CollegeSpeaks, Yulop, Ubona
University websites in the US are one of the primary means of communication between the administration and students (both prospective and current). Almost all the US universities have a functional website to interact with the students. Unfortunately, the same cant be said about Indian colleges. Apart from some of the top colleges, very few recognize the need to keep a website. As a result, prospective students find it very difficult to search for colleges and their admission procedures.
This is where CollegeSpeaks steps in. CollegeSpeaks enables colleges to quickly create mini-sites, add-edit content, list program information, faculty information, infrastructure etc. Colleges get unlimited storage and can upload campus photos, admission forms, campus events etc. Students get the ability to search for different college specific information at a single hub. They can also share their campus experiences, discuss academics etc..So, in a nutshell, CollegeSpeaks hopes to provide a common platform for the college and student community to come together and interact.
The site is currently in beta and will open registrations soon.
Yulop is a local search / community site for Bangalore. They have 4 sections - Bangalore Swami (a Bangalore portal which includes events, forums, news, weather etc. for Bangalore), Cityfind (a yellow pages for Bangalore), Books Kannada (online book store for Kannda books) and Mobile (mobile access to the portal). Yulop seems to have an active user community and a decent number of listings in the CityFind section.
I have two main suggestions for the Yulop team:
1) The different sections on the site dont seem to make a lot of sense. In fact, I found them a bit confusing. In my opinion, the Cityfind should be merged with the Swami section. Also, a different ‘Books Kannada’ section for a Bangalore portal doesnt quite seem like a great idea. I think the Books Kannada should be launched as a different website. The books section kind of distorts the brand image if you were to ask me. If people want to associate Yulop as a Bangalore portal / yellow pages site, the books section skews that perception.
2) The events calendar for the site is too cluttered. Unfortunately Joomla doesnt have any chic looking event calendars.
Ubona is a Bangalore based startup, offering 411 type services for Bangalore foodies. They have launched a Foodie Hotline - just call the Hotline and say the name of the restaurant you are looking for, and they will automatically connect you to the restaurant. Currently, the service only covers Bangalore restaurants, but they plan to cover other services like automotive, fashion, healthcare, banking etc. pretty soon.
I am not sure about their revenue model, but I guess it would be something similar to 800-Free-411, where a short advertisement is played to the caller before he is connected to the restaurant.
I havent tried out the service, but if you are a Banglorean, try it out (080-40700000) and let me know your experience.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:49 am
Hi
You can read more about Collegespeaks.com here:
http://www.bhopu.com/2007/10/26/Map-your-future-with-Collegespeaks
http://blog.collegespeaks.com/
http://www.vinfotech.com/success-stories/collegespeaks.htm
Thanks
November 7th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Tried Ubona. Not bad. Understood 2 of my 3 queries…they took ‘Khyber’ as ‘Sky Bar’.
More interestingly, they connected me straight without playing me an ad or jingle. How on earth do they make money on this service?
November 16th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Seems good…only thing…apart from the 4 colleges on the homepage, there is no place where I can find some specific college…
December 18th, 2007 at 12:42 am
It looks like a very interesting concept.hope they can get some good colleges registered soon..
December 18th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Of the three startups, the CollegeSpeak sounds the most promising.