Text messaging’s popularity is showing up in all corners of the country. From highways to stadiums, here we highlight three recent and noteworthy uses of SMS in the country.
Americans spend 26 minutes a day texting
Ever wonder how your text messaging habits stack up in comparison to other people? The Washington Times covered a new report by Informate Mobile Intelligence that claims Americans text the most compared to other countries. The report found that the average American sends and receives 32 text messages per day, and spends 26 minutes per day on SMS. In comparison, the average phone user only makes or answers six phone calls per day, at about an average of 21 minutes per day.
These statistics are a good confirmation of what we already know: that people use their phones to text more than they do to call other people, thereby validating SMS as one of the best communication channel available to companies today.
NBA teams use text messaging to help fans secure tickets
These days, buying tickets to see your favorite sports teams play can seem as competitive as the game itself – which is why a new program called ReplyBuy allows fans to secure tickets to professional sports games through a simple text message conversation. The Boston Celtics recently made headlines as the most recent team to join the service, while 27 professional sports teams use it over all.
People can sign up for ReplyBuy through an online web form that gathers their basic information: telephone number, credit card number, and what teams they’re interested in buying tickets for. The moment that tickets go on sale for the events that users are interested in, they receive a text message alert. Users then only need to text back the word BUY and the number of tickets they would like in order to have their payment automatically processed and the electronic ticket(s) sent to their phone.
ReplyBuy co-founder Josh Manley cites the ease of the transaction as one of its main appeals, as well as an exciting use of mobile. “We thought why shouldn’t we use the most universal form of communication on the planet – a text message – and let fans complete a transaction,” Manley said. “It’s conversational commerce.” The service is a great example of how text messaging can turn a time-consuming and multi-step process into a simple exchange that takes only a matter of seconds. And since everybody uses text messaging, it makes transactions much more accessible for fans everywhere.
Louisiana uses text messaging for construction updates
A new text messaging program in Southwest Louisiana is using SMS to update its residents on real-time construction-related news. Sasol, a construction company that is currently working on an ethane cracker project in Westlake, Louisiana, now allows its residents to receive text message updates and notifications on road reroutes, lane closures, and transports of heavy equipment and modules that could affect traffic and road safety.
Sasol’s manager of public affairs, Mike Hayes encourages residents to sign up for the SMS notifications as a way of staying “safe by being informed.” So far the program only sends out updates, although the program could become useful for other construction companies, or even governments, as a way of informing residents of local construction projects.
While text messaging is a standard in the mobile industry, it’s exciting to see all the innovative ways that companies are using it. If you’d like to learn more about text messaging’s growth, or to start using it within your own organization, please contact us.