Why you Should use SMS for Emergency Communications

In the event of a software failure, extreme weather, or even operational hours changes, you need to communicate to your stakeholders quickly, and there’s no better channel for these critical messages than SMS. With 91% of the world owning a mobile phone and an open rate of up to 98%, SMS messages are more accessible and engaging than other traditional form of communication.

Here’s how SMS can help you with emergency communications:

1. Ensure messages are seen
2. Easily confirm deliverability and open rates
3. Provide updates in real-time
4. Send messages faster with pre-built templates
5. Maintain two-way conversations

1. Ensure messages are seen

Messages sent by traditional forms of communication risk getting trapped in spam boxes, filtered into unfocused accounts, or accidentally deleted, or missed entirely. More than 90% of people read a text message within three minutes of receiving it. So, when you send your emergency messages via SMS, you’re doing all you can to make sure your recipients both read and act upon the information given.

2. Easily confirm deliverability and open rates

If you send a text message individually, you can’t always see when it’s opened or even delivered, but with a good SMS platform, you’ll gain insights into how your messages performed – including delivery and read rates. This will allow you to quickly and easily confirm which contacts have received and read your message and make alternative communication plans for those that were undeliverable or have not opened the message.

This allows you to target your audience with the best omnichannel communication strategy possible, so you can ensure your important updates are seen and read.

3. Provide updates in real-time

One of the greatest benefits to SMS is that internet access isn’t required, so you can reach your audience whenever and wherever they go. And with SMS’ short character limit, this means you can provide quick updates as soon as you have new information, keeping your community as up to date as possible.

4. Send messages more quickly with pre-built templates

In emergency situations, time is of the essence. Rather than wasting time crafting messages from scratch, great SMS platforms will allow you to pre-build message templates in advance or leverage their own library of templates for faster send times. This means you can spend less time worrying about communicating the emergency and more time handling it.

5. Maintain two-way conversations

SMS business messages have an average response rate of 45%, making it the communications channel most likely to receive a response. Leveraging a Virtual Mobile Number (VMN) or a memorable short code allows you to open the lines of communication for your audience, so they can reach you via their preferred channel.

And with a robust SMS platform at your fingertips, you can hold any number of two-way conversations at once with organized, continuous conversation, so you can answer questions, create plans, and dissipate concerns with ease. This also allows you to tailor your conversations to each individual, so you can continue to foster good relationships with your community.

SMS: The backbone of your emergency comms strategy

With high accessibility, open and engagement rates, SMS is powerful tool for time-critical information. But it’s even more powerful as part of a larger communications strategy that leverages more than one channel. From utility providers, local governments, educational institutions, and even retailers, emergency SMS messages can help you notify your audience instantly and get back to the task at hand.

Esendex has more than 20 years’ experience helping companies across industries connect with their audience more effectively. For emergency communications and less time-critical messages, a robust SMS platform get help you engage your community at every step.

Questions about platform capabilities? Talk to one of our experts today!