Tick Yes

SMS Your Way 2 Success

Short messaging service (SMS) can be very effective as a marketing tool. According to the Australian Communications Authority, the mobile telecommunications market has expanded by 44 per cent in the use of SMS messages between 2002 and 2003.

In 2003, 40 per cent of businesses reported using SMS, which is a ten per cent increase from the previous year.

Jupiter predicts that nine billion SMS messages will be sent in Australia in 2008, compared with four billion in 2003.

With nearly 15 million mobile phones in Australia, and almost every one of them able to send and receive messages, SMS is becoming the new email for business communications.

Source: Andrew Grill. My Business Pg. 42-44, 1 June 2004
Businesses getting the message on mobile data

A new report by research company IDC shows the importance of mobile data to Australian businesses. Mobile data includes wireless Internet access, email, short message service (SMS) and multimedia message service (MMS).

The report suggests that the business uptake of these services will surge by 2007.

The popularity of SMS has continued to rise, with the report finding that 75 per cent of Australian companies use the service, compared with 60 per cent last year.

‘Australian businesses have yet to take full advantage of wireless technology,’ the report says.

Source: Australian Financial Review, Pg 16, 7 June 2004
Mobile’s the new tickets

Sydney’s Metro Theatre is the first venue to use the SMS bar-coding ticking system. The system sends a bar code to mobile phones to be read by a standard scanner.

It offers the facility to charge tickets to the customer’s phone bill or credit card.

More than 30 per cent of attendees chose to receive tickets via their mobile phones, which shows the rapid public acceptance of such technologies.

Other applications include cinema tickets, proof of purchase for mobile commerce, and coupons for retail promotions.

Source: SMH-Next, Pg 1, 11 May 2004