Multimedia Solutions supports the fight against mobile spam

Riaan Groenewald, Multimedia Solutions operational director, says it's a priority to make the unsubscribe SMS free to the consumer as soon as possible.

"SMS was chosen as a means to unsubscribe because it is the cheapest and most accurate way to unsubscribe. Multimedia Solutions is currently required to charge R0.50 for the unsubscribe SMS, which is the standard SMS cost levied for the use of the cellular networks. However, neither Multimedia Solutions nor its clients make any money off that SMS.

"However, in order to make the unsubscribe SMS free, the cellular networks will have to reverse bill the advertiser in order to make it free for the consumer. This process of implementing reverse billing is already underway at the cellular networks," he says.

When this happens, the consumer will no longer have to pay for the unsubscribe SMS. However, the unsubscribe issue goes deeper for the consumer, Groenewald says.

"What happens when there are multiple services to unsubscribe from, even if the process is free? What is therefore needed is a central unsubscribe database. Multimedia Solutions believes the Wireless Application Service Providers' Association (Waspa) is ideally placed to manage such an unsubscribe database and would welcome the implementation of any such initiative to protect the consumer," he says.

Anti-Spam policy:

Multimedia Solutions own anti-Spam policy includes only sending MMS out to mobile phone numbers received from the client running the campaign in compliance with the ECT Act.

"When speaking to our clients about the databases they give to us, it is mandated in the contract that they only supply us with numbers where their clients have specifically agreed to receive marketing information because we're aware that not everyone wants to receive marketing information via MMS. And if we find one of our clients spamming consumers, we will desist from doing business with them," he says.

It doesn't stop there either. Consumers will also be happy to know that their interests have been further protected, he adds. For example, the advertiser always pays for the MMS and not the consumer. This means that the entire process, including the downloading of the MMS via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is free.

Thirdly, Multimedia Solutions only delivers MMSs between 8am and 5pm, unless the client has specifically requested differently or, in the case where the MMS is prompting an after hours event. This means consumers are not bothered after hours or on Sundays. Lastly, Multimedia Solutions does its best to ensure no consumers receive unsolicited MMS by only using the cellphone numbers supplied by the client.

Process of unsubscribing:

Currently if a consumer does send an unsubscribe SMS to a Multimedia Solutions, they have the choice to only unsubscribe from the company that sent them the MMS, or to unsubscribe from the entire Multimedia Solutions system. The consumer's number is immediately removed from the relevant database ensuring they do not receive further messages MMS or SMS from Multimedia Solutions or their clients.

"Having said that, we have a 0.02 percent unsubscribe rate, which shows that most consumers find MMS a favourable form of advertising. In fact, MMS advertising has a five percent to 12 percent response rate within 48 hours of consumers receiving the MMS," Groenewald says. "The MMS are also forwarded on by consumers who receive them to friends and family, accounting for an additional three percent of responses. We believe this is because consumers find the experience interactive and innovative."

"Should anyone have any queries regarding unsubscribing to an MMS, they are welcome to contact Multimedia Solutions on info@multimediasolutions.co.za and we will be more than happy to assist in any way," Groenewald concludes.