Texperts on the Tube

I love reading subway adverts in New York, but the London Tube has better ones. Here’s my favorite find: a information company called Texperts. What a fabulous name! Here, every advert says something along the lines of, ‘Text [this number] to sign up, protest, or whatever.’ The idea of Texperts is that you send your question via SMS and they respond, charging a pound for the answer. Unfortunately it didn’t work when I tried (“Why did ioc give olymics 2 china in spite of infrastructure problems, human rights, etc?”). I got this response, “Requested SMS services not available for now on this number, please try again later.” I will try again and report. As you can see, I’m asking a question that Berkshire’s publications, and experts, could answer.

We believe that “mobile search” in its current form is fundamentally flawed. People need answers and information, not search results and banter. That’s why (on a wing and a prayer!) we created the “mobile find” sector way back in August 2003: to provide a smart, serious, and useful service. The Texperts provide intelligent answers to any question, and our service is not a gimmick – we genuinely want to help people and become part of their everyday lives. The value of our service lies in understanding people’s needs, and then serving them brilliantly. Only real people can do this – not complex algorithms or novelty services.

I would love to know how this model fits with libraries’ 24/7 reference programs.

About the Author: Karen Christensen

Karen Christensen is an entrepreneur, environmentalist, and writer. She is the owner and CEO of Berkshire Publishing Group, a research associate of the Fairbank Center at Harvard, a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and founder of the Train Campaign. She was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Press, Her Substack newsletter, The Way We Live Now, has over 12,000 subscribers: www.karenchristensen.substack.com.

2 Comments

Darren Brierton 2007-09-12 at 12:01 pm
Sorry it didn’t work. Texperts on 66000 is not available on US phones yet – but we’re available globally if you have a UK mobile number. As soon as we’re available Stateside we’ll let you know. We’re thrilled to bits that you like the whole concept, and reckon you’d like it even more if you got a chance to try it out!
Karen Christensen 2007-09-13 at 7:52 pm
The problem is that more and more people on the Tube are using non-UK numbers, so we need to be told that it won’t work – not necessarily on the advert but certainly in the automated reply. Then we’ll be poised and ready for new options with Texperts. BTW, I didn’t get a UK SIM card because I was there briefly and was in a rush, but in future I will so this won’t be an issue. Still eager to get a response to my question.