SMS Buyers Guide

There are several Business SMS suppliers now in the UK and as the use of SMS messaging mushrooms there are new suppliers appearing regularly. So how do you choose a supplier? It’s only a text message surely you just buy the cheapest? Aren’t they much of a muchness?

The answer is No on two counts. Let me explain why.

When we deliver a text message on your behalf we send it via “Premium UK routes” (this term is important so remember it). This means we connect to one or more of the UK mobile phone networks – Orange, Vodafone, etc. – and this is what guarantees that your message will be delivered to the recipient’s phone in a very few seconds.. For each and every one of these messages we pay a fee, the Interconnect Fee, to the network for handling your message.

Now there is another way to send SMS messages using so called “black” and “grey” routes which bypass the UK networks and so avoid paying the Interconnect fee. I won’t explain how they do this other than to say they seek and exploit loopholes in the mobile networks. Some days these work ok, never achieving the speed or reliability of premium routes, but just about acceptable. But other days they can fail to deliver your messages as their latest loophole is spotted and closed. So if your message was important enough to be sent why wouldn’t it be important for it to be delivered? But even worse than non-delivery is late delivery. Your message confirming a delivery date and time arrives after the parcel has arrived. Worst of all, imagine sending a marketing message and it is delayed so pings the target’s phone at 4.00 am.

The problem is these “cheap” suppliers don’t tell you they are using risky routes. One fairly prominent insists his low prices are using premium routes when we know he isn’t.

So if you’re new to SMS or even considering switching provider it’s important to have an idea of the questions you should be asking in order to make an informed decision.

DevelopersHome outlines 13 questions you should answer before committing to an online SMS provider.

Our SMS Buyers Guide shows how Fastsms measures up when these questions are asked.