Otter Case Study
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OTTER Case study What is OTTER? Erik Wood, Founder and CEO of OTTER, is a father who witnessed his youngest daughter come inches from being another statistic in the text and drive epidemic. This traumatic experience inspired Erik to design and build a GPS based app called OTTER (One Touch Text Response) for smartphones that eliminates the need to respond to an incoming text or phone call when driving.
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Learn how Seattle based OTTER are using BlueVia to add great functionality and unlock new revenue streams
Transcript of Otter Case Study
OTTER Case studyWhat is OTTER?
Erik Wood, Founder and CEO of OTTER, is a father who witnessed his youngest daughter come inches from being another statistic in the text and drive epidemic. This traumatic experience inspired Erik to design and build a GPS based app called OTTER (One Touch Text Response) for smartphones that eliminates the need to respond to an incoming text or phone call when driving.
Seattle based OTTER launched their first app in April 2010. OTTER silences all chimes, ringtones and buzzes when the user’s vehicle exceeds ten miles per hour and sends incoming texts a customisable auto reply. Unless a Bluetooth accessory is enabled, all calls silently go to voicemail to stop you from fumbling for that ringing phone. There is also a Parental Control feature for teen drivers.
In the United States alone, ‘Text and Drive’ behaviour was the cause of 16,141 highway deaths from 2001 to 2007 and over 200,000 non-fatal accidents last year. Effecting real change to this epidemic will need to include a comprehensive understanding of the texting culture. At the end of the day, tangible change will come from the end user – the delivery man, the carpooling mum, or the teen driver – all choosing not to text and drive.
The OTTER story
OTTER provides an intuitive texting auto-reply feature for the user. What does this have to do with road safety? Nothing – at least not directly. But Erik has heard of teens and business people alike using OTTER to schedule their own “texting blackout periods” so they can get some focused work done without feeling disconnected from their social network.
OTTER offers customised pre-set messages for:• ManualMode:Instant,one-touchtextreplies• Auto-Reply:Automaticallyrepliestoincoming
texts with timer option; silences notifications – no distractions!
• GPSMode:Automaticallyrepliestoincomingtextswhile driving; silences notifications – no distractions! (Bluetooth friendly)
Plus OTTER’s Parental Control feature sets & locks OTTER’sGPSModeonateen’sphoneviaapasscode.
Features
ImportantlytheBlueViaSMSbusinessmodelhasallowed Erik to provide the app free of charge to Telefonica customers, saving them the regular $4.99 pay per download cost. This removes a key adoption barrier for OTTER, by allowing users to try the app out without the fear of paying for something up-front they may not then use.
TheBlueViaSMSAPIisusedtosendout auto response text messages to inbound text messages when the user switches on OTTER. Each one of these auto response messages takes advantageoftheBlueViaSMSAPIbusiness model, generating recurring revenues for OTTER LLC.
In addition OTTER has taken advantage of BlueVia’s seamless App publication process to begin offering the app in Telefonica’s Argentinian App Store.
How is BlueVia helping OTTER?
“BlueVia represents a viable and efficient method for a small app developer to reach millions of new customers previously out of reach. This pioneering conduit is a game changer to app developers around the world” Erik Wood OTTER LLC Founder and CEO
OTTER supports Android, Blackberry and Symbian Smartphones and is available from Telefonica’s
Argentinian App Store.
You can contact OTTER via:[email protected]: @OTTERapp
For Press and Media Enquiries:
33 Digital
+44 (0)20 7608 2500
