Chile is the most recent country to be affected by a natural disaster - an earthquake with an 8.8 magnitude and with a death toll of 711 at the time of this writing. This follows the Haiti quake which struck not even a month earlier with up to 230,000 people dead.

Bulk SMS 4 South Africa

The above-mentioned quakes don’t really have a significant impact on South Africa, but it does serve to remind us that winter is on its way. In recent years many thousands of people have either lost their lives or personal property as a result of heavy flooding.

Can bulk SMS limit the amount of casualties and lessen the damage to personal and government property?

Bulk SMS has already proven to be a lifesaver in countries that have made groundbreaking use of bulk SMS, as evidenced in an earlier post, ‘Text messaging saves lives in the UK‘. In all instances the key lies with effective communication, from officials to citizens and vice versa.

Even in bushfire-prone Australia bulk SMS is being employed to warn citizens about impending dangers during the hot summer months.

“The focus at this stage is certainly on bushfires but it’s an emergency warning system, so it can be used for floods, cyclones on the North Coast, or tsunami warnings,” said New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

Employing Bulk SMS

Toward the end of 2009 an estimated 34.4-million individuals in South Africa had access to a mobile phone, a number still growing as handsets become more affordable. This means that more people have access to a mobile phone than they do the internet, a television set or even the radio at any given moment.

The mobile phone is also the only technology to be always carried and always on. And, lest we forget, virtually all mobile handsets are capable of receiving an SMS message, which, to the handset owner, is free.

Emergency and governmental services using bulk SMS will therefore be able to get in touch with more individuals during times of crisis, thereby saving lives, and possibly limiting the amount of damage that occurs.

In a country where communication has played a key role over the past 16 years, it can also be used to save lives, improve service delivery and help protect private and government property. For more information, navigate to our bulk SMS page.

Related posts:

1. Text messaging offers innovative way to reach prospective property buyers Innovative real estate agencies are jumping on board the bulk...
2. Managing Bulk SMS Opt-in Thinking of casting your bulk SMS net as far and...
3. Is Bulk SMS the new Bulk Email? The time has come for bulk SMS to take its...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

SMSC Protocols

The European Telecommunication Standards Institute has approved four protocols to be used by and between SMSCs. They are:

• UCP/EMI, which was developed by LogicaCMG, now part of Acision
• CIMD2, created by Nokia
• OIS by SEMA

and

• SMPP, which was originally created by Aldiscon, then in the possession of Logica which had acquired Aldiscon. SMPP was then handed to the SMS Forum which disbanded and handed the protocol to Acision (formerly part of Logica).

SMPP Flexibility

We all know SMPP is one of the more powerful protocols in use today. It is capable of sending batches of messages in rapid succession, provides message response in either synchronous or asynchronous mode and is pretty much free to use.

SMPP Implementation

One of the major benefits of using SMPP is the fact that, when connected to the SMS gateway, your messages don’t have to be translated into the correct protocol which, when it comes down to thousands of messages, could save a bunch of time.

When SMPP is used, translation only happens once the SMS gateway has passed the messages to the SMSC, and then only when there’s two or more dissimilar SMSCs are employed.

And lest we forget, SMPP is language independent, which means that it can be used in conjunction with any programming language to achieve virtually every messaging aim.

SMPP Features

So let’s look at some of the features of SMPP to see why this protocol is liked so much by network operators as well as companies around the globe. While these features might, in themselves, not be totally unique to the SMPP protocol, they do become more appealing when combined with the other benefits mentioned above.

SMPP allows you to:

• Send normal 7-bit text messages
• Send 8-bit and 16-bit messages
• Transmit flash messages
• Send ringtones and logos
• Send converted VCard and VCal data
• Use customised sender IDs
• Enable two-way messaging

Who Uses SMPP?

As this isn’t the space (for obvious reasons) to name specific companies who make use of SMPP, one can assume that companies who have voluminous contact databases and native software environments could most probably rely on this protocol API to take care of their messaging requirements.

Companies most likely to use SMPP include:

• Financial institutions
• Social Networks
• Chain stores
• National & International companies and organisations
• Educational Institutions
• Etc.

Naturally one can assume that SMPP is not only used to get in touch with customers, but also with employees. Imagine the savings when SMS is used instead of voice calls to communicate real time information for whatever possible purposes…

To find out more about this power protocol, or to start messaging, follow the link to the SMPP page.

Related posts:

1. Understanding SMPP and How It Can Mobilise Your Business According to the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF), 69.8%...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Knowing what goes on behind the screens makes what’s going on in front of  the screens more controllable. It’s like driving a car: if you know what all the engine parts do and how they should be working, then you stand a good chance of getting yourself out of trouble and possibly saving a bit when disaster strikes. The same applies to email to SMS.

SMTP: The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

Delving beneath the surface, we note that the SMTP protocol is probably one of the most widely used mail-sending protocols, and is the default on most email clients. This is the protocol that makes email to SMS possible, by taking the following steps:

1. You compose the message you want to convert from email to SMS in your mail client
2. It connects to port 25 of your mail server
3. A number of commands are issued and your message gets sent.

Those with a bit of technical know-how could try this out on their own, too. It is as simple as establishing a telnet connection to an outgoing mail server to convert email to SMS.

Now, the basic modus operandi of connecting to a mail server to send a message through SMTP is:

bash-4.0$ telnet smtp.youroutgoingmailserver.com 25
Trying <ip address>…
Connected to smtp.youroutgoingmailserver.com.
Escape character is ‘^]’.
220 smtp.youroutgoingmailserver.com ESMTP

helo server
250 smtp.youroutgoingemailserver.com

mail from: yourname@youremailaddress.com
250 Ok

rcpt to: sms@messaging.clickatell.com
250 Ok
Data

354 End data with <CR><LF>.<CR><LF>
Hello World, this is a mail from John Doe.

.
250 Ok: queued as 5B161188035

To convert email to SMS, however, you need to add a few parameters. These include:
user:your_username
password:your_password
api_id:xxxxxxx
to:xxxxxxxxxxx
reply:yourname@youremailaddress.com
text: This is your 160-char SMS message.

And that’s it. Or is it? If you’ve tried the above, then you probably noticed that your email to SMS conversion didn’t work, and here’s why: you need to specify the email type, as most servers will only accept 7-bit characters. This is done by manually entering the email header data:

MIME-Version: 1.0
From: You < yourname@youremailaddress.com >
To: sms@messaging.clickatell.com
Subject: (no subject)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Of course, you’ll have to replace all the necessary fields with your own data to ensure that your email to SMS conversion works perfectly. Here’s how the entire completed message should look:

bash-4.0$ telnet smtp.youroutgoingmailserver.com 25
Trying <ip address>…
Connected to smtp.youroutgoingmailserver.com.
Escape character is ‘^]’.
220 smtp.youroutgoingmailserver.com ESMTP

helo server
250 smtp.youroutgoingemailserver.com

mail from: yourname@youremailaddress.com
250 Ok

rcpt to: sms@messaging.clickatell.com
250 Ok
Data

354 End data with <CR><LF>.<CR><LF>
MIME-Version: 1.0
From: You < yourname@youremailaddress.com >
To: sms@messaging.clickatell.com
Subject: (no subject)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

user:your_username
password:your_password
api_id:xxxxxxx
to:xxxxxxxxxxx
reply:yourname@youremailaddress.com
text: This is your 160-char SMS message.

.
250 Ok: queued as 5B161188888

Once you’ve got the above pat, all that’s left to do is to familiarise yourself with the optional parameters. This can be done by examining the email to SMS SMTP API guide. Pay special attention to the ‘concat’ parameter for those instances where you want to send messages in excess of the standard 160 characters.

Ready to get cracking? Follow the link to start converting your email to SMS.

Related posts:

1. Use Email to SMS for 2010 Using email to SMS during the 2010 Soccer World Cup...
2. Convert your email into SMS with SMTP Chances are that as a South African consumer you have...
3. Festive Safety with Email to SMS Email-to-SMS can gift public services with additional assistance throughout the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

If you’ve got a Facebook profile, then you’ll know that it is now possible to receive notifications when certain events occur on your profile. Quite nifty - people will now know that they’ve received a new message or that one of their friends posted a new status update, regardless of where they are. Now here you have to keep two things in mind:

1. This social networking site knows that, by using an SMS service, they’ll be able to reach more people wherever they are, thereby increasing site usage.
2. More importantly, however, is the fact that they have now made it easier to use their website - you don’t have to be connected to the internet to know what’s going on - just check your phone, and if it’s important, then log on and do what you have to do. Simple.

Who isn’t tempted to make use of such a service? You know you are, and so are your customers.

SMS Service: What you should be doing

So you’re not as big as Facebook and therefore think that providing an SMS service is something you won’t be able to afford. Right? Well, wrong - it’s affordable and just requires you to decide how you will structure your SMS communication. And to help you along, here are a couple of ideas that have all been used by companies big and small to provide a better service to their clients:

• Promotional Information (Specials on products & services, competitions, vouchers, etc.)
• Account Information (Account balances, payment reminders, etc.)
• Alerts (Service alerts, account alerts when a change occurs, etc.)
• Service updates (Orders, Tracking, delivery confirmation, etc.)
• Value-added information (”The weather in your region… bought to you by XYZ SA Business)

As you can see, the above are directly applicable to your business and represent a form of communication your customers will appreciate. After all, you’ll be making their lives easier - they’ll want to stay with you.

Starting an SMS Service

If you’ve read some of our previous blogs you’ll have noted that there are essentially three platforms that can be used to start your own SMS service. These are:

1. Communicator (Web-based)
2. Messenger PRO (Desktop App)
3. Application Programming Interfaces

By clicking on the appropriate link above, you’ll be able to read more about the specific product. But there’s one additional product that can will all businesses to add an SMS service to their communications platform, the Interactive Campaign Manager, or ICM. While the same functionality can be achieved using the API, this pre-designed application will provide businesses who don’t have their own programming teams with some serious SMS capabilities. Some of the ICM’s features include:

• Mobile marketing campaign management
• Keyword and sub-keyword management (e.g. “SMS ‘CANDY’ to x2332 for Valentine’s chocolates” - ‘CANDY’ is the keyword here)
• Keywords can have automatic reply messages associated with them
• Bulk SMS messaging
• Reporting
• etc.

The ICM is one of those products designed to make life, and business, just that little bit easier and more profitable. For more information on  any of the mentioned products, just follow the appropriate link above. Alternatively click to read more about the SMS service.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Soccer World Cup 2010 is approaching quickly and many businesses, hopefully yours included, will use international SMS to foster global relationships forged during this sporty period. But as we all know, it helps to look after the money we spend. Routing profiles are there to help you choose the destinations you want to send to based on cost.

The Default Routing Profile Settings

Routing profiles are intended for those international SMS messages sent to destinations that cost more than one message credit. When you log into your application or interface that you use to send SMS messages, such as Communicator, Messenger PRO, etc., one of the most common default settings is the active state of all routing profiles.

So what do you do now?

This is where it gets a bit more involved. Let’s say you’ve got a list of clients, some of whom are in 1-credit destination countries, some in 2-credit destination countries and the rest in 3-credit destination countries. A single active routing profile has to be ticked at all times, which means that you’ll have to make a choice as to who you want to send your international SMS messages to. If you examine the image, you’ll note that both (A) and (B) are ticked by default and as such will result in the automatic delivery of messages to 0.8 and 1-credit destinations. This means your choice will have to be between those destinations that cost more than 1 credit to send to.

How do you know what the credit cost per destination is? Simply navigate to your provider’s coverage page.

It’s in The Lists

Making the choice shouldn’t be such a difficult task. One way to choose an international SMS provider is to look at your own reports (when available) and see which countries will help you achieve a greater measure of success. This can be based on previous response rates or sales, and will mean that you’ll have to employ targeted messaging, which includes message personalisation and perhaps analysing the destination number’s (or rather, the individual connected to that number) purchase history. This can improve your chances of success with international SMS.

But it’s not always so easy, is it?

Here’s another example: Let’s say you have one address book with contacts in different countries and you’d like to target those individuals who’ve recently invested in what you have to offer. They’re not all in the same country, which means that you’re now left with two choices to achieve your international SMS messaging aims:

1. Send the messages individually,

or, much more preferred,

2. Create lists containing the individual contacts you want to get in touch with.

Quite naturally the key lies in doing regular maintenance on your contact lists to ensure that you have flexibility when it comes to international SMS. Also remember to keep track of your marketing campaign results on a per destination number basis, so that you’ll always be able to carry out targeted international SMS campaigns.

Want to know more about global short message communication? Read more on the international SMS page.

Related posts:

1. International SMS: The 2010 Solution International SMS will give your business a cost-effective and efficient...
2. International SMS: The Sporting Chance Even though it hasn't been a good weekend for SA...
3. International SMS is the Future – Bank On It International SMS has changed the face of business communication forever,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Have you ever taken the train, anywhere in South Africa? Or what about a bus or even the taxi?

I do, on a daily basis. And, for the most part it’s a service that operates rather well. On the odd occasion, however, it can lead to frustration with services being canceled without any measure of warning. This creates a problem for quite a number of people who don’t have means to other forms of transport.

And with the FWC 2010 looming, a great number of people from all over the world will need some form of transport to get from point A to point B during their stay. What can be done by public transport service providers in South Africa to make the experience as painless as possible? As you may have guessed, this is where SMS gateways come into play. Here’s how…

Train Service

One of the main benefits of SMS gateways is that they allow for two-way communication. This means that, with the implementation of the right application programming interface, a system can be set up that will allow commuters to send an SMS message to a specific number to query the status of their chosen form of transportation. For example, “Stb Cpt” sent to, say, a train service could be responded to with “Stb; 10:01 - On time, 11:35 - On time, 13:12: Delayed 25min,” and so on.

Not only does this mean that commuters will be able to plan their journeys accordingly, but it would also make this service accessible to more people. This service could also be enhanced by allowing regular commuters to subscribe (for a small monthly fee?) that will automatically inform them of any possible delays and perhaps make suggestions for alternative transport services that are readily available and running on time – all of which are automatically sent through  SMS gateways.

Bus Services

One of the main benefits of the bus service is that in certain areas there are more buses catering for a certain destination than a corresponding train service. This means that, should you miss the 09:15 bus, you’ll be able to get the 09:25, perhaps on the same route or a couple of blocks away.

But for visitors to our beautiful country who don’t know where these buses are running from, getting on the right bus could be a problem. What to do? One idea is the implementation of a service that will allow you to locate the closest stop to your current location. A possible example here includes “7600 Adderley Street”, where “7600″ is the postal code and Adderley Street the destination. The reply could then list various stops in the 7600 area where buses stop on their way to Adderley Street, or that vicinity. Using a mapping service connected to the SMS gateways, the bus service will then be able to map the location of the commuter and then reply with all the possible stops in the area, “7600 to Adderly Street: Du Toit Str., Reed Str.,…”

Taxi Services

Minibus taxis are cheap and relatively quick and pretty efficient, with quite a number of taxis servicing a specific destination throughout the day. And if you’re a local, you’ll probably be able to find your way pretty easily to a pick up point or your closest taxi rank.

The same cannot, however,  be said for a visitor to South Africa who’d like to use this affordable form of public transportation. In this case a similar system as the one described  above can be used, but with even greater accuracy as taxis generally cover a smaller area. “Edward Str PTA - Indaba Mall” can be used as an example sent in by a commuter who wishes to get to the Indaba Mall. Using a mapping service, a reply can be sent via SMS gateways informing the commuter of the closest pickup point, “Go to Johnson Street, opposite butchery”.

Benefit of Using SMS Gateways to Public Transport Services

Of the many advantages offered by an SMS gateway information system as described above, some do stand out:

• Use of a medium common to all cell phones
• Affordable communication for both commuters and public transportation services
• Increased public visibility of the transportation services (which could lead to an increase in revenue)
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Customer retention

These benefits are not only specific to public transport services, but to all businesses. What can you do with SMS gateways to improve the relationship you have with your customers?

For more information, simply navigate to our SMS gateways page.

Related posts:

1. International SMS: The 2010 Solution International SMS will give your business a cost-effective and efficient...
2. SMS Gateways Mobilise Application Developers South Africa mobile application developers should take advantage of SMS...
3. Increasing Potential: Choose The Right SMS Gateway API Back in our previous post on SMS gateways, we provided...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Well, we all know what happened in terms of academics last year - it’s still in the newspapers and I’m sure it’s a thought constantly nagging at the back of the minds of the parents of this year’s matriculants - will they achieve better results than those from last year? But to avoid dwelling on the sensitive topic, let’s take a look at ways schools can improve their chances for success in the future through bulk SMS.

Before we get to the ‘how’ in terms of bulk SMS, let’s have a look at the ‘why’. Why should schools implement bulk SMS and what are the possible advantages? Here’s a short list of benefits that may include a few from last week’s post:

1. Bulk SMS can improve teacher-parent communication
   • Test results: “Dear Mrs. Johnson, please note that your child received 50% for the recent maths test”
   • Class attendance: “Dear Mrs. Johnson, Johnny did not attend class/school today”
   • Teacher-parent evenings: “Dear Mrs. Jonson, just a reminder about the Parents Evening on Monday, 8 Jan”
   • Exam date reminders: “Mrs Johnson, maths test on Friday for all 10th grade pupils. Please ensure Johnny is ready.”
   • School fee reminders: “Dear Mrs Johnson, please remember to settle the school fees by Feb. 28th”

This means that teachers will be able to get in touch with parents to communicate important information via bulk SMS.


2. Use bulk SMS to bolster teacher-student communication
   • Test date: “Johnny, maths test on Friday, p86 - p 108. Counts 5% of final mark.”
   • Project due date: “Johnny, life sciences project due Monday, 18 Jan”
   • School events: “Soccer match this Saturday - come support your team!”
   • School activities: “Trip to art museum on Tuesday 19 Jan - bring your notebook”

How much communication can there be between students and their teachers via bulk SMS? Quite a lot, actually, given the fact that throughout the year, there will be plenty of tests, activities and events to be attended. Here are a couple of examples:


3. SMS is affordable
   • Web-based SMS: Allows the sending of bulk SMS messages over the internet using a fairly recent browser.
   • Desktop SMS: An application installed on a desktop computer that allows the sending of bulk SMS messages over the internet.
   • Application Programming Interfaces (API’s): Schools with the required resources will be able to make use of any of the available API’s to integrate it with their native software environment.

Sticking to a school budget whilst providing pupils with opportunities in addition to an education can be a headache for most teachers. Bulk SMS provides an affordable communication alternative that will help schools save on telephone costs, paper and postage, among others.

Implementing Bulk SMS

Implementing SMS as a communication solution between teachers, parents and students might sound like an expensive and difficult operation to some, but it can be quite the reverse. Due to the various readily available technologies, bulk SMS can be implemented, with little more than an internet connection and a web browser.

If you are in education and curious about the full range of benefits regarding SMS communication, then follow the link to read more about bulk SMS.

Related posts:

1. The Academic Difference: Email to SMS Can email to SMS help the Class of '10 achieve...
2. Mobile Health Through Bulk SMS Bulk SMS has reached new heights in application & is...
3. Is Bulk SMS the new Bulk Email? The time has come for bulk SMS to take its...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

As 2010 shifts into gear, parents of matriculants and the matriculants themselves will be focussing on academics to avoid a repetition of 2009’s dismal performance. And as if the pressure wasn’t enough already, one has to keep in mind that schools will be closed during the 2010 World Cup period, when young and old will be spending the days encouraging their favourite teams to the top. How can parents and teachers use email to SMS to help students become better learners amidst all the excitement?

Better Communication

There were a number of factors that contributed to the low average pass rate of 2009, however, the onus is always on the students themselves to put in the time to achieve the desired results. Email to SMS can help by supplying teachers across the country with a method of communication that’s easy to use, cost-effective and almost instantaneous. This beneficial technology can be employed to:

• communicate test dates and times to students: “Life Sciences test on Friday August 13th, 2010 - room 501″
• confirm examination topics: “13th August Life Sciences test: text book p101-121, p150-165, p200-280. Know plant cell structure diagram.”
• enhance teacher-parent communication: “Dear Mr. Smith, please note that Johnny did not attend class on September 10th, 2010″ or “Dear Mr. Smith, herewith a reminder about the parents’ evening on Feb. 12th, 2010 @ 7P.M”
• further communication in rural areas: email to SMS could enhance communication to pupils and parents within rural areas, where cellphones outnumber landlines and television access.
• send practise test questions to students ahead of exams, thereby assisting in their preparation.

Why Email to SMS?

Although there exist a host of other methods to communicate with students and/or parents, one has only to consider the nature of email to SMS to see why it is perhaps the best form of communication. Reasons include the widespread use of cellphones (all of which are capable of receiving and sending SMS messages), even in rural or impoverished areas, as well as the fact that, in South Africa (as opposed to countries like the U.S.A.), receiving an SMS message is free.

Email and computer use on the other hand are being used by most school offices and teachers throughout the country, making email to SMS the perfect medium to communicate with students on a medium (the mobile phone) that they are already familiar with.

Additional benefits of email to SMS include:

• SMS messages can be stored on a mobile phone to be referred to at a later stage, thereby eliminating any communication mishaps between the teacher and his or her students.
• SMS messages allow for concatenation, meaning that the 160-character limit can be exceeded (though messages should still be short and to the point).
• SMS messages can be sent in binary form to accommodate different types of media, not just text.
• Email to SMS allows for the use of the built-in email address book, making contact list management a breeze.
• a reporting facility will allow teachers to see which messages were delivered, which are still awaiting delivery and which have failed.

If you are a parent, a teacher or part of the school administration, then this is a technology seriously worth considering to help bolster this year’s final examination results. Click on the link to read more about email to SMS now!

Related posts:

1. Streamlining Education with Bulk SMS Bulk SMS can improve communication between teachers, students and parents....
2. Festive Safety with Email to SMS Email-to-SMS can gift public services with additional assistance throughout the...
3. Use Email to SMS for 2010 Using email to SMS during the 2010 Soccer World Cup...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

According to an online article published by the Telegraph at the end of last year, sharks are being tagged by scientists off the West Australian coast. Lifeguards, wildlife officials and scientists will receive a text message in less than two minutes when one of the tagged Great White sharks swim over any one of the acoustic seabed receivers. This SMS solution will help spot the location of the fish and act as an advanced warning system for swimmers in the area.

Using an SMS solution as an advanced warning system offers several benefits, and could result in hundreds, if not thousands, of lives saved in the year ahead. Scenarios where SMS can be used include:

Fire Warnings

It’s that time of the year when temperatures are at their peak and often result in fires that spread rapidly. Implementing an SMS solution in prone areas could help warn residents of a fire in the region and help evacuated individuals and families that are at risk.

This type of solution can also be used to help coordinate emergency services to control the spread of the fire.

Flood Warnings

Heavy rains in certain areas during the summer and winter months are not uncommon. And it is during these times that those living in low-lying regions and valleys are most at risk. As with the fire warning system, an SMS solution can be employed to warn residents in certain areas about the impending danger of heavy rains or the possibility of floods well in advance, thereby giving people time to prepare, thus saving lives.

Traffic Updates

Each year holiday makers travel to and from their holiday destinations, often over long distances in unfamiliar territory. Keeping motorists up to date about current traffic conditions and certain areas via an SMS solution could increase their caution, thereby enabling them to avoid possible delays or even injury and death.

Benefits of an SMS Solution

What are the benefits of using SMS as a communication tool for emergency information? Keeping in mind that the cellular phone is almost always carried and switched on, SMS can provide:

• Cost-effective communication: sending an SMS to a handset can be done at the fraction of a normal telephone call.
• Geographically-independent information distribution: an SMS message can be delivered to a handset as long as there is coverage in that area.
• Instant message delivery: SMS messages are delivered almost instantly when the handset is switched on, in working order and when there is space in the inbox. The sender of the message is more often than not equipped with powerful reporting, enabling them to see which handsets received their message, and which didn’t.
• Message storage: Messages can be stored on a handset and read or be referred to at a later time.
• Multi-language medium: As a result of various encoding systems, SMS messages can even be sent in languages that use different language characters, thereby overcoming any possible language barriers.

This make an SMS solution more viable and more flexible than any other form of traditional form of communication, especially when it comes to the delivery of time-critical information.

To read more about the SMS solution and how you can benefit from it, click here.

Related posts:

1. International SMS: The 2010 Solution International SMS will give your business a cost-effective and efficient...
2. These Companies Have an SMS Solution. Do You? Having an SMS solution at hand saves money on communication,...
3. Bulk SMS for Winter Aid! Employing bulk SMS on a per town or per region...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s the end of the year and we’re on the eve of one of the biggest sporting events South Africa has ever witnessed. But it won’t be about soccer alone - thousands of businesses throughout our beautiful country will forge new ties with individuals and other businesses from all over the world. If this is your business, you’ll be able to keep and strengthen these ties with an international SMS solution.

Contrary to popular belief, using international SMS to communicate with individuals located in foreign countries isn’t expensive or complicated. There exist a variety of technologies capable of sending and receiving SMS messages to suit all levels of technical proficiency, which means that small businesses and large corporations alike can enable themselves with cost-effective and efficient international communication. Let’s take a look:

Small Business Owner

Whether you’re a freelancer or a business owner with five employees, there exist a number of efficient technologies that will put the power of international SMS at your finger tips. These include the web based application and the desktop application, with the main difference being that the one is operated through a web browser while the other is installed locally on your computer. In both instances an internet connection is required. Here are some key features:

Just like email: If you can use an email client, then you’ll be able to use any of the aforementioned SMS platforms. An ‘inbox’ will allow you to view incoming SMS messages (when two-way SMS has been enabled) and the ‘outbox’ will allow you to view sent messages. And, as with your email client, you’ll have the benefit of an address book in which contacts and custom contact lists can be created and stored.

Powerful reporting: International SMS is made more effective with reporting that allows you to see which messages have been delivered, which are pending delivery and which have failed. This not only allows you to manage your contact lists effectively, but can also give you an indication of campaign progress, should you intend to use this technology as a marketing medium.

For an example of a web based international SMS client, find out about Clickatell’s Communicator.

And for an example of a desktop international SMS client, read more about the Messenger-PRO.

Medium to Large Businesses

While the above-mentioned web based and desktop SMS platforms can be used by businesses of any size, there exists a solution that will allow you to integrate SMS with your company’s native software systems. The API’s (Application Programming Interfaces) allow for communication between your system and the SMS gateway over the internet, making international SMS a seamless part of your business.

Some of the most popular API’s currently in use include HTTP/S, SMTP, SMPP, FTP, XML, .COM and SOAP. Your choice of the most effective API(s) to use depends on your current software infrastructure as well as your messaging sending, receiving and reporting requirements.

That being said, it’s obvious that there’s an SMS solution for businesses of all sizes to ensure victory in 2010. Visit the Clickatell site to read more about international SMS.

Related posts:

1. These Companies Have an SMS Solution. Do You? Having an SMS solution at hand saves money on communication,...
2. Life-saving SMS Solution for 2010 The application of SMS solutions are becoming more widespread as...
3. International SMS: The Sporting Chance Even though it hasn't been a good weekend for SA...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.