SMS the future for CRM?

Around 70 per cent of all calls from contact centres to customers will be to mobile phones by mid-2008, leading companies to look at texting as a cheaper option.

According to research commissioned by comms services company Affiniti, the costs mean companies need to look at other ways of communicating with their customers - such as SMS messaging - to save money.

Cheat Sheets

♦ Mobile location-based services
♦ FMC
♦ 3G

The company said calls to mobile phones can cost up to eight times as much as calls to landlines, and could contribute to an increase of outbound telephony costs by one-fifth year-on-year.

Suzette Bouzane Meadows, head of contact centres at Affiniti, said the reason mobile calls are on the increase is that many people use their mobile phone as the sole point of contact.

She told silicon.com: "The mobile phone is becoming the de facto communications device."

Compared to customer contact via email, she said: "I think [SMS messaging is] more personalised, it's more immediate and right now it's definitely much more attention grabbing than email."

The research found 30 per cent of SMSes sent to customers are proactive customer services - such as bill reminders or delivery confirmation - with the rest focusing on sales and marketing.

But Affiniti argues the greater use of SMS presents an opportunity for companies to reach customers proactively and reduce unnecessary calls to customers.

The research found only three per cent of outbound customer contact is currently made via SMS.