NEW YORK - Companies need to integrate SMS into every aspect of their mobile efforts, from applications to mobile Web sites, according to a panelist at MMF.

SMS can be integrated into applications and mobile Web sites to keep consumers engaged even when they are not looking at their phones. Panelist Tom Cotney, president and chief executive officer at Air2Web believes that text is an application, not a mutually exclusive technology.

?There are opportunities for using a text as a response mechanism,? Mr. Cotney said. ?There is personalization of marketing messages and integration is just a fact of life that you have to go to, to exist in the marketing channel life.

?To get that data about the consumer, you have to get better at integration,? he said. ?You just need to talk to providers who get it.? 

SMS channel
SMS is a channel that lets businesses converse with consumers on their handset, the same way they converse with consumers on the Web.

There is a pent up demand for SMS for enterprise software that is just now being mobilized.

Middleware and hosted services reduce time and cost of integration.

In addition, there are potent enterprise applications that are poised to go mobile and live agent chats are ported to mobile.

According to Mr. Cotney, smartphones, if addressed correctly, will extend the life of SMS.

?We need to continue to do what we always done,? Mr. Cotney said. ?Protect SMS with self regulation and good habits.

?The use of mobile as a media or medium for promotions, channel and transacting is very complementary,? he said.

There is a new market penetration available via broad base of proven, existing enterprise systems.

Text to chat
Air2Web recently partnered with LivePerson and introduced a fully integrated mobile chat service powered by SMS.

LivePerson manages Web behavior monitoring, is customized to specific client business rules and offers a chat feature in browser at critical moments.

Opted-in users can be reached via mobile chat as an alternative to Web analytic triggers.

Additionally, it features in-store product questions in lieu of staff and a new call-to-action on existing mobile promotions.

?People who have created native apps found that they didn?t work particularly well.

?Then it migrated to Web apps and consumers would chat with an agent, but wireless carriers can get very concerned,? he said. ?You might not be able to finish that transaction from the WAP page, flip the chat and complete that transaction.
 
?Our customer views it as acceptable by have an agent chat with that person via SMS.?

Mr. Cotney said that the technology is a new way for consumers to interact with their handset.

If a user is shopping via the Zappos application, for example and abandons their shopping cart, they receive an in-application text asking them if they want to continue with their purchase, which also features a short code that they can reply to, to pick up the conversation with their telephone.

The reach of SMS
To extend the momentum of SMS, businesses should establish a foundational benefit designed for the consumer?s convenience.

Companies should then sell to, cross-sell and execute retention strategies.

In addition, businesses should keep it personal and focus on their clients having a mobile strategy, not technology.

?This is a big investment in consumer intelligence software and also optimized mobile Web sites and personalized marketing,? Mr. Cotney said. ?Companies should tailor their marketing programs for consumers? specific needs.

?We have indirect investment to extend the life of SMS,? he said.

There is an evolution of B2C channel alternatives for consumers and businesses.

Key points include, integration, personalization, prioritization with a bias toward consumer?s needs.

?We just need to redefine best practices and set the bar a little bit higher when it comes to the union of transactions and the use of the channel,? Mr. Cotney said. ?Early adopters will always be drawn to the technology.

?We just need to do our part in extending the life of SMS,? he said. ?In our business, we?ve grown to accept that delivering mobile apps is actually not contrary to the existence to the money that we make with SMS ? it?s very complimentary.?