Archive for December, 2009

Quicken Loans Goes Live with Mobile Alerts

QWASI selected by Quicken Loans to launch Mobile Alerts to keep employees more informed.

PHILADELPHIA, December 31, 2009 – QWASI Inc., a leading enterprise mobile applications company providing interactive solutions is enabling businesses to communicate with their employees and internal customers on a broader scale. QWASI recently launched its Mobile Alerts service with Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online retail lender and 6th largest retail mortgage lender, to communicate internal urgent messages, such as emergencies, potential outages or other important information to employees.

Designed to alert associates throughout the company of urgent notifications, QWASI’s Mobile Alerts allows department administrators across the organization to send important and timely SMS (text messages) to people within the department, team or enterprise. It also gives them the ability to broadcast region-wide messages to their remote workers. Since alert messages are sent via SMS to subscribers, the message is delivered within seconds to employee cell phones.

“Mobile Alerts is an efficient way for us to quickly and succinctly alert our team members of urgent information,” said Frank Laura, Quicken Loans CIO. “Our people are tech savvy and always connected, so enacting a streamlined way to alert them after hours is an important service that QWASI’s technology allows us to provide.”

QWASI also powers Mobile Alerts and Enterprise Communication solutions for Fortune 500 companies, small to medium-sized businesses, churches, non-profits and other political organizations. Similar text message alert systems have been deployed for colleges, universities, school campuses, mass transit, hospitals, and the like. These alerts can be critical in providing vital information in emergencies and giving crucial details that would be helpful in getting more information about the event or crisis.

“Our mobile alerts platform allows any company to send important information about an urgent situation, even when the company server or power is down,” states David Geipel, COO of QWASI, Inc. “We’re pleased to be working with Quicken Loans to power their internal mobile alert system.”

ABOUT QUICKEN LOANS
Quicken Loans is the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and the sixth largest retail mortgage lender in the United States, closing $15 billion in home loan volume in the first half of 2009. The company closes loans from five Web Centers located in Michigan, Ohio and Arizona, and from its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. The QuickenLoans.com Web site has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes and Money magazine. Quicken Loans has been named to Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for six consecutive years, ranking as high as No. 2. The company also has been named one of Computerworld Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work in Technology” for the past five years, ranking No. 1 in 2005, 2006 and 2007. For more information, visit www.QuickenLoans.com.

QUICKEN LOANS CONTACT
Aaron Emerson, (734) 805-7173, aaronemerson@quickenloans.com

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading mobile solutions provider of interactive applications for clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, QWASI makes complexity to simple with mobile marketing, mCommerce (mobile commerce), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, interactive property marketing services and customized alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

For more information on Mobile Alerts, give us a call today @ 1-877-747-9274.

December 31, 2009 in Press Releases   |   No Comments

The Mobile Shopper Unleashed!

Black Friday 2009 was a success for mobile retailers - those who target and offer services for shoppers on the go. And while retailers are reviewing their sales targets and scrambling to hit end of year numbers for Christmas 2009, the holiday shopping season most notably will prove to be the year mobile commerce has arrived.

New Apps like Price Scanning and Deal Alerts are help driving the frenzy across online and traditional brick and mortar stores. While most retailers were hoping for greater consumer spending, some figures early figures on mobile retailing over the three-day Black Friday weekend are sure to raise a few eyebrows:

According to the Yankee Group, some of the surprising news include:
* Mobile Payments are More Popular than ever: The WSJ reports that the number of mobile online payments made through Paypal on Black Friday is 650% higher than it was last year.

* Mobile Product Search has Grown: Siva Kumar, the chief executive of TheFind.com (a product search engine), has stated that the number of searches on mobile devices on Black Friday grew from 5,000 last year to 200,000 this year.

* Price Comparison Shopping Apps are More Popular: ShopSaavy, a comparison-shopping application for the iPhone, has reported that 1 million users scanned at least one product with the App’s barcode scanner over the three-day Black Friday weekend.

It’s no wonder that consumers are using their mobile phones more than ever in the discovery, research, planning and actual shopping. Data from the Yankee Group’s Consumer survey indicates that the holiday shopper of 2009 will not only be far more price sensitive than his 2008 predecessor, but will also increasingly rely on sales and price comparison tools when he does decide to spend his hard earned dollar.

That’s where mobile steps in to solve the challenge of comparison shopping. Today’s Smartphone provides access to pricing and product review information, product availability at the store level. It’s certainly becoming the “emerging as the tool of choice for any holiday shopper” looking to save some dough.

If you’re a retailer looking for mobile commerce solutions, consider many commerce services and applications from QWASI including:

Text Ordering

Using SMS, this service allows customers to order via any cell phone, anytime, anywhere through a few texts.

Mobile Apps

Launching an iPhone App or Blackberry App targeting on-the-go shoppers. However, not all apps are worth building. Consult before building an App.

WAP Site

The place most retailers start - this allows anyone with a data plan to access product information, reviews and checkout. Check out the QWASI PCI compliant shopping cart.

SMS Alerts

Drive sales online or in store with alerts and notifications. Include CTAs (call to action) including click-to-call, trackable WAP site links,  MMS and other push methods.

Mobile Loyalty

Allows companies to offer specials and promotions vis SMS. Track activity and reward/incentivize customer activity.

Mobile Optimized Email

A must for email today. Browser detection can quickly format the message for readability on smartphones.

Store Locators

Utilize SMS or WAP and tapping into Google Maps and other local-based services, let shoppers find you while out and about.

Custom Application and Interactive Programs

Building mobile mash-ups and multi-mobile commerce apps, provide multiple campaigns targeting mobile shoppers.

Check out QWASI’s Mobile Retail methodology and let QWASI take your company mobile and start generating new sales from today’s mobile consumers.

Call QWASI @ 877-747-9274.

December 7, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments