The Benefits of Text Messaging Alert System

Text messaging has gone a long way from being a complicated concept developed in 1984 by Bernard Ghillebaert and Friedhelm Hillebrand. Also called short message service or SMS, texting was virtually unknown of in the early 90s until the turn of the new millennium. With companies like Nokia introducing handsets that support SMS, the average number of texts sent in a day in the U.S. zoomed to 400,000 in 2000.

Today, an estimated three trillion text messages are sent every year around the world. Indeed, text messaging has gone a long way from the very first text message sent- “Merry Christmas”—by a developer named Neil Papworth.

The way SMS has been utilized has also evolved. Text messages are used by people to communicate with their loved ones and friends. In the corporate world, text messaging has been tapped by companies to promote their products and services to their target markets. Firms can also communicate with their employees through the use of a text messaging alert system.

Text messaging alert system allows businesses to quickly send messages to a defined list of recipients. The use of such system has been widely adapted by companies, who find the method easy, fast, convenient, and affordable. Many text messaging systems have security and alerts features, and can be regularly updated by their users.

Some of the benefits of text messaging alert system for businesses are:

1. Saves Time

Companies that have a text messaging alert system are able to save time with the use of the said technology. By sending text messages, firms can promote their products and services quickly and efficiently. There’s no need for them to send out promotional flyers that will take days or even weeks to hit the mailbox of the customer. Nor do they have to instruct their staff to spend hours on the phone calling up customers or reminding them about an upcoming promotion.

2. Saves Money

The use of a text messaging alert system can also be cost-effective for a business. Small firms for instance don’t have to launch an expensive promotional campaign to advertise their products and services. Sending out text messages is cheaper. Compared to traditional means of reaching out to target consumers like mailing and distribution of flyers or even advertising on community newspapers and on radio, text messaging system is a lot more cost-efficient.

3. Communicates With Target Audience

There’s no way for the target recipient to ignore the message sent through a text messaging alert system. A customer can’t delete the text message on his inbox without reading it first. On the part of employers, a text message is a more practical way of alerting an employee about a change in a business process, an upcoming promo, or about an impending weather disturbance.

4. Averts Disaster

Speaking of weather disturbances, the use of a text messaging system has been valuable in alerting employees about upcoming storms. Workers who are in the field like delivery crew members and construction workers assigned on a major project, would be able to get the message alert quickly through a text messaging system.

When workers are informed immediately about a crisis like weather disturbances or terrorist attacks, the chances of them getting hurt are significantly reduced. Construction workers out in the field, for example, can take shelter immediately when they receive an alert from their superiors.

5. Send Messages to Various Groups

A text messaging system not only limits its users to send messages to a certain group of recipients. In fact, users can create an unlimited number of groups. They can create separate groups for customers, employees, company executives, and so on.

6. Text Messaging Has a Wider Reach

To say that every person on the planet owns a mobile phone may not be an exaggeration at all. According to GSMA Intelligence, the number of mobile devices in the entire world is around 7.9 billion. On the other hand, the world’s population is pegged to be around 7.2 billion.

Thus companies can reach out to their customers better than other mediums like television, radio or print advertising. Since almost all adults have a mobile phone, companies that would want to promote their products and services through text messaging would be able to do so more effectively.

Text messaging as an internal communication tool also works well for many companies, as majority of their workers have mobile phones that can receive text messages within seconds. Moreover, employees can receive important alerts from their supervisors or leaders right away wherever they are—at home, in a restaurant, or while on the commute to work.

The adoption of text messaging systems to convey important messages in real –time should continue in the next few years, as more and more companies will realize the tremendous benefits they can get from this communication tool.