The Future of Instant Messaging

In the past weeks several instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat,  have started to offer voice calls, the trend of messaging applications offering voice calling capabilities is nothing new. Tango, Viber, Line all have offered voice calls before WhatsApp even thought of it. Is voice call the future of instant messaging? We as consumers use instant messaging applications for one simple reason, messages are delivered instantly, then comes the addons such as emoticons… With voice calling being introduced is it still right to call it an instant messaging application?

In a world where instant messaging are provided in various ways including messages that disappears, messages that are secure what do we as consumers actually like? We have seen very fast adoption of WhatsApp because it was a simple messenger, we have seen Line generates the highest revenue per user since it tickles our fancy. Having said that messaging applications are converging into the same set of offering . Will there still be a need for differentiators for one application to be the adopted globally?

What about going back to basics, messages that are delivered instantly even if you are not online? Now, how about adding the beauty of instant messaging by delivering those messages free? While we are at it why not do the same for voice calls? How about voice calls that are free even if you are not online? The question is going back to basics enough to be the dominant instant messaging application of the future?

How to gamify a boring customer service app?

Enabling mobile service providers to empower their customer services  in delivering the most effective customer care services in the world is the easy bit. The biggest challenge is how to make such service delivery adopted by users. One strategy is through the use of mobile applications. Most if not all mobile service providers today already have mobile applications and already deliver some form of customer service through mobile applications, now how can you add value in order for the application and service to be constantly used by mobile customers? In the world of mobile application other than delivering the right features gamification strategies are being employed to get users to use the application like they do with games, to be used a lot, make it engaging, make it satisfying, make it addictive.

So how do do that on boring mobile services?

One way that  is done in every industry but most importantly in retail and travel is loyalty program. So adding a component of a loyalty programs to customer service can in theory encourage users to use the service more. The truth is most if not all loyalty program are only used when it is needed, for example when shopping or traveling. So the next challenge is how to make a loyalty program engaging enough for users to use it at least 3 times a day…

Other than a loyalty program what can be implemented by a mobile service operators what can be done? Can it be any of this suggestions?

• Personalization
• Share location
• Share results in social media
• Add friends
• Send messages to other app users
• In app purchases
• Send gifts
• Chat
• Wall Post
• Transfer loyalty credits
• Promotions
• Recruit users
• Game
• Credits for using operator services

Avoiding accidents

During the Xmas weekend I was driving from Helsingborg to Germany in an SUV filled with luggage and 3 kids on board…. Having driven this roads hundreds of times I feel like I know it like the back of my hand… Having said that this weekend was the second time a car in front of me crashed violently while driving on a German highway (A1) where there are no speed limits (in most parts).

This is how it happened…. I was driving at 180 km/h when two cars passed me by (Golf R and BMW 5). When the BMW was about 3 seconds from me it blew a tire, spin in the middle of the highway twice and hit the barrier on the side of the road…I managed to avoid collision and saw that the occupants in the BMW that crashed into the barrier looked OK, and the other car driving with it had stopped and so are other cars. Having 3 kids on board I decided to drive on and report the incident. What amazes me is that my daughter pointed out that the car is doing strange 2 seconds before I saw it happened, did she saw it happened before it actually did? Was  I too slow to realized what’s happening?  The question is such an accident avoidable in the first place?

In cars we avoid accidents both by prevention and reaction. Prevention by ensuring cars are always in the best condition and working order, while driving defensively and carefully. Reaction by ensuring you are always alert, always know what’s happening around you and what’s happening to your car from how the tire feels when it is in contact with the tarmac to how the engine sounds when you press on the accelerator and from how the brake reacts when you press on the brake pedal… This we do everyday sometimes out habit, in a lot of cases due to several years of practice…

Now when it comes to mobile networks, are there really accidents? Sometimes the network goes down, is this an accident? In a professionally managed mobile networks, there are no accidents. Any network problem is caused by inefficiencies in planing and maintaining that network. Consider how a passenger in a car feels while going through an accident… now treat that similarly as as a mobile user when the service suddenly fails in  the middle of an important conversation or while using online communications…. Its traumatic….

As a service provider how can you avoid this accidents? How can you ensure your mobile subscribers are not having a traumatic experience?