Keeping Tabs on Business Data with SMS

Dubai | By Jay B. Hilotin | 18-12-2002

Most people only dream of having useful - and affordable - information at their fingertips. Unknown to many, the technology for delivering this data-on-the-go has been developed in Dubai and its use is now spreading throughout the UAE and the Gulf.

Using the short-messaging service (SMS) or text capability of ordinary cellular phones, owners of shops, outlets or restaurants can now keep tabs of their bank balances or sales from their mobile phone on a minute-by-minute basis, if they so desire.

The simple, everyday technology behind this scenario is the integration of the desktop computer, the Internet and mobile phone networks. The program, called Enhan-ced Messaging Service (EMS), was developed by Web Masters LLC, Dubai.

More than 100 gold shops have started using it, giving their owners up-to-the-minute information of transactions. It can even give the gyrations in global prices of the yellow metal as well as their daily bank balances - via mobile phones.

Web Masters LLC is an an e-commerce affiliate of auditors N.R. Doshi & Co., an affiliate of London-based DFK International.

"A Dubai jewellery shop owner can be in Hong Kong and can still be in touch with what's happening back in their shops and offices here," said Mahesh Kundalia, product specialist at Web Masters.

The system generates automatic reports and can be configured to send updates by the minute, hour, day or any frequency desired by the owner, Kundalia said.

"Jewellers need accurate and instant information about the market prices of gold and other precious metals, their sales, stocks and other critical information at a regular interval," said Sanjay Mehta, partner of N.R. Doshi & Co.

After the up-front software installation cost, the system charges on a per-message basis (50 fils or less).

EMS service is used in conjunction with Visual WinGold, a jewellery management system. It uses a database that automatically initiates contact with the mobile phone carrier (Etisalat), which then sends the message to a pre-determined mobile phone number.

When an EMS-equipped shop makes a sale, the back-end database takes over to inform the owner of the transaction, as well as the stocks, cash balance, debtors/creditors balances.

These tasks, including the initiation of an Internet connection, sending of the text message and logging out, are all done without human intervention.