SMS gas booking system gets the thumbs up

4 lakh customers already using facility that allows them to order LPG cylinders by sending text message; software developed by city techie

SMS gas booking system gets the thumbs up

4 lakh customers already using facility that allows them to order LPG cylinders by sending text message; software developed by city techie

Four months into its inception, an SMS gas booking system, introduced by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., has been successful in its efforts to keep the kitchen fires burning without much sweat. No more the toil of repeated phone calls to the gas agency and no more the drone of its 'engaged' tone; for the software, developed by a techie from the city, has made it possible to book a gas cylinder by just sending a text message.u00a0 The customer then receives a confirmation SMS from the agency, complete with the date of delivery and a reminder of other services that can be availed of.

Growing popularity: A gas agency employee swipes the smart card of
the consumer after delivering the LPG cylinder. Pic/Vivek Sabnis

What's more, even if the customer chooses to make a missed call, the gas agency confirms the order with an SMS. "The system is so foolproof that the delivery man can verify it with the help of the customer's smart card that has to be bought from the agency with a one-time payement of Rs 40," said Rajesh Pendpale, who took the initiative to develop the software with his colleague Samarth Deredekar. Pendpale chose to first favour the city with his service and has found out that it was worth his while. "About 4 lakh customers are already benefiting from these services for the past four to five months. We are looking to get about 5 lakh more customers in the next two months," Pendpale said.

Smart server
Sunil Chevle, manager of Tejaswini gas agency, said that the charge is only for the SMS, which is 2.5 paise.
"The facility is given only to customers who purchase a smart card worth Rs 40. This has a life-time validity. Electronically, everything gets registered in the card. The deliveryman is equipped with a handy reader terminal which helps in verifying the booking. We have installed a server costing Rs 6 lakh that automatically registers SMSes or missed calls. The software checks the stock of gas cylinders and accordingly gives the delivery dates to the customers," he said. "For the past four months, we have not received any complaints of late delivery. We have an operator monitoring the server for 12 hours and will soon have an operator for night also as and when the volume of booking increases."

Vidya Pathare, an operator working on the server, said she had to monitor each and every SMS or missed call. "We get 300 to 400 bookings per day. The number is growing as many people are now opting for the smart card facility," she said. Pathare said the facility is also available in some areas of Bibwewadi, Koregaon Park, Sinhagad road and Katraj. Pratibha Deshpande, a housewife and a smart card user, said, "It is convenient to book the cylinder by sending an SMS. If there is change in the delivery date, I get another SMS about the new schedule in advance," she said.

Others follow suit
Not to be left behind, Hindustan Petroleum is also initiating a similar service in the city. P N Kanth, senior regional manager, Hindustan Petroleum, said that they were launching 'HP gas anytime' from the first week of July, which would use the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS). "Currently, the trials are on, but the project shall be officially commissioned only in the next month to cater to our 4.5 lakh customers in Pune and then later to other cities," he said. "The service is based on IVRS and will make telephone bookings for gas cylinder easy."

SMS booking
> Booking number for the gas cylinder to the customer
> Date of delivery.
> Reminder for the delivery date.
> Reminder about the expiry date of the rubber tube used for the gas cylinder.
> Cost and usage of gas cylinder.

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