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There are eight minutes left in the second quarter and the excitement in the stadium is palpable. The roar of the crowd barely drowns out the growls from your stomach. The game is too exciting to leave for food, and the halftime lines will take forever. Fortunately, you now have the option to send an order to a vendor in select stadiums via SMS and have food delivered directly to you without getting out of your seat.
SMS technology has grown in popularity and overall usage year after year since its first introduction in the 1980’s. It provides unique features that deliver cost savings and efficiency for businesses, customers and service providers. As technology evolves, SMS is taking on many new roles due to its proven reliability. Carriers of all sizes are beginning to understand the scope of opportunity to increase revenue and retention by offering innovative SMS-based service offerings to their clients.
Evolving to meet new needs
The versatility of SMS has lent itself to unexpected possibilities across a variety of vertical markets. While using SMS for retail and marketing is not a new concept, there are new organizations beginning to understand the value of this proven technology. Which means service providers can leverage messaging innovations to deliver value to users in surprising new ways.
For instance, hospitals, doctors’ offices and pharmacies are all beginning to integrate text-messaging capabilities into their strategies. If medical providers send text messages as appointment reminders to their patients, they can reduce no-shows by up to 30%, which helps to secure their revenue. Additionally, messages can be sent to notify patients that it is time for prescriptions to be refilled or that are ready to be picked up. Doctors and clinicians can even be notified via SMS, if they aren’t using traditional paging systems.
Over the past couple of years, SMS 9-1-1 has been introduced into the public safety sector. The new technology allows citizens to connect with dispatchers by texting. This additional method to reach out for help can be useful in situations where remaining silent is critical for safety, when networks are overloaded with voice traffic, and for the deaf or hard of hearing community. Just this past spring, Frederick County, Md., became the sixth jurisdiction in the United States to offer this technology. Now its residents, including the students at the Maryland School for the Deaf, are able to send out information to public safety dispatchers quickly and easily when the need arises.
Another space currently expanding the use of messaging is the automotive industry. Many newer model vehicles are being built with sensors that will take a diagnostic of the engine and send the service department a message to inform them of a dirty filter, an upcoming oil change or brakes in need of replacing. Utilizing messaging gives auto brands a unique opportunity to build and maintain a thriving customer base and competitive differentiator.
The type of organizations interested in deploying SMS messaging systems range from universities to enterprises, political groups and even whole communities because it is faster, easier and more cost efficient than ever to reach broad groups of individuals. ABI Research indicates that the total number of messages sent globally by enterprises will top 643 billion by 2015, with an expected 11.1% compound annual growth rate. Organizations in all sectors and of all sizes are exploring innovative new ways to leverage this trusted technology to expedite and enhance communication with employees, customers and stakeholders. Messaging technology has become a revenue generator for some, money saver for others and a customer retention tool as well.
As more users begin to pursue SMS based systems for a variety of opportunities, it is critical to look for a provider with a proven track record and a significant volume of messages delivered annually. In order to ensure a successful deployment, providers should have established carrier relationships and integration, inter-carrier capabilities, have secure and encrypted options to meet the various industry standards and offer support for a wide variety of protocols to ensure streamlined integration with existing IT infrastructure.
Whether it is used as a potential life protecting tool, a marketing platform, or simply a helpful reminder, it is clear that text messaging is still expanding and organizations of all types are reaping the benefits.
