Responsa wants to sell a better SMS than SMS

A NEW TWIST on a directory enquiry services has just been lanched by spin-off company, Responsa.

The service uses technologies such as SMS and IVR based systems to deliver targetted business numbers to voice callers, the firm claimed.

The USP, according to Responsa, is that it will be capable of using the latest mobile technologies, including location based information and MMS/fototext, should the caller be equipped with a leading edge handset.

So if the caller wants the number for the nearest bar in the area which is 'jumping', the landlord can snap the bar's current atmosphere and send the image along with its address and phone number to the enquirer.

Responsa believes its system can help mobile network operators to tap into an area from which they are currently excluded. It estimates there are arond 2.5 billion classified searches in the UK alone per year and if the mobile operators can steal just 10 per cent of that, as a revenue generator it'll be bigger than SMS.

That's because the results are delivered over premium rate SMS or MMS. "It's all about grabbing a share of the money in your back pocket and Responsa can deliver that to operators - particularly for the important 18-30 age bracket."

Responsa's Achilles' heel is that it needs to sell to all mobile operators while simultaneously building its own brand - something which won't go down well with the likes of an Orange or Vodafone. µ