Email SMS - The business advantages of sending SMS via Email and methods of Email SMS integration

The popularity of Email SMS as a method of SMS integration has grown considerably in the last few years. This article outlines main methods of integrating SMS into your organisation and discusses the potential benefits of choosing Email SMS over other methods.

There are a variety of methods available for any company wishing to implement an SMS service in its organisation including:

Web SMS – Send and receive SMS via a web-based application

PC SMS – Download some software to your PC which then allows you to send and receive SMS from your desktop – usually the applications work in a similar way to Instant messaging applications. SMS API – Integrate SMS functionality directly with your applications, databases and websites. Using an SMS API requires technical know-how and the skills of a Developer.

Email SMS – Probably the most popular method of integration in our experience today. Add SMS functionality to your email account so you can send and receive SMS directly from your email application. Most SMS providers who offer Email SMS will be able to provide the tools to integrate Email SMS with any email application including Outlook, Outlook Mobile Services, Lotus Notes, Groupwise etc.

So what advantages does Email SMS have over other methods of SMS integration?

•Email SMS offers minimal training or disruption to your organisation as Email SMS will easily integrate with your existing email system. When you come to use the service, you simply add a different suffix to an email address so it’s sent as an SMS instead of an email.

•Email is already familiar to people so unlike with a Web SMS or PC SMS tool there is no need to get to grips with a new tool and there’s no software to download.

•As a user’s email account is normally ‘always open’ there’s a reduced risk of missing SMS replies or forgetting to send an SMS, unlike with a separate application. There’s no need to remember to check a separate inbox.

•One of the main advantages of Email SMS is that is allows for rapid rollout of SMS to an organisation which can be particularly important if your organisation is large such as a Call Centre for example.

•Email SMS is ideal if you don’t want your staff to have access to the internet as it works within your existing email application.

•Email SMS is perfectly suited for server alerting. Many companies use email server alerts for monitoring systems, servers and websites for example. However many companies are realising that email alerts may not always be the ideal method of communication, especially for out of hours system monitoring. This is where Email SMS comes in. Email SMS will easily integrate with your server alert software. So each time an email alert is sent to you, you will also receive an SMS. This means all bases are covered!

How to integrate Email SMS in your organisation

When choosing an SMS provider for your Email SMS solution, you should be presented with two choices: to integrate Email SMS by your Email client or Email server.

Integrating Email SMS by client is useful for when you haven’t got a server or when you’re giving Email SMS access to a small number of people in your organisation, or the organisation is small.

Configuring Email SMS can be done easily by setting up a new email account. Just add some user info and server information and once configured you can send SMS directly from your email application.

To configure Email SMS at server level, requires a bit more technical know-how but allows for rapid rollout in your organisation. It also allows you to tie in SMS alerts to email alert server software quickly and easily. You should normally be able to set up Email SMS using reverse path authentication or SMTP authentication.

When choosing an SMS provider, ease of integration and service reliability are key. You should only need to do a one off configuration to start sending and receiving SMS via email.