<div>Just a couple of years back, Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) was touted as the next big thing to boost the Indian telecom market. However, MVAS really didn’t take off as expected. A report by Convergence Catalyst in 2012 shows that non-voice revenues currently constitute about ~10 per cent of the revenues of Indian telecom operators as compared to an average of ~23 per cent in other countries. The current roll-out of 3G and BWA services, along with increasing penetration of smart phones could potentially address this gap, reviving the potential of MVAS.<br /><br />MVAS so far has been about providing entertainment, information and utility services to mobile subscribers. Subscribers are charged for such services, normally through operator billing and the resulting revenues shared between the operators, service providers and content owners. We may classify such services as Consumer MVAS. A new category of MVAS is now beginning to emerge - Enterprise MVAS is about using the mobile medium within business applications for customer engagement, employee productivity and enterprise mobility. <br /><br /><strong>Consumer MVAS vs. Enterprise MVAS </strong><br />Consumer MVAS has advanced from the traditional SMS-based services to Internet-based and application-based services. Hence this service in the Indian market is not limited to just customised Ring Tones (RT), Caller Back Ring Tones (CBRT), music and entertainment, but also includes gaming and mobile browsing. <br /><br />Enterprise MVAS, on the other hand, is a largely unexplored territory. A potentially rewarding and lucrative component of the customer base consisting of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and SOHOs (small offices/home offices) has been overlooked. Today, it is essential for organisations to stay connected with the customers to increase visibility, revenues and profitability.<br /><br />To explore this customer base and offer enterprise mobile value added services, we need to devise the right strategy.<br /><br /><strong>The Next Level: Enterprise MVAS</strong><br />Enterprises today need a holistic and well-coordinated mobile engagement framework which works not only in-sync with other engagement mediums, but can also work as an independent engagement platform by itself.<br /><br />Mobile engagement can be operated over multiple channels. The voice and data channels can be operated in accordance with the regular text messaging through a well-integrated m-Engagement platform. Telecom operators today are very well positioned to provide such a platform to their business customers and thereby open up new revenue streams.<br /><br />In order to tap the potential of mobile to its fullest, there is a need for innovation, unbiased approach and applications that would trigger a data revolution in the country. There is a need to focus on new services and technologies along with social media content. Clearly there is a need to work towards enhancing growth of m-Engagement which can be easily called a way forward to MVAS.<br /><br />An increasing number of Enterprises, SMEs and SOHOs are in need of mobility services with resources which provide plenty of scope for customization. They prefer to have a do-it-yourself platform which would reduce their dependency of multiple vendors or the financially-demanding internal IT setups. <br /><br /><strong>Challenges</strong><br />The market today is highly fragmented with vendors offering point products. To combat the increasing competition and differentiate, enterprises need to adopt an integrated platform for engaging their customers and stakeholders. The availability of different vendors for different technologies and services is an operational overhead which the enterprises should avoid by choosing a well architected, unified platform.<br /><br />The telecom operators already have access to a rich set of assets such as location, multiple bearer channels, the billing system, and most specifically, rich CRM data. There is plenty of scope for sophisticated segmentation and precise targeting by taking into account behavioral profiles of end consumers. The potential of all these assets has been largely untapped.<br /><br />Operators may have deployed the so-called Service Delivery Platforms (SDPs) but these deployments have, in many cases, failed to deliver the goods.<br /><br />There has been a dearth of systematic, state-of-the-art platforms that would provide the necessary adapters for the enterprises to quickly integrate into operator networks and expose their capabilities to business customers.<br /><br /><strong>Soclomo: The Integration Of Social, Cloud And Mobile</strong><br />Social networking sites and mobile devices are quickly becoming the de facto channels for businesses to interact with, inform, educate and transact with their customers and prospects. Simultaneously, cloud-based infrastructure, platforms and services are gaining a strong foothold among businesses of all sizes.<br /><br />This technology trinity of Social, Cloud and Mobile (SoCloMo) is slowly changing the face of the enterprise. The traditional ways of functioning are being rendered redundant and the way businesses reach out to their stakeholders is being transformed substantially.<br /><strong><br />The Future: M-Engagement</strong><br />Mobile solutions are increasingly being used by enterprises, with customer engagement and employee productivity being the two primary drivers for the increased usage.<br /><br />In order to improve customer engagement, businesses from all sectors and of all sizes wish to connect with customers at every stage by using mobile solutions. One-way promotional mobile communication is being replaced by two-way communication tools which are transactional and interactive in nature. Customers can interact directly with the organization in their moments of decision. <br /><br />Enterprises also seek to maximise workforce engagement and productivity by using mobile technology for day-to-day communication with the workforce. Many organisations are following the ‘Bring your own device’ trend with employees using their personal devices for work to share localised, contextual information. Employee engagement can pave the way for a motivated and loyal workforce who can be dedicated advocates for the enterprises. It also helps in knowing whether employees understand the company’s strategic direction and how they contribute to it in ways that build positive momentum and deliver results. <br /><br />A modern day user is a lot more mobile and well informed. As the mobile market grows further, there is an increasing demand for more holistic, personalised and more customizable mobile user experiences. m- Engagement facilitates mobile channels to be integrated into existing cross-channel user service strategy. Enterprises are in search of sophisticated mobile solutions for effective customer engagement and employee productivity while ensuring smooth functioning of operations. <br /><br />As enterprises continue to increase engagement through mobile technology, it is clear that one size doesn't fit all. Instead, each installation must be tailored to the enterprise’s distinctive customer engagement strategy and brand identity. <br /><br />Of course, mobile deployment in enterprises is still in its nascent stage and mobile engagement, while gaining popularity, is a relatively new phenomenon. The various customer engagement strategies will continue to evolve to keep pace with the ever-changing customer tastes and new technologies.<br /><br />(<em>Vishwanath Alluri is the Founder, Chairman & CEO of IMImobile</em>)<br /> </div>
