Now, your friendly neighbourhood mechanic a ring away

Getting emergency repair work done on a leaky tap, or getting a new computer table made could soon become a lot more convenient. Global IT giant IBM has unveiled a new technology which allows mobile phone users to track phone numbers and addresses of the best utilities in their vicinity.

The business finder technology "� a real-time GIS-based application "� has been rolled out of IBM's India Research Laboratory. "The technology combines sophisticated geographical information system (GIS) applications and data analysis with mobile telephone networks to provide information to a consumer looking for a specific services near-by," said Daniel M Dias, director, IBM India Research Lab.

"The market for workers such as plumbers and mechanics with little or no reach has a lot of potential. Our launch looks to tap this market and accelerate business for these small-time players," he added.

The market for such small businesses in the country is largely untapped and unregulated. Although figures are unavailable, market watchers believe it offer a huge potential.

The business finder technology gives a new dimension - location information - to mobile services content. It combines attributes like location, reputation, dynamic workload and feedback from consumers to match them with the closest service vendors.

Mobile operators such as Idea and Bharti Airtel already offer services like flowers-on-call, cab-on-call and pizza-on-call. IBM, however, says its technology is a lot more interactive and offers a wider range of features. "While the existing location-based search techniques do not adequately exploit the mobility of business entities, the business finder technology enables on-demand business in a mobile marketplace round the clock," Dias said.

IBM is talking to some major service providers in India and abroad, he said. "The initial response is encouraging," Dias added.

The first-of-its-kind technology will function like yellow pages for mobile users. It will provide a uniform search capability over businesses and vendors varying from taxis and plumbers to static ones such as stores and gas stations.

The technology, Dias says, could be either hosted by an individual network operator (telecommunications service provider) as a value-added service or provided by a third-party operator to different players.

Sectors like transportation, logistics, healthcare and manufacturing could also gain from the new the technology. As the demand for speedier and more responsive services grow, one will not need to go through yellow pages to find a doctor or a transporter, but only send a message or dial a number to have the luggage picked up.