It's a Textural Revolution

The phenomenal success of Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging between mobile phones has created a new medium of communication between corporate business and it's customers. Here, Chris Thompson, Managing Director of Kommunicate Limited, supplier of their own Text Message Server, discusses the amazing growth in text messaging and looks at the opportunities for the finance sector.

'The success of SMS text messaging was a fifteen-year-overnight-sensation. The ability to 'text' has been shipped with every mobile phone since they first became 'consumer items' back in the late 80's - but it wasn't until the mobile phone went from being an essential business tool to a ubiquitous youth fashion accessory that 'texting' began to reach it's critical mass. Now a technology that has become the popular and instant equivalent of the pen pal is starting to present serious business opportunities - and they look set to be long term.

'So just how big is text messaging? Well in the UK alone almost 1 billion text messages were sent in the first three months of 2002 - that's about 20 messages each for every man woman and child. Throughout Europe, the maelstrom of the world's text messaging storm, a reported 900 million texts were sent in April 2002 alone. And it's no longer just the teenies and tweenies - banks, retailers, employment agencies, mortgage providers, marketers, B2B players - and anyone who appreciates that we are moving in a world of immediacy and intimacy - are dipping their toes in the text messaging water.

So how is text messaging being used by business?

• Reed Executive sends 120,000 SMS messages per month to job seekers all over Europe
• Royal & Sun Alliance has integrated text messaging with it's call centre to support new electronic insurance services
• McDonalds experienced a 29% response rate on an SMS monthly game
• ITV and Channel 4 ran major SMS services to accompany their Survivor and Big Brother programmes
• Airlines and train companies are using SMS to alert customers about delayed services
• Deutsche Bank and First Direct are employing SMS alerts for their customers who want to be warned about share price and account changes
• Field service companies are implementing SMS to communicate vehicle positioning and vehicle status as well as job despatch data
• Casino operators use SMS to alert receptionists when a VIP guest accesses a gaming machine, so that they can be greeted individually
• Emergency services alert their response vehicles and notify essential information
• Email Alert: Many organisations use SMS to notify users when mail from specific senders arrives in their inbox - delivering the first 160 characters of the email to the mobile phone. WAP enabled phones can access the mailbox and download the complete message, as well as replying on-line.

'How can the finance sector take advantage of the text messaging opportunity?

By automating processes to enable a text message to be generated automatically when an 'event' takes place - perhaps a mortgage application which goes through several stages - generating a pre-stored standard text when each milestone is reached. Interfacing a short message process to an application is readily achievable. Automatically monitoring 'event logs' and sending to a mobile number stored in the client record is now easily achievable.'

How can I begin to utilise text messaging for my business? The most secure method is to install a server with IP connectivity or one or more GSM modems. Financial institutions and practices within the legal profession will want to keep their traffic in-house for security reasons and also to ensure a permanent record of the time, date and content of each message.

Just as the growth in text messaging took the mobile market by surprise, it is equally difficult to forecast the end, or even the tailing-off, of traffic growth. It certainly looks set for continued explosion in the next two years and could be one of the great business success stories of the decade.

For further information on Text Message Server and other Kommunicate products call Kommunicate Sales on 01962 835053 or see www.kommunicate.co.uk

Kommunicate Limited
Sheridan House
40-43 Jewry Street
Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 8RY

Telephone: 01962 835053 ( Sales)
Fax: 01962 835104

email: sales@kommunicate.co.uk
Website: www.kommunicate.co.uk