Put the focus on your customers with a SMS Gateway Provider

by | Mar 4, 2015 |

Trying to handle all of aspects of your business by yourself is admirable, but when it comes to marketing and customer communication, we all need professional help. That is why it is a good idea to sign up with a SMS Gateway Provider. Many small business owners make the mistake of trying to keep everything in-house to save costs. While this might work in certain areas of your business, it isn’t necessarily a good idea for others. One of those areas that you shouldn’t try to tackle alone is customer communication. Why? Because if you get it wrong or only halfway right, you could end up missing your mark completely and waste resources in the process. Okay, so what does this have to do with a SMS Gateway Provider? Marketing and communicating with your customers via SMS sounds unbelievably simple, right? All you have to do is type the message on your phone and send it to all the customers in your database. Done! Nope. A lot of things can go wrong in the process, actually. Your network provider might not be able to handle the bulk and your messages could be delayed or not even reach your customers at all. This won’t only result in a loss of time and money, but you will end up worrying so much about the logistics of your mobile marketing that you end up losing sight of the most important thing in your business – your customer. With the help of a SMS Gateway provider, you can rest assured that: Your customers will receive your texts no matter which mobile network they...

Is your SMS Gateway provider the real deal?

by | Jul 9, 2014 |

Choosing a SMS Gateway provider is no easy task. Knowing if the one you are currently with is the real deal, is an equally good question. How can you find out? Look for the WASPA affiliation WASPA is a body that keeps an eye on mobile aggregators to make sure they play by the rules. If the aggregator is a member of WASPA, you can be sure they will go out of their way to comply with standards of fairness, advertising rules etc. and they will help you to do the same on your side. This should be the very first thing you look at when choosing your SMS Gateway provider. Put them to the test It is easy for any business to make promises to clients regarding quality products or speedy service delivery. But can they fulfil these promises? Some things, unfortunately, you can only determine when your deal with the provider is up and running. But there are a few basic things you can test beforehand so you can at least have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. How they respond: it doesn’t matter if you are experiencing a crisis or have a simple question, you want to receive attention as soon as possible. And you want to get in contact with your SMS Gateway provider in more than one way. Put their communication channels to the test and see how they respond. Have a look at their social media channels (most companies have a Facebook and Twitter account) and take a look at their response to customer complaints. For example do they respond...

Why choosing a SMS Gateway provider can be difficult

by | Apr 9, 2014 |

When it comes to choosing a good SMS Gateway Provider today, you will be spoilt for choice. But not all of these providers have the knowledge and experience to make your campaigns successful. SMS marketing is no longer a rarity. All over the world companies, both big and small, are making use of texting and MMS messages to reach consumers. Naturally, this provides an amazing opportunity for providers to start their own companies that offer these services to business owners. Basically, these guys are shooting up like mushrooms to fill the gap in the industry. This makes it difficult for a business to choose a good SMS Gateway Provider, because let’s face it, it is easy to get tricked if you don’t have any knowledge about the subject yourself. It makes companies vulnerable to providers who are trying to out-promise one another with excellent service and very cheap prices. That is why it is very important for business owners to do a little research and shop around before they commit to a provider. What should you look for in a SMS Gateway Provider? Reasonable prices: always available and willing to help you at a moment’s notice. Easy to use: you want it to be easy for your staff to access and use the programmes/ software provided by the SMS Gateway Provider. Want to know more? Then give Integrat a shout; we are standing by to take your...

What is a SMS Gateway?

by | Nov 6, 2013 |

Have you ever wondered how you can send a text message from a Nokia to a Samsung, or from a phone that was manufactured years ago to one you just bought today? The answer: SMS Gateways. Without going into a technical explanation only a mobile developer would understand, we know that all phones aren’t created and programmed in exactly the same way. Smart phones for example were designed to breeze through internet activity, while some others aren’t even equipped with a camera to take photographs. Also, different manufactures use different protocols and language to create their handsets. So, how is this that these phones that seem completely different are able to communicate with each other? SMS Gateways make it all possible. These gateways, hosted by service providers like Integrat, serve as a conveyor and translator between phones. Say for example you own an Ericson and you subscribe to MTN, while your friend has a Blackberry connected through Vodacom. You proceed to type a text and add a photograph; then send it to your friend. In order for your friend communication between different phones would have been very problematic indeed and the option of texting, instead of calling, might not have been possible at...

2 Things you don’t want for your SMS Gateway

by | Jul 29, 2013 |

Does your SMS Gateway service provider know what they’re doing? Are you using the correct software? Let’s have a look at two of the things you don’t want for your gateway. 1. Incompetent support service When you first start off, you might not know much about the provider’s products or services and will need their assistance a number of times. Also, anything can happen down the line and when you need a quick solution, they should jump into superhero mode and come save you. Providers will promise you the moon and stars on their website, but the moment your contract is signed, you experience something less than satisfying. Before you put pen to paper and enter into an agreement – put the provider to the test. Send one or more emails to the company’s support team and ask questions about their services or products. Then take note of the following: The time they took to respond – did they consider you “important enough” to answer timely? If the SMS Gateway provider can’t answer a simple question fast, imagine what will happen when you have a real crisis! The quality of their response – do they know what they are talking about? Do they sound knowledgeable and competent? If they can’t provide you with a clear, expert answer, you are probably looking at a bunch of amateurs. A company that responds quickly but can’t help you, or one that can help you but takes forever to respond, will seriously harm test out first. It is a very wise decision to sign up for the trail version of a program before...