Using SMS messaging instead of routine telephone calls and e-mails can save companies thousands of rands, says 321 Technologies CEO Keith Levenstein.
"I would rather one of my employees sends an SMS, at my cost, than make a private phone call at work," he says.
He says that on average, a cellphone call costs R2 a minute, whereas an SMS costs between 14c and 75c, depending on the contract.
Business applications for SMS messaging include paging, organising meetings, marketing, monitoring systems and events, reminders, automated enquiry services and updating customer details.
Levenstein gives as an example a salesman who is visiting a client. If the client asks if a product is in stock, the salesman usually has to phone his office, be put on hold while he is transferred to the appropriate department, and be put on hold again while the person checks stock levels.
The call could last several minutes and cost several rands. Sending and receiving an SMS in this case would cost the company at most R1.50, and as little as 28c if it has an SMS contract with its cellular provider.
Levenstein says the business applications of SMS messaging are unlimited. Customers could be informed about their debt levels, payment could be acknowledged, balances could be queried.
Freight company DHL even allows customers to check the status of their goods via SMS, and Lionel Motors, a motor dealer and 4x4 club in Rustenburg, uses SMS to notify customers of the cost of repairs and to inform them when their vehicles are ready for collection.
All of this, he adds, saves companies not only money in telephone calls, but also saves time.
321 Technologies, in conjunction with JSE-listed Cyberhost, offers a software product that, among other things, allows business to send bulk SMS messages to clients.
Bulk SMS messages can be used as a cheaper way of updating clients and communicating with them, Levenstein says.
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