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Although patented by Transact Group 18 months ago, billable instant messaging is being offered by a number of telemedia companies and become something of a key theme of the event this week.
Transact, Oxygen8 and Sundial Telecom are all offering billable Instant Messaging services, and many services providers are already experimenting with the technology which looks set to make telemedia services extremely interactive, immediate and free from network operator interference.
Chat and Dating, as well as Psychic and Horoscope services are the key adopters of the technology as the IM format allows for more of a natural dialogue between user and service provider than any other medium since the premium rate phone call.
And the benefits are being reaped: Sundial Telecom believes that it gets much more money out of users of the service since the whole format of the IM process encourages users to keep on using. Shane Carter from the company told delegates at WORLD TELEMEDIA MALTA that each session he runs nets an average of £10 (based on a charge of 50p per message), which is significantly higher than that offered on PRS and PSMS based services.
Taya Bose from Com & Tel agreed that IM was really changing the dynamics of the psychic and horoscope markets, because it is so interactive. She also suggested that Apple apps were also poised to make some significant impacts on this – and many other – telemedia sectors in the coming months.
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