“Our DIDs are programmed from the start to have all of the capabilities an end-user needs, making voice calls, SMS, voicemail, etc.” Izabell Balash, Head of Product, 2600Hz, said, opening up about the need for companies to leverage SMS during a recent interview. Balash is an SMS expert, and she gave me a lot of insight into why enterprises should take advantage of SMS technology made possible by programmable APIs.
The principal distinction between 2600Hz and companies like Twilio, which for the most part provide a similar service, is that 2600Hz doesn’t require coding knowledge. With companies like Twilio, she added, “If you need to access direct inward dialing (DID/DDI) to make outbound/inbound calls, receive/send SMS, and accept voicemails – each one of those actions (inbound, outbound, send, receive) must be programmed by you, on your end.”
Balash added this is why the company wants to make it accessible for businesses to incorporate SMS – to among many things, keep customers in the know. And there’s some validity to what she’s said, as one study recently found that SMS has a 98 percent open rate and a 209 percent higher response rate than phone calls and emails. “On top of that, 90 percent of the messages sent get opened within three minutes,” Balash said, drawing my attention to another fundamental detail.
With this in mind, she said it would be progressive for enterprises to leverage SMS technology to correspond with customers because it is the most streamlined route to reach customers. Looking at applications of SMS tech, Balash said whether it’s for marketing, sales, or business operation purposes, SMS and customer engagement go hand-and-hand. She added,
“SMS will not replace sales calls or email threads. Think of it as a great supplement, where customers can set up appointments or get updates on orders”
With restaurants reopening across the globe at a limited capacity, Balash said we should expect longer wait times for tables, this is one of the many use-cases for SMS. Patrons can provide their name and number to receive an alert once their table’s ready, and SMS can present a way for businesses to extend no-contact services to customers, like pickups and deliveries at pharmacies.
The partner landscape can also benefit liberally from SMS’s many selling points. The technology extends the flexibility to create custom notifications, automation, and processes that enhance communication as well as streamline workflows. Behind the scenes, Balash told me, the company’s working on enhancing its SMS/chat interface. And soon, I’m told, its desktop application will have full omni-channel capabilities so resellers can white label and sell the offering under their brand.
2600Hz has “Refined its SMS offering so partners of all levels of telecom experience can flip a switch in our UI and they are good to go,” Balash noted. SMS now works on 2600Hz customer softphones and is compatible desk-phones. You can even create custom workflows as well as triggers via the platform’s user interface which extends advanced drag-and-drop capabilities, too.
