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IM V SMS table Sheet

Published April 10, 2016 at 2101 × 6591 in Instant Messaging Apps V. SMS Texting – And the winner is….

Instant Messaging (IM) SMS Text Messaging Customer Access "You can only instant message people, places, or businesses that have an account on the IM app you’re sending the message from. For example, a customer using an app like WhatsApp, cannot message a business that only has an account on Messenger. " Customers can message with any person or business who has a cellphone and a plan that includes texting. It does not matter which cellular service provider or cellular device they use. WINNER SMS Cost "Instant messaging apps are free to use and sending messaging doesn’t cost anything. However, customers must have a data plan in their subscription because instant messaging uses app data. Psychologically, customers think of instant messages as free and on average, even with data plan costs, they are much much cheaper than SMS. " "Text messages are not a free service. Some customers pay per message, some purchase a limited bundle of messages, while others buy unlimited texting plans. In some countries, SMS messages used to be very expensive. For this historical reason, customers still think of SMS as relatively expensive even though it's much more affordable than ever before. " WINNER INSTANT MESSAGING Device To use apps, including instant messaging apps, one must have the app installed on a smartphone or use it on a computer through a web interface. With few exceptions, customers without a smartphone cannot instant message. Any cell phone is capable of sending SMS text messages, even a feature phone. This makes texting the most accessible communication method in the world (there are over four billion people worldwide with access to cellphones) WINNER SMS Interactivity "Instant Messaging apps have a big advantage when it comes to interactivity. IM apps can be designed to offer all sorts of interactive engagement with customers. For example, a business can embed a reservations widget right in the conversation or a customer can be prompted to order and pay directly through the app on WeChat. " "Texting’s beauty is in its simplicity but that simplicity also creates a weakness. Texting is limited to alphanumeric characters and a set of pre-approved emojis that work across all devices. Advanced features like payments require customer pre-registration and since there is no opportunity to serve up content for selection (e.g. a calendar), backend systems that use natural language processing and artificial intelligence must be used to automate simple tasks such as making reservations. " WINNER INSTANT MESSAGING Network To send an instant message, the customer needs to have network connectivity and a data plan. This can be through their smartphone (which must have the instant messaging app installed) or through a network connected computer. To send a text message, all a customer needs is to have reception on their phone. Even one bar of connectivity is enough to send a text message. Customers can also text through a web connected browser using services or apps that support text messaging like Google Chat. WINNER SMS Media Types "Instant messaging apps support rich media formats such as images, emojis, and links. Some instant messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger support GIFs and videos too. With instant messaging customers can easily text things like photos or videos of the product they have issues with. Businesses can message back with instructions, links, or videos for an interactive customer support experience." "SMS texting supports text characters and emojis. On some phones the texting client also supports links. Images and videos are not supported by SMS. They require a technology called MMS which is much more expensive and not supported by all devices. " WINNER INSTANT MESSAGING Ease of Use "Instant messaging requires downloading the relevant app, creating an account, and logging into the app. However, once downloaded, most customers will stay logged into their favorite IM app. With common apps already on your customer’s phone like Messenger, iMessage, Kik, or Telegram, the download/login hurdle is not a big issue. However, if a business wants to build its own app and incorporate instant messaging in it, it faces a tough hurdle convincing customers with app fatigue to download yet another app that will take space on their device. " Texting doesn’t require any downloads or logins. Just power up the phone and text. All phones come with texting ability as a built in feature. Everyone, young and old, knows how to text. WINNER SMS Reliability Because instant messages require a data connection, they sometimes may fail or be queued to get sent later. This means one cannot assume an instant message has been sent as soon as you clicked the send button. Some apps mitigate this issue by showing the customer when a message has been delivered and read (Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp both do this). Text messages are sent immediately and only require basic reception. The percentage of dropped SMS messages is very low in countries with a satisfactory or better level network (most developed countries). In some underdeveloped regions network reception is an issue leading to dropped calls and texts. WINNER SMS Security "Instant Messaging apps require an account with a username and a password. In that sense they are more secure. However, most customers stay logged into their instant messaging apps continuously. Therefore, the only security barrier is the phone password if one is set. Since instant messaging is downloadable software to the customer’s phones, and its data resides on the IM app provider’s infrastructure, it is much more vulnerable to hackers and fraudsters than SMS texting. The mere fact that a customer can open as many instant messaging accounts as they want, makes IM less secure." "Anyone can pick up someone else’s phone and text on their behalf. The only barrier is the phone password if one is set. The privacy of the typical SMS user is not very well protected. However, SMS falls under the protection of spam laws and a number of privacy laws. It is much harder and more risky for hackers and fraudsters to breach the security of SMS when IM apps are so much easier to hack. SMS texting has the added advantage of one device = one user i.e. a customer cannot create multiple SMS accounts. Each phone number only gets one account, reducing the risk of fraud." WINNER SMS Group Messaging "Most modern instant messaging apps enable customers to send messages to a group of people. For example, a customer can use Messenger to request a reservation to a restaurant and include her assistant in the conversation so he can keep the calendar updated. For business communications, group messaging might prove even more valuable than for personal communications. " Text messaging does not natively support group messaging but using MMS technology group messaging is now available to most SMS texting customers. However, because it is MMS, the cost of group messaging is quite high, certainly when compared to the close to zero cost of instant messaging (data costs only). WINNER INSTANT MESSAGING TOTAL 4 6

Main differences between instant messaging and SMS texting

Main differences between instant messaging and SMS texting

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