Google, in association with 9mobile, a leading telecom operator in Nigeria, and Kirusa, a global leader in communication solutions over data networks for consumers and enterprises, hosted a workshop in Lagos for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Aggregators, and brands to introduce Rich Communication Services (RCS), and showcase how RCS Business Messaging (RBM) is revolutionizing enterprise communication with their consumers. The workshop was attended by over 50 attendees, including representatives from MTN, Airtel, Glo, GTB, Zenith Bank, Unity Bank, Accion Microfinance, Interswitch, and Infobip, among others.
Touted as the next-generation native messaging evolution for Android users, RCS is an update to SMS, offering features for enhanced smartphone messaging on Android such as high-resolution photo and video sharing, location sharing, group chats, read receipts, etc., all of which are not available on SMS. It is changing Person-to-Person (P2P) as well as Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging. For individuals, RCS opens up the possibility of rich media interactions with any other mobile subscriber using the native messaging app on the phone. Enterprises, on the other hand, are opened to an opportunity to engage with their smartphone customers using RBM, RCS’s offering for enterprises which is used for business-to-consumer communication to provide a richer and interactive brand experience, complete with verified senders and brand logos.
At the workshop, 9mobile announced that they had chosen Google’s Jibe platform for offering RCS, and had chosen Kirusa for managing their RBM services in Nigeria, including directories, onboarding, verification, and APIs to send OTP’s over RCS. Google demonstrated their Jibe platform, including their Dialogflow bot creation tool, while Kirusa demonstrated the RCS directory (available at http://www.dotgo.com) and the partners.dotgo.com portal for aggregators to launch RBM bots on 9mobile.
“We are excited to see Kirusa and 9mobile leading the way by launching the first RCS agents in Nigeria on Google’s RCS MAAP platform. Bringing modern messaging to everyone on Android is important to us and we look forward to supporting Kirusa and 9mobile further,” said Johanna Kollar, Partnerships Lead, Communication Products, EMEA, Google.
Bola Afuye, Head of Digital Media, 9mobile said, “We are glad to be the front-runners not just in Nigeria, but in all of Africa to launch RCS and RBM. RCS opens up newer avenues for brands to communicate with their customers. This workshop demonstrated how carriers can benefit from RCS and leverage it to offer innovative services to their subscribers and have engaging conversations with their customers.”
“We are delighted to be a part of the workshop hosted by Google to showcase the possibilities of RCS for the Nigerian market. Through this workshop, we want to enhance the usage and adoption of RBM by brands in Nigeria, as it provides convenience and value to consumers. By providing RBM agents, brands are empowered to improve overall customer experience and satisfaction,” said Inderpal Singh Mumick, Founder, Chairman and, CEO of Kirusa.
Google has been playing a significant role in marshaling the adoption of RCS across the globe. Taking the lead to transform enterprise messaging experiences on Android with RCS, Google launched its RBM Early Access Program in 2017. The Program aims to help enterprises build agents that take advantage of RCS features and engage with their audiences better. 9mobile is the first operator in Nigeria to launch RCS, and the first operator in the world to provide an RCS bot, named my9mobile, for providing customer support, and also the first operator in the world to make missed call alert and voicemail available using an RCS Agent.
About 9mobile
Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), trading as ‘9mobile’, is a Nigerian private limited liability company licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to provide a broad range of telecommunication services including voice and data services across the country. Formerly trading as Etisalat Nigeria, 9mobile commenced commercial operations in October 2008.
In our over 11 years of operations, 9mobile has established a reputation for best-in-class Quality of Service (QoS), innovation and exceptional customer experience among mobile network operators (MNOs) in Nigeria. 9mobile has been at the forefront of technological innovations, including high definition voice enhancements and digital business solutions. At 9mobile, innovation is not just a buzz word; it’s about how we make people’s lives more meaningful and devise new ways to solve existing problems. As an environmentally responsible brand, our Environmental Management System (EMS) was certified to ISO 14001:2004 Standard in the first quarter of 2017, making 9mobile the first (MNO) to achieve this certification in Nigeria.
In July 2017, we launched our new brand identity – 9mobile, reflecting the bold and creative attributes we share with our valued subscribers, especially the vibrant youth segment. Our new name represents our authentic Nigerian heritage, Afro-centricity, and our evolution over a decade of operations. For more information, visit http://www.9mobile.com.ng.
About Kirusa
Kirusa is reimagining messaging and voice in the data era. Embracing the paradigm shift in enterprise messaging, we are helping enterprises plan and implement IP messaging strategies that create exciting possibilities for customer engagement. Kirusa’s technology and connectivity to OTT messaging platforms and RCS providers and carriers, including Google, enables carriers to monetize RBM and enables enterprises to build and deploy chatbots to have conversations with their customers with rich media, natural language processing, and machine learning, over OTT messaging apps, and the built-in Android messages app using RCS. Kirusa’s solutions include Dotgo, an RCS bot directory and partner portal; Kirusa Konnect™, an omnichannel Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) for enterprises that helps bolster brand-customer engagement with chatbots, IP messaging, SMS and voice; InstaVoice®, a unique call completion solution that provides visual voicemails and missed calls, and helps mobile carriers monetize missed calls in their networks; InstaVoice ReachMe, a smartphone app using voice over data to provide inexpensive voice roaming and virtual numbers; and Kirusa Channels, a platform that allows fans to connect with their favorite celebrities. Thousands of enterprises and over a hundred million users benefit from our solutions. Kirusa has partnerships with over fifty mobile carriers and is also a Jibe Messaging partner. Kirusa’s solutions are built on its patented technology and highly reliable, scalable multimodal and cloud platforms, which manage over 3 billion transactions and over 100 million active users every month. Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of mobile technologists, Kirusa has offices in three continents. For more information, visit http://www.kirusa.com.