Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
EVERYBODY HAS a story about them. You know who we're talking about. It's Friday. You're on the road when suddenly your cell phone vibrates. A miniature letter appears in the left side of your screen. Oh goodie, you think, a message, and expecting a love note from your favourite beau, or an urgent message from the office, you access your message with high anticipation
And then the inevitable, your face falls as you realise it's a message from oh horror the 'Please Call Me' people.
The 'Please Call Me' syndrome has fast afflicted the daily lives of thousands of Jamaican customers.
Commented 26-year-old computer technician Courtney Blair opined:
"It seems as if these girls nowadays never have any credit. They text you at all hours in the morning with these silly 'Please call me' signs, and then after you call them, they beg you to buy them credit!"
Digicel is rather pleased with how the 'call me' facility has been accepted by the Jamaican public.
"It has gone incredibly well with almost no advertising. The viral effect has been amazing. The idea came out of a think tank to find a useful voice product for customers who find themselves in the middle of an emergency without any money, and need to make a call without any credit on their phones," said Heather Shields, Digicel's marketing and communications manager.
"The product does not help to boost Flex card sales as the idea is that the persons who don't have money can get a free emergency call. We are also looking at developing additional products that will continue to benefit our customer base."
The 'Call Me' facility is an original product developed by the Digicel product team for the Jamaican market, however based on its overwhelming success, the telecoms carrier will be rolling it out across the Caribbean region.
Digicel phone owners can use the facility by inputting1261876(digicel number) # then press send.
"The word on the street is that the people love it. The call centre has been flooded with calls from people saying that they love the service. One lady from St. Mary called to say that she was glad her son was able to reach her when he ran out of money on the road," Ms. Shields said.
Still, despite the rave reviews, there are members of the public who are not amused that several of their friends appear to have 'no credit left'.
The cell phone is so cemented into the Jamaican subconscious that a dancehall recording artiste recently penned a humorous song called No Credit Left which outlines a number of funny scenarios during which your cell phone credit runs out.
Digicel refused to disclose any information on the size of prepaid card sales, but according to an article from the Internet, analysts say prepaid cards, historically a big moneymaker, are still one of the most profitable segments of the telecoms industry. One big United States-based company, IDT Corp., said sales of prepaid phone cards, (which account for 70 per cent of its revenue), are growing at 30-40 per cent annually. The company sold a record 18 million prepaid cards in July 2002.
