Two weeks ago, we covered the introduction of the Shupavu 291 service by Safaricom. Let’s walk through how the subscription service works shall we?
Step 1: Dial *291#
Step 2: The following screen will appear:
Select 1. to register. If you are the more conscientious type, you may want to select 2. to review the terms and conditions of the service. However, this will be delivered in 160 character chunks so…er…be advised.
Step 3: If you chose option 1 above, a new screen loads asking you to select what you are from three choices; a primary school student, a secondary school student or a teacher. The first two choices will allow Shupavu to tailor the content to be served accordingly. I did not explore the teacher option but I suspect this would allow teachers to specify their subjects of expertise and then answer questions posed by students. Basically, you can tutor via sms.
Step 4: A new screen loads asking you to select your gender. I’m guessing this is for statistical purposes?!
AT this point, a flurry of sms’s come through. Not sure what they were for. Safaricom will hopefully weigh in??!
Step 5: You are now asked to confirm that you will be subscribing to the Shupavu service with sms costing ksh 0. Proceed with abandon!
Step 6: You’ll get SMS notification that you have been subscribed to the Shupavu service.
You will get your first quiz immediately after subscribing. On completing the quiz, Shupavu will award you points..then ask for your name. This is all part of the personalization experience so go along with it.
And that’s about it. In the last of thise series of Shupavu posts, we will review what it is we like about the service as experienced thus far, and what we think can be done to improve it.
Thanks for reading !