Zong Launches Voice SMSZong Launches Voice SMS

Zong rings in 'Keh Do' voice SMS in Pakistan

September 5, 2008

3 Min Read

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan and NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. -- CMPak Limited, Pakistan (ZONG), a 100% subsidiary of China Mobile, today announced the launch of ‘Keh Do’ (Say It) Message on its network. The Voice SMS solution has been sourced from Kirusa, the world’s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value added services. This is Kirusa’s third deployment of Voice SMS in Pakistan.

ZONG KehDo Message will change the way people interact with each other. It allows mobile subscribers to send a quick vocal message. This benefits the sender by reducing the time and cost to relay a message. The receiver benefits by picking up the voice message at a convenient time, and being able to reply to the message. Moreover Voice SMS conveys emotions better than plain written text. All prepaid and postpaid subscribers of ZONG can send Voice SMS messages to any mobile number across Pakistan.

To bring ‘Keh Do’ Message to the subscribers, Kirusa has incorporated its Voice SMS application and multimodal platform along with NMS Vision VXML media platform in ZONG’s network. Kirusa has partnered with Aradiom, a company based in Karachi, to deliver the solution.

ZONG’s subscribers can easily and quickly send a Voice SMS by dialing * followed by the recipient’s phone number, recording a short message in their own voice and pressing the send button. The recipient will get an SMS notification and will be connected to the Voice SMS once he dials a predefined number in the notification. For listening to the Voice SMS, ZONG subscribers can also dial *0* for new messages and *1* for old message retrievals. A subscriber has the option to reply to a message.

ZONG has also launched International Voice SMS, allowing ZONG’s subscribers to send a Voice SMS to people across the globe whenever convenient, without having to worry about time zone differences or the high cost of international voice calling. The recipient is able to retrieve the Voice SMS with a local call, and reply to it easily.

A ZONG subscriber dials *00 and the international number; records a voice message; and then hangs-up to send the message. The recipient gets an SMS from the ZONG subscriber, with an embedded Direct Listen™ link, which is a local number in the country of the recipient. Kirusa's patented technology enables the recipient to click on the Direct Listen link to directly listen to the message. This is the first deployment of International Voice SMS by any mobile operator in Pakistan.

ZONG subscribers can send the ‘Keh Do’ Voice SMS at a nominal price of PKR 1.5 (approximately USD 0.02). Repeat retrievals of a Voice SMS message are also charged at PKR 1.5 (approximately USD 0.02). For International Voice SMS, sending a Voice SMS is charged at PKR 3 (approximately USD 0.04) and retrievals are also charged at PKR 3 (approximately USD 0.04).

Chief Operating Officer ZONG, Mr. Zafar Usmani, said, “ZONG is geared to offer personalized VAS products to individuals, companies, and small businesses. ‘Keh Do’ Message is an innovative service relevant for all subscriber segments in Pakistan. We are delighted to have worked with Kirusa in bringing this popular service to our subscribers.”

Zong

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