Channels
Every channel has a job. SMS is the one we run today.
The marks below are the product family. The status on each row is the honest one.
USSD still carries menus for people without a smartphone. The screen on the left is the kind of session Tian SMS runs today. The smartphone threads further down are the SMS the same customer may get a minute later.
SMS
Live
USSD
Live
Voice
Next
Next
| Channel | What it is for | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SMS | Alerts, reminders, campaigns and codes. Two-way on a long number or short code. SMPP for high volume. | Live on Tian SMS |
| USSD | Menus and sessions for feature phones, collections and mobile-money style flows. | Live on Tian SMS |
| Business API conversations, templates and rich replies. First rich channel we will add. | Next | |
| Voice | Outbound calls, IVR, text-to-speech, recording, click-to-call, call masking, voice OTP. | Next |
| Number lookup | Is the line live, which network, has it been ported. Checked before you spend credit. | Next |
| RCS, Viber and other chat | Rich messaging where the handset and the business case support it. | Later |
| Email and push | Transactional email, and mobile or web push, beside the phone channels. | Later |
| Video | Embedded calling. Useful for some support desks, not a priority for this market. | Not planned as a first release |
A shop that already answers on WhatsApp
Templates for order updates, a person on the thread when the customer replies. We will add the Business API before the other chat apps, because that is the inbox Ghanaian customers actually check.
An IVR that does not need a call centre yet
Press 1 for the balance, press 2 for a person. Text-to-speech for the balance, a recording of the greeting, and a webhook when the call ends. That is the voice teaser. The bind is not open yet.
Failover is part of the design: if WhatsApp is not delivered within a set number of seconds, the same message can leave as SMS. That switch starts when both channels are on.