The speed at which technology has evolved has left many markets in the dark as they struggle to keep up with innovation which has left unique opportunities for businesses to offer services in an alternative or innovative way.
While the internet continues to add new users each day there is still a large consumer market who do not have access to this network and are therefore isolated from your promotional efforts or your product entirely. Enter USSD; a forgotten technology that has so much potential, its design and build is perfect for many service options, from mobile payments through to interactive chat. In recent weeks one African company has seen the opportunity to offer their services via USSD.
How USSD can be used for Lotto
In Zimbabwe, because of their relatively lower internet infiltration compared to some first world countries, making use of USSD compared to mobile applications sounds more idyllic. The last report received from POTRAZ reported a 49% internet penetration in Zimbabwe. Also, another factor to consider is the prevalence of the smartphones within the country; I mean it wouldn’t make sense to develop a product which people can’t access right?
Africalotto, a trust devoted to “developing a nationwide lottery system that offers the majority of people the best opportunity to play lotto and win a lot of money”, has partnered with Econet to provide the options of playing lotto using a USSD code.
To play, you dial *515# from an Econet line and agree to the terms and conditions of registering. Subsequently, you will receive an SMS with your pin code that you will be requested to input after dialling *515# again to play. You can then select whichever game you want to play from the list. Each game has a different price and once you select the game, Africalotto deducts the amount from your airtime balance and that’s about the only time you are going to be charged for using the service.
An important rule to remember is that you need to be 18 years or older to play; just as when playing lotto on an offline platform.
Africalotto website - Zimbabwe's first USSD based lottery
What is USSD?
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data is a procedure utilized by cell phones to communicate with a service provider. An application created using USSD will have a one of a kind shortcode in the form of “*123#” or “*152*3#”; typically assigned by a telecommunications company. The shortcode is sent employing a phone to a server, which sends a menu or an inquiry for the user to respond to. It is a real-time messaging option similar to SMS, where it sends the message (MT) making use of the signalling channel. The most notable difference from SMS which uses a ‘store and forwards’ message flow is that with USSD it works on a ‘session’ based connection.
Some of the main advantages of USSD are that it provides cost-effective messaging worldwide, works with interactive menus as well as notifications (SMS). USSD is much faster than other messaging options, as it is session based. USSD is not mobile software or SIM-based. i.e. it can run without both. It simply requires an active connection to the GSM network.
What other avenues can USSD be used for?
USSD has gained popularity for its interactive menu-driven services like mobile banking, roaming with prepaid service, callback services, mobile chat, software upgrades, etc. however, USSD can do some much more. USSD offers so much to look at with its speed and flexibility; it is not to be overlooked anymore
SMS and USSD based gaming is an easy and convenient way of betting. Operators can increase their reach by offering these two channels of gaming. Any type of phone, not necessarily a smartphone, can enable gaming using SMS or USSD. USSD betting is a revolutionary way of playing online lottery from any kind of cellular phone without having GPRS or 3G on a mobile phone.
With this new development of USSD lotto as well as using USSD for placing bets, offered by Hollywood bets, and Vodacom and MTN allowing the use of USSD to access daily games; its plain to see that USSD is not just a one-trick pony.
Why USSD?
USSD offers users and businesses a secure platform with real-time interaction without the need for an internet connection. It also has the unique ability to work on all mobile devices regardless of operating system or brand, feature phone or smartphones as well, single point of money collection.
USSD is simple to use with a step-by-step process and easy to maintain and scale which is why it has been extremely popular in emerging markets.
Contact us
If you want to know more about how mobile marketing or USSD and how that can be applied to your business, feel free to contact us here
Source: Locuspla & Techzim & Strategix