Five questions to ask your SMS provider this Halloween to make sure you’re treated not tricked

Happy Halloween everyone!

In the spirit of all things scary, we’ve been thinking about the most terrifying things around this Halloween. For some it’s ghosts, for others it’s monsters. For most, it’s choosing the wrong SMS provider.We’ve thought of a way to protect your business from being haunted by the ghost of a bad choice. Just ask providers these five easy questions to make sure they can offer everything you need!

1. “Do you have direct connections to major networks?”

SMS communication strategies won’t work if the messages don’t have a high rate of delivery success. Any SMS provider worthy of delivering your messages will have direct connections to ensure success. With direct connections to major networks, Esendex can commit to The Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 90% of messages being processed within five seconds and 95% within twenty seconds. This standard is largely exceeded, with delivery rates consistently exceeding 98% and 99% within 5 and 20 seconds respectively.

2. “Do you offer local support?”

SMS services are quite easy to navigate, but problems can occur. Make sure you know what sort of assistance is offered by your provider. The best providers offer lots of support across many avenues. Esendex offers customer assistance by phone, email and live chat. 24/7 Tech support is also available.

3. “Can you promise the maximum possible level of data security?”

Data security is a huge issue for modern businesses. According to Ponemon Institute’s 2014 Cost of Data Breach Study: Australia, the average cost of a data breach in 2014 for companies was $2.8 million. Australian businesses need to be careful about information security when seeking a provider. It can be difficult to ascertain the security level of SMS providers, most claim to be very secure, but the best way to be sure is to check if they have third-party objectively qualified data security protection. Esendex is ISO 27001 certified. ISO 27001 is the International Standard for Information Security Management Systems. This qualification ensures maximum data safety.

4. “Do you have direct experience in my industry?”

The best SMS providers will have a long history of delivering successful SMS strategies for businesses like yours. Make sure the history of your intended provider is robust with successful campaigns on behalf of other businesses in your industry. Esendex has over ten years of experience providing SMS services to 20,000 customers across the retail, marketing, accounting, insurance, education and logistics industries as well as many more.

5. “Are there any additional fees?”

Many SMS providers offer seemingly cheap SMS prices, but pack on hidden fees for other services that are necessary for an effective SMS strategy. Make sure your provider offers you an inclusive service with no unexpected fees. Complimentary services accompanying an Esendex account include support, delivery receipts, multiple sub-accounts, account management, API, and Sender ID. You only need to pay for the messages you send.

If your provider can answer these five questions well, you won’t need to be scared of problems arising with your SMS communication strategies this Halloween!