Mobile Search : Various Service discovery channels

In continuation to my previous blog on Mobile search, here is one more blog on the same topic which explains the various service discovery methods involved in Mobile search in order to search and access required information through mobile phones. In order to target a larger audience “Mobile search” service providers need to provide multiple ways to mobile users as end- users might want different ways in which they can access the content. There are mainly four methods:                                                                  

SMS Channel

Most of us are aware of text messaging and how popular it is today in utilizing the various Mobile VAS services /contents (A2P, P2P, P2A) being offered by mVAS service providers. Similarly, Mobile search has made the best use of it in providing required information to mobile users. This can be done by just typing in the search “keywords” and sending it to pre-defined “shortcode”. There are certain keywords which are preserved for the search and the message is to be sent to a preserved shortcode. One simple illustration is as shown in the diagram below:

IVRS (Interactive Voice Response Service)

This is voice based – interactive menu driven discovery method in which the mobile user dials in a pre-defined short code for the search and listens and navigates through the pre-recorded prompts. This makes use of either DTMF (Dual Tone Multiple Frequency) or ASR (Automatic speech recognition) techniques and all that mobile user has to do is, either press the required number (for DTMF) or speak out (for ASR) what he/she is looking (search) for as per the prompts. The response will be either smsed to the mobile phone or read out as speech.
USSD (Unstructed Supplementary Service Data)

Very similar to IVRS. This is a text based – interactive menu driven method in which mobile user dials in a preserved service code (ex. *234#) and menu with various search results is displayed on the mobile screen.  Example: A simple diagram is shown below for illustration purpose:

 

WAP Based

This can be used by mobile users who have GPRS connectivity. Mobile users need to login to the search engine website and type in the search keyword. Within few seconds the search response is displayed on the mobile screen. Mobile user can use this method as long as they are connected to the internet (GPRS connection is active).

In my next blog I will talk about the pros and cons of these service discovery channels ,which will help Mobile search users to take a decision on which option is best for them.