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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Hotlink – South Africa’s first SMS business directory Issued by: BlackHatMedia
Hotlink (www.hotlink.co.za) is a quick and easy way of finding business names and phone numbers in South Africa by using SMS. For example send an SMS to hotlink with the words "nandos in sandton" or "plumber in bryanston" and you will get back an immediate reply with a list of matching businesses together with their phone numbers. The phone numbers can then be dialled directly from the reply SMS or saved in your phone for future use.
The number to use for hotlink is 0820 03 03 50 for both Vodacom and MTN users. Unfortunately the service is not currently available to Cell C users but this is something that will be rectified in the near future. Try it right now by sending an SMS to 0820 03 03 50 and then save this number in your phone. The hotlink directory will always be just an SMS away
Hotlink was developed by BlackHatMedia (www.blackhatmedia.com), a South African technology company that specialises in the development of interactive SMS applications. BlackHatMedia has registered a provisional patent in South Africa for the SMS directory system SA Pat App 2003/4028.
Daniel Cimring, the CEO of BlackHatMedia, comments on where the idea for hotlink came from.
"The use of SMS as a communication tool has grown beyond anyone's expectations, both in South Africa and around the world. When we saw how difficult it was to simply find a business name or phone number and how most people were starting to use SMS for everyday communication we realized that there was a gap in the market for a simple to use SMS directory service. A lot of people are currently focused on the more sexy GSM technologies such as 2.5G, 3G, MMS, WAP, GPRS and USSD. Our view is that these technologies will take time to become widely used, and in the mean time SMS is something that works on all phones and that most people are already using. We decided to develop something that would help 14 million people in South Africa access information using their phone without having the latest handset or having to fiddle around with tricky settings. There are many more exciting hotlink features that will be announced soon so watch this space.”
”The people who have tried hotlink so far really love it so we think that this product is going to go a long way."
If you have ever used SMS to send messages to friends and family then you will find hotlink extremely easy to use. You simply write up a message with words describing the company, product or service you require and send it to the hotlink number. To find Boating International in Edenvale use "boating international in edenvale" or just "boat inter in eden". To find a hotel in Sea Point use "hotel in sea point cape town" or just "hotel in sea point". As you can see from these examples hotlink allows you to abbreviate words by simply typing the first few letters instead of the entire word. To search for a business in a specific area include the word “in” followed by the area that you want. For example “in sandton” or “in cape town central” or “in morningside durban”.
Hotlink is also available on the internet at www.hotlink.co.za. Here you can conduct the same searches online that can be done from your cell phone. And if you own a business then be sure to click on the add my business link where you can submit your details and make sure that you are included in the hotlink directory. Listing is free so go to www.hotlink.co.za or send an SMS with your business name to 0820 03 03 50 and check whether your business is listed.
BlackHatMedia is currently talking with a number of paper directory and internet directory companies in order to make their content available on the hotlink SMS system. If you would like to talk to us or find out more about hotlink or other products developed by BlackHatMedia please contact daniel@blackhatmedia.com or visit www.hotlink.co.za and www.blackhatmedia.com.
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