Targeted mobile communication is the next big thing

By Matt Weafer
Greater Owensboro Business Magazine

An electric guitar sits in the corner of Ankur Gopal’s office beside an amplifier and effects pedals. The video game Rock Band sits idle next to a large plasma screen that Gopal and his employees use for Web cam meetings with clients and colleagues across the globe. The office establishes the tone of Gopal’s two businesses as high-tech, relaxed and creative.

Gopal, CEO of Revasyst and COO of Agent 511, is an Owensboro native seeking to create a number of successful businesses, help further develop Owensboro’s economy and create an innovative business model unique to his hometown.

And he’s able to accomplish these goals with the popularization of immediate, mobile communication.

“The whole key to Agent 511 is instant communication that’s relevant, that people want,” Gopal said. “And Owensboro as a whole has accepted it.”

In only four months, Agent 511 has blossomed with clients jumping on board, including real estate agencies, radio stations, banks, restaurants, schools and many other local businesses.

“We present ourselves as a text messaging solutions company,” Gopal said. “We also build a brand. It’s easy to remember our number 511-511. It’s basically a local Google search; you can find out the weather, coupons and information about political candidates.”

Consumers text a command to 511-511 and receive an instant response from the Agent 511 server.

Text “OWB Dining Deals” and receive a list of sales and specials at local restaurants.

Don Moore now assigns each automobile a four-digit code that consumers can text to Agent 511 and receive the rock bottom price for that vehicle.

Gene’s Health Food sends out a daily health tip to users who opt in to receive the tip.

Though targeted communication and marketing are popular among businesses, consumers have the option choose to receive texts from businesses, which protects the average cell phone-user from text spam.

Gopal and his colleagues attended the 2008 CTIA Wireless conference this spring where Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Mobile, said “mobile technology and text messaging is the next Internet ... the next big thing,” Gopal said.

“We like to think we jumped on it early,” he said, “and not only that; we brought it to a community that is looking for something cool and innovative and something that is a new, innovative business — not your typical factory or your typical service firm. It’s completely new, uncharted territory.”

Gopal and his partner, Jay Malin, launched Agent 511 in Owensboro and Chicago.

“We wanted to see the big city dynamic versus small city,” Gopal said.

So far, Gopal said the biggest difference is the amount of competition in Chicago between other advertising agencies.

“In Owensboro it was mostly about acceptance and adoption,” he said. “Would Owensboro accept this new technology? Would they use this technology for applications more than just texting messages?”

The answer is “yes,” he said. Currently Agent 511 receives more than 10,000 connections a day just from Owensboro.

Technology has become so advanced and cost-effective that both Revasyst and Agent 511 perform large tasks on simple applications, which his clients love, Gopal said.

Consumers simply text a command and receive instant information. Clients instruct Gopal and his crew about the functions they want to perform, and Agent 511 builds a model to suit each customer.

Revasyst is a supplemental service to doctors’ offices and hospitals, helping them collect money more efficiently.

At Revasyst, Gopal uses a combination of purchased software, free software and software that his company built to simplify tasks.

Plus with instant communication through the Internet and mobile technology, Gopal can speak directly with his clients and employees — even the ones located in New Jersey or India — on a daily basis.

“Our office is always looking for the next best application to help make the office more efficient,” Gopal said.

One of the main reasons, both Revasyst and Agent 511 have grown so quickly is because of the simplicity of the technology and the freedom of innovation that new technology allows — and encourages.

Gopal also models his office after Google, which is known for its offices looking more like a playground and arcade than the traditional vanilla labyrinth of cubicles. The idea is to create an atmosphere that encourages creativity.

Employees create their own hours and refer to a board of scheduled tasks and deadlines to stay on target. Gopal believes that allowing that freedom inspires better productivity and innovation among his employees.

With Agent 511 in its infancy as Revasyst carries on at a successfully steady pace, Gopal focuses most of his energies on spreading the word about targeted communication.

“Targeted communication is the key,” he said. “95 percent of all text messages are opened and read regardless of who sends them.”

The market is there and Owensboro has accepted the new use of an existing technology. Now Gopal just has to wait for Agent 511 to grow.