Outbound Call Center Featured Article

Consumers' Preferred Choice of Communications

By Raju Shanbhag
TMCnet Contributor

When it comes to interacting with businesses, customers like to be informed in different ways, stated a survey from mBlox. Companies should employ SMS and other communication methods to reach consumers.

When being contacted about appointment reminders, 59 percent of United Kingdom and 17 percent of United States consumers surveyed stated SMS as their preferred choice, specifically from the role of SMS for business communications angle. When it comes to payment reminders, such as credit card and utility bills, consumers prefer SMS as their preferred communication channel in the United Kingdom.

The research was carried out by global research company OnePoll, between Sept. 23 - 27. The respondents were aged 16 and above.

In a press release, Brian Johnson, senior VP of sales and marketing for mBlox (News - Alert), said, “Businesses in the US are now learning about the break-through effect of text messaging as an effective communication channel for their customers. Businesses in the UK have a few years head start in this respect and that is reflected in these numbers. More and more people are turning to SMS for important communications because emails can easily get lost.”

Many consumers have already used a mobile coupon for shopping and 71 percent of United Kingdom and 42 percent of United States mobile users said they would be interested in receiving mobile coupons while they are shopping, stated the survey. With all these, mBlox is experiencing a hockey stick effect in growth for business-to-consumer messaging as mobile phone penetration in the United States is now catching up to the United Kingdom.

In October 2009, the company announced that its mobile message delivery platform has been selected to support textPlus, a new text-messaging application for iPhone (News - Alert) and iPod Touch from GOGII, Inc. textPlus, which has been downloaded by more than two million iPhone and iPod touch users since its launch in June 2009, has successfully distributed more than 155 million messages in the United States, using mBlox’s mobile message delivery and billing solution.