Pushing the IVVR market

The main challenge in pushing the IVVR solutions and services is to penetrate a market which is already dominated by high speed mobile internet portals and applications. Ugunduzi was created by IVVR professional, Idan Gafni, with the goal of penetrating the mobile content and mobile services market with IVVR technology.
So what are the attributes of IVVR that make it a valid and even a superior option to deliver on-demand, media-rich, services?! Every UMTS (GSM 3G) enabled device is capable of easily run an IVVR service and deliver interactive mobile video content using Video IVR. In mobile internet services, a data plan is a necessary prerequisite while IVVR is inherently supported in every plan in a 3G (UMTS) network. In addition, IVVR provides interactivity level that WAP portals just can’t provide. Billing can be done by revenue sharing with the mobile operator on the air time generated by the service, by launching the service on a premium line, or by sending reverse billing SMS per action, per content item, or per time spent in the service / portal. Basically, IVVR provides a dynamic environment that encourages media companies and content owners to deliver mobile services with a clear business model, good interactivity attributes, and a great device support.
The old paradigm in IVVR solutions was to provide telco-grade infrastructure to the mobile operator and let it develop services, manage the services, and get services companies and content owners to launch services on the IVVR application server. This approach caused in most cases a "deadlock" in the business flow. The IVVR platform is an enabler and there is no justification to deploy it (and no ROI) unless it hosts active "off-the-shelf" or tailor-made services. Mobile carriers in most markets evolved to play the integration and operation role and not the innovation and development role in the mobile services ecosystem. Ugunduzi’s IVVR solution is a hosted service and therefore we own the platforms and develop the services for our clients thus we avoid the business deadlock and enable our clients to focus on their strengths like content and marketing.
Ugunduzi offers its services to mobile operators, as an outsourced service, and also to content providers and service providers. We enable the launch of services in niche markets and encourage a long tail economy where companies can launch their services even if they cannot afford the costs of the IVVR platforms. In our view, the mobile content and mobile services market should be more accessible to media companies. We allow entities that have the need and the desire to deploy mobile services to extend their reach and to launch services in a short time frame. In this ecosystem, every company remains in its natural habitat; companies can focus on their service/content and their customers while we take care of the technological and operational part of the service. Hosted IVVR which is Ugunduzi’s main offering to its clients provides them an operator independent solution and an immediate clear go-to-market strategy.
The key element to solving the deadlocked business flow in IVVR was to isolate such factors as IVVR platform purchasing and IVVR services development while moving the center of the business chain from the operator to an independent services oriented company. This is what Ugunduzi believes should solve the problem with launching IVVR services in most markets. The direct connection to the end-user and the cross-carrier IVVR solution enables TV channels, health care organizations, banks, internet portals, and more, to create and customize their own IVVR service with maximum device compatibility and rich experience. This is how we push the IVVR market forward.
For more details please refer to our website at www.ugunduzi.com and contact us using the contact page.

IVVR Strengths analysis

Why do we need the IVVR technology?! We already have mobile internet, execution engines (J2ME, FlashLite), and OS like Symbian, Windows Mobile, IPhone OS and more. So what can IVVR do that can’t be done using mobile internet or mobile applications?!

• Ease of use – IVVR services are based on a video call, in order to enter the service the user only needs to call in a video call to the service number. When the video call starts, all interaction is done using the digits of the phone (DTMF). Basically, it means that you only need to call for the service and interact using the keys when asked to on the screen and with audio instructions (press 1 to watch first video, press 2 to watch second video…). There are still two problems with IVVR in terms of the ease of use. One problem is that many people do not know how to do video calls with their devices (usually it requires to enter the number press options/video call). The second problem is that because the service is based on a video call, the interactivity takes time. The application can only react to the key press only after the server got the keystroke and performed the corresponding action. When considering the launch of an IVVR service, these factors should be taken into consideration.

• No installation is needed – installing an application or a service is a cumbersome process and usually users are deterred by it. In IVVR services the access to the service is done by calling the service number. No Download, No installation, call the service and you are ready to use it. This factor makes IVVR services ideal for pay-per-use services with little barriers to entry.

• One application fits all devices (no need of porting) – a main problem in mobile applications is that each and every device requires adaptation (called porting). In many cases these adaptations can take almost a third of the time needed to develop the application per every new device. In IVVR, because the service is based on a video call, a service suits every supporting device. The display is actually a streamed video in a standard resolution of 176*144 hence there is no need for adaptation of the display. The interaction keys are the standard keys of the phone and therefore it is supported by every device. IVVR stands out in this factor as many projects in mobile internet and mobile applications ended up supporting only few devices or requiring a substantial amount of money for adaptation which reduces the ROI.

• Clear business model that generates revenues – IVVR inherently generates revenues. The services can be launched over a regular number or a premium number and can be also supported by premium SMS to strengthen the business model. The service provider can make sure every call generates positive nominal revenue.

• No need for an internet bundle – all the video transport is over the video call and therefore there is no need for an internet bundle. The users know how much they are planned to spend when using the service with no hidden payments.

• No buffering in video playing – because the video call is a dedicated channel, there is no buffering when playing the video. The video playing is a continuous experience for the users with no buffering time in the beginning and with no buffering stops in the middle of the playing like users experience in internet video playing and in mobile internet.

• Real interactive video – In IVVR services you can interact while playing the video using a “barge-in” feature. In IVVR for example you can have a multi choice voting application on top of a video (score 0-9 the video you watch). In mobile internet, the videos are streamed in the integral media streaming player which means video applications cannot be created.

That was the summary of the main advantaged in IVVR. If you have more questions, want to see if a service fits to the IVVR medium, or want to launch a new service, please contact us at Ugunduzi.

IVVR (Video IVR) fundamentals

IVVR (Interactive Voice & Video Response) is based on 3G mobile video calls. The technology is the evolution of the IVR (the voice services we use in customer care services, voting, information services etc) and adds the ability to launch video services with audio-visual feedback.
In order to use an IVVR based service, there are three mandatory requirements:

1. The device needs to support 3G based video calls
2. The mobile operator needs to support 3G video calls
3. A dedicated platform needs to serve the service

When all these requirements are met, every user can use the services without any installation.

IVVR is an enabler that provides us the means to create interactive applications based on a video call. There will be dedicated posts about specific IVVR services but in general companies like Ugunduzi offer mobile video portals, live video broadcast, voting applications, trivia, self service, mobile video advertisement campaigns, and mobile access to enterprise applications (such as mobile banking applications).