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Project Overview
PPLCONNECT is the world's first Virtual Smartphone. PPLCONNECT lets users send/receive their SMS as well as Free Messages, all in 1 thread. And then continue the conversation on their computer, tablet, and more. We also let users Call with their phone number from any device.
Simply install the PPLCONNECT app on your phone & then go to www.pplco.mobi on any device to access/use your phone. That means you can SMS from a computer, call from a tablet or even a friend’s phone - all with your phone number! Have the smartphone experience you love, with increased flexibility.
Organisation
Team
Part of our secret sauce is the PPLCONNECT team. Denzil D’Sa and Jenviev Azzolin founded PPLCONNECT after leaving their management jobs from a Fortune 500 company, where they led major international launches (one of which was recognized as the most successful in business aviation history). They have put together a team of 4 senior developers and designers. The development team is led by Denzil D'Sa, with Victor Parmar as Web Developer, Sebastien Brosseau as Android Developer and Sebastien Catoire as UI UX Designer. Jenviev leads the Strategy, Marketing and Creative for PPLCONNECT, with Kimberley Castlemain as Content Manager.
PPLCONNECT is also propelled by a team of expert advisors, including Jeff Pulver, Founder of Vonage, Tony Kueh VP Mobile Neustar, Pierre Nolin, Founder Nolin-BBDO, to name a few. Together they are unstoppable.
Project Brief
PPLCONNECT is the first Virtual Smartphone, i.e. a smartphone that is web-based, independent from the physical handset. The benefits of a Virtual Smartphone are vast, from using your smartphone anywhere in the world without worrying about roaming, to expanding your smartphone experience to all your other devices”.
PPLCONNECT first launched its solution at SXSW 2014, where it was nominated as one of the top 8 new mobile startups that will change the world in 2014.
The first iteration of PPLCONNECT lets users send/receive their SMS as well as Free Messages, all in 1 thread. And then continue the conversation on their computer, tablet, and more. It also lets users Call with their phone number from any device. This is made possible via the PPLCONNECT App which links your phone to the web. Users then have the option to log-in to PPLCONNECT on any device via the browser at: www.pplco.mobi and have access to their live SMS, Calls, Contacts, and more.
Forgot your phone at home? Simply login at www.pplco.mobi on your work computer and have full access to your live communications. Desktop notifications for incoming calls/SMS will keep you focused. Plus, texting on a larger screen and keyboard is faster and easier. Got a long day ahead? Conserve your battery by logging into www.pplco.mobi on your tablet. Traveling abroad? Avoid roaming fees by simply using PPLCONNECT and keep calling and messaging all your friends.
Project Need
PPLCONNECT is the only solution which lets users send/receive SMS and free Messages all in 1 app and then continue the dialogue on any device via the web browser. This is what we call the 1st Virtual Smartphone (with the app on their phone, users can connect on any device, independent of OS/device).
This solution brings positive disruption to mobile by giving users freedom. This is a major power shift in the telecom industry, currently dominated by carriers and hardware/OS manufacturers that operate in silos. Our goal is to change the power dynamic to give users more control over their mobile communications, such as:
1- Have access to your live phone communications independent of the physical handset. Benefits include: operator cost savings, roaming, avoid low battery.
2- Connect to your SMS/Calls on any device via the web browser. This gives users the freedom to integrate their live phone communications on all their other devices, making them more efficient and productive.
3- Communicate with all your contacts, through free PPLCONNECT messaging or via SMS with everyone else (we do not limit you to only communicate with PPLCONNECT users like most messaging apps).
4-Have all your other messaging notifications (Whatsapp, Viber, Messenger, Snapchat, Skype, etc.) all in one place in PPLCONNECT. Every day there are new messaging apps popping up. We end up with a set of apps, which are all effectively closed communication silos. With PPLCONNECT you can have all your messaging notifications on your computer.
User Experience
The PPLCONNECT UI/UX was built to enhance the mobile experience and make your live communications available on your other devices (Computer, Tablet, Phone). PPLCONNECT is available as a native Android App as well as a web client at www.pplco.mobi.
The Android app must be installed on the user’s primary phone, to links the user’s communications to the web. Then go to www.pplco.mobi on the web browser of any device (including Apple/Non-Android devices) to access and use their phone, with their phone number.
PPLCONNECT is built in a responsive framework, in order for users to move from their smartphone to their computer/tablet seamlessly. Users can choose to open their message inbox which is synced with their phone SMS, and click on a message to reply. Users can make phone calls with their phone number in the same way they would from their handset. They're also able to multitask by pinning conversations, enabling them to be on a call while having 2 SMS conversations simultaneously.
Users will benefit from desktop notifications, so they will not need to keep checking the tab for new notifications.
PPLCONNECT UI design consists of different bold backdrop colors, complimented by different layers of transparencies for all the page elements, which gives us complete flexibility to customize the UI per user’s preferences. Our UI/UX has been recognized by many as intuitive and vibrant.
Project Marketing
As an early stage startup we did not have the luxury of a large marketing budget and so we developed a content curation and creation strategy, which also helped us with the challenge of attaining press coverage.
We were able to take control of our image and communications by launching the PPLCONNECT blog (http://pplconnect.mobi/blog/) and establishing our co-founders as thought-leaders in the area of innovative communications. They also opted for a knowledge-sharing strategy where we helped other startups to learn from our experiences. People who work in startups like designers, developers and marketers would benefit from the features of our app and so this strategy was reaching the right people without being too promotional. A soft but smart sell.
Our marketing team has also created several videos and infographics as part of our content creation strategy, which bolster the written blog content and offer more engaging and shareable content to our community.
We strategically chose & attended the SXSW Interactive festival for the audience fit. Here we coupled a content marketing strategy with a guerilla marketing campaign. One way we got awareness was by disseminating a fun survival guide infographic for the busy festival-goers and also created a benefit for them to download our app on the spot. If they downloaded the app & sent us a message through it, we would wait in line for them at any event. We then interacted with even more people in the lines with our street team.
Project Privacy
At PPLCONNECT we take privacy seriously, part of the foundation that built PPLCONNECT.
WE BELIEVE YOUR INFORMATION BELONGS TO YOU AND WE ARE ONLY ENTRUSTED HELP YOU BETTER ACCESS AND USE THAT INFORMATION FROM ANYWHERE THAT YOU DESIRE.
We aim to collect, use and disclose only such information as is required to enable us to better manage your account and the best service possible to our customer. By downloading the App the user consents to PPLCONNECT having access to various information on their mobile device, including text messages or phone calls. We will not sell or use contact lists to send any communications to contacts that the user has not authorized and will not disclose SMS messages or call logs to third parties except in limited circumstances.
Your information is of the utmost importance to us, we do not take your trust for granted. That is why we use a variety of security measures, including encryption tools, to maintain the confidentiality of Personal Information. We use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that all Personal Information is stored and maintained in a secure environment. All data is encrypted during transmission across our platform. To protect any data you store on our servers, we also regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and we use a tier-one secured-access data center.
Best Mobile or App Startup
This category relates to Startups working on a Mobile project or an App. The project could be for smartphones, tablet, web, game console or api apps. Startup projects need to be newly emerging, less than 5 million users and less than 3 years old.
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