Hutch puts Pandol Service on mobile

With Lanka celebrating the 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi and thousands of visitors from the rest of the country converging in Colombo and suburbs to experience the colorful pageantry of Vesak; Hutch Telecommunications Lanka had come up with a unique way to help their customer tour the city of Colombo.  

Different Pandols with diverse themes and various Jathaka stories colourfully narrated scattered all over the city.  But visiting them all was not a difficulty for Hutch customers who could, with just one SMS to Hutch, get the full rundown of the locations of the Pandols and a short description of what they can expect to see there.

For example the Maharagama Pandol had the Dasaparamitha Dharmaya, Thotalanga had Maathuposhaka Kathawa, Manning market Kacchani Jathakaya, Gangaramaya-Mahadanu Situ Putha.

“It was a great success for us especially since we know that navigating the city with all these crowds and traffic; this simple service could help our customers choose which destination they really wanted to visit.” says Arul Vaz, Head of Roaming & Value Added Services.

“Usually an SMS is only 25 cents but when we introduced this Vesak Pandol service it was priced at Rs.10 for the entire service. Customers were willing to get relevant information that is useful to them even at a premium” says Arul Vaz.

This value added service is not new to Hutch and they have been providing a similar service for most religious festivals. For example during Ramadan the times to break fast and other Islamic quotes of significance were shared.  “But it goes beyond the religious festivals, even if it is Mother’s day or Father’s day we have separate packages so people could use this to communicate with or wish each other.” Vaz says.

What’s most important is that this information is available through an SMS and is accessible to even the most basic phone. It was kept deliberately simple as the service catered to the mass market that Hutch services.

The service was also available through IVR (Interactive Voice Response allows users to interact with computers through the use of voice. In telecommunications, it allows customers to interact with a company’s database via a telephone keypad or by speech recognition, after which they can service their own inquiries by following the IVR dialogue.)   

“The IVR service too has been growing with Hutch and through the value added services we are introducing more and more exciting information and entertaining packages for our customers. This has enabled us to retain a very loyal customer base which knows that we are constantly looking into their individual needs. What we are doing is slowly building little pockets of unique users who have very special needs and targeting information directly to them, which is tailor made for their individual lifestyles” Vaz says.

Hutch is a 100% prepaid mobile telecommunications provider offering customers a range of value-for money GSM services fulfilling the diverse needs of all segments. Hutchison Telecommunications Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. (“Hutchison Telecom Lanka”)

Hutchison Telecom Lanka is a member of Hutchison Asia Telecom which comprises mobile telecommunications operations in the emerging markets of Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Hutchison Asia Telecom is a key part of Hutchison Whampoa Group’s telecommunications division which includes the 3 Group comprising 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sweden and the UK.