Clickatell Launches New Personalized Priority Messaging Text
Clickatell, a personalized priority message company, today launched the Communicator 2 small business text messaging package that will allow U.S. companies to engage with and help customers via text messages. This new package is geared toward small businesses that need to better reach and interact with customers in cost-effective ways.
Companies can use Clickatell’s Communicator 2 from any Web browser without the need to download or install anything. Customers can import their existing contacts and use contact management, quick-message templates, and reporting tools for a better understanding of SMS opportunities. Clickatell assigns a U.S. number to the company, permitting a two-way communication with customers within a few moments of signing up.
Clickatell’s Communicator 2 application features a dedicated number, free incoming messages, and up to 1,000 free messages per month. The platform has wide coverage, including every major mobile operator network in the United States, and offers set-up through a choice of HTTP(S), COM objects, SOAP, and XML. The product also offers developer forums, 24/7 phone and email support, and script libraries available for PHP, VB.Net, VBScript, Cold Fusion, C#, and Oracle. Account registration is free and includes 10 test messages.
“It has been very difficult for people to launch SMS campaigns in the past that have a whole lot of ease of use and user experience associated with the launch,” says Pieter de Viliers, CEO and co-founder of Clickatell. “That, to some extent, has lead to an adoption that was somehow stalled, but now it’s changing very rapidly. Over 13 or 14 months, we have seen a massive change because I think brand marketers are realizing that a vast majority of the population only want to use SMS or SMS-like technology. The other part of the population is overwhelmed with email noise and that SMS provides an alternative.”
De Viliers mentioned that despite the company having success with enterprise companies, Clickatell chose to develop this new platform for small businesses because it closes a considerable gap in SMS usage.
“There are lots of cases of how this is being used by small businesses elsewhere in the world. But in the U.S., the entry for small businesses—clearly because of the way SMS started in the US—was expensive, with several thousand dollars and lots of lead time. We have now changed that in this new offering,” de Viliers says.