Any Question Answered
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Any Question Answered (AQA) is a premium-rate SMS information and entertainment service based in the UK. Run by Issuebits Ltd, a company founded in 2002 by former Symbian CEO Colly Myers, mobile phone users can text AQA with any question and get an answer within minutes for a fee. The service operates through a network of home-based researchers who log into AQA's patent pending system, using the database of existing answers and their own sources to come up with answers.
Since its launch, AQA has answered over 5 million questions and answers over 12,000 questions a day.[1] Issuebits currently employs around 650 researchers, including over 40 based in Australia, who were recruited to help answer the high volume of questions the service receives between the hours of midnight and 6 am.[2]
AQA is available for UK mobile phone users on shortcode 63336 for £1, and recently started a service in the Republic of Ireland using the number 57275 for €2.
AQA was the first to market its services through a premium shortcode number, launching the service in April 2004.[3] A number of similar premium shortcode services have subsequently been launched, for example 82ASK, launched in August 2004[4][5], and AskMeNow in the US.
AQA was named best mobile service at the Mobile Choice Consumer awards held on 30th September 2004, and is currently ranked the number 2 shortcode service in the UK by Hutchison 3G Telecommunications.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.aqa.issuebits.com/press_070129.htm
- ^ http://www.aqa.issuebits.com/press_061124.htm
- ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/22/what_colly_did_next/
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/02/nask02.xml
- ^ http://www.160characters.org/pages.php?action=view&pid=38
- ^ http://www.three.co.uk/personal/customer_/shortcodes_/index.omp
