december-2011-periodic-update

messagene

December 2011 Periodic Update

Zypo Introduces SMS to the Magento eCommerce Platform

We all know that notifying consumers of item shipping, announcing special offers and all sorts of transactional or promotional messages can be sent more effectively using SMS. Thanks to Zypo, a leading developer of mobile messaging solutions, this facility has now been integrated into the popular Magento ecommerce platform.

Called Final SMS Pro, Zypo empowers the Magento user (the merchant), providing a more personal buying experience whilst strengthening the merchant's relationship with customers, through their mobile phones.

RoutoMessaging SMS gateway empowers ecommerce

SMS functionality takes e-Commerce platforms like Magento to the next level by mobilizing marketing and customer service. Zypo purposely partnered with RoutoMessaging, to provide the quality transmission capability that ensures text messages are delivered quickly and reliably worldwide.

"As part of Zypo's commitment to quality, with the Final Pro SMS product we needed to find a messaging partner that could meet our high standards, " says Michael Ritter, CEO of Z! inc. "Having evaluated other providers, we believe RoutoMessaging has the depth of local intelligence that matched our needs, whilst offering competitive global coverage," he added. "With automated SMS features launched, merchants using Magento can get closer to their customer base, enhance loyalty and build trust."

Final SMS Pro leverages RoutoMessaging's direct SS7 connections to operators worldwide through its own dedicated mobile messaging network.

To learn more about how SMS can help enhance your e-Commerce goals, get in touch with an SMS Expert today.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, SMS All the Way!

Christmas is round the corner, but with headlines dominated by the Eurozone crisis, recession and general economic gloom, should we be celebrating joyfully or cautiously? The financial landscape may be changing, but fear not! We predict over 8 trillion SMS to be transmitted worldwide by the end of the year, a further exponential increase on 2010 - proof that the mobile messaging industry is still going strong.

So what's new?

Our SMS developers have been crazy-busy, finalising new product builds for companies in the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) sector, empowering VOIP service providers to start selling SMS to their customers in just a matter of days, without any capital investment. Our Routing team have also been fine tuning our routes to India, where new regulations to prevent spam have been set by the TRAI (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority India).

Were you at any of the App World events recently? A few of us paid a visit to the London Apps World exhibition, and it was quite staggering to see the innovative ways mobile app developers are raising the bar in helping customers to monetise their offerings through mobile. It's clear that when it comes to choosing an SMS gateway, developers want a blissful, easy-to-integrate experience, as well as feature-packed APIs.

What the VoIP players want with SMS

In a recent survey of VOIP providers, we questioned what were the main barriers in adopting SMS into their portfolio of offerings? Voice and SMS go hand in hand don't they? Some of the top responses we summarised were:

Just too busy with voice to explore other things!
Can't risk the time and money investing in technology for SMS when I don't know the ROI
Wouldn't be able to compete - too late in the game

Well, we listened and can now deliver what voice carriers and the VOIP industry have been waiting for - RoutoMessaging's My Accounts reseller solution, with the option to white-label (brand the service as your own):

We provide the end-user SMS interfaces
We provide the messaging platform and direct routes to subscribers mobiles on 800+ networks globally
We provide a Web based account management facility (administer master and child / customer accounts)
You focus on selling!

No hassles, no capital investment and the fastest way to market, My Accounts is unique and enables you to rapidly earn a healthy revenue share.

For those of you using softswitches such as VOIPSwitch or Mizutech, you can start sending simply by configuring the settings within, to connect to our SMS Gateway APIs. All of the above is fully documented, and should you have any further questions, read about it or talk to us.

VOIP (voice over IP) empowered with SMS technology

iMessage and BBM: Are the Days of SMS Numbered?

Mark Brill, Chairman of the Mobile Council at the Direct Marketing Association and CEO of Mobile Marketing Agency, Formation, gives his viewpoint on whether both Bulk SMS and Premium SMS have a real future.

When my company built our first text messaging platform in 2003, many people asked 'what will you do when SMS becomes obsolete'? I always replied that SMS is here to stay for a very long time to come. It was the 'killer app' for mobile. But was I right? Are we really reaching a point where we no longer need text messaging.

Smartphones are experiencing rapid growth in almost every developed market and changing the way we use our mobiles. In Europe, smartphone penetration will surpass 50% in 2012 with predictions of over 70% use by 2014. With more advanced phones in our hands, users will have a wealth of messaging options to choose from.

25% Of emails in Europe are read on smartphones and the likes of Twitter or Facebook have widely used a variety of messaging options within their systems. However, the biggest impact is from instant messaging (IM). WhatsApp, the third party iPhone app came top of the download charts all year in many markets. In response, Apple incorporated iMessage into their iOS5 software update.

With the expansion of Blackberry Messenger (BBM), what first started out as a business tool has become an invaluable means of communication tool for many teenagers. BBM, not SMS, was even blamed for fuelling the riots throughout the UK last summer.

So where does that leave the humble text message? Has the rise of the smartphone made it as obsolete as the carrier pigeon?

Destination Update

We're pleased to announce the largest CDMA operator in Canada has been added into our coverage - BELL MOBILITY - ROGERS WIRELESS CDMA.

New destinations:

Canada BELL MOBILITY - ROGERS WIRELESS CDMA
Nigeria Visafone
Turkmenistan TM-Cell
Brazil CTCB Cellular
Bhutan TashiCell
Botswana BTC Mobile

As usual, messages are routed through our direct operator connections. If you have any questions about service or pricing for any of the destinations listed in our coverage, get in touch.

Check any of the above destinations with your Account Manager or contact our new business team if you are not yet on board with us.

Spotlight: Thailand

Thailand (ประเทศไทย) actually means the Land of Thai or freedom. It's an exotic destination, with hot-spots ranging from the bustling capital of Bangkok, to the serene island of Phuket. Characterised by its distinctive Buddhist temples and statues, Thailand is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Asia. Unlike other Asian territories, Thailand has never been ruled by European power; a cultural solidarity that draws visitors to enjoy its many extraordinary sights and experiences.

Thailand operators covered by RoutoMessaging and accessed directly using SS7: