Frequently Asked Questions
Mobill Service Platform (MSP) Questions
1. Which mobile phone standards are supported?
»Over SMS, MSP supports GSM and CDMA standard mobile phones (both 2G and 3G), since these networks offer SMPP or an equivalent interface to send and receive text messages. However, we would point out that Mobile Internet browsing and mobile app integration does not depend on the underlying technology of the mobile Internet connection.«
2. Is SMS a reliable communications medium?
»Yes. Direct carrier links using the SMPP protocol are fast and reliable. Mobill also works with carrier-class aggregators using efficient APIs. Some other aggregators offer services via interfaces such as E-mail, which introduce delays.«
3. Can I use Mobill’s services to add payments and coupons to my own mobile apps?
»Yes. Mobill offers webAPI and SMS interfaces for mobile apps to make payments and receive coupons which could, for example, be held in a ‘mobile wallet’.«
4. On what platforms does MSP run?
»MSP currently runs on Microsoft Windows® platforms, using Microsoft SQL Server® and Microsoft IIS. Portions of MSP are implemented using Java™.«
5. Are MSP and Mobill’s services available as a cloud-based service?
»Yes. Mobill offers hosted service using webAPIs and web-based administration access.«
6. Can MSP support conventional web-based e-commerce solutions?
»Yes. Mobill has examples of web-based applications that use the MSP capabilities to conduct transactions.«
Mcode Questions
7. How are Mcode tickets and coupons protected against forgery?
»Because only a controlled proportion of the possible number of Mcodes, say 1 in 1,000,000, is ever issued at any one time, the chance of a modified or randomly chosen value matching an issued coupon is maintained at a low probability. Each M Coupon also contains checksum digits to guard against modification. The validation process checks against the database of issued coupons in MSP.«
8. If a consumer’s mobile phone breaks or if the consumer accidentally deletes the Mcode coupon or ticket, can a new one be issued?
»Although the actual ticket or coupon may be lost, the associated database entry will have a status of “not redeemed”. That status can be changed to “cancelled” and MSP can be instructed to issue a new coupon.«
9. I would like to use Mcode coupons as the validation component of an existing application. Is that possible?
»Yes. Mobill has APIs which enable an external application to generate Mcode tickets or coupons and to receive validation data.«