Direct mobile communication with Scandic's 370,000 regular customers
PRESS RELEASE - Karlskrona and Uppsala, 4 April 2000 Direct mobile communication with Scandic´s 370,000 regular customers Scandic Hotels enhances customer relations thanks to WAP Direct Scandic Hotels can now communicate directly with its Club customers with the help of text messages. All Scandic Club customers with mobile phones can now use this new SMS service, enabled by an enhancement of WAP Direct . All Scandic customers can also book hotel rooms themselves via WAP. Scandic Hotels is the first customer to capitalise on Europolitan's and Nocom's enhanced service, WAP Direct . The service enables Scandic's 370,000 Scandic Club members to book hotel rooms, for example, directly via their WAP telephones. A new feature is that Scandic can also communicate directly with its Club members via SMS messages. Scandic can, for instance, send an offer to the customer who can link up via WAP and respond to the offer. This new function is optional, and customers only receive SMS messages if they have registered for the WAP Direct service on the Scandic Hotels web site. "Everyone today has a mobile phone. Our task is to create services that facilitate the lives of corporate and private customers," says Mikael Kluge, Vice President Marketing at Europolitan. "The services are for use on the customer's terms, regardless of time or place. The service we have developed together for Scandic is easily accessible and creates added value for both the customer and Scandic." "By utilizing WAP Direct 's secure infrastructure, our customers can now use SMS as a new, cost-efficient marketing channel to their own customers," says Anders Jonson, Managing Director of Nocom. "It is important that this service is optional, so that mobile telephone customers can choose for themselves which information they want." "We see this as just the beginning of the development of Scandic's mobile information services, and we will be introducing more functions for our customers in the future," says Gunnar Brandberg, Marketing Director of Scandic Hotels. WAP Direct is one of the first corporate concepts of its kind in the market, and enables the simple operation and management of advanced mobile information services. WAP Direct uses Europolitan's infrastructure to link up companies' systems with their mobile customers, regardless of operator. It is one of the most secure solutions in the market and the system can be reached from all GSM countries that support GSM data transfer. Europolitan AB is a Swedish GSM operator that prioritises service and quality. The company's head office is in Karlskrona, Sweden. Europolitan is a leader in the field of technically advanced services for GSM 900/1800.The Europolitan Group, which also includes the stock market listed parent company Europolitan Holdings AB and Europolitan AB's sister companies, Europolitan Stores AB and Doberman AB, has around 1,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.europolitan.se. Nocom AB (publ) was founded in 1985 and has been listed on the OM Stockholm Stock Exchange's O list since 4 January 1999 (NOCM B). Nocom offers companies e-business solutions over the Internet and mobile networks. The operations are run from the head office in Uppsala, and there are also offices in Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki. The Group employs some 180 people. For more information, please contact: Mikael Kluge, Vice President Marketing, Europolitan AB Tel: +46 708 33 12 05, e-mail: mikael.kluge@europolitan.se Johan Holmgren, Head of Press Relations, Europolitan AB Tel: +46 708 33 14 00, e-mail: johan.holmgren@europolitan.se Anders Jonson, Managing Director, Nocom AB Tel: +46 708 65 53 01, e-mail: anders.jonsson@nocom.se Gunnar Brandberg, Marketing Manager, Scandic Hotels AB Tel: +46 709 73 52 12, e-mail: gunnar.brandberg@scandic-hotels.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/04/20000404BIT00590/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/04/20000404BIT00590/bit0002.pdf