The power of SMS

I have recently been converted. No, I am not joining the church of Scientology or any other faith, I am talking about SMS. Until recently, I was cought in the misconception that SMS messages are for teenage kids who send silly text messages to amuse themselves. I could not be more wrong.

Here is the deal. Everyone has a cell phone. People carry it all the time. People will screen calls, junk or neglect to read e-mail but everyone will read text messages on his phone.

An SMS message can serve the following:

• Get information to someone in a meeting
• Communicate a critical point to a peer who is on a conf call
• Reach a person on a flight or who has his phone off (yes, he will get it when he lands)
• Reach a person in a different time zone who you do not want to bother with a potential wake up call (:
• Reach a person who is not reading his mail, or is buried under a ton of mail (first day back in the office syndrome)
• An alternative to e-mail when you are away from your PC
• Get a message to someone you really don't want to talk to right now
• Provide an unexpected thank you note alternative
• Send a photo or chart to a person away from their PC (using picture message)

I personally use a QWERTY enabled phone (I may review it later on as part of my concept to review tools of the trade). I highly recommend this option if you do not have the skill of a 13 year old at texting and you don't want your customers to have to disyphere messages like:

i m srry bt i do nt hv th tim to typ vwls