Turning SMS into $M$

So what is all this fuss about SMS and why should Communication Service Providers (CSP) care? Because SMS is really spelled $M$. Here are a few key facts that explains why:

• 79% of companies believe customers want SMS/text support. (ICMI)

• 80% of people are currently using texting for business. (eWeek)

• One in five consumers is just as likely to prefer a text message from a business to a phone call. (ICMI)

• The activities people with text capabilities would most prefer to do via text are: check order status (38%) schedule or change appointments (32%) and make or confirm reservations (31%). (Harris poll)

• Similarly, 52 percent would prefer texting customer support over their current preferred form of communication. (eWeek)

• A recent study found that text was the highest rated contact method for customer satisfaction out of all other customer communication channels. Text earned 90 out of 100 points, while phone earned 77 out of 100 and Facebook earned 66. (CFI Group)

• Over one-third of business professionals say they can’t go 10 minutes without responding to a text. (eWeek)

• SMS text chat converts a $6-$20 call to a chat that costs pennies per session. (Forrester & ContactBabel)

With all of these trends there is a ton of money to be saved, and a ton to be made. SMS enabling your business’s key numbers is akin to having a twitter account. Twitter has become the accepted way to socialize a quick message about information you want to share with your followers. In the same way that companies are expected to communicate news through twitter, they very soon will be expected to support inbound communication through SMS messages. By the end of 2018 companies that are not supporting SMS as a way to communicate with their customers will be at a competitive disadvantage. Texting a business is quickly becoming more popular than calling one. But it is not just customer satisfaction that makes enabling SMS communication interesting.There is also a significant financial upside as well. Every business phone number on your network is an opportunity to generate meaningful MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) – this revenue you receive on a consistent monthly basis from that number. And I am going to share the recipe on how to do it.

Let’s start with SMS enablement. It is now possible for SMS messages to be originated and terminated to any landline phone number. For example, a customer can now text a company to ask a question or check operating hours or inventory on a given item. You can also SMS enable your personal company phone number and have all of your work related texts go to that business number instead of to your personal cell phone. This is done by taking the phone number/TN/DID and registering it in the SMS database. SMS enabling company phone numbers is a means to an end – not the end itself. But it is the first very important foundation that must be in place before you can turn SMS into $M$. Here are the steps:

Step 1 – Listing all voice DIDs in the SMS registry. The first step is to have a SMS aggregator register your numbers in the SMS registry for you. If you are like most providers, you will have DIDs from a number of different sources. You may or may not be aware that some of those numbers are already SMS enabled, where others are not. It is important that you have all of your numbers registered together no matter where you get them from. The reason for this is that you will have different rates from each provider and you won’t be able to manage a single service across your network of numbers and customers. The great thing about SMS is you don’t have to port your numbers away from your underlying provider, you just point them to a new destination IP Address. This means that SMS and Voice are parallel universes that never touch. You can now SMS enable your numbers without causing a single issue or disruption in your voice network. It works the same for your customers and their phone numbers so SMS enablement becomes a great overlay service!

By having all of your numbers pointed to a platform that manages all of your DIDs, regardless of where you get them from, you now have one consistent way to manage and deploy services. From an operations perspective you only have to manage one database of numbers, from a service perspective you can offer ubiquitous services on top of the underlying voice network.

Step 2 – SMS network aggregation and interconnectivity. In order to provide SMS services, you must be interconnected with all of the mobile providers that service SMS. You need an SMSC to connect to these networks. Through an SMSC and the SMPP protocol you create binds with other carriers. Another option is to connect to an SMS aggregator, SMS aggregators manage the backend carrier connections and can provide service through a single connection.

Confused about finding an aggregator? No problem, RestcommONE can play the role of your aggregator or introduce you to one of our partners. Whether you use us or a partner for SMS aggregation, placing all of your numbers into RestcommONE provides you with a single place to easily manage them.

Step 3 – Managing your SMS DIDs and enabling them to provide features and applications associated with them. In the same way that you would have your voice DIDs on your switch, we load all of the SMS enabled DIDs into RestcommONE. This provides multiple benefits for you. Two key ones are that now you have one platform to manage all of the numbers. The more interesting one is that the numbers are now part of arguably the most powerful app development platform in the industry. You can now create A2P (application to person) applications, connect them to chatbots, create marketing campaigns, appointment reminders and rescheduling etc.

Remember Just enabling your DIDs to do SMS doesn’t make you any money – it is a means to an end. The real money is made by connecting them to a powerful platform that both enables and provides SMS applications as well.

Step 4 – Delivery of SMS messages to your network. Where and how you can deliver SMS messages makes the difference in what services you can offer. It’s critical that you are able to provide multiple ways to deliver SMS texts to your network and ultimately your customer. The preferred method is to deliver the message as an HTTP Post through an SMS API. This gives you ultimate flexibility on how you route the message. It allows you to deliver to a CRM system, a chatbot, a UC Client, a call center solution, and the list goes on and on. Being able to receive a SMS and change it to a different format also has great value. For example, most UC clients use XMPP as their Instant Messaging protocol.

Step 5 – Connecting revenue generating services to your SMS enabled number. With your phone number now SMS enabled and connected to the proper platform you have the opportunity to connect prepackaged revenue generating applications to the number and upsell your current business customer. The revenue opportunity consists of meaningful use cases that build upon themselves creating a very sticky service and meaningful ARPU (Annual Revenue Per User).

So the first key to success is making sure to follow all 5 steps of SMS enablement, anything less than all 5 steps will leave you needing more and critically impact your long term revenue opportunities for SMS enablement.

With the 5 steps completed, let’s now look at how we turn SMS into $M$.

As a CSP, you have hundreds of thousands if not millions of DIDs already deployed and being used for voice service today. Each of those numbers is now it’s own gold mine for an added and continuous revenue stream.

Each number should generate a one time enablement fee and then has the potential to generate $50 per month at 40% margins and I haven’t talked about billing them for the actual usage yet. Depending on the use case, you will also be able to charge a per message fee ranging for basic transport for tenths of a penny to $0.10 for a reminder and maybe $1.00 to reschedule an appointment.

Telestax, RestcommONE Marketplace is a unique offering that promises to help you fulfill your $M$ dreams. The RestcommONE CPaaS enablement platform is here to support you through each of the five steps and provide the technology, services, partners and knowhow to deliver the goods. Reach out to us and we will show you how easy it is to SMS enable your phone numbers. We will also show you how easy it is to turn SMS into $M$ and reach revenue opportunities you never before thought possible.

Interested in learning more? We will be expecting you.

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