The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Posts tagged Mobile Services
Innovative use of text in childhood immunisation
Jun 8th
Some interesting news courtesy of iPLATO – who supply patient care messaging systems to over 100 doctors surgeries across the UK.
GP surgeries using iPLATO text messaging have discovered innovative ways of using the system to improve patient compliance to the childhood immunisation schedule. The long periods between booster injections often result in children missing important jabs. Early results have shown that sending targeted text reminders to parents and guardians of children being vaccinated, vastly increases appointment attendance and compliance of these patients.
Stuart Hall, Practice IT Manager from the Vale Medical Centre, Lewisham PCT in South London, who has been using the iPLATO system for the last year, said that his surgery was keen to look at ways of managing patient compliance in this area. ‘We were able to put together a list of children that were overdue for their specific jab and whose parents had not responded to letters sent out previously. Using the iPLATO system, we sent a targeted text message to these parents asking them to call the surgery to book an appointment for their child’s missed vaccination. The result of this text campaign was overwhelmingly positive, with more than half of the parents phoning the surgery in response to the text alert, to schedule a new appointment” comments Hall.
Coke launch MySpace clone for mobiles
Jun 8th
Link: Coke promoting a MySpace for cellphones – International Herald Tribune
Coca-Cola is hoping its new cellphone-centric Web site for social networking, Sprite Yard, will become the MySpace of the cellphone world.
The product, to be introduced in the United States this month, will look a lot like the social networking sites that have become popular on the Internet. Consumers will be able to set up personal profiles, share photos and chat online with friends, all using cellphones rather than computer screens.
While I acknowledge Coca-Cola’s phenomenal brand power amongst the key social networking demographics, I’m not sure this’ll work. Coke have dabbled in the past in similar things, like Coke Music – albleit with limited success (Coke Music closed down in Europe last August).
Rather than re-inventing the wheel, perhaps they would have done better teaming up with an existing brand, like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, etc. Although not all of them are totally mobile friendly yet, it’s only a matter of time before that’ll happen – and at which point the main selling point for using Sprite Yard will diminish.
Verisign and Clear Channel expand radio mobile deal
Jun 7th
Link: US radio station operator Clear Channel have expanded their deal with Verisign, launched last month, to give another 100 more radio markets access to mobile services.
The service enables listeners to send text message from their mobile devices to their local Clear Channel station’s studio, as well as participate in contests, receive a text alert before their favorite song plays, and to make requests and dedications.
It’s not just SMS either.. according to the article, the service also includes:
A customized WAP mobile portal that presents each station’s look and feel, and allows listeners to view and purchase available content and services.
A J2ME portal that is installed on the consumer’s mobile device, allowing listeners to access station-specific services, and even purchase content and services.
Only 2% of passengers have checked in flight by text
Jun 6th
Link: FTD.de – Business English – Business English – Board your flight by mobile phone
I’m all for mobile ticketing and anything that saves time – especially at the airport.
A passenger survey at the end of last year by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) found only 2 per cent of respondents had checked in via an SMS (text message) on their mobile phones.
But that number looks certain to rise as more airlines introduce mobile check-in – those that already have are as enthusiastic about the service as are their passengers. “To have your boarding pass on your mobile should be something that really excites the customer,” says Patrice Ouellette, Air Canada’s director of customer service platform, e-commerce.
Conveniently, Air Canada are planning to introduce SMS check-in in the not too distant future. It’s obviously not much use if you’re taking a stack of hold luggage, but if you’re just jetting off to Europe for the day or overnight on business this could really save you some time.
Belgians trial public transport SMS ticketing
Jun 5th
Link: Public transport tickets by sms, Belgian News, Belgium, Expatica
The above article is short and sweet, but the basics are that the Belgium cities of Antwerp and Ghent are dipping their toes in the SMS ticketing for public transport arena. The companies behind it are De Lijn, and Finnish company Plusdial, who were also behind the mobile ticketing scheme in Finland.
nuTsie launches iTunes on your mobile service
Jun 5th
Link: nuTsie
Now this *is* cool. Been itching to post about this since the press release came in yesterday, but it was embargoed until Tuesday.. and now that it is indeed Tuesday, let me spill the beans..
Built on top of Meledeo’s mobile streaming technology, nuTsie allows you to get your whole iTunes library on your mobile. No faffing around with syncing, splashing out on a huge memory card, or downloading tracks to your mobile. All you have to do is visit the nuTsie site, upload your iTunes library, get a link sent by text to your mobile and off you go.
Another cool feature is you can share playlists with your mates. You don’t have to have your PC running all the time either to get to your tunes from your phone, which is quite neat.
Will try and do a full review later in the week.. in the meantime give it a go for yourself, and let me know what you think!
Amazon jumps on the Twitter bandwagon
Jun 5th
Link: Tech Digest: Amazon starts touting its wares on Twitter
The online retailer is putting its latest special offers on its Twitter page so you can easily keep up to date with the current bargain of the day.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this approach is that it provides, essentially, a free SMS service for the consumer without Amazon having to layout a single penny other than a little bit of coding time initially.
Interesting. Still haven’t worked out what the financial model is for Twitter. Someone’s got to pay for all these texts… 
ASA censures Disney Mobile over ads
Jun 4th
Link: Disney Mobile Censured over Mobile Games Adverts
The UK’s advertising regulator – the Advertising Standards Authority has censured Disney Mobile over some adverts for mobile games the company ran late last year. A complainant wrote to the regulator noting that the adverts did not fully explain the cost of the games and that they were aimed at children.
Disney Mobile explained that they felt the adverts were aimed at parents, and that anyone downloading the games would be directed to a WAP page which explained the full costs involved. The regulator disagreed though and upheld the complaint.
Twitter gets chatty with Facebook
Jun 3rd
Last week, Facebook.com released a new applications platform and invited other companies to create cool apps that can be used inside Facebook. Twitter was among the first to create such an application. So, if you’re a Facebook user and you like Twitterin’, then please consider downloading the Twitter Facebook application.
Haven’t had a chance to test it myself yet, but you can grab your own copy from http://apps.facebook.com/twitter
Multimap gets a facelift
Jun 2nd
Link: webitpr | The New Face Of Multimap.Com Is Revealed To The World!
I like Multimap. Unlike Streetmap it didn’t think I lived in a field til recently everytime I typed in my postcode, and unlike Google Maps it doesn’t suggest I swim 3,462 miles across the Atlantic Ocean when I ask it to plot a route from London to New York. So.. when a rather lengthy press release hit my inbox about a new upgrade to the service, I was interested to see what they’d done.
Just focusing on mobile related stuff for the moment, check this..
Thanks to tight integration between web and mobile, the days of printing a map and promptly leaving it on a printer are long gone. Not only can you still push a map to your mobile phone – you can now use MyMultimap Mobile to see your favourites and search history. You can also find new maps while on the move. Just register for MyMultimap, include your mobile number in the registration information, and you’re on your way!
What a neat idea – I am one of those people who merrily waste reams of paper each year printing out maps and then forgetting to take them with me. Did try to have a play with the service on the way home earlier but unfortunately me and T-Mobile’s 3G service aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye at the moment. More on that in another post..
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