The noted social scientist said that the world has become a
global village. Nothing illustrates this better than the
emergence of the mobile phone. A century ago, the wireless
radio, the telephone and the cable made possible the act of
communication, by sending and receiving of messages. Today a SMS
message takes am couple of seconds to reach a mobile phone,
anywhere in the world through the magic of undersea cables,
satellite transmission and local cell towers. This is a vast
improvement from the traditional methods of messenger, pigeon
post, sea mail, and the ubiquitous postman.
It is a vastly different world where your trusty mobile phone
becomes your best communication medium in times of festivities,
family occasions like birthdays, wedding days, anniversaries and
emergencies. It takes a few seconds to write and a second to
send it. Lovers, young and old, find it useful because the
messages remain private and 'for your eyes only' with none being
aware about it. It seems perfect that the I Love You message you
send reaches the intended destination straight and true like an
arrow. Of course, if the recipient's phone number is a wrong
number, you have had it.
SMS messages can be short and sweet, or as long as you like, the
only limitation being that they do not exceed 150 characters.
When this happens, the message is split up and sent as separate
messages of 150 characters each. Book publishers have
appreciated this and are sending best sellers via SMS to
interested book lovers. Some SMS messages can bring the senders
lots of prizes through contests, sweepstakes and lucky
predictions.
SMS messages are cheap because mobile phone providers offer the
facility either for free or at a low price. Associations,
professional organizations, social welfare societies like the
Lions and Rotary Clubs, welcome the facility of sending SMS
messages announcing upcoming meetings, membership arrears
payment dates, payment due alerts and acknowledgements of fee
and subscription payments received.
Schools, colleges and other educational institutions find it
useful to send short communications of impending semester dates,
examinations and results as well as fee payment due alerts to
students and their parents. The students and parents appreciate
the relevant information in the messages.
Credit card companies, banks and financial institutions and
marketing companies are able to generate new business from
existing consumer database by using this medium to remind
customers of payment or renewal dates, new offers available, or
as a means of addressing customer complaints.
And laughing all the way to the bank are the mobile service
providers, who earn a windfall amount in additional revenue by
splitting the premium SMS message call charges with the
companies.
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