Humble text kingpin for trusted customer comms: Soprano Design

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By Richard Favero, Soprano Design Founder and Executive Chairman

We’re communicating with each other more than ever before. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram have become king for keeping connected replacing traditional mail but for me, text messaging still reigns supreme.

It has been nearly 27 years since the first text message was sent and the way we connect and interact with each other was changed forever more. In many ways, the text message is like a digital post-it note. It works best when the message is kept short and to the point. It’s also arguably one of the most efficient ways for businesses to communicate with their customers, employees and suppliers.

It’s also why, in the United States alone, more than nine trillion SMS messages are sent each year and the number continues to grow. Over the ten years up until 2017, the volume sent each month has increased by nearly 8,000 percent. That’s a pretty enviable growth rate for any platform.

So, what’s driving this growth? Aside from most of us being on our mobiles almost constantly, it’s also effective with 90 percent of messages read within three minutes of receipt. Also, you’re seven times more likely to respond to a text compared to an email. Our mobile number has become an essential part of our identity which is why so many businesses, government organisations, finance companies and health care providers are investing and utilising our mobile-based technology to connect with people.

It’s also why earlier this month we launched Soprano Connect, new digital interactive channels designed specifically to keep pace with customer demand for increased interoperability and two-way interactivity between enterprise and social messaging platforms. Our early adopter customers and telco partners in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and Australia are now trialing it across WhatsApp and Rich Communications Services (RCS) ahead of our global launch in a few weeks.

The need for stronger customer relationships was the original catalyst for our creation of a trusted mobile interaction system back in 1994. Twentyfive years later it remains king alongside ensuring the right person receives the right information at the right time with our software. Our software makes trusted mobile interactions easy, adaptable, secure and low risk. It is a great promise to offer and we’re now on track to achieve our strongest year to date with our global messaging volumes set to exceed seven billion in 2020 – nearly 40% year-on-year volume growth since 2018.

Removing barriers for distribution and risks around delivery means clients can focus fully on messaging content. The process is simple too we integrate their data with our messaging solution, creating a seamless experience for the end receiver.

And while we’re delivering the information, for all intents and purposes, it is on behalf of a person’s bank, heath care provider, a government agency or a favourite retailer providing confidence and greater engagement between the two parties.

What next for the text?

Looking to the next 10 years, we’ll no doubt see further changes in technology. And while the fundamental need for communication will stay the same, the way we go about delivering that information will change, smartphones are not going anywhere. We will see only more mobile interactions which we’re focused on harnessing. We’re continuing to grow the number of text messages we send for our customers, improving their communication with clients, maintaining privacy and enhancing our solutions to keep pace with technology opportunities and keep messaging efficient, effective and relevant.

The team at Soprano gets a real thrill out of the size and scale of the problems we solve on behalf of our clients. We are continually constructing solutions based on our customer needs such as better interoperability between clients and their customers. Even if that delivery is based around the humble text.

Richard Favero is Founder and Executive Chairman of Soprano Design, a global software design firm that delivers trusted mobile interactions via its cloud-based mobile communication platform. www.sopranodesign.com/

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