Help! SMS in need of adoption.

When did you last NOT read a text (SMS) message? Not reply. Read. 

Can't remember? Never? Well, it's the same story for your biggest assets - your 'staff'.

There is huge potential for enterprise SMS particularly when you consider that the popularity of SMS amongst consumers is on the rise. 

The recent Ofcom report The Communications Market Report: United Kingdom concluded that people are more likely to send messages to each other rather than have voice calls or hold face to face meetings. It's so much quicker to text a couple of words as opposed to having an actual conversation, especially when you are busy.

One of the biggest benefits of SMS communications is the ability to actually reach intended recipients. The International Telecommunication Union report The World in 2011 - ICT Facts and Figures estimates that 87% of the global population now has a mobile phone giving enterprises the opportunity to connect with more people around the world and even reach people they previously thought were ‘unreachable'.  With market estimates stating that over 90% of SMS are opened, and some figures as high as 98%, SMS communications are also much more likely to be read by recipients than any other form of enterprise communication. Think. Do you know anyone over the age of 16 who doesn't have a mobile phone and doesn't have it with them?

Enterprises are using SMS in a wide variety of ways and it can be implemented across offices, departments, locations and countries. For example, SMS can be used to send information to customers with reminders to take medication, changes to their flight, or when they can expect their orders to be delivered. More specific examples include using SMS for IT monitoring and sending alerts to notify staff immediately of any system issues whilst others use SMS for emergency communications including alerting employees and locals regarding extreme weather conditions.

SMS is also helping enterprises around the world reach their target customers. To read further examples of how SMS is benefiting enterprises today, and how it could add value to your enterprise, please view our case studies.

Alternatively, visit us at:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/hay-systems-ltd

follow us on Twitter @HSLSMS

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@haysystems.com

How do you get yours?

It’s 17:10 on a Monday evening and you are just about to leave the office. Most of your colleagues have already left and as you check your inbox one last time you notice an email from your manager advising, “The office will be closed to all staff tomorrow morning due to emergency building repairs. Please communicate this to all staff immediately.”  You instantly reach for the telephone but then realise most staff left at 17:00 and that there are hundreds of them to contact. You first panic, then after taking a minute to let your blood pressure normalise, consider sending out an email to all staff; it’s quick and easy to do but not even half of your staff have access to work emails from home and the half of those that do, probably won't. In fact, according to Phonedog, "email sit unread for an average of 48 hours before being read while SMS messages are usually opened only four minutes after being sent".

It’s at that moment when you remember a text alerting service which the comms or marketing or some other department recently adopted for sending out customer service updates. "The proportion of adults who personally own/use a mobile phone in the UK is 92%," according to Ofcom and as all members of staff have already given their contact mobile number, you realise that this would be the ideal communication tool to use. You quickly scroll through your emails and call through to the marketing department who confirm that the service is active and that you can use it. They make a small change to the set up to allow you access and a few minutes later you have sent out a text to all members of staff advising of the office closure, what to do instead and also asking staff to acknowledge receipt of the message by replying with their name.

You then leave the office, safe in the knowledge that your colleagues will receive the notification and that you will be able to easily check the replies against the list of staff the message was sent to.

This is just one example of how using texting (SMS) alerts for emergency communications can work and can be quicker and slicker than other forms of communication. Texting can actually be applied in a host of situations and by all company departments whether that be updating field staff, sending out IT alerts or notifying customers that their product is available or tracking where the delivery is.

HSL have an excellent text alert solution for time sensitive communications which is known as AlertBroadcast. Put simply, the solution will enable you to text a number of contacts quickly, reliably and also offers the ability for contacts to reply back to the message sender thus confirming receipt and correct comprehension of the message. Alertbroadcast is therefore cost-effective, fast and quite simply works. In fact, a number of HSL clients have been benefiting from the solution for years. For example, Dartmoor Search and Rescue have used the solution for over 5 years and have found it to be “extremely reliable”. Likewise Newmont Mining Corporation have commented that “the technology helps the warnings to be more immediate and effective in alerting our communities and staff in case of an emergency".

To find out more about how AlertBroadcast works and how it could improve your company communications view our AlertBroadcast page. If you’d like to test the solution for yourself, contact us and we’ll set you up with a free test account so that you can see the benefits in action for yourself.

Alternatively, visit us at:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/hay-systems-ltd

follow us on Twitter @HSLSMS

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@haysystems.com

Why SMS should be used for emergency communications

There has been much debate lately regarding the suitability of SMS for emergency communications. SMS is now being successfully used by emergency services, councils and also by rescue teams within the UK. Critics would argue that SMS can be subject to external factors and supplier issues such as poor network coverage, low quality supplier routes and low redundancy on the part of your SMS service provider. However recent research from Ofcom shows that SMS remains the most popular form of communication for mobile users in the UK. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has additionally stated that there are more mobile phones in the world than there are toothbrushes and as we know SMS messages are normally delivered within a handful of seconds, it is easy to see why SMS should be considered for emergency communications.

Whilst there is not much to be done to avoid external factors such as the mobile handset being switched off, suppliers can at least ensure that the service they offer is of a high quality and therefore eliminate other concerning issues.

As part of our enterprise solutions we offer a critical alerting tool called AlertBroadcast which is ideal for time-sensitive messaging. The technology behind our AlertBroadcast solution is based on our highly capable and resilient SMS delivery infrastructure which includes using established mobile operators alongside our own technology. This enables us to provide enterprises with not only a cost-effective but also a highly robust service, offering 99.9% service availability.

HSL's AlertBroadcast solution is technically sophisticated, but simply put, it provides customers with an easy to manage two-way SMS alert system between a controller and contacts. The controller simply sends an SMS message from their mobile handset to a dedicated mobile number provided by HSL and the message is then forwarded on automatically to the designated group of contacts. The controller and contact lists can be set up remotely and can be quickly amended to ensure that the most up to date contact details are used at all times.

This solution is ideal for using in an emergency situation or when information is needed quickly as it enables customers to quickly and reliably send critical SMS alerts to employees, team members, suppliers or partners. Additionally, the controller can also request a response from the contacts within their broadcast message. By requesting the response and receiving the reply, the controller can be confident that the message has been delivered on time to the contact and interpreted correctly by the recipient (which is crucial if the recipient is acting upon instructions).

AlertBroadcast is an effective tool and is already used by a number of our clients for updating staff with important company information such as alerting mine employees of impending tsunamis and tropical cyclones and also providing time sensitive updates to search and rescue staff in the field.

To read further examples of how HSL's AlertBroadcast solution can be applied in your enterprise and used for emergency communications, please view our AlertBroadcast page.

Alternatively, visit us at:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/hay-systems-ltd

follow us on Twitter @HSLSMS

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@haysystems.com