Smartphone usage has enabled the average consumer to use banking services, receive real-time sports scores, participate in mobile voting, play games and more. Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) interactive services support these transactions, empowering companies to build stronger relationships with their customers using GSM technologies.
Netcraft delivers tailored USSD solutions to businesses around the world. Our clients benefit from built-for-purpose communications solutions that enhance their ability to reach customers through mobile technology.
How USSD empowers people and companies
USSD interactive services enable telco customers to top up data on their mobile plans, banking customers to make ATM withdrawals without using cards and so forth. The technology allows mobile consumers to initiate secure client-server sessions with an application to participate in micro-transactions. For instance, the process of creating a payment gateway is outlined below:
- A person enters a USSD string developed by the service provider.
- The USSD application processes the request and delivers the customer a menu with a set of options.
- The individual who initiated the session selects one of the options, such as “add data”.
- The USSD application responds to the second request by providing an additional list of data top-up options (10GB, 15GB, etc).
- The user selects one of the top up choices.
- The USSD completes the request, notifies the customer that the transaction was successful and ends the session.
How NetCraft delivers USSD interactive services
Netcraft manages our clients’ USSD interactive services, continuously monitoring these systems for performance losses, security vulnerabilities and other problems that may negatively impact customer experiences. This management is reinforced with our knowledge of service delivery platforms.
Enabling our clients to receive the most value from USSD requires us to limit any costs associated with the technology. Therefore, we do not charge our clients per session, but rather for the solution as a whole. This increases the cost-effectiveness of their mobile marketing and customer service initiatives.
To reinforce their mobile businesses, our customers often couple our USSD interactive services with the following technologies:
- Billing
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR), allowing callers to interact with services through dynamic media.
- Short Message Service (SMS), which enables businesses to cost-effectively deliver text notifications to mobile customers such as purchase receipts and voucher codes.