Replace SMS with Missed Call Service for OTP or Number Verification — we saved $400 every month
At one of my bootstrapped company — Snap Homework, with more than 2 million registered users and 1 million MAU, we were spending close to 40K every month on SMS. These numbers would not have pinched me as much if out of these 2.5L sms (2.5L for 40K) at-least 50% would be been used for new user registrations but that was not even 20%.
At start of March 2020 when COVID-19 was just about to start gripping India, we were onboarding new schools and users but not at a frantic pace, however SMS were being consumed at lighting speed. This got me into thinking why is this happening and is there a different approach/solution to handle the user’s mobile number verification.
I huddled with my team, trying to find answer to
1- Why so many sms are being consumed
2- Brainstorm to find if there is better or equally competent service/solution.
After couple of these sessions we got answers to both —
1- Many users to stay logged in and then forget their password. So every-time they login, they use OTP to login/set new password.
2- Why don’t we use missed call service — purpose of OTP is also to verify user mobile number, same can achieved using missed call and its dirt cheap as compared to SMS.
After that we went into detail, understanding the technicalities and work on UI/UX so that user experience is still smooth.
Pricing — The SMS pricing works on the total number of sms consumed, where as in missed call there is no limitation on number of missed calls but they charge you based on number of lines (parallel calls you can handle). As for cost, its around Rs 12–14K per year for 8 lines. (Yes you read it right :) )
Reliability — I would say missed call is equally reliable as compared to SMS. In fact we used get numerous support calls from user saying they haven’t received the OTP, where as with Missed Call mobile verification method, if call doesn’t get through, user knows/assumes that the problem is with their network and will try to get to place with better network and retry. Our data tells us that Support Calls for missed or SMS received dropped by almost 80% after we switched to Missed Call Service. Thats huge uptick.
If you are also looking to save some $$ and reliable alternative to SMS, how about give it try. Please note, this will only work if your users are in India.
Missed Call Service we used — https://www.servetel.in/