What to Look for in a Web SMS Texting Client

How do you choose your web SMS client? Just like you would an email client. Here’s what to keep in mind…

You’ve heard about bulk SMS text messaging for businesses and have read up on the pros and cons, and decided it’s something you’d like to use. But you’re scared that it requires too much tech-savvy and will take too much time to learn to use effectively. Luckily bulk SMS providers have taken this into account and have developed what they think is a suitable web SMS texting client for their current and potential clients. Here’s how you choose the right client…

Take the Email Approach with Web SMS

It doesn’t matter which email client you use, be it online or on your desktop, there are a couple of things that stay the same:

• The ‘New’ mail button will always be somewhere to the left
• To the far right you’ll always find ‘Help’
• With most clients you can press F5 or F9 to Send/Receive
• Account preferences are more or less in the same place
• And there’s always an address book

The same can be said about websites, with the ‘Home’ button always to the left, and so on. When it comes to web SMS, it therefore makes sense to look for an interface that you are familiar with and one that all members of the company will be able to use without needing any significant amount of training. In short, expect the same intuitive interface that you would from your email client. Here’s an example:

A: The Menu Bar

Whether it’s on the side or displayed on top most Web SMS clients should at least have some kind of menu where all the many functions are grouped together. This facilitates ease of use, making web SMS as easy as using a website or desktop application.

B: Address Book

Ever seen an email client without an address book? Doesn’t make sense, does it? Especially since the purpose of the entire application is to use SMS text messaging to get in touch with your contacts. The test is in the functionality of the address book – does it allow you to import your contacts and manage them with a certain amount of flexibility? Can you manipulate lists, create groups, etc.? These aspects of address book management become important the deeper you go into mobile marketing.

C: Reporting

In terms of web SMS, reporting is a very important feature. It helps you track your text messages to see which  of them have been delivered, which have been opened, etc. When you’re running campaigns, this becomes especially important as it will help you analyse the success of the campaigns you’re running and also identify areas where you can improve.

D: Help

Here’s an interesting thought: where would the cyber realm be without the trusty ‘Help’ or F1 function. True, most of us don’t use it until there’s no other option, but, still, it’s nice to know that it’s there and that it works. The help function should provide the same in-depth product information found in any other application.

Can you think of anything else to keep an eye out for when selecting a web SMS product? If you can, leave it in a comment below.

For more information or to register for your free account, go to our web SMS Communicator 2 page.

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Tags: bulk texting client, reporting, SMS client, web SMS, web-based SMS