Bulk SMS Mobile news & special offers!!

Mobile content: Monophonic, polyphonic, realtone ring tones, logos, wallpapers etc.

Mobile content is great fun for mobile phone users that wants to be "in" with the latest crowds. It basically consist of licensed ringtones, logo´s, wall papers etc, which the mobile phone user download to their mobile phone by sending a SMS to a short code consisting of 5 numbers (for example 12345).

The subscriber then receive purchased item in the form of a download on their mobile phone which they then could implement to use as a wall paper, ringtone, logo etc. Mobile content providers advertise the latest material via radio, Internet, television and direct marketing. Terms and conditions are normally scrolled at the bottom of television adverts and printed media contains the terms for download in a smaller font seize on brochures.

As part of our current series of discussion, it just so happens that consumers pay for failed downloads. This means that the mobile content provider considers it the consumer´s responsibility to know which ring tone or logo etc. is suitable for their mobile phone.

The mere fact that people pay for failed downloads, leads to great customer dissatisfaction. Customers end up feeling “cheated” as they paid for something, which they never got so whose responsibility is it to ensure that customers get what they saw and paid for?

The mobile content provider will turn around and say "Read the terms and conditions" and the customer say that "I could not read the terms and conditions on the advert as it is in fine print". So let´s look at the factors involved that leads to customers not making informed choices:

Mobile content is still handset dependent. It basically means that a Nokia XXX might download a certain type of ring tone while an Ericsson requires another type of ring tone. Each type of ring tone will have a different code that you have to send a SMS to. If you SMS the wrong code, you might be able to download the ring tone but will not be able to use it on your phone.

The three types of ring tones available are:

1. Monophonic ring tones:
   Older mobile phones were released with the capability to have a one-tone ringer. It is the simplest technology used and files are downloaded in midi format. A monophonic ring tone is single notes playing a tune. A simple example of a monophonic ringtone is a single instrument playing a note.
2. Polyphonic ring tones:
   Polyphonic ringtones use midi technology but unlike monophonic ringtones, accommodate up to 40 notes or more. Compare this with an orchestra playing the same note as was mentioned in monophonic ringtones. Polyphonic ringtones are great for greeting cards and notifications but does not match MP3, which is used for True tones.
3. True ringtones:
   A true tone is basically pieces of music complete with lyrics, backing singers and backing music in MP3, WAV or AMR format, which users could download to their phones. Licensing fees are paid to the artists to use their names and to reproduce their songs into mobile phone content. True tones only work on series 60, Symbian or smart phones. So in short if you have the latest model phone on the market you would be able to download a true ringtone. Most handset manufacturers issue the handsets with existing true ringtones and the download of your favorite song is basically a personalization of your handset.

The same goes for other forms of mobile content – not all handsets are compatible to download operator logo´s, picture messages, group logo´s, screen savers, backgrounds, movies and or color operator logo´s.

The mobile content providers offer in most cases a list of mobile phone models and advice of about the type of content to download. It is therefore the responsibility of the mobile phone user to check the compatibility of their handset before they download a ringtone. In all fairness how could consumers expect mobile content providers to identity each and every handset especially when daily volumes for download requests are so high?

The reason why consumer pay for failed downloads is because it does cost the mobile content provider money when someone downloads a file – mobile content providers share revenue with the networks for every item downloaded. So, when downloading mobile content, it does cost the network money and due to that, the cost is filtered through to the client that holds the handset in hand.

So how do consumers determine whether or not their mobile handsets are compatible with particular models handsets? Most mobile operators have web sites providing information about the models and make of handsets and whether or not it is compatible. The best way to find out which type of mobile content you can download is to read your mobile handset instruction manual or contact the handset provider – they will gladly tell you which type of mobile content is compatible with your phone.

Some networks or service providers also limit mobile phone content to WAP (wireless application protocol) phones, which simply means that the mobile phone owner is required to have a WAP account on their phone before they could download content from a web site. This applies to phones with which people could surf the Internet (simplification).

Maybe mobile content providers should consider including the price per download in their voice-over during advertisements as part of an ongoing customer education process. The problem, as I see it, is that the technology grows very fast and is pushed into an uneducated market place, which then leads to customer dissatisfaction. So in conclusion it is shared responsibility between consumers to educate themselves or rather stay away from mobile content but at the same time it is also the responsibility of mobile content providers to educate their customers.