Business Opportunity

Company XYZ has expertise in consumer marketing. Its management has recently engaged the services of an outside management consulting company to help with ideas about generating incremental revenues. One of the ideas that the consultants suggest is starting a SMS Content Distribution business. The consultants believe that XYZ can easily leverage on its expertise in consumer marketing and quickly build up customer base.

The recent proliferation of mobile phones among consumer has created an attractive market opportunity in paid SMS content distribution. The SMS Content Distribution business model is based on offering various media content such as ringtones, pictures etc. to mobile phone users. Customers who want to purchase the content send paid SMS messages to preset numbers and in return receive content through SMS messages. Fees are collected through customers' mobile phone operators, so establishing a revenue sharing partnership is a critical part of the business model.

XYZ's management likes the idea and commissions a research of alternative SMS Content Distribution solutions. The research reveals that a good SMS solution should be easy to deploy and manage even by people with limited technical knowledge. Such solution should also offer advanced billing capabilities and support for multiple billing models and rating plans. Finally, such solution should be affordable to allow quick entry into the business with minimal capital investments and highly scalable to accommodate future business growth.

Business Solution

SysMaster, the global leader in integrated VoIP equipment solutions, could offer to XYZ a turnkey SMS Content Distribution solution that meets customer specific needs. SysMaster's solution offers easy operation and fast deployment schedule (typically less than a week). A notable feature of the solution is the advanced billing server, which offers unparalleled rating flexibility and supports comprehensive set of billing models.

Solution Requirements and Architecture

A typical SysMaster SMS Content Distribution solution has the following requirements:

1. VoiceMaster^® Billing Server
2. SysMaster SMS Gateway
3. Optional Modules for the VoiceMaster^® and the SMS Gateway
4. Remote Installation and Technical Support
5. High Speed Internet Access
6. Contracts with Providers of Media Content
7. Revenue Sharing Contracts with Mobile Phone Operators

SysMaster can provide items 1 through 4 while the service provider is responsible for items 5, 6 and 7. Figure 1 below shows the SysMaster SMS Content Distribution solution architecture.

Solution Features

• SMS/GSM/Tri-Band Support
• Inbound and Outbound Messages
• Message Queue Support
• Message Parsing and HTTP/HTTPS Conversion
• Outbound Number Switching and Rerouting
• User Friendly GUI Interface

How Does The Solution Work?

1. Customer sends SMS message from his/her mobile phone phone number connected to the SMS gateway. Alternatively, the customer sends SMS messages via custom web page
2. The SMS gateway sends authorization request to the billing server
3. The billing server authorizes the request
4. The SMS gateway retrieves content from a content server
5. The SMS gateway distributes the content to customer's mobile phone through an SMS message
6. Upon completing the process, the billing server contains record of the SMS distribution

At the end of the billing period, the billing server generates report based on which revenue is received from the mobile phone operator