You might say that Cingular Wireless found a technology that really "clicked" with consumers. Then again, what the carrier is really trying to do is reduce the number of clicks its customers are required to make.

One technology helping the carrier do that comes from Single Touch, a small Encinitas, Calif., company founded by Anthony Macaluso, who earned a living off his net-based sports accessories before turning his attention to wireless. The sports accessories, which range from baseball practice tools to golf nets, are a far cry from wireless phones, but Macaluso already can boast carrier deals under his company's belt. And the content transactions are stacking up. The company is signed on with the likes of Black Entertainment Television (BET), CBS, Fox News Corporation and Getty Images.

WHAT IT DOES The system allows consumers to press the pound sign on their phone and a 3-digit code to hear music, purchase ringtones or receive coupons. "There are no clicks here," says Richard Siber, CEO of Siber Consulting and a strategic adviser to Single Touch. "It's not like you're going from page to page, screen to screen trying to hunt to find anything."

In a nutshell, the consumer dials the pound sign and a code, then a translation is done at the carrier which routes the call to the Single Touch facility, where its IVR system picks up. To avoid zinging a consumer with unwanted charges, Single Touch came up with a carefully worded series of questions to confirm and clearly communicate the charges involved if someone decides to buy, say, a ringtone, Macaluso says. "I made it so easy that my mom can download Jingle Bells," he says.

While other technologies, such as Zoove's StarStar dialing, involve a similar process, Macaluso says he's not aware of any other commercially deployed system in the United States that directly competes with Single Touch. The idea is to complement, not compete with, short codes, he says.

Still, content companies are interested in technologies other than short codes that make it easier for viewers to interact via mobile phone. "I think short codes in general are hard for consumers to type in," says GoTV CEO David Bluhm, who was involved with Toll Free Cellular in the 1990s. Toll Free tried to simplify calls with a pound sign and 800 numbers but failed to gain traction – in part, because of the duopoly that required agreements in every city and the difficulty of gaining widespread support from carriers.

BIG BACKERS Perhaps the most public endorsement Single Touch has received thus far is from BET, whose president, Debra Lee, referenced BET's outstanding ringtone success during a keynote at the spring CTIA show. BET has been generating conversion rates north of 40 percent, meaning for every 100 callers who dial in to the Single Touch IVR, more than 40 of them actually purchase ringtones. In addition, more than 80 percent of those calling in are purchasing wireless data for the first time, Siber says.

"We think we've hit the Holy Grail here," he says, noting that getting people to notice and then respond and make purchases has been a challenge for the industry. Carriers are spending billions of dollars on network upgrades, yet they're only generating, in some cases, 10 percent of their revenue from data.

BET isn't the only one singing the praises of the pound dialing. Cingular Wireless was impressed from the beginning and was an early partner with Single Touch. "When they gave us the product to try, it worked, and it continues to work," says Chris Black, director of mobile marketing and interactive media at Cingular. "It's about giving our customers more avenues to get the stuff they want."

Single Touch executives say they needed to prove the technology first with Cingular and demonstrate the capabilities, but they expect to add more carriers. It's not limited to ringtones and coupons, either. Through its Listen Live Now partnership, consumers can dial # and a code to listen to snippets of live concerts, such as the Rolling Stones. And word is starting to get out. Word-of-mouth alone prompted some 17,000 people to make phone calls for a recent Chris Brown concert, according to Siber.

With that kind of response, pound dialing should soon be the star of the show.