Looking to take advantage of the growing number of consumers using their mobile devices to conduct business, Seattle–based proactive outbound communications company Varolii recently unveiled the latest addition to its cross-channel communications platform: support for short message service (SMS) text messaging.

Company executives believe this will help their clientele reach more customers on their preferred mode of communication, as many are opting to either replace landlines with their mobile phones or avoid landlines entirely (like this assistant editor).

The platform enables companies to dynamically change text message content based on the results of previous communications, intelligently route messages across a blend of channels to optimally meet business and customer needs, and allow customers to respond — oftentimes with no agent involvement.

Varolii highlights seven ways in which its SMS capability provides bolstered personalization and control over the user experience:

• land/cell determination, in order to figure out which phone numbers aren’t landlines and can actually receive text messages;
• two-way messaging, so recipients of the text can reply back “yes” or “no” without having to call a live agent;
• self-service SMS, which allows consumers to retrieve a personalized voice alert with in-depth information and several self-service options;
• intelligent progressive communication, sending targeted text messages to consumers that are germane to their specific situations;
• real cross-channel communication, so organizations can use one touchpoint to drive communication in another (Varolli gives the example of sending a voice alert about a canceled flight and rebooking options, then sending the confirmation code via text);
• multiple contact strategies within a single communication engine, which aims to personalize the transactions for each specific customer; and
• simultaneous communications to the same population, enabling companies to tell the difference immediately between a customer texting “no” for customer service, but “yes” to a request for payment within the same time frame.

I recently covered Nuance’s announcement about mobile self-service, and it seems that this may be a burgeoning avenue for people to utilize as more people now have Web-enabled mobile devices. The beauty of SMS, to me, is that you don’t need to necessarily log onto mobile Web to use it. As long as you have a data plan or are willing to pay per text message, you can use this mode of communication.

Are you finding more customers are requesting there be ways to self-service via their mobile devices, be it through the Web or text messaging?