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3 ways SMS messages help improve health

Around the world SMS services are being used in numerous innovative ways. Below we highlight a few recent examples of how SMS messages are changing the world – and our health – for the better.

1. Online SMS services help combat hay fever in Sweden

Earlier this summer scientists from the Sahlgrenska Academy and the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden used text messaging surveys to help reduce the symptoms of seasonal hay fever in children.

Two separate groups were given different treatments – one a placebo, the other a cellulose powder to treat the condition. SMS played a pivotal role in the study as it was used to issue reminders and reporting of symptom scores.

2. Email to SMS service helps healthcare in rural Africa

Research funded by the Brit organisation Wellcome Trust at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Nairobi found in August that the sending of text message reminders to healthcare workers in rural Africa improved the treatment of malaria. Prompt text message reminders meant that more patients received accurate antimalarial treatment.

For five working days, two text messages (one at 09:00 and one at 14:00) were sent daily to every health worker’s mobile phone. The same process was repeated every week for six months.

Within Africa, the adherence to national malaria treatment guidelines by health workers is vital in making sure that patients stick to and correctly complete malaria treatment doses. Failure to do so can not only affect the patient’s recovery from the disease, but can also increase the likelihood of the malaria parasites becoming resistant to the drugs.

3. Text messaging helps smokers quit

Studies in the US have revealed that text messaging can actually help smokers quit. Researchers at the University of Oregon and UCLA used SMS services as a low cost option for measuring health behaviours. Research participants were prompted by eight text messages per day for three weeks to document their ongoing cravings, mood and cigarette use.
The research showed that text messaging is at least as effective as more expensive and harder-to-use handheld data collection devices often used to help smokers quit.

“Text messaging may be an ideal delivery mechanism for tailored interventions because it is low-cost, most people already possess the existing hardware and the messages can be delivered near-instantaneously into real world situations,” said the study, which is scheduled to appear this week in Health Psychology, the journal of the American Psychological Association.

With the majority of Aussies owning a mobile phone – and even seniors sending regular text messages – there are numerous opportunities for text messaging services to be used to improve our overall health in the future.

New virtual mobile phone network could offer free service for the Outback

A new mobile phone communications system operating ‘without towers’ is being developed by researchers at Adelaide’s Flinders University, which could have a big effect on the Australian mobile industry.

Inspired by the 2010 Haiti earthquake in which the mobile phone network infrastructure crashed causing millions to lose communication, the Several Project aims to allow mobile phones to communicate with each other, creating a virtual network where no actual network cover exists.

The new system could be developed in areas such as the Outback where mobile network coverage is sometimes unavailable. It could even lead to communication via mobile phones taking place in remote spots in the Outback free of charge.

“It could also provide a limited mobile phone network for remote communities,” said the system creator, Paul Gardner-Stephen.

With many businesses operating in the Australian Outback the new system could be a welcome development. Mobile phone penetration continues to grow across Australia. The latest figures show a 300% increase in SMS and MMS messages sent in the last twelve months, as well as a similar increase of 300% in the number of emails being sent from phones since the introduction of Smartphones to Australia.

As a result of such growth more and more businesses are recognising the potential of SMS as a way to communicate. Many of them, surprisingly, are not your typical ‘business-tech’ companies either. For example, the largest wheat processing company in Australia, Manildra Park, has adopted SMS.

The company operates across the country using SMS to allow them to send daily diesel and biofuel pricing to hundreds of customers. Their customer base includes over 200 independent service stations, local councils and transport operators as well as major mines.

With such as widespread base of customers, and a constant demand for diesel and biofuel, Manildra Park is able to reach them with daily price changes via one simple Group SMS message.

Update to mobile phone code is good news for Australian SMS marketing

ACMA (The Australian Communications and Media Authority) has made moves looking to tighten up on rules surrounding premium SMS messages.

The regulator is looking for consumer feedback on a draft code of practice based around the area of mobile premium services.

Currently, premium SMS providers using text message software are regulated under a code developed in 2009, launched following an escalation of consumer complaints over intrusive SMS messaging. The existing code is well policed – premium mobile service providers can find themselves up in the Federal Court and fined up to $250,000 for repeated breaches of the code.

“The current code has contributed to a 90 per cent reduction in consumer complaints about mobile premium service expenditure over the past three years,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

“Public consultation on the draft replacement code is vital to ensuring that consumers are able to have their say, and that the code responds to current concerns.”

ACMA plan to closely consider whether or not the new code provides consumers with necessary safeguards before submitting it for review. Areas it will look at closely will include effective tools for monitoring and controlling expenditure on these premium SMS services.

Tight industry regulation of SMS sign-ups and marketing practices should be welcomed as a whole by the mobile marketing industry. SMS is a really powerful tool, but with this power comes responsibilty; to customers, the marketing industry and the channel. If customers get oversaturated with intrusive messages we all lose in the end.

Research from ComScore and InMobi published at the beginning of 2011 found that Australians are among the most comfortable in receiving mobile advertising of anywhere in the world. Based on the response of 22,000 men and women from 14 countries, the research shows that 75% of Aussies were “somewhat comfortable” about receiving mobile advertising and 48% were “very comfortable”.

More and more SMS messages are being sent in Australia. In 2010 alone there was a 300% increase in overall SMS/MMS message volumes across the country. Stats from McCrindle Research commissioned by Telstra revealed earlier this year that the average Australian senior sends at least one text message every day.

Don’t discount seniors in your next SMS campaign

Startling research from McCrindle Research and commissioned by Telstra has revealed some interesting insights about the older Australian. It challenges the fallacy that the senior population are scared of new technology.

According to the study, the average Australian senior sends at least one text message every day. And seniors are more and more likely to use mobile phone features such as taking and sending photos, capturing videos, downloading ringtones and apps.

At Esendex we’ve been instrumental in showing our customers how to get the very best from mobile campaigns. We take time to understand our customers and from there create a tailored messaging service precisely to their needs. But any campaign is only as good as the data and neglecting seniors could be losing you sales.

If you would like help with your SMS campaign, talk to one of our experts.

Esendex reaches another milestone – 12,000 customers!

Esendex is growing fast, it was not long ago when we reached the 10,000th customer mark – guess what, we’ve just signed our 12,000th! In the last ten years we’ve come a long way, from mobile phones ziplocked to the back of a PC in our CTO’s attic to becoming a global SMS provider; with offices dotted around the World and a number of employees dedicated to providing the Worlds best messaging services.

With all this in mind we would like to congratulate Mar de Flores for helping us reach this milestone. Mar de Flores is a floral decoration business, specialising in delivering a high quality personalised service for every occasion. They are using SMS services from Esendex to send their customer’s promotional text messages and also birthday greetings.

Happy 10th Birthday Esendex

Adam and me back in 2003 ready to conquer the world

On Sunday, Esendex reached 10 years old – if you base it on the incorporation records for the original business.

Like many startup companies the initial years were exceptionally tight and there are many tales from those former years, some of which will be revealed at our 10th birthday party in June.

Esendex has covered a lot of ground since its beginnings in Adam’s attic where we had a few mobiles ziplocked to a PC. Our first work involved sending out triathlon results by SMS (something that’s now become a standard thanks to our clever idea) but other initial work included an “order your bagel by SMS” – this hasn’t caught on!

During the first year there were a few months when we didn’t raise a single invoice. Now we have more than 11,000 customers globally, employ 45 people and have offices in the UK, Australia, Spain and the U.S. We have direct connections to mobile networks globally. And we’re still working with many of our first customers

We’ve seen a similar rate of change in the SMS market. When we initially started, the biggest objection we faced was that “SMS was surely just for kids”. Now SMS is probably the most ubiquitous global communication channel. And whilst the crazy-frog may not have done much for the whole industry, today business SMS has finally come of age: a recent study by Jupiter proposes that Application to Person (A2P) SMS revenues of $70.1 billion will surpass peer to peer traffic by 2016.

Esendex has never been in a stronger position: profitable operations in five countries, traction in the US market, having only launched last year and a array of new projects. It’s not easy to predict how Esendex will look on our 21st birthday but if we evolve only half as much as we have in the last decade, we have an exciting future.

Why are businesses using Email to SMS services?

There are a number of reasons that businesses use  Email to SMS services. In this posting we’ll examine some of the main ones.

Put simply, Email to SMS means that messages are sent via email, but delivered as texts.  Texted replies are then received as emails.

Email to SMS is ideal for staff without internet access or for those who use email as their primary communications channel. You can send and receive SMS from any email software – SMS through Outlook, Exchange, all popular email clients, servers, webmail or any software that can output an email message.

It allows you to send text messages direct from your email desktop application to anyone’s mobile number. This could be clients and customers, or other employees within your company. Email to SMS is also useful as an automated alert for servers/computer systems should a certain event happen, either positive or negative.

Email to SMS is particularly useful for businesses whose staffs are on the move. For example, if your company has lots of maintenance engineers on the road, then Email SMS is great way to co-ordinate your engineers. Messages can be sent out to the engineers while they are still on the road, minimising the time wasted.

Using SMS from your PC also allows you to simply send out the same message to a group of people at the same time. This might be a staff communication or a special customer promotion.

Another important reason for why people prefer using email SMS is that creating messages the conventional way; i.e. on their mobile handset, is a slow and difficult process. This is especially the case if you have a visual impairment or do not have nimble fingers. People often find that using a keyboard to write messages is much easier.

If you would like to know more about Email SMS and how it can save your business time and money, we’d love to hear from you.

Mobile marketing – the platform for the future

This year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was dominated by exhibiting companies promoting mobile marketing. In fact a BBC article covering the event highlights how the marketing industry is racing to embrace the mobile channel. Major brands such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble are allocating big budgets to their mobile marketing campaigns.

Kerstin Trikalitis, from Out There Media, claims that they experienced triple-digit growth rates in the preceding 18 months and says that this trend looks set to continue through 2011.  ”When an ad is targeted and it is valuable then consumers do like it. We are getting response rates of 20, 25%, which shows it’s working.”

However marketers should still proceed carefully. Whilst mobile phones are undoubtedly the perfect channel for marketer, with most recipients carrying their phones with them at all the time; they are also the recipients’ personal space. Therefore marketers need to make sure that their messages are relevant and correctly targeted.

Fortunately our Echo application makes this easy to do. With Echo you can target specific customer segments with individual contents. This allows you to give every customer in your campaign a personalised message.

Why you should segment your SMS marketing campaign

When it comes to SMS marketing, you should treat it no differently to any other type of marketing. You still need to understand your target audience, segment your data and then send a relevant message to each group, written in a language which is suitable to that group.

This fact was underlined in a recent article published in the Herald Sun. It revealed that more than 50% of all Australians didn’t like receiving shortened SMS messages that include abbreviated words. Men were less tolerant of shorthand texting than women with 40% of men preferring words to be spelt properly compared to 32% of women.

While many women found emoticons sweet (those little images at the end of messages, such as smiley faces), they were unlikely to be appreciated by men. In fact 56% of men were more likely to find them unnecessary or silly as compared to 37% of women.

However, some abbreviation are still popular, such “LOL” (Laugh Out Loud), “OMG” (Oh My God) and “FYI” For Your Information.

So the conclusion is as always:

• Understand what groups make up your target audience

• Segment your data accordingly

• Send the appropriate message to the appropriate group

Luckily segmenting your customers in Echo is really easy. To find out how, see our Support pages.

A snapshot of a week in the life of a CEO

One important requirement of a global company is to ensure that its various country offices around the world do not become cut off from the head office.

There are a range of reasons why this is important.  It ensures uniformity of the brand, ensures messages are consistent and the culture of the business is maintained. It also helps to make sure that the offices around the world do not  feel that they have been set adrift and they still feel part of the corporate “family”.

To some extent, today’s  technology (emails, video conferencing, mobile phones, etc) helps to relieve some of the feelings of detachment satellite offices may have. However frequent visits between offices are still necessary.

At Esendex, these visits are largely the responsibility of Julian Hucker, our CEO. You can track Julian’s latest tour by visiting his blog.