Why Choose SMS for Your Call Center?

SMS, or short message service, is a powerful tool for call center staff. One reason is that it’s such a widely used service among consumer bases. If you want to communicate with your customers in a way they can relate, you should use SMS. Here are the best reasons to include SMS in your call center plan:

Why use SMS messaging in your call center?

In the age of smart technology, text messaging has become a widely adopted way for people to communicate with one another. For this reason, call centers should be trying to reach customers through texting.

In 2010, Pew Research suggested that teens were the most common users of text messages. That said, ten years later, Statista reports that among all people over 16, 55% report sending multiple text messages each day, and only 4% of the adult population report never sending text messages. As changes in technology include more and more people adopting text messages as their preferred method of contact, it makes sense that call centers and advertisers would try to reach customers digitally, where they are spending the most time.

Among the advantages of using SMS in your call center is that it's a simpler and lower cost option than a complicated phone system. For brands that want to stay innovative and forward-thinking--fully completing their digital transformation--winning over customers via an elegant SMS interface is vital to call center success. This is especially true for call centers targeting young adults in generation Z or millennials.

How to use SMS in your call center

Use SMS to create an environment where you can engage customers across multiple channels at any time of day. With additional options to communicate, your company will be more successful at engaging customers using the channels they wish to use instead of only the channels available.

2 Way Conversations - At its simplest, just drop a phone number on your web site or other marketing information and allow customers to send you text messages. Depending on the routing logic, these messages may queue up like a call until an agent responds, be sent to an agent on a continuing conversation or possibly handled by an auto-responder.

Broadcast Messages - It’s true that most text messages are opened within minutes. This means they are more effective at reaching customers than email or phone calls. Broadcast messages can be great for appointment reminders, delivery notifications, information gathering or as a sales tool.

When sending broadcast messages, be sure to include enough information so that the receiver knows who is sending the message. Also, you want to keep it short but also provide enough information so that the receiving party knows what to do with the message.

Interested in an SMS solution? Over the past 20 years, we’ve created hundreds of unique solutions for businesses around the world, helping call centers achieve their maximum potential. If you have any questions about the right software for your call center, contact us and let our team of experts help you improve your call center’s performance.