According to Ofcom’s latest Communications market report, over a quarter of adults and almost half of teenagers now own a Smartphone.

With such revelations we are often asked our opinion on mobile advertising versus SMS-based promotions and whether we think that Smatphones will result in the demise of SMS-based services. Well the simple answer is No.

There is still a place for SMS in our multi channel world. Indeed after the latest RIM debacle, Blackberry users around the world would tell you SMS and voice are the only reliable means of mobile communications available.

We may well be going Smartphone crazy but we’ve along way to go before the infrastructure is in place to truly support Smartphone applications.

In many areas of the UK consumers struggle to get a 2G signal, never mind 3G. In Europe there are already plans to start implementing 4G services!

It has also been revealed that the auctions for selling the next generation mobile phone spectrum in the UK have been postponed from the first half to the last quarter of 2012 which means we are way behind many European nations.

Granted, SMS is not as “pretty” or “flashy” as internet-based applications but at least it works.

The growth of SMS over the last 10 years (over 2000%) confirms it is still a viable communications channel and is still used as an important marketing tool by businesses worldwide and when we hear about issues such as these it is easy to understand why.

• SMS is cheap – both for campaign executors, who can purchase SMS messages in bulk and for consumers, who can send and receive predefined numbers of messages as part of their contractsSMS is quick – messages are delivered almost instantaneously over all networks
• SMS has a wide marketing reach – all mobile devices support SMS
• SMS is widely understood by everyone which results in a positive user experience
• SMS provides an Easy response mechanism – allowing for spontaneous decisions
• SMS is 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
• SMS integrates seamlessly with e/marketing activities
• SMS works – unlike other forms of communications people do read text messages when
• they get them and it is easy to unsubscribe to a service – you simply text stop
• SMS provides a great support mechanism to other forms of advertising such as TV or radio based campaigns.

We’re not planning on retiring just yet! Visit www.toText.net to find out more about who we are and what we do.

Liquid Drop began trading in 2001 and provides an extensive range of bulk SMS services to Blue Chip companies across the globe. Its customers include Oracle and MasterCard and it also provides a number of online SMS services to public sector organisations.

The acquisition involved expanding the capacity of Slepe Communications existing infrastructure to accommodate Liquid Drop’s SMS gateway into its overall SMS management platform.

The process was seamlessly completed with no disruption to customers or services and, as a result, Slepe Communications is now able to add bulk SMS services to its portfolio of applications at highly-competitive rates.

Bulk SMS is by far the most reliable and cost-effective way of sending out routine text messages, such as appointment reminders, direct marketing campaigns and job notifications in large volumes.

SMS can be used by large corporates to issue immediate alerts to employees about emergencies and/or critical situations. It can be used to send important information to key customers or suppliers (ensuring the information is received by the right person at the right time) as well as to send routine information to support engineers, field staff or technicians.

Says Robert Jagger, Managing Director of Slepe Communications: “We are really pleased to be in a position to acquire such an established organisation after only three years of trading. The acquisition has taken the business to the next level. We are in a position to grow the company by investing our cash reserves as well as by relying on organic growth.”

Slepe Communications is currently looking at acquiring other SMS providers.

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About Slepe Communications

Slepe Communications is a dynamic, growing company based in Cambridge UK. Its staff has many years’ experience in the Internet and telecommunications industries, and are experts in designing, building and operating mobile Internet applications based on text messaging, web and Wi-Fi technologies.

After carrying out some initial market research, Online Automotive decided to integrate the toText.net email to SMS service into the company’s order management system and Terry Dorney, Managing director of the company explains the reasons why:

“First and foremost it offers value for money, an important factor if you are involved in the automotive industry.

In addition, the service is really easy to use and by following simple guidelines on maximum message length we have been able to incorporate SMS as an alternative communications method without creating additional work for our busy customer services department.”

The toText.net email to SMS service integrates seamlessly with Online Automotive’s email system and all messages are sent and received using Microsoft Outlook.
Providing information to customers via SMS as well as email has greatly improved the company’s order conversion rates because they are no longer reliant on their customers having access to email to receive information about their enquiry.

Terry continues “Most people carry a mobile phone at all times so they get our messages straight away, even if they are out and about. If the customer is happy with our quote, they can place an order simply by replying to the message or calling telephone number embedded in the message if they require additional information.”

All messages are created in Microsoft Outlook. By including the customer’s mobile number followed by @toText.net in the “To” field of the email as well as their normal email address, the message can be sent via email and SMS simultaneously. The toText.net software converts the email into an SMS format and forwards the message to the mobile number provided in the message.
Not only has the email to SMS service improved the customer’s overall purchasing experience, it has also given customer services staff the ability to manage email and text messages from a single application.

In addition, all SMS replies are delivered directly to the original sender and not a centralised email inbox, so orders can be processed straight away and staff can begin to build a rapport with customers.

The toText.net email to SMS service supports multiple users at no extra cost, making it an ideal tool for busy customer service departments.
In the future Online Automotive is planning to fully automate its order processing system and SMS will form an integral part of the new order management process.

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Slepe Communications Ltd is a dynamic, growing company based in Cambridge UK. Its staff have many years’ experience in the Internet and telecommunications industries, and are experts in designing, building and operating mobile Internet applications based on text messaging, web and Wi-Fi technologies.
The company is a member of the Mobile Data Association.

The Government has stipulated that by the end of 2012, all schools and colleges will be required to communicate with parents electronically.

Email, however, is not necessarily the most effective way of communicate routine messages to parents and carers, as iSchools, a company that provides online Management and Financial Control Systems to public schools and colleges, is all too aware. In order to add value to its existing system and to offer greater flexibility to schools with regards to communications methods, the company has recently integrated the toText.net online SMS gateway into its overall online management system.

Robert Owen, of iSchools explains the reasons why: “Research has demonstrated that SMS is by far the most popular way of conveying routine information such as school trips, open days, forthcoming events because messages are delivered and read straight away. If parents are out and about or there is no 3G signal they might not pick up their emails until much later. If we need to contact parents, child minders, nannies etc urgently, to inform them that school will be closed due to adverse weather conditions, for example, SMS is the quickest and most effective way to do this”.

The iSchools online management system is modular in design and provides schools with a comprehensive range of services including timetabling, registration and financial management facilities. It is based on the latest Microsoft products and includes a centralised database for managing pupil, staff and supplier information.

In order to make the SMS module completely transparent to system users, toText.net has developed a bespoke interface that connects the iSchools system directly to its SMS gateway. This means that teacher and administration staff can create and send messages directly from the iSchools system, which they are already familiar with.

To send a SMS message users log into the iSchools system as normal via a password-protected interface. They open the message dialogue box, write their message and select a relevant distribution list, the whole school, a particular year group or all, boys in year 7, for example, and press the send button.
The toText.net interface then forwards all messages to its centralised servers where mobile numbers are verified and the messages are converted into appropriate SMS formats for delivery.

System users can quickly see how many messages they have sent and, more importantly, when messages were delivered, using the toText.net system management software.

“When we approached toText .net about integrating their online SMS gateway they were very helpful, continued Owen. All development and testing work was completed within 8 weeks. What’s more, schools are not obliged to commit to a minimum number of messages per month and they are only billed for the messages they send”.

Schools are responsible for their own payments and they can manage their accounts using the toText.net software system, which allows them to top up their account as and when they need to.

Comments Rob Jagger, Managing Director of Totext.net. “We are really pleased to be given the opportunity to work on this project. We pride ourselves in developing services to meet specific applications and we are really pleased with the positive feedback we’ve received so far.”

The online SMS service is currently being piloted by 5 schools including Gemini College in Milton Keynes and Hopelands Prep School in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire.

The online SMS module will be available to all iSchool customers from September.

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LeagueRepublic, a leading provider of online administration systems for managing sports websites, fixture scheduling and results systems, has integrated Slepe Communications’ inbound SMS application (online SMS technology) into its overall system management software.

Their software has been used to manage over 2000 professional and amateur leagues, since 2002. Up until last year, all match information and results could only be updated via the web, so if team secretaries had no access to the Internet or could not get a 3G signal (as is often the case), this information was often not available to the public until much later.

In order to enable clubs to update their results more quickly, LeagueRepublic decided to upgrade its administration software by incorporating SMS functionality into its overall system at no extra cost to its customers. Even the most basic handsets support SMS and this enhancement meant that results could be published within minutes of a game finishing.

The service has been available for just over 12 months and so far more than 15% of all UK leagues are using SMS to update their team’s results.

The service works as follows: fifteen minutes after the start of a game, team secretaries receive an SMS from Slepe Communications’ administration software reminding them to text in their result at the end of the match.

As soon as the match is over, team secretaries simply text a reply to the original message with the final score e.g. 3 2. The virtual numbers used to deliver the service are provided by Slepe Communications as part of the application. Its bespoke management software determines which results belong to which team using the virtual numbers, converts the SMS messages into HTML and delivers them directly to LeagueRepublic’s servers, where they can then be published and posted immediately.

Not only are results made available to the public almost instantaneously, there is also no charge to the end user for the reminder and the reply is the same cost as any standard UK text message and often falls within their contract package. LeagueRepublic has just signed a deal with Timpson.co.uk Trophies who will fund the SMS system and a 10% website discount code will be included within the reminder message.

Comments Dave Hathaway, Managing Director from LeagueRepublic: “when we decided to investigate the possibility of adding SMS to our system we looked at many different providers. We finally chose Slepe because they were competitively priced and took time to listen and understand our exact requirements.

We are pleased to be able to offer the SMS results system with our free service with funding from our SMS sponsor – Timpson.co.uk Trophies.”

Ranjit Singh, a landlord from Willenhall, who has been using LeagueRepublic’s software to manage his pool league for the last three years, decided to add SMS to his website at the end of last season. Now all 18 teams in the league update their results via SMS.

“It’s absolutely brilliant”, he explained. “When running a league like this you have to be able to provide results quickly so you don’t lose the interest of the teams. The administrators text their results as soon as the game is over and once I’ve had a chance to check them, I make them live, usually within 24 hours.

There were a few minor issues in the beginning, with results being posted the wrong way around, but now that everyone is familiar with it, it works really well and saves me a lot of time because I only have to verify the information.”

Comments Rob Jagger from Slepe Communications: “we are really pleased to know that our software is working well and is helping LeagueRepublic better engage with its customers. This type of market is very competitive and our software ensures that teams do not lose interest because results are updated automatically and made available to the public almost immediately.”

The service is proving to be very popular with pub darts and pool leagues and so far this year more than 111 leagues have decided add SMS as an option for updating their results.

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About Slepe Communications

Slepe Communications is a dynamic, growing company based in Cambridge UK. Its staff has many years’ experience in the Internet and telecommunications industries, and are experts in designing, building and operating mobile Internet applications based on text messaging, web and Wi-Fi technologies.

About LeagueRepublic

LeagueRepublic are based in Wolverhampton and provide online sports administration systems to 2000 sports leagues worldwide, their clients include The Football Association Ltd.

The majority of these systems use email as the primary communications method. All information relating to a particular job or order is uploaded onto the system and this is used to generate a unique job sheet. These are then sent to appropriate personnel (drivers or maintenance engineers, for example), often located in different geographical areas, as emails with PDF attachments.

Everything runs smoothly so long as the recipient has a Smartphone or a Wi-Fi connection. If they don’t, however, they may not receive important job information or updates until much later, and by then it may be too late to take further action.

Slepe Communications Ltd, operators of toText.net and providers of bespoke online SMS applications, has recognised the limitations of these systems and, as a result, has made a number of enhancements to its popular email to SMS service in order to overcome them.

The company’s SMS management software can now detect if a PDF document is attached to an email and if so extract relevant information such as the location and nature of the job from the data file and forward it to the recipient as an SMS.

If job information is included in the email itself, the software simply converts the message into a text format, giving companies the option to send information via SMS as well as email to ensure delivery.

The system has already been integrated with “CoachManager”, an online job management system supplied by Distinctive Systems and will integrate seamlessly with most other system interfaces via a developers API.
 
Coach and private vehicle hire companies have found the enhancement particularly useful because not all drivers have access to a 3G or wireless connection. In addition, they simply do not have the time to look through their emails and download job sheets when they are working.

The ability to send relevant job information via SMS and incorporating a “read receipt” facility means these companies can now be confident that their drivers receive the correct information immediately and are able to respond accordingly, making them more efficient as a result.

Comments Rob Jagger, Managing Director of Slepe Communications. “While Smartphones are growing in popularity, not everybody has one, and if 3G coverage is patchy, drivers might not even receive their job sheets. All drivers do, however carry a mobile phone and all phones support SMS. Furthermore, messages are delivered almost instantaneously even if the signal is poor.”

This enhanced email to SMS service could benefit many other industries, drainage or gas companies, for example, where it is vital that engineers receive their job sheets immediately to avoid problems that could affect public health and safety.

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Slepe Communications Ltd is a dynamic, growing company based in Cambridge UK. Its staff have many years’ experience in the Internet and telecommunications industries, and are experts in designing, building and operating mobile Internet applications based on text messaging, web and Wi-Fi technologies.
 
The company is a member of the Mobile Data Association.

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.

This fear of being completely isolated was experienced firsthand by Hugh Gibaud and his business partner, Jeremy Miles, when they decided to take part in this year’s Mongol rally in order to raise money for charity.
The rally, designed to be an exhilarating experience for participants, starts in Europe and ends in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia. Unlike a normal rally, the overall aim is not to get there first but to get there safely – quite a challenge considering the countries that have to be crossed and the terrains involved.

For Gibaud it was imperative he could keep in contact with his family throughout the trip, not only for personal reasons but also for his own safety. Time was also of the essence and Gibaud wanted to be able to quickly contact different groups of people so he could get on with the rally. Sending SMS messages was the obvious answer but delivery is not always instantaneous, particularly when abroad. It depends on a number of factors such as network operators, roaming arrangements, signal strength and most importantly, the recipient’s phone being turned on so the message can be received.

Due to the potentially dangerous nature of the rally Gibaud did not want to leave the delivery of these messages to chance. He wanted to be able to quickly communicate with friends and family and needed a means of sending SMS messages that were guaranteed to be delivered in case he found himself in difficulties.

He carried out some basic research to see if such a service could be provided and came across Slepe Communications, an SMS service provider that specialises in the development of bespoke and niche SMS applications. He explained the situation and Slepe communications made a number of changes to its popular email to SMS service, turning it into an SMS to email service, in order to guarantee the delivery of all SMS messages.

Using a normal mobile phone and “Go-SIM” an international prepaid SIM card, Gibaud sent all messages to Slepe Communications’ centralised server. Here the company’s bespoke software converted all SMS messages to email formats so they could be delivered quickly to recipients. The servers are connected directly to the mobile network, thus eliminating the problem of delivery failure due to poor coverage or phones being turned off.
“I was very excited to be given the opportunity to become involved in the project”, explained Rob Jagger, Director of Slepe Communications.” Normally one associates email to SMS with commercial marketing campaigns but this application demonstrates how SMS can be used to enhance personal safety by giving you the ability to quickly send out emergency messages, should you find yourself in difficulty.

This niche SMS to email application was not only reliable but also extremely cost effective because with Go-SIM prices are fixed. Gibaud continues; “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.”

Using SMS for personal safety is a relatively new concept but Rob is very excited about future possibilities for the service, as he explains. This application has proved that so long as you have a mobile phone, it is possible to send SMS messages that are guaranteed to be delivered, irrespective of which country you are in. The potential use for email to SMS in this context is enormous; for example, as part of a company’s health and safety procedure. Similarly, providing Aid workers operating in countries where freedom of speech is restricted with this type of service would enable them to quickly but subtly inform colleagues if they were in danger.”

Usually the jobs are emailed to the drivers, with the job details within a PDF attachment. Our system can now detect when a PDF is attached, and pulls out the relevant job details, and sends them as an SMS to the driver. If no attachment was included, then our Email to SMS service works as normal, completely transparently to the customer.

This custom development was done free of charge for the customer, and we are now looking to offer it to other coach companies to expand our reach.

The new FAQ will hopefully allow people to find out much more easily the answers to the questions that they have, without having to wade through reams of other stuff that just gets in the way.

The most common question related to how long it takes for a text message to be delivered. Because of the investment that we’ve made in our system, and by selecting the highest quality suppliers to partner with, a typical SMS delivery time from sending to receiving is about 5 seconds! Any longer than this, and it usually means that the mobile phone is either switched off or out of coverage.

If there are any questions that you think are missing from the FAQ, then just let us know.