Text messaging is the most reliable, visible way to reach mobile subscribers. But you can’t have your employees sitting around typing away on their own mobile devices to communicate with customers and it would be cost-prohibitive to build your own text message platform.

If you can use email, you have the technical skills to exchange text messages with your customers. CRM Text Solutions provides all the tools you need to get started.All you need is a PC and an Internet connection. Once you sign up for the applications you need, opting in customers utilizing our industry leading mobile marketing tools begins in minutes.

You pay a small monthly fee based on the particularly applications you license and a per text message fee. If all you need is our mBox, there is no monthly fee – just sign up and start putting the power of text to work for your business. You can have as many users in your company as you want with no additional fees.

If you have a lot of customer data that you want to access we can work with your company to integrate our text solutions with your systems. We also provide tools to help clean up your data, such as identifying mobile phone numbers you’ve already captured.

Permission Based:
Like all responsible marketing, text messaging is permission based. Once opted-in subscribers can opt-out at any time by sending the keyword STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE, so you must use caution in how often you send text messages marketing your product or services.

Even though for years your customers have been giving you their mobile numbers you must get their permission and opt-in before you can continue a dialogue via text messaging. You cannot buy a list of ‘opted-in’ mobile subscribers and no way to blast an opt-in request to every mobile number in your database.

Common Short Codes:
To enable your business to exchange text messages with customers, you need access to a Common Short Code (CSC) – a five or six-digit number that replaces a 10-digit phone number for business applications.

CSCs are leased from the US Short Code Administration and have to be approved by the carriers in advance before you can start text messaging their subscribers. The carriers require that all subscribers must opt-in before you originate text messages to them. This keeps spammers out of the system and maintains the visibility of your messages.

CRM Text Solutions provides access to many CSCs that have already been approved by the carriers. Messages sent over CSCs use Short Message Peer to Peer (SMPP) technology, providing near-real time delivery to any mobile number in the U.S. The cost of maintaing your own CSC and hosting your text messaging application with a content aggregator is well over $2000 per month.

Some text messaging providers actually send an email to a mobile device using SMTP (email) technology. This is one-way only and therefore very limited in the kind of messages that can be delivered. SMTP based text are also not permission-based and the carriers are increasingly blocking this traffic to keep spammers out of the system.

CRM Text Solutions assists you with five methods to opt-in your customers:
• Keyword - Every business gets an exclusive keyword on an assigned marketing common short code. For instance, send “SFPIZZA” to 639227 to opt-in to San Francisco Pizza. The Keyword can be used anywhere you advertise.

• Webform – You can add a form to your website suggesting customers or prospects opt-in to text

• Email – You can include a link to a webform within an email promoting text messaging.

• Verbal – Customers can tell you they want to opt-in and confirm their mobile device number. The software send them a text instantly to confirm their interest in opt-in in.

• Written – Customers can sign documents that they want to opt-in and confirm their mobile device number. You input the information and the software send them a text instantly to confirm their interest in opt-in in.

Mobile Future:
As valuable and convenient as text messaging is today, soon text will also be able to easily manage payment for goods and services and drive new customers through location-based services. Will you be ready for the mobile future? You need to get started with text messaging today and start building up your opted-in list.

 

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