SMS: The must-have business solution

The rampant and ever-expanding cost of communications is undoubtedly today`s Goliath of the business sector, whilst the over elaboration in providing cost saving solutions seems to be the order of the day. But there may well be a modern-day David waiting in the wings, in the form of the humble SMS.

SMS is still the one data service that shows a consistent Return-On-Investment across all business sectors. When compared to the multitude of available data services that are inherently costly to set-up and run, SMS proves time and again to be the number one choice and the most efficient of all solutions in terms of a functionality-to-cost ratio. With returns on other data services only being evident after lengthy time periods, SMS as a communications cost cutting solution emerges as the obvious choice. SMS is direct, quick, targeted, and as a marketing tool at twenty-something cents a hit, many times cheaper than a print or radio ad. And interestingly enough, SMS is particularly well suited to the South African market due to its high penetration in this country.

In the corporate world, SMS based communication is a completely scalable cost saving solution that can be implemented with immediate results. This is especially true in today`s competitive environment where speed, differentiation and cost saving is a significant factor to the success of a business. For a start-up concern, corporate-grade SMS is not dependant on basic services (such as voice telephony) being deployed - all that is required is an Internet line and SMS will provide a powerful vehicle for service provision, service differentiation and cost saving. Today, with the pending move to VoIP services within the South African market, SMS not only represents an additional source of revenue generation for the service provider but is also the perfect complimentary solution.

Furthermore, SMS as a cost saving solution is the one data service that does not discriminate against industry type or infrastructure. Simply put, telecommunications cost saving is all about controlling output expenditure - and SMS communication does just that; it puts control back into the hands of businesses. User, marketing and CRM costs are suddenly traceable, manageable and can be quantified with guaranteed results.

To get your share of the benefits from SMS why not trial "texSMS", a real Outlook-based SMS product from TelePassport. It is available free via the website (www.texsms.com) and provides an ideal low cost, low complexity entry to SMS communications for any size company.