Texting has been one of the most vital forms of communication. Mostly, cellular phones are the ones used to send and receive Short Message Service (SMS) texts. Although, the first text message that ever got send was transacted through a computer with the message of “Merry Christmas.”
Evolution of phones
It has been twenty years since the rise of cellphones with a full keyboard. The first ever made was the Nokia 9000i communicator. This phone weighs 397 grams and has a memory of 8 megabytes of memory for applications, user data, and programs.
This is way different from the modern smartphone with an average weight of 140 grams and contains memory depending on the manufacturer. The average memory put on a smartphone is 4 gigabytes that are divided into the system, programs, application, and user data.
From the first Nokia, it evolved in a fast-paced manner as the years went by. In the early 2000s, Nokia phones were lighter and even had games on it. Texting also evolved in the introduction of smileys and emoticons which users type in their messages to emphasize their feelings. Cameras were added in the mid-2000s, and Multimedia Message Service (MMS) were added as features, compared to SMS, MMS messages are videos, photos, and audio files sent on the message.
Flip phones were also in on the early 2k. Motorola and Sony Ericson were the leading manufacturers of the said device
In 2007, Apple released the iPhone which changed the cellphone market forever. Since then, hundreds of brands are in the market, and every year, there is a new feature and improvement added to these brands to compete for sales. Even though phones evolved and other means of communication like video chats are invented, texting remains relevant as a form of communication between individuals and groups.
Texting statistics
With the period that texting has existed, it is no shocker that millions of people text every single day in every country in the world. In the US, text messaging apps are the most widely and frequently used by smartphone users with a rate of 97%.
In a minute, 16 million messages are sent around the world. According to another research, the Philippines has been considered as the “texting capital of the world.” Filipinos send 400 million messages every single day. That is 400 billion a year. One of the reasons for this is the lower price of prepaid loads in the Philippines compared to the internet. Another fact, the Philippines has also been considered not just texting, but also the social networking capital of the world despite having the third slowest internet speed in Southeast Asia.
One of the reasons that might be relevant to the long and never-ending stay of text messaging is its affordability compared to calls and emails, and its probability of getting viewed. A text message is likely to get replied with a rate of 45% compared to emails which are only 6%
In the area of business, most companies believe that customers want an SMS support hotline and they are right. 52% of customers prefer texting over calling. Most of these texts consist of checking orders, booking reservations, and changing appointments. On local businesses, texts are one way of communicating, especially on small scale ones that have no budget for support teams via landline.
Moreover, customers are more satisfied with texts than with voice calls. On the study, 90 out of 100 participants say that they are satisfied with customer service that uses texts rather than calls which only gets a rate of 77%.
Even though texting is very convenient and cheap, there is no such thing as a fool-proof system, there will be loopholes, but there will also be solutions to solve them.
One of the problems that people who use text messages as a form of communication is when their number is changed. Reasons why phone number change can vary from different reasons. Changes in phone numbers could either be due to change of network because of a better offer and service, security threats, replacement of lost or snatched phones or maybe just because the number was a few years old and the company decided to change it.
This is difficult especially for business people who need to text on demand. Without updating others on your new mobile number, you would not be able to communicate. If you ever think that you are in jeopardy in losing contacts, there are ways and means on how you can update your beloved customers in changing their numbers.
If you want to have an easier way of updating and communicating with your customers, don’t you worry and panic because we got you covered. You can view this infographic from Telemessage so you would not be having a more difficult time.
Infographic Source: https://www.telemessage.com/how-to-update-people-when-changing-your-phone-number/