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Text Revolution

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    Strategic Machines
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Goodbye SMS

Text messaging is by far the most common form of human communication today, with over 9 trillion texts sent just last year. Texts have been around since the early 1980's when SMS (short message services) was deployed to the GSM networks in Europe. These messages have had a big impact on communication, by creating a means to reach another person with a level of immediacy not experienced by another application, except for the phone call. Researchers believe that over 90% of text messages are opened within a few minutes of receipt.

Text messaging was joined by private messaging apps with the advent of Smart Phones in 2007, which improved on the plain text displays through feature-rich forums, supporting graphics, images, videos, and other types of data. The private messaging apps, such as iMessage, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, greatly enhanced the visual impact of the message and created a more engaging experience for users. With the feature-rich interaction, business transactions can be readily completed for booking hotel rooms, making restaurant reservations or shipping product.

Over the past decade or so, major telecommunication carriers and tech companies have been working on the 'next gen SMS', called RCS (rich communication services). This has been widely reported, and is widely anticipated, having already been deployed in some countries. Google is a major force behind the rollout, enabling it for their android phones and working proactively with carriers for broad rollout worldwide.

So what's the big deal with RCS? Once available, you'll have all the benefits of a private messaging on your phone natively. That means that your private messages will be private, and not filtered through the servers of the software company. Of course, the carriers will always be a party, but at least one participant in the middle is removed. More importantly, business services that can be accessed today only through private apps will be accessible natively on smartphones that are RCS compatible. Strategic Machines will leverage these technology advances when available in every market we serve.

At Strategic Machines, we understand the power of messaging for customer engagement. We deliver custom machines, permitting venue owners and marketers to reach their audience through secure, private label services.