Consumers who are fed up with the high cost and character limitations of traditional text messages now have an alternative.
VEXX is a recently unveiled global SMS platform developed by Durbanite Michael Sillifant. The service was born out of Sillifant's frustration with the 160-character limit on traditional SMSes.
The platform allows users to be more verbose, allowing them to send voice messages of up to a minute long or texts of up to 1 000 characters for only 10c a pop, making it far more affordable than the current average rates of 80c per SMS charged by SA's cellular operators.
“I thought, why can't we take it to 1 000 characters, make the whole SMS process a lot cheaper and user-friendly for everyone, not just smartphone users?” asks Sillifant. “I also hate typing messages, as do many people, so we created the voice SMS as part of the application.”
Sillifant succeeded in his goal, and consumers do not need to own a smartphone to use VEXX. All the service requires is a WAP-enabled phone in order to download the VEXX application for free.
Says Sillifant: “The reality is that smartphones are expensive. Not everyone can afford one. In fact, 1% of cellphones in Africa are smartphones, and we have 500 million cellphones in Africa. We had to create a product for a wide audience, not just high-end phones. If you are a fan of SMS, get VEXX. You can even reach a phone that does not have Internet.”
After purchasing prepaid VEXX credits/bundles - which are available from retailers such as Mr Price and Spar, and soon from petrol station shops - users can then send voice and text messages to any number, even those that are not registered with VEXX. However, should recipients wish to respond to messages sent via VEXX, they will have to download the app as well.
The SMS bundles range from R4, offering users 40 SMSes, to R99, which will allow users to send 1 200 voice and text messages.
For more information, visit the VEXX Web site.
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