Text messaging (SMS) is the most used data service in the world. (<\/span>Nielse<\/span><\/a>n, <\/span>Pew Internet Research<\/span><\/a>.) \u00a0Usage is not \u00a0limited by age, economics or geographic location. Adults over 55+ are sent and receive 16+ text messages a day (<\/span>Experian Marketing Services<\/span>). Texting is as much a part of the consumer market as it is integral to social and personal communications.\u00a0 \u00a0The statistics tell the story:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/i>Business owners know that \u00a0SMS is a valuable part of their lead acquisition and customer engagement process. \u00a0But today most SMS communication is done with a personal mobile device that is not integrated with their businesses phone system. \u00a0\u00a0This is changing.<\/p>\n Business SMS brings the ability to integrate SMS communications with your PBX and other business communications systems<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0In the future, not having the ability to communicate with your customers and prospects using Business SMS will be the equivalent of not having company email or a company website today. <\/span><\/p>\n We believe that Business SMS will soon equal the importance of the telephone and email as a critical communications channel between businesses and customers. <\/span><\/p>\n The key driver for implementing technology as part of a business communications strategy has been to improve the effectiveness of communications. While this may seem obvious, overall effectiveness of communication is not a simple topic to define. Effectiveness can be broken down into a number of different addressable points.<\/span><\/p>\n The difference between efficiency and effectiveness is often a point of confusion. Efficiency is a measure of the speed of a task or the effort it takes to complete that task. The single communications channel of UC is designed to get messages and responses to their intended targets faster. Each user has the ability to select how they want their messages (or notifications of waiting messages). If a person leaves a voicemail message on someone\u2019s \u201coffice phone\u201d they can get the notification that there is a message waiting via a text message, email or phone call. The waiting time between when the message is sent and when they \u201ccheck messages\u201d is reduced. Adding business SMS as a method of sending a message or notification will improve speed and efficiency of communications. <\/span><\/p>\n Cost is lowered as a function of improving the speed of communications. Often times, entire processes have to wait until a key person makes a decision or approves a change. Getting a construction crew back to work or a manufacturing change approved can save a company thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars during a single incident.<\/span><\/p>\n Using unified communications to reduce the \u201chuman latency\u201d introduced into an overall systemic process can create even greater savings. By reducing approval process times, a petroleum company was able to reduce the amount of oil they kept in inventory. This freed up millions of dollars that could be used in other areas of the business. Business SMS is another channel of communications that can lower costs.<\/span><\/p>\n We live in a time where service is king. This applies to both dealing with customers and employees. Unified Communications can move a process along to get issues resolved faster and with better outcomes by finding the right person to make a decision. When customers have more choices about whom to buy from this can be a key factor in maintaining that relationship. Customers are not just shopping on price anymore. \u00a0With more and more customers wanting answers quickly, concisely and at their convenience, business SMS can keep these customers happy.<\/span><\/p>\n As the labor market tightens, this same thing can be said about maintaining good relationships and outcomes with employees. As the labor market shifts to a \u201cseller’s market\u201d it becomes easier for workers (especially high-cost skilled workers) to change jobs. Addressing questions about benefits, time-off, weather-related closures and other company announcements with an integrated business SMS solution can greatly improve employee relations.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether a business is trying to communicate with existing customers or new prospects, communications are not effective if no one sees the message. Using an integrated business SMS system for these types of communications can be particularly effective. <\/span><\/p>\n Studies show that 90% of SMS messages are read within the first three minutes. According to <\/span>CTIA.org<\/span><\/a>, the average response time for an SMS message is just 90 seconds while the average response time for an email is 90 minutes. \u00a0\u00a0And according to <\/span>Mobile Marketing Watch<\/span><\/a> 75% of all millennials would rather communicate via text about appointments, deliveries, coupons and the like.<\/span><\/p>\n A phone call is a synchronous mode of communication. Both parties (or all parties in the case of conference calls) must be part of the communication session at the same time. This requires the coordination of time and schedule for all involved parties and can often prove inconvenient. Voicemail tag is a real thing.<\/span><\/p>\n Email and texting are asynchronous forms of communication. The sender creates a message and leaves it for the receiver to review at a later time and respond. While this is convenient, messages can be lost in the overwhelming number of emails that are received. They may also be blocked by spam filters or simply set aside to be dealt with later and never addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n An integrated business SMS system strikes a good balance between these two issues. While it is asynchronous, the open and response rates referenced above show that SMS enjoys an immediacy that other types of communications do not. <\/span><\/p>\n Because SMS was first used for interpersonal communications it still enjoys the reputation of being personal and trusted. Carriers, Service Providers, and Regulators are working diligently to maintain this high standard by implementing very strict regulations to prevent text spamming. Properly implemented a business SMS solution can leverage the personal and trusted status that SMS still holds.<\/span><\/p>\n There are many businesses that currently use texting as a non-integrated, \u201cbolt-on\u201d as part of their operation.<\/span><\/p>\n In most cases, SMS is used only for broadcast or notification purposes. In these cases, SMS is used in exactly the same way as older broadcast technologies like robocalling, automated email notifications, broadcast fax, and email blasts. Many of these techniques have been compared to tying a note to a rock and throwing it through your target\u2019s window. You simply have to hope that your intended target picks up the rock and reads the note. In this case, SMS is used only as \u201ca different rock.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Current Uses For SMS\/Text Messaging are:<\/span><\/p>\n Some businesses have taken the use of business SMS to the next level, in that they can receive and process inbound texts for limited purposes. These tend to be \u201cone-and-done\u201d type uses where a user can text a code to a specific number to start a process, cast a vote or confirm an activity. <\/span><\/p>\n These are not two-way conversations. When a response is required, there is often a context switch where the response is done via a phone call or an email.<\/span><\/p>\n The future of business SMS lies in using it to create true dialogs with customers in the same way that it is currently used for personal communications. The text message becomes just another endpoint over which a person may choose to communicate with a business in the same way they currently may choose to call or email a business. Most importantly, if the customer chooses to communicate via texting, then the business has to be prepared to respond with a text and continue the conversation. A context switch to voice, email or some other form of communication should only happen if it is necessary to move the conversation (or sale) forward, NOT because the business is incapable of participating in this form of communication because they do not have an integrated business SMS solution available.<\/span><\/p>\n A context switch happens when the form of communication needs to change in order to move a conversation forward. You may be talking with someone on the phone when you come to the realization that you need to send them a document or drawing for review. The call is ended and the email is sent. You may then continue the conversation in email, or call the person back to continue the voice conversation now that the email has been reviewed. This conversation was mixed-mode with a context switch.<\/span><\/p>\n Adding SMS to this mix of communications alternatives complicates things even more. A conversation may start with a SMS, switch to voice when the conversation becomes complex, send a picture to supplement the conversation, follow-up with an email that requires a signature, and then return to voice. This may all happen on a single device or across multiple devices.<\/span><\/p>\n The context switch detailed above is problematic. Without the SMS component, all the communication is happening over business channels that maintain identity and branding. The calls are made to and come from a business number that is part of a PBX or office phone system. The emails are sent and received from a corporate domain. But when an SMS message is needed, the employee has no choice but to reveal their personal mobile number to the customer.<\/span><\/p>\n If an integrated business SMS was in use, then the text message would come from the same telephone number as the voice call. The text message then becomes a part of the communications record with the client, just like emails and phone calls. This can be very important when multiple salespeople are working on the same account and absolutely necessary to maintain regulatory compliance when working in the medical or financial fields. <\/span><\/p>\n Having calls and texts come from the same number (either a business DID or a toll-free number) has branding benefits as well as improving the convenience for the customer. The customer can recognize this number or have this single number in the contact list, improving the open rate or speed to response.<\/span><\/p>\n The ability to carry on a dialog while switching between phone calls and SMS messages relies on the fact that the SMS messages are sent and received from the same business telephone number that is used for the phone calls. \u00a0In fact, the use of business landlines (sometimes referred to as long codes) is the hallmark of Business SMS and the key to its success as a tool for unifying business communications.<\/span><\/p>\n Several benefits flow from the fact that a single phone number can be used for SMS messages and phone calls. \u00a0These include:<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Unified Communications (UC) is About Communicating More Effectively<\/h2>\n
Improving the Efficiency Of Communications \u00a0with Business SMS<\/span><\/h3>\n
Lowering the Cost of Communications with Business SMS<\/span><\/h3>\n
Improving Customer Service and Employee Communications with Business SMS<\/span><\/h3>\n
Business SMS Must be Part of Corporate Communications<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Effective<\/span><\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Asynchronous<\/span><\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Personal and Trusted<\/span><\/h2>\n
Business SMS Enables True 2-Way Conversations<\/h2>\n
Current Uses of SMS in Business<\/h2>\n
Notifications and Alerts<\/h3>\n
\n
Others Use SMS For Limited Inbound Purposes<\/h3>\n
\n
Business SMS is Essential to UC in Smart Phone\/Mobile First Society<\/h2>\n
Integrated Two-Way Conversations That Include SMS\/Texting<\/h3>\n
Context Switching And Mixed-Mode Communications Are More Common Than Ever Before<\/h3>\n
Integration is Necessary for Maintaining Identity, Branding, and Compliance When Switching Context<\/h3>\n
The Need to Use Existing Telephone Numbers for Business SMS<\/h2>\n
\n
Business SMS as an Alternative to Voicemail<\/h2>\n