Cape Town-based Brand-ID has revolutionised subscriber television with a new product, CHKVIEW, that offers prepaid, pay-per-view billing running on the post-relational CACH'E database from InterSystems.
Based on the philosophy that conventional approaches using conventional technologies will produce conventional applications, Brand-ID searched for a database technology that would allow its applications to be truly innovative.
"CACH'E is a robust object database with high-performance SQL and rich multidimensional access as well as a rapid Web application development environment, extraordinary transaction processing speed and real-time queries against transactional data," says Andre Nieuwstadt, CTO at Brand-ID.
"As an example, it normally takes between nine and 12 seconds to render a Turing number, but our software does it in three seconds. The dashboard of our system is not a canned report - it is dynamic, up-to-the-minute, can operate on a layer of complex business rules to detect exceptions, such as fraudulent activity, and will deliver a variety of information to the right people wherever in the world they may be. It uses a graphics-rich interface that all runs directly off the CACH'E database, which is why I am such a firm CACH'E fan."
Running on Linux, CACH'E has enabled Brand-ID to rapidly design practical, cost-effective software solutions that would have been almost impossible using other technology.
"Our software is built specifically for subscriber-based media as an easy-to-use, easy-to-implement system that unlocks the value of prepaid business models without requiring the heavy capital expenditure normally associated with opening new markets.
"While pay-per-view has been around for many years, it has not been available in such an easy-to-use prepaid format," says Nieuwstadt. "The system has proven itself in a successful deployment at a conditional access system vendor in Europe. The real-time usage dashboard with its range of dials is simple, making it quick to understand for people who are accustomed to looking at reports and not necessarily working with technology. Since it is based on Macromedia`s Flash, integrated directly into the CACH'E database, it is graphic-intensive and feature-rich while using very little network bandwidth, therefore resulting in a very responsive dashboard even on mobile data networks."
Brand-ID is a complete service provider, offering a guaranteed interface between consumers and service operators, using a channel the consumer chooses. The service is supplied through patented, cost-effective scratch vouchers and is entirely outsourced.
That means service operators have little outlay, no drawn-out implementations and no ongoing and escalating maintenance costs that usually accompany a new billing system.
"The good news for service operators is that using CHKVIEW is as simple as flicking a switch, and the model makes it low risk," says Nieuwstadt. "Operators can run proof-of-concept projects without any significant capital expenditure, testing the waters and proving the benefits to themselves before taking the plunge into prepaid subscriber-based media."
It`s easy for subscribers to use too. "Users buy a voucher for a certain time window or for a particular televised event - such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix or rugby match - from their preferred outlet. Without registering, without credit checks and without any form of authorisation they submit the voucher number online, using a cellphone, on e-mail or instant message and within seconds their smart card gets a response and they can view the programme or channel," says Nieuwstadt.
Further benefits for service operators revolve around marketing. The product can provide service operators with more information about their customers, such as cellphone number, e-mail address or the preferred retail outlet in a manner consistent with applicable laws. The confirmation message is also a marketing opportunity to explore.
"When confirming a user`s purchase of a Grand Prix or rugby match, the service operator can include a message prompting them about prizes to be won with purchases made at specific retail outlets, or of discounted rates," says Nieuwstadt.
"There is an inherent synergy between CACH'E, which is optimised for high-performance transaction processing, and the Brand-ID CHKVIEW system that makes it possible to deliver top-tier performance for truly real-time systems," says InterSystems SA country manager Henry Adams.
* Andre Nieuwstadt will give a presentation on CHKVIEW at InterSystems` annual regional conference, the InterSystems 2006 South African Symposium. Titled "Innovation at the centre of your organisation", the conference will be held at the Park Hyatt in Rosebank, Johannesburg on 28 and 29 June.
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