The blink of an eye, a quick pinch to verify you’re not dreaming and we’re well into 2020 now. Hard to believe isn’t it? We had the Roaring Twenties (the 1920s) but what should we call the 2020s? The Twenty-Twenties? The Soaring Twenties? Who knows! What’s in a word? Well, the answer is ‘quite a lot’ actually.
The last decade was characterized by huge competition between the Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) driven worlds and this is sure to continue this decade…
December 12th, 2019 saw Google rolling out something called ‘Verified SMS for Messages’ across a number of countries. But hang on a second, what’s with SMS and RCS (Rich Communication Services) already? We’ll get to Verified SMS. For even the most experienced of us, it can all get confusing but here at Mitto we strive to communicate with clarity at all times, so here goes.
SMS — Now in Full Color!
Now in its 28th year, with precious few of its underpinnings having changed materially over the years, SMS is ubiquitous. It is easily understood and with 98% of successfully delivered messages actually being read, it just works. SMS is not perfect though.
Admittedly ‘flat,’ providing no injection of color, it has little visual impact, characteristic human beings crave and are drawn to. Spoofing and authenticity can also be a concern: messages not always branded with the initiating company’s identity and it being sometimes be difficult to trust their identity.
RCS very much brings the missing dynamic injection of color, enhancing messaging in the Android world. And Google is very much at the center of this with its support of the Universal Profile and its work to bring more operators to it.
Apple is however still not showing any real desire to support RCS. Yet. Will 2020 be the year? There are so many different sets of statistics flying around making it difficult to establish exactly what share Apple has of the smartphone market globally, but let’s say 20%. This means a huge chunk of smartphone users has precisely zero access to RCS. Indeed, most Android smartphones are not yet RCS ready either as that is down to operators installing infrastructure as well as of course the handsets being of the correct configuration, etc. One thing we can see through at Mitto is that after many false starts, RCS is starting to get some real traction now. It will have its day.
Embedding Trust
Verified SMS is a product of Google, their aim being to create a safer messaging experience. Android only, Verified SMS does what it says on the tin: it verifies, on a per-message basis, that content is sent by a specific business.
When a message is verified (NB. without sending the messages to Google) the recipient will see the business name and logo as well as a verification badge in the message thread. The option is enabled by default but can be turned off by somebody who would rather not use it. The feature only works when an SMS appears to be sent by a verified business.
Ahead for Tomorrow
At Mitto, we work to ensure our customers have access to every mobile engagement option out there — now and looking ahead. So, whether you are interested in knowing more about SMS, RCS or Verified SMS and what they can do for your business, Mitto is here to help with them all. Let’s talk.
