SMS Services

SMS continues to be one of the most popular and cost-effective ways of keeping customers updated.  All mobile phones support SMS functionality and, unlike many Smartphone apps, it is not reliant on a 3G signal and, unlike other forms of e-communication, people do read their text messages.

With more than 50 million mobile phones in circulation in the UK alone and with mobile penetration exceeding 130% in Western Europe, the marketing reach for SMS based promotional campaigns is enormous.

While most business mobile contracts include “unlimited texts” as standard, in reality this means a fair-use policy of around 300 messages per month. If you frequently send more than 100 SMS messages per day, it is more economical and reliable to send your messages in bulk using an SMS aggregator.

Not only that, it is more cost-effective and efficient to keep in contact with customers and colleagues by SMS than by phone. By taking advantage of bulk SMS applications you can significantly cut back on the number of routine phone calls you make on a daily basis, reduce the number of queries you receive and free up staff time so they so they can undertake more fulfilling tasks.

Because it is so easy to setup and manage bulk SMS services using readily available online applications, we thought we’d share with you our top ten bulk SMS applications.

1. Promotional campaigns – Mobile phones are very personal, allowing you to build an accurate profile of your customers. Using this information, you can then carry out targeted campaigns to particular demographic groups – e.g. a special promotion on wedding dresses for unmarried females or information about holiday clubs for parents with young children.  Targeted campaigns result in higher conversion rates.

2. Payment reminders –Free up resource by reducing the number of phone calls you make to customers reminding them an invoice is overdue or that their rent is in arrears by setting up an online SMS reminder service.

3. Delivery information – SMS is a great way of informing customers of an expected delivery time. By including a “reply” facility (allowing customers to requesting an alternative delivery time, for example) you will cut back on the number of wasted journeys.

4. Appointment reminders – the NHS loses millions as a result of people failing to turn up to appointments. SMS is an effective way to remind people of routine appointments. By embedding reply facilities, you can give customers the option to cancel if they no longer need the appointment.

5. Time-sensitive alerts – SMS is the quickest and easiest way to inform a large group of people – parents, for example, that school will be closed due to bad weather.

6. SMS broadcast – This is the quickest way to communicate general information to a particular group of people – sports teams, for example, telling them a match has been cancelled or rescheduled.

7. Calendar reminders – Not everyone has a Smartphone with a synchronised calendar.  Sending employees SMS reminders of their daily meetings or appointments will improve your organisation’s efficiency.

8. Machine to machine alerts – SMS is a highly efficient way of alerting support engineers of a server or storage problem.

9. Business continuity – In the event of an incident occurring, how long would it take you to implement business continuity facilities? Using SMS to facilitate your business continuity
procedures will help minimise downtime and loss of revenue.

10. Voicemail notifications – Integrating SMS functionality into your overall communications infrastructure means you will never miss out on a business opportunity.

We provide bulk SMS facilities to a wide range of different industries and unlike our competitors we also provide personalised a replies facility with all our services at no extra cost. This means you can add a personal touch to campaigns because replies to received messages are delivered directly to the original sender and not a central mailbox or holding account, allowing you develop a rapport with your clients.

Click here to find out more about who we are and what we do.

Our digital era is having a huge impact on the way young people communicate. They have a whole variety of different technologies (Smartphones, games consoles, computers) at their disposal that allow them to interact with each other in many different ways. With more than 80% of 11 – 25 year olds actively using at least one social network site on a daily basis, anyone involved in youth work must embrace these changes if they want to engage with this generation.

The majority of teenagers prefer “hanging out” virtually from their bedrooms rather than going to a physical location. As this becomes increasingly the norm, unless those people who engage with young people are accessible via Facebook, they stand little chance of being able to reach their targeted audiences to promote local events, provide information about sporting events or simply keep in contact with their squad.

Promoting events and activities via social networks is one thing but getting people to turn up is another. Many sports clubs and other organisations, however, have found that SMS reminders about forthcoming activities can complement such online campaigns because it SMS is an easy, yet unobtrusive way to engage with young people.

SMS alerts are also an effective way of providing advice and guidance on wide range of youth-related issues such as health, crime, and drugs.

These types of services work very well because SMS is an easy way to reach a large audience, it is cost effective, messages are delivered straight away and are generally read as soon as they are received. But what happens if a young person sends a reply to one of these received messages?

In the majority of cases, replies to bulk SMS notifications are forwarded to a centralised mailbox or holding number, so the young person may not receive a reply until much later on, once the messages have been sorted.

Our SMS notification service allows organisations to send out bulk messages, but unlike many of our competitors, we also offer a personalised replies facility at no extra cost. This means that all replies are delivered directly to the original sender, allowing them to immediately begin private conversations with these young people, thus developing a rapport and obtaining their trust.  Not only that, message senders only receive replies intended for them.

The service works using a pool of shared sequential numbers that are accurately mapped to a sender ID (youth worker or football coach, for example) and a receiver ID (a young person’s mobile phone) by our SMS data management software.

If our SMS software is unable to deliver a reply (due to poor network coverage or incorrect number details, for example), it automatically sends a message to the sender, advising them to use an alternative means of communication.

Our personalised replies service is also beneficial to other industry sectors – temping agencies or estate agents, for example. In both these cases office staff are in regular contact with the same groups of people on a regular basis and two-way dialogue is commonplace.

As with all SMS applications, our personalised replies service can be integrated with existing communications infrastructures via a developers API.

Click here to find out more about who we are and what we do.

Using SMS in emergency situations has always carried a certain element of risk, primarily because mobile operators always give priority to voice, but changes to EU regulations with regards to telecommunications in May this year will mean that access to the emergency services must be made as flexible and as inclusive as possible. This means making 999 accessible to the hearing and speech impaired who have struggled until now.
A UK-wide emergency SMS pilot, championed by the RNID, was launched in 2009 and ran until the summer of last year. The service allows pre-registered users to send an SMS to a 999 number. Once delivered it is converted into a voice message and forwarded to the fire service, ambulance or police, depending on its nature.
At the end of the pilot there were more than 4000 registered users and the service has already handled over 300 emergency calls.
While Ofcom has announced it wants to make the service mandatory, there are still limitations associated with it in emergency situations, primarily because it lack spontaneity and you have to register in advance to use the service. Emergencies don’t often give you that luxury.

In the autumn of last year we were involved in developing a niche emergency SMS application for a participant of the infamous Mongol rally. Our brief was to develop an application that was cost effective and would guarantee the delivery of all messages sent. This was important because, unlike conventional rallies, the Mongol rally does not have backup or support teams so if you get stuck or find yourself in trouble, you’re really on your own.

In order to overcome the uncertainties associated with delivery (due to phones being switched off, poor signal etc), we made modifications our popular email to SMS application, turning it on its head so it became an SMS to email application.

Our bespoke software converts SMS messages into email formats and delivers them accordingly. Our servers are connected directly to the mobile networks so delivery failure, due to poor coverage or phones being turned off, is eliminated.

If a recipient’s PC, iPhone or other mobile device is switched off then messages may not be seen until much later, but they are delivered immediately – recipients need to make sure they read them.
The opportunities for such an application are enormous, particularly for people who are working in countries where freedom of speech is limited.

Take Libya or Bahrain as examples – our solution would  allow aid workers or news reporters to discretely yet quickly send a message to the outside world saying they were in need of urgent assistance, or simply to keep us updated about what’s is going on.

Our application is not only reliable, it is also extremely cost effective because it works with  “Go-Sim“ SIM cards – where prices are fixed.
Hugh Gibaud, who initially trialled the pilot service said: “To be honest, I was very sceptical at first because I did not think it would be possible to get a signal in the middle of the Gobi desert, but you can and I was extremely glad.”

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According to figures published by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, if the Government is to reach its borrowing target by 2015, it must cut overall public spending by £456 billion over the next 4 years. No wonder local authorities and supporting agencies are under such immense pressure to run their departments more efficiently, drastically reduce costs and streamline overall services.

Martha Fox, the UK Government’s digital champion believes that more than £2.2billion could be saved annually if routine public services (income support or tax benefits, for example) were digitalised and citizens were encouraged to answer their own queries online using “self-service” style applications.

Significant savings could indeed be made, but let us not forget that even in our digital age,  a third of low income UK households do not have access to the Internet at home and that one in four adults in the UK have never even been online.

In order for self-service applications to be feasible, other communications channels need to be brought into play.

SMS is currently used to deliver more than 50% of mobile marketing campaigns because even in our Smartphone age, SMS is still one of the most effective communications methods available.  Online SMS services and inbound SMS could help local authorities reduce costs because it is significantly more economical to send text messages to mobile phones than to call them.

Why is SMS such an effective communications method? Here are some of the reasons why:

• There are more SIM cards than people in the UK so the potential communication reach is enormous.
• Migrant residents are more likely to have a mobile phone than a landline.
• SMS is not reliant on 3G networks – even the most basic handsets support SMS functionality
• Text messages are delivered almost instantly
• SMS is a technology that is well understood
• SMS is very direct and does not rely on users having to follow links to access information

Furthermore, SMS is cheap. Local authorities for example could streamline information services by communicating routine information by SMS because messages can be bought in bulk. Not only that, the majority of mobile phone contracts incorporate free SMS bundles, so it essentially costs consumers nothing to send a reply or to request further information by text.

Online SMS services can be used as an effective communications tool by many different departments. All of them could use SMS to keep in contact with fellow colleagues. SMS is a cost effective and reliant way to make residents aware of changes to scheduled services (refuse collection, for example) due to bad weather. Social workers could save themselves time by confirming appointments by SMS. Housing departments could speed up housing applications by using SMS to contact prospective tenants.

SMS is the preferred communications channel for consumers because it is discrete and they can usually send SMS messages requesting a call back or further information as part of their inclusive texts. SMS could be the return channel for NHS awareness campaigns, to quit smoking, for example.

Equally, residents could use SMS to report incidents of graffiti or vandalism in the community and commuters could use SMS to inform the Highways Agency of accidents. Inbound SMS advice lines could also help deal with incidents relating to racism or bullying.

These types of services can be delivered quickly and cost effectively using our online SMS applications. No training is required, there is no software to download and there are no minimum contracts or hidden costs. In addition our SMS services can be integrated with other existing CRM systems and databases using our developers API.

Click here to find out more about who we are and what we do.

The main challenges public sector organisations have had to face since the General Election have been how to reduce costs and operate more efficiently while still maintaining high levels of customer service.

Such pressures are taking their toll and nowhere is this more apparent that in education. Schools are obliged to keep parents/carers updated of their children’s progress during the academic year via reports, parent evenings etc. Failure to do so reflects badly on them and can effect funding.

In addition to this, schools are in contact with parents/carers more or less on a daily basis about routine information such as exam dates, school trips, after school clubs, teacher training days, parent/teacher meetings, school uniform, fund raising events and so forth. Administration staff are increasingly overstretched and keeping up with routine communication is becoming more and more challenging.

Many schools have been using electronic communication for some time and Government has stipulated that by the end of 2012, all schools will be required to communicate with parents electronically. Email, however, is not necessarily the most effective way to communicate routine messages, particularly time sensitive ones. Unless the recipients are online (assuming they have Internet access in the first place), or have a Smartphone, chances are they won’t receive the message until it’s too late.

The most effective way to deliver time sensitive information, both from an execution and a cost point of view, is via SMS. This was demonstrated by the findings of a BBC survey carried out in Scotland in December last year, which showed that after local radio, SMS was the second most popular way to receive information about school closures. 

SMS notifications could easily be much more widely adopted to deliver routine messages and to provide parents/carers with progress updates of pupils. They are currently updated via parents’ evenings, which happen two or three times a year.  Indeed, a recent survey carried out by Becta has shown that more than two-thirds of parents would like to receive regular SMS or email messages about their childrens’ progress in school. Only 8% of those surveyed benefitted from such a service.

No specialist software or equipment is needed and single or multiple messages can be sent to individuals or pre-define groups. Messages can be targeted (by year group about a school trip for example), written and delivered instantaneously using online SMS services. Unlike bulk emails, which can be affected by SPAM filters, you know your message will get through. Even in the unlikely event that a parent/carer does not have a mobile phone, text messages can be left on landlines.

SMS notifications are cost effective because messages can be bought in bulk. You can also see at a glance how many messages have been delivered and how many replies you have by looking at delivery reports. 

We are a provider of online SMS services and unlike most other SMS providers, we also provide a personalised replies facility at no extra charge. What this means is – if a parent responds to a message received from a teacher, that message is delivered directly to that teacher and not to a centralised holding account, as is usually the case with online SMS services. It is an effective, yet non- time consuming way for teachers to establish relationships with parents/carers about a pupil’s progress, so that help and support can be provided when it is needed.

All our online SMS solutions integrate seamlessly with electronic registration systems via a developer’s API, and this API can also be customised to meet specific requirements. Click here to find out more about who we are and what we do.

Over the centuries the most successful inventions have been the most simple. The same goes for technology – the more straightforward the application, the more likely it is to succeed. You won’t find a better example of this than in the field of mobile communications.

The rise of the mobile Internet and Smartphone apps has had a profound impact on mobile marketing campaigns. They have become increasingly complex as the larger brands try to outdo each other in their efforts to provide rich mobile content.

But is there really any need to reinvent a proven wheel just for the sake of it? With regards to mobile advertising, some of the most successful campaigns have been executed using good old fashioned SMS – the best example there is of “less being more”

According to research carried out by comScore during the last quarter of 2010 by, there are more than 100 million subscribers to SMS marketing services in the top 5 EU countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain). The research showed that SMS adverts reached almost 50% of the 230 million mobile users and that the most popular types of SMS adverts were product, service or brand-related.

SMS adverts for donations to charities reached almost 10 million consumers and more than 10% of subscribers responded at least once during a 3 month period. Coupons or discounts sent via SMS also received high response rates.

Why then, in the age of Smartphones and Tablets, is mobile messaging still a popular delivery medium?

• It’s cheap – both for campaign executors, who can purchase SMS messages in bulk very cost effectively, and for consumers, who can send and receive predefined numbers of messages  as part of their contracts
• It’s quick – SMS messages are delivered almost instantaneously
• It has a wide marketing reach – all mobile devices support SMS
• Is not reliant on 3G networks so campaigns are not reliant on good network coverage
• It provides an easy response mechanism  – allowing for spontaneous decisions
• It is easy to monitor the success of different campaigns
• It’s direct – unlike mobile apps or mobile web pages, which require users to pro-actively access them, SMS pushes itself directly into the site of the consumer
• It integrates seamlessly with e/marketing activities
• It’s widely understood by everyone
• It provides a positive user experience because messages can always be delivered

Targeted mobile advertising campaigns can be carried out quickly, efficiently and cost effectively using our effective PC to SMS or email to SMS marketing tools.
Once you have set yourself up with an account you can be running successful campaigns within minutes and reaping the rewards as a result.

Our PC to SMS and email to SMS products can be easily integrated into your overall IT infrastructure or corporate website via a developer’s API, thus complementing your overall e-marketing strategy.

Click here to find out more about who we are and what we do.

Short messaging service technology was introduced in the year 2000. Ever since then this invention has created a stir in the mobile market and among mobile users. Communication became easier and life became faster. Big business companies today are opting for this remarkable service for brand marketing and hence also business recognition. The SMS service is an effective way of communication to promote marketing strategies, enabling quick messaging with the help of computers.

Everyone uses a mobile phone today. This makes it very easy to reach out to customers through the SMS service. Unlike emails, the SMS service is spam free services enabling you to have personalised marketing.

It is a simple service. You just need to type your message about any latest developments, product and services, new brands etc, and set the phone numbers you want to deliver it to. Once done, with a click on the mouse, the message will be sent. Even if the customer’s phone is switched off, it does not get erased as it will get stored on the SMSC service and beep when the phone is switched on. Customer attention is therefore guaranteed.

SMS marketing is better than phone calls too, as a salesman will not need to make the customers understand each and every point of the sales pitch. Sometimes customers may not be interested, and in such cases sending an SMS is a perfect solution as it will not disturb them.

Hence, these amazing services are captivating to business organisations, booming the world of marketing.

Mobile phones are one of the greatest inventions of all time. Most of us can’t get through the day without using one, Apart from other features, the messaging service is very useful. Through messaging you can communicate to anyone in the world at a really fast rate. It hardly takes a few seconds for the message to deliver.

Although messaging from your mobile is very convenient, it can be a bit expensive. Now, with the latest advancements in the internet technology, one can use the internet to send free SMS. With the help of internet you can now send messages anywhere in the world for free.

Recently, internet SMS has become very popular. This service is available for every one of us. It is very suitable and the most important thing is that you do not have to pay anything to the service providers. You only need a computer with an internet connection to send these SMSs to your friends and family members.

The benefit of using this internet text messaging services is that it costs you nothing and helps you to send messages in bulk. If you want to invite your friends along to any special occasion or event, then this service is ideal for you.

Lastly, typing the message on the keyboard is much easier than on the mobile phone. Moreover, it helps you in many other ways and you can always be in contact with your friends and relatives. This service will make it very easy for you to communicate to anyone you want.

The population of mobile phone users has considerably increased over a period of time. It is not in doubt that many people now own a mobile phone. In the past, companies of all sizes used to promote their products and services using different marketing techniques such as radio ads, television ads and newspapers etc. However, these marketing methods can prove to be quite expensive to a company, so it is essential to use appropriate and cost effective methods.

SMS marketing is the latest concept that is cheap and also helps companies to reach a wider audience. This is because SMS marketing strategies offer greater solutions compared to other marketing techniques. A mobile phone is regarded as one of the most personal forms of communication and, with SMS marketing; marketers can easily convey their message to their target audience.

In order to get the optimum benefits from mobile marketing or SMS marketing, marketers should always follow a long-term strategy. Communicating with the target audience at the right time is also very important. Using SMS, companies can easily send out text messages to their customers informing them about their latest schemes and promotions.

Internet SMS and bulk messaging services allow marketers to send messages using the internet. Bulk messaging and internet SMS enables marketers to send a single SMS to several recipients at one time, which is one of the major benefits. Thus, if you want to promote your brand in the most effective way, SMS marketing proves to be one of the best options.

Sending SMS via the internet is fast becoming a preferred method employed by companies to tackle the problem of sending more than one message or sending the same message across to a number of people. What are the advantages of Internet SMS for a business?

• Firstly, Internet SMS requires minimal training. It blends seamlessly with your existing business communication system. You and your associates will be able to utilise this service by merely creating a different suffix to an Email address so that you are able to send Internet SMS instead of a normal Email
• Internet SMS is also a fairly inexpensive service and you will be able to save a lot of money for your company on an annual basis on the communication expenditure
• Typing SMS on a mobile phone can be taxing and quite time consuming. While you are sending Internet SMS, with the help of a computer keyboard, you will be able to accomplish this task fairly easily and with minimum problems
• Internet SMS can easily be used to send out Bulk messages. Sending the same by using Mobile phones can be time consuming as well as costly when compared to using Internet SMS service
• With the help of Internet SMS, you can also send anonymous SMS’s. This means that you will be able to send SMS’s without having to reveal your identity to the receiver

With so many advantages, it is important that you utilise this convenient but inexpensive method for your communication and promotional requirements.