How to Improve Church Communications Blog Series
- How to Use Bulk Text Messaging Service to Help Church
Communications
-
How to Use Mass Email Service to Help Church Communications
-
How to Use Mass Phone Calling Service to Help Church Communications
- How to Create A Great Church Bulletin & Top 10 Examples (Coming
Soon)
- How to Use Social Networks to Help Church Communications (Coming Soon)
What is Test Messaging?
There are three types of messaging, SMS, EMS and MMS.
SMS (Short Message Service)
SMS is the text communication feature of your phone, web or mobile communication
service that allows the exchange of short text messages between mobile phones,
some home phones and Web applications. SMS is now available on a wide range of
networks, including 3G networks. The limit of SMS allows only for text messages
up to 160 characters in length and only text.
SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application in the world, with
2.4 billion active users, or 74% of all mobile phone subscribers. In 2008, 4.1
trillion SMS text messages were sent. SMS has become a massive commercial
industry, worth over 81 billion dollars globally as of 2006.
Important Note: generally 95% of all text messages sent are read. This is the
highest rate of all communication tools.
EMS (Enhanced SMS)
EMS adds text formatting enhancements to SMS text messages along with some
simple graphics and sounds.
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)
MMS is a standard way to send messages that includes multimedia content to and
from mobile phones. Unlike SMS (Short Message Service), MMS allows for text
messages far beyond the 160 characters in length as well as the addition of
videos, pictures, and ringtones.
There are some interesting challenges with MMS that do not exist with SMS:
Handset configuration can cause problems sending and receiving MMS messages. The
percentage of MMS messages read
What Can A Text Messaging Service Do for Your Church?
"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Murphy must have been a church
member. We’ve all been there: service time change, event cancellation, youth
group pick up place, etc… Imagine sending a text message to each parent that the
youth group pick up place has changed. A Text Messaging Service will let you do
that from your cell phone/laptop or one of many other devices.
As shared above, the high percentage of those that will read it makes this a
great communication tool. The only drawback is that will most everyone in your
church will have a cell phone not all give their number to the church. So I
would recommend a composite of two other communication tools.
I would also encourage you not to abuse this feature but rather use is for
URGENT time/place/cancellation changes and EMERGENCY messages. It remains the
most highly viewed of all the communication tools, but if you run your text
messages to long or commercial like they will be ignored in time.
Example Applications of Text Messaging Service for Churches
- Urgent change in Time/Place
- Emergency Information
- Emergency Prayer Chain Request
- Nursery Alert (parent’s of child needed in nursery – instructed to put
phone on vibrate)
Suggested Links
Text Messaging Services
OneCallNow:
http://www.onecallnow.com
Church Text Pro: http://churchtextpro.com