for any application, any business, any industry and most importantly anywhere.

iMessage harnesses the two most basic principles of marketing and business by means of "push" and "pull". A simple and effective campaign can pay for itself in hours if the right audience is targeted, and "pull" the information from the iMessage server, which in turn "pushes" the right information down. By pushing the mobile message into the hands of the consumer you are able to capitalise on one of the most effective tools available to the marketing world today.

The iMessage web-based back-end has been designed to be easy-to-use to ensure that anyone situated anywhere can have access to the world of Instant Mobile Messaging, setup via imessage.co.za in a matter of minutes.

Keywords are your unique SMS identity. They are the words that your customers will use to identify the service that you are offering. The scope of these keywords are limitless. When choosing a keyword, remember that when customers require a service, be it subscribing to your information offering or trying their hand at competitions you are running, they would prefer sending as short an SMS as possible, so plan your keywords accordingly.

Once you have registered your keyword, you are able to set-up sub-keywords at no extra charge! For example you purchase the main keyword John, you could then register your sub keyword as Smith, or contact. People who sms your sub-keyword are then able to get back a response based on what you have setup in the imessage control panel

Possibly the best example of this is the management of a "competition" where participants are required to SMS the answer to the easy to remember number and then either be prompted to follow additional steps, or just be entered automatically into the competition. Income generation is achieved through the cost of the premium SMS. All information sent to iMessage is then stored on the server from which a database can be created, information mined, reports generated, or numbers stored for the "legal" reuse thereof.

The service can be set up instantly and changed continuously through the Web-based back-end of iMessage.

The iMessage service has been designed with your specific needs in mind. Rather than wasting hours of vital income generating time in getting your service up and running, we have streamlined the entire set up procedure to be quick and easy. From the time you log on to iMessage.co.za you will access the services you require to SWITCH ON your SMS campaigns, all in a matter of minutes.

And as any serious businessperson will acknowledge, keeping ones finger on the pulse of the business is the key to achieving success. iMessage, in this respect, maintains comprehensive reports (that are available through the control panel), showing you the effectiveness of your campaigns. Below is a list of services currently available on imessage. Not sure which services would work for your company? Click here to see some examples on how you could use your keyword.

• Email forwarding
• URL forwarding
• Web service
• Competitions
• Suggestion box
• Email list delivery
• SMS Response
• SMS list delivery

iMessage operates on a system of credits, which you will be required to purchase from us. Once you have purchased these credits, they will be used to pay for the services you set up on iMessage. Credit bundles start from as low as R250, so getting up and running is extremely affordable.

The Purchase Credits menu option is listed beneath My Account on the Control Panel. Credits can be purchased in pre-determined bundles, which are displayed below. Once you have purchased credits, they will be added to your imessage account. Your credit balance can be viewed by logging into the imessage control panel and clicking on "Account Balance"

• 250 000 Credits @ R250.00
• 500 000 Credits @ R500.00
• 750 000 Credits @ R750.00
• 1 000 000 Credits @ R1000.00
• 2 000 000 Credits @ R2000.00
• 5 000 000 Credits @ R5000.00

10 credits = 1 cent.

An innovative feature that we offer is the EARN THROUGH SPENDING revenue share programme. This allows you to generate an income when people SMS your keyword (at a pre-determined premium. This effectively means that the more SMSs you receive from people, the more revenue you will earn. Depending on which short code you register your imessage keyword, you will be able to work out how much revenue you can earn.

	35002	31647	34050	37002	36100
Vodacom	1,240 Credits	0 Credits	680 Credits	3,750 Credits	2,360 Credits
MTN	1,240 Credits	0 Credits	680 Credits	3,750 Credits	2,360 Credits
Cell C	1,240 Credits	0 Credits	680 Credits	3,750 Credits	2,360 Credits

A short code is a dedicated short mobile number (normally 5 digits) to make it easy to remember, and are available on different cost bands across the 3 cell-phone networks in South Africa. iMessage currently has two dedicated shortcodes. When an SMS is sent to one of these shortcodes the person sending the SMS is charged a premium fee by the cell-phone network. The short codes currently available on iMessage are summarised in the table below, together with the associated cost to the sender of sending an SMS to the number:

There is a 90-day waiting period for credit payouts, as this is when the network passes on the premium revenue share to us. A service fee of R50 is charged per payout. The account balance in credits must be greater than the requested amount + the service fee. Once a request for payout has been made, the requested amount plus service fee is reserved until payout and cannot be used. On the day of the payout, the client" s account is cleared of the reserved credits, and the money is transferred to the client.

The functionality offered by iMessage can be easily extended through integration with your new or existing custom applications. Do you want to develop an interactive SMS-based booking system? Check on the availability of a stock item using SMS? Log a service failure in your ERP system using SMS? Provide premium content on your site?

Soft Craft Systems can develop customized functionality to meet your unique needs and special requirements. Soft Craft Systems can also offer assistance if you need to integrate your existing backend systems into imessage. For more information please contact the custom software development department on 083 292 8665 for an assessment and quotation. Alternatively email:info@smss.co.za or webmaster

We also offer bulk sms services from our Holding Company: SMSS South Africa We are proud to offer the LOWEST sms costs in South Africa and Internationally.

Put us to the test! Register for free, click here and receive 10 credits instantly

South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, Europe (15 Countries), Middle East (10 Countries), and the United Kingdom (Visit SMSS at: www.smss.co.za)