USSD and Service Codes

USSD stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. )It is a protocol which is used by GSM cellular telephones to communicate with the service provider's computers.

USSD today is being used to provide a vast number of services. Such as menu-based information services, mobile banking, WAP browsing, location-based content services and many more.

How does USSD work ?

Information through USSD is sent directly from a sender’s mobile handset to an application handling the USSD service. The USSD service might locate in the sender’s mobile network or in a visited mobile network as well. 

To send  USSD information, there need to establish a real-time “session” between the mobile user and the USSD application platform. This real time session is initiated when the USSD service is invoked. So it is obvious that USSD is not working as SMS. Both can be distinguished from each other because SMS has a store and forward mechanism while USSD has a real time session initiation. As a result of the real time session, data is being sent back and forth between the mobile user and the USSD application platform until the USSD service is completed. More over this makes USSD more responsive when compared to services which use SMS.

What are USSD service codes ?

Specific 'MMI strings' (MMI stands for Man Machine Interaction) or telephone numbers can be dialed from a user’s “mobile station” (mobile handset) to initiate USSD services. These numbers can be named as USSD Service Codes as well. 

3GPP TS 22.090 specifies the standard format for USSD service codes. According to the standards the code format should be as follows;

“1, 2 or 3 digits from the set (*, #) followed by 1X(Y), where X=any number 0-4, Y=any number 0-9, then, optionally “* followed by any number of any characters”, and concluding with # SEND”.

So the application developers can build and install services ( eg: a menu driven service) within a particular mobile network and let the users obtain their service via USSD. 

Image courtesy : http://blog.arrivedok.mobi/tag/ussd/

Working with ‘Styles’ in word 2007

There are predefined set of Styles available in ‘Styles’ panel located at ‘Home’ ribbon. However, the people who write documents adhering to certain standards are not contended with these styles at all, as they have their own styles and standards for document formatting.

Think of a situation, where you are writing headings, sub headings and content for 10-12 chapters of a document and applying different font sizes, colors and thicknesses to achieve variations. You will definitely have to put much effort and time on this document creation task. 

But you can create your own styles very easily and use them to achieve variations in your document.It is very easy. Follow the steps below;

1. Go to 'Home' ribbon-->'Styles' panel and click on the arrow shown below.

2. From the 'Style' window, select New Style icon.

3. Then you will land on 'Create New Style from Formatting'. Now, create your styles as your wish....

I created a brown colored heading of size 26 with a hyphen. More formatting options are available in the 'Format' menu available at the bottom right side. 

4. Now the created style is available in the 'styles' panel. Write down the words, then click on your created style to apply formatting. It is easy as that.