Disqus
First of all I don’t think renting a car is a pain. It may be if you’re renting it offline — renting via web is as seamless as it can be. However, that doesn’t mean car renting companies should stop there and it’s even a great news seeing them further enhancing the user experience.
That being said, Avis has partnered with Cellpoint Mobile to allow its customers to add additional services like mobile internet access and GPS navigation via SMS. In addition, they are using text messaging to get feedback from the customers. Not sure whether the feedback idea is that great, though. I wouldn’t want my phone to ring while I’m on the road only to find out it’s Avis asking me do I enjoy my ride. 
Finally, if everything goes smoothly — i.e. people love the new SMS service — they’ll be rolling out additional services via SMS, allowing customers to arrange even complicated rental reservations using mobile technology. Nice!
[Via: textually.org, carrentals.co.uk]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
