The telecommunication technology at work in this service is as follows. Refer to figure. The customer dials a specific number on the vending machine using her cellular phone. Since this service is only offered to Celcom's customer, the call goes through Celcom's GSM cellular network to a component known as the Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) residing inside the vending machine. This RTU manages and processes the call and communicate with the vending machine to activate the beverage selection. Then, the customer needs to choose which drink she wants and the machine will dispense it. All this is done within reasonable time. The RTU will subsequently send a confirmation of the transaction via Short Message System (SMS) to a back-end system for billing purposes. SMS is a service that allows text messages be sent using cellular phones.
Starting with an initial roll-out of 30 vending machines in the Klang Valley, the collaborating companies plan to place 300 of such machines in Malaysia by the end of 2001.
"Ericsson, who has been Celcom's business partner for several years, is pleased to be able to continually play a part to enhance Celcom's mobile services. Ring-A-Coke is an exciting breakthrough, a first for Celcom, a first for Ericsson and a first for the world," said Mr. Peter Kallberg, President and Country Manager, Ericsson Companies in Malaysia.