Bangalore, July 31, 2011: So, you want to know the rate of interest for your car loan at your neighbourhood bank. What do you do? You dial a toll free number -- a missed call, actually -- and you receive an sms with options for various loans from the back, till you finally select one. If the bank chooses to, it will add your number to its database, and when they launch a new home loan scheme, you will be among the first ones contacted.

 

Consider another scenario. You are waiting for a friend at a coffee shop and desperately need to kill time. You can now resort to one of the earliest forms of Indian cricket -- the 'book' cricket. Again, 'miss call' a number, and get an sms in return with your 'score' -- which is basically the second or third digit of the page number of the 'book' you are supposedly reading. There is a 'target score' you need to match, based on which you win or lose.

 

Both these applications are powered by a company called ZipDial -- a mobile solutions company founded by three engineering geeks, aiming to change the way companies -- big and small -- look at customer relationship management and brand promotions. Besides targeting the mass market in India, the company also hopes to have people using 'zip dialling' as a buzzword to receive promotional information, seek services and attend polls.

 

Kingfisher Book Cricket has been hugely successful for ZipDial - Within the first 24 hours of launch, the game was played by 2811 unique users, out of which over 60% played again the same day. So far, the game has been played a total of 84931 times in about 15 days. The game can be played by ZipDialling 080 300 500 77, toll-free.

 

Valerie Rozycki Wagoner, Founder and CEO of the company says, "Our solution is pretty simple -- there is an IVR layer on which we have built an API-based architecture, which facilitates our client to interact via a mobile device to a target customer. In some cases, we provide to clients, a customized all that helps the brand 'stick' with the customer."

 

So, what kind of companies are looking to adopt ZipDial as a medium? Valerie explained, "It cuts across any mobile device you may use, and it cuts across any size/nature of company. From large banks to the beauty salon across the road, ZipDial can be adopted by any company that wishes to create, engage and retain customers."