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| Proud Exhibitor of AfricaComVisit us at Stand P19 |
SMS is and
will continue to be the most effective means of communication for years to
come. The reasons for this are many, but the ones that are considered most
prominent are two: it is the most ubiquitous means of communication and by far
the cheapest. SMS does not require sophisticated smartphones, data connections,
3G or LTE but works on anything from an underlying GSM network to more advanced
and sophisticated technologies. Moreover, it works on any phone and today it is
considered as a basic tool used by all subscribers globally. Not only is it a
tool for subscribers, but in recent years it has come to be one of the most
effective marketing tools and communications media used by companies to reach
out to their customer base as well as attract new clientele.
Recent
articles demonstrate that Africa is the second largest mobile market in the
world, second only to Asia. Moreover it is deemed to be the fastest growing mobile
market. Hence the potential for marketers and business to tap into this region
is huge. In the past five years the growth of mobile phone users in Africa was
a healthy 20% year on year.
Abuse
of text messages
Unfortunately,
not everyone has legitimate or noble intentions in using this medium. As with
every other means of communication,
where there is use, there generally is also some kind of abuse. SMS is certainly
no exception to this. The growth and success of this means of communication has
also attracted spammers, fraudsters and illegitimate users, resulting in
revenue leakages, disputes and customer disgruntlement for mobile network
operators. It also constitutes increase in resources required to mitigate these
abuses and contain them to the extent possible.
Moreover,
it also results in customer complaints on the other hand which generally result
in calls to the call centre or billing disputes, when the customers are
subjected to hoaxes, scams and spam. Not to mention that spam over text
messages can lead to unnecessary load on the mobile operator’s network,
possibly resulting in a disruption of services. The upshot of all of this is
the reputational damage to the operator’s brand and risk of customer churn in
the process.
In an
article by Dr. Pieter Streicher on 1st May 2012, in mybroadband.co.za, he
expressly speaks about the issue of misuse of SMS and the right to maintain the
integrity of SMS. He goes on to mention that there are two ways to curtail
misuse; namely raising prices and regulation. Whilst we at HAUD Systems agree
that the decrease in prices may have exacerbated the attractiveness of SMS for
spammers, and we also agree that regulation (and self-regulation is important),
we also believe that there is a third and more effective way of combatting SMS
misuse.
The way we
look at it is that for very little operational cost and no capital expenditure
outlay by mobile network operators, we at HAUD Systems can provide an active
solution to effectively mitigate this problem. Not only is our system a proactive
way of curtailing abuse, it also serves to cut down operational costs for
operators in their fraud.
Curbing
the abuse
At
HAUD Systems we believe that we have developed the right suite of software
solutions to curb, control and pre-empt abusive use of text messages by
fraudsters and spammers on your network. We know that these dubious individuals
and organisations are constantly seeking ways of circumventing regulation,
payment for SMS delivery and trying to make quick money at customers’ and
operators’ expense in the process.
For all
these reasons, HAUD Systems has created a multi-layered protection system for
MNOs through its scalable solution. HAUD Systems seeks to partner with MNOs and
provide a comprehensive solution. The solution is based on various aspects from
the offering of consultancy services to the MNO regarding the interpretation of
the data on its solution, which originators to block and how to ensure revenues
are generated from all types of SMS entering the network.
Through
providing a non-intrusive software solution which is flexible and upgradable instantaneously
with new features HAUD offers the MNO peace of mind through the configuration
of alarms that the system pushes directly via email to the authorised personnel
of the MNO. This solution need not necessarily be installed on the MNO’s
network itself, but can also be placed at SCCP carrier level for maximum
protection and least invasive installation possible. Finally, the most
attractive feature of our offering is our commercial proposition to MNOs that
effectively means zero capital outlay and minimum operational costs to run.
About
HAUD Systems
HAUD Systems (www.haud.com) is a subsidiary company of FORTYYTWO Group. At HAUD Systems we have
developed a proprietary solution that focuses on advanced software and
technological solutions in the SS7 arena. Our primary customers are mobile network
operators and SCCP carriers that require SMS analytics for originating and/or
terminating SMS on their networks. At HAUD Systems, we pride ourselves on our
company values in creating solutions, which provide reliable ease of use and control
over communications networks.
Our
business practice is to partner with our clients and assist them in achieving
results through using our solutions. For this reason we like to hand-hold our
clients throughout the business life-cycle, from initial discussions through to
prompt and efficient customer support and maintenance.
Come meet HAUD at this year’s AfricaCom 2013 event on Stand P19 or contact us at sales@haud.com to slot us into your busy agenda now. Get your Free Ticket to AfricaCom Here
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