Reverse Billing SMS is a process whereby small charges are made to a subscriber’s mobile phone in return for a service. Typically the subscriber calls or texts a short code SMS number, often including a keyword in the message and in return receives a service or a piece of information for which a charge is made on that subscriber’s cell phone. Typical applications include voting to eject someone from a “Big Brother” type of TV programme and being charged 25p for the privilege; subscribing to a football team’s news service and receiving video goal flashes at 50p a goal; or entering a prize draw at the local supermarket. This facility opens up many new business opportunities never before available. Competitions, alerts, news flashes, quizzes and priority information are just a few of the areas where Reverse Billing SMS can be used as the basis of a business.

Reverse Billing SMS relies on your having a Short Code SMS number for your clients to send messages to. You cannot implement a reverse billing system without one. Currently these are 5-digit numbers and are available as dedicated or shared numbers. An example of a dedicated number would be “85058” which is the number you send SMS messages to if you want to contact BBC Radio 5. A shared number might be “81234 FASTSMS” which might be a number used to contact Fast SMS whereas “81234 JSMITH” might be used for John Smith. 6-digit short code numbers are to be released shortly although precise details are unclear as yet.

You can register short code numbers with any or each of the 4 UK networks, i.e. Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and Orange. In most cases you would register with all 4 but you are not obliged to do so, for example you might have a mailing list of exclusively Vodafone numbers in which case you would not be obliged to register with the other 3. Dedicated 5-digit short code numbers cost £1250 per month per network or £4900 per month for all 4. Shared 5-digit numbers cost £175 per month per network or £650 for all 4. Rental fees are payable monthly in advance and exclude VAT.

There will always be a degree of integration required between the Reverse Billing System and your application. In most cases there will be an underlying database system providing the service. If we take the example of a voting system there will be a database where the “Votes Cast” field is updated by each message sent. So if you text “81234 CELEBRITY FRED” then the votes cast for Fred in the database belonging to the shared user Celebrity would have one vote added. During the Iraq War you could text “81234 IRAQ ON” and this would activate the transmission of news flashes relating to the war to your phone at 25p a message from Sky News, “81234 IRAQ OFF” stopped the service. Costs for this integration work are typically £1500 to £3000 but can be much more in some instances. We will define the work required with you and provide a firm quotation before work commences.

The cost charged to the subscriber can be set at 25p, 50p, £1.00 or £1.50. A significant part of this is retained by the phone network and the balance is transferred to the provider of the service. This is how you make your money! The sums paid depend on the value of the reverse charge (25p, 50p, etc.) and the number of messages received per month. These figures are different for each network and their payment terms differ also, varying between 30 and 90 days in arrears. Generally the sums paid per message range from 6p to 10p for 25p messages up to 80p to 90p for £1.50 messages. Bear in mind this is a very new facility and has still to fully settle down. The likelihood is that prices will reduce and the infrastructure in terms of reports on usage and revenues earned will become more sophisticated. There are many imperfections but Fast SMS are at the forefront of this technology and will bring you improvements as they become available. Call us on 01386 791880 to discuss your requirements and get firm pricing.