Dial-a-drink

York University students have developed a web-based service that enables bars to promote special offers to students on a night out in York using SMS text messaging.

The new Waverun service allows bars to draw in more customers as and when they want them. For students, Waverun provides a way to get last-minute updates on the best bar promotions in town.

Bar owners can sign up to an account on the Waverun website at www.waverun.co.uk. This allows them to instantly send out promotions by text message to all the numbers on the Waverun database if they are having a quiet night.

All the students have to do is to text the word 'waverun' to 60777 and for the next four hours, all the deals are dispatched to them as they come up, enabling them to stretch their money further and make the most of a night out. After the night is over, telephone numbers are discarded to ensure privacy.

All the texts sent to the students are free, paid for by Waverun. The initial text sent is charged at standard network rates.

The service, which was developed by electronic engineering students David Furey and Michael Slater, along with two other colleagues, Joseph Pearce and James Hambleton, is already being used by about 10 per cent of the students at York.

For their efforts, the student developers have gained a place at the finals of the Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship challenge run by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.