Long codes are essentially phone numbers, complete with an area code. Short codes are generally five or six digits. Keep reading and we’ll give you some great information about short and long codes to help you make decisions for your campaign.

Characteristics of Short- and Long-Codes

Let’s start with short codes. As we said, short codes are generally five or six digits. They are fixed and easy-to-remember, and they must be registered with your carrier. Think of a short code as your mobile marketing address. For example, Burger King’s is 287437.

Most companies create short codes to drive their messaging strategy. They combine short codes with related keywords and automated responses to deliver specific content or answers to keyword responses and questions.

For example, a pizza chain may prompt you to text the word “PIZZA” to a 6-digit short code by offering a coupon or discount. When you text, they reply by immediately sending a link to a coupon. The response is generated automatically.

Here’s a drawback to using short codes: short codes can only be used to send either SMS or MMS messages. You can’t use them to send faxes or make calls.

Here’s the upside: short code delivery is usually faster than long-code delivery, the margin of error is smaller, and carriers don’t tend to mark messages using short codes as spam as often as they do with long codes.

By contrast, long codes are 10-digit numbers and are tied to specific area codes. They can be used to send and receive texts and faxes, as well as to make calls. Toll-free numbers also can be used as long codes.

The choice of short or long codes depends on several variables. Here are the five most important:

1. Speed of sending/receiving text messages

• SMS long codes have a limit of one message per second; therefore, long codes are used primarily for person-to-person communication.
• Short codes can be used to send 40 messages per second. They work better than long codes when a high-volume response is expected, such as voting during a television program.

2. Inbound-to-outbound message ratio

Carriers limit inbound long-code messages to one for every four outbound messages. Short codes don’t have a limit – you can send and receive as many as you’d like.

3. Difference in use cases

Typically, long codes are used by courier companies, banks, airlines and other service sectors for customer-service communications. Here are a few examples:

• A courier company could use a long code to inform a customer that their package is out for delivery.
• A bank could message clients their account balances every month.
• An airline could reply to a passenger’s seat preference request.

Short codes are used by companies for marketing and security or to disseminate urgent information. Short codes examples include:

• Marketing promotions. Use short codes to send coupons, sales alerts, and other promotional information. If your company is US-based, it’s mandatory to have a short code for all marketing messages.
• Two-factor authentication. Since a message sent via short code can be delivered quickly, short codes are preferred for these applications.
• Alert notifications, including hurricane warnings or flight delays. These notifications are urgent and important. They are effective because of fast, reliable delivery.

The following table shares an overview of the key aspects concerning short and long codes.

4. Acquisition Process

You’ll need to have long- or short-codes before your campaign launches. Depending on your choice, it could take months to acquire the codes you need. Here are common time requirements:

• Long codes. You’ll have your code within a day after you complete an online form or make the call to your carrier.
• Short codes. May take six to eight weeks to attain. Short codes must be registered with the US Common Short Code Administration (CSCA) and carriers, and they all must approve your registration.

We recommend you keep a set of short codes available for campaigns. At SMS-Magic we keep

pre-approved short codes available for our customers.

5. Coverage Around the World

• Long codes. You’ll use the same long code across the globe.
• Short codes are country specific. They provide delivery receipts, which are needed in cases such as two-factor authentication or when message delivery is critical.

Let SMS-Magic Help You

The SMS-Magic team helps clients with short- and long-code decisions every day. We would be excited to share our experience and help you decide which one is best for you. Or if you’re already sure which would be best for you, we can help you implement your choice.

Does the SMS-Magic team sound like the partner you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you how SMS-Magic can help you build and automate your messaging campaigns!

She immediately contacted the manufacturer. Here’s what happened:

1. The company asked for proof of purchase.
2. She found her Amazon receipt and sent it.
3. They asked what was wrong with the machine.
4. She explained the display was flashing.
5. They agreed the machine was dead and sent her instructions for submitting a claim.
6. She cut the cord on the machine, took a picture of the machine sans cord, and sent it in.
7. The company replied that her replacement machine would be shipped that day, and she could expect it to arrive in two or three days.
8. Her new machine arrived, and her caffeine addiction was saved

Our colleague was amazed. She expected the interaction to be time consuming and unpleasant. Instead, it took only minutes to report a warranty issue and have a new machine on its way to her. She didn’t have to argue or justify or complain or talk to multiple customer service reps.

For all she knew, she was dealing with a chat bot and that was fine. She didn’t necessarily need human interaction to solve the problem. All she needed was instructions for getting a new coffee maker ASAP.

Kudos to the manufacturer for making their warranty service process so customer friendly. They couldn’t have done it without a technology commitment.

Bring Quick, Easy Problem Resolution to Your Customer Service Team

You, too, can bring results like this to your customer service department by using automated text messaging. It’s a win-win for you and your customers.

Customers say they’d like to communicate with customer service using text and prefer texting to other methods of contact. Using text messaging, your customer service team can automate routine interactions, saving human interactions for more complicated issues. Your team won’t have to send repetitive responses to your customers, both saving time and making their jobs more interesting.

It will take some thought to set up your automated text sequences, but once it’s designed and tested, you’ll save your team hours on the phone or email.

Let SMS-Magic Help You

We think SMS-Magic can help you reach your customers with less time and effort than you’re spending on emails and phone calls. We offer automated text messaging, so your customers get the attention they need, but not at the expense of your customer service team.

Our system, working with your CRM, can keep track of all your customer interactions in one place. It can also keep track of messages sent from a variety of platforms like Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat and native phone texts, so you don’t sacrifice anything to help your best customers when they have problems.

We’d love to help you handle repetitive customer service requests, just contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you how SMS-Magic can help you easily respond to routine requests while freeing up your reps to handle more complicated issues.

According to a recent study, 81% of consumers get frustrated being tied to a phone call or desktop chat to wait for customer service help. With text messaging you’re able to help them no matter where they are. The convenience and speed of messaging creates a positive and memorable support experience.  

If you’re not already using text messaging, now is the time to get started. Research shows U.S. consumers prefer companies that offer messaging as a communication channel. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents would switch to a company that offered text messaging as a communication channel. Besides being the preferred method of communication, there are several other benefits of using text messaging for your contact center. 

Benefits of Using Text Messaging for Contact Centers

1. Immediately start a relevant conversation.

With text messaging you can immediately assure customers you have received their request and are working to help them. You can set up automatic case creation and response messages so that you never miss a message. This way your customers are never wondering what the status of their claim is and will be happy to know you’re working on it right away. You can then pivot to 1:1 conversations with agents. Agents are able to enter any automated message thread to immediately answer questions with interactive conversational messaging. 

2. Reduce average handle time.

Over 75% of customers expect customer service to be faster. People are tired of sitting on long hold times and expect quick responses to their questions. Text messaging allows you to have those fast responses, ensuring a positive conversation and quick resolution. 

3. Increase volume of cases handled by 10:1.

Messaging enables your agents to handle multiple customer requests simultaneously. Today, your contact center might be having to work with less resources, so the ability to still handle a high volume of cases is important. You don’t want to lose business because customers are upset that they are unable to get help. Serving multiple customers concurrently increases efficiency and responsiveness to customer issues. And with the ability to see the entire messaging history with a customer, your agents will always have the necessary context. 

4. Ensure customers never have to repeat themselves.

One sure way to lose a customer is to repeatedly ask them redundant questions where they have to ask the same question over and over. It’s a waste of their time and they’ll be sure to take their business elsewhere. With text messaging you can save the entire conversation history so agents can quickly know exactly what the problem is and jump right into solving the problem without asking the customer the same questions that have already been asked. Customers will appreciate the personal conversation and timely resolution. 

5. Manage messages from multiple channels.

Omnichannel messaging capabilities allow agents to receive messages from all channels, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS, all in one inbox. Conversations never get lost and you meet the customer on the platform that they prefer, ultimately increasing satisfaction and gaining loyal customers. 

The Bottom Line

Customers prefer short, interactive, and mobile-friendly communications. Text messaging does just that. It’s quick, intuitive, and is their preferred channel for customer-to-business communication. Messaging also makes sense for your business, as it boosts your agents’ productivity and reduces their workload through self-service and lower call volumes.
If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging for your team and want to learn more, schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your contact center.

SMS messaging is also how your audience wants to communicate. 79% of consumers aged 18 – 34 prefer to contact companies using channels other than phone, and 55% of all consumers say they prefer to use messaging.

SMS messaging is the future of contact center success. So what are your options to get started?

4 Tips to Buy the Best SMS for your Contact Center

There are so many options for SMS text messaging in contact centers. Here are a few key things to think about when you’re reviewing SMS applications for your organization.

1. Respond immediately, keep customers up-to-date

Automated text messaging makes it simple to dramatically increase the responsiveness of your contact center. Be sure you can do the following with automated messaging:

• Create a case from an inbound text, then reply to your customer to confirm the case.
• Ask questions about the case so you begin the problem identification process even before a rep gets involved.
• Update customers at every step of the way so they are always informed as to status.

No more frustration with missed calls, slow responses or waiting on hold. Your customers will love it!

2. Maximize rep productivity

When your reps are more productive, you can respond to a higher volume of customer cases without adding resources. For example, reps using Converse handle 10X more cases than those using phone calls. How can you increase performance with text messaging?

• Alerts: Be sure agents receive automatic alerts for new conversations so you never miss a conversation again.
• Worklists: Provide every rep with a worklist of cases they need to respond to so they don’t have to search thru a volume of messages.
• 360˚ history: Be sure reps can review a full history of all conversations with each customer, across all permitted objects. This helps reps hone in on customer priorities to personalize the experience.
• Rapid Resolution: Your reps should be equipped with proven resolution templates to accelerate time-to-resolution.
• Intuitive: Reps need a simple interface for their messaging conversations. Why wrestle with technology when you’re solving customer problems?

3. Be sure your messaging application is seamless with your Salesforce CRM

A lot of applications claim to be native. That doesn’t mean they are seamless or simple. Here’s what to check.

• SImple configuration. No one should have to spend weeks coding to get messaging up and running. Be sure your app offers fast, simple configuration and deployment.
• Seamless data. Having to sync and manage two databases is not acceptable. Be sure your app stores all of its message history, audit trails and other data in your Salesforce database.
• Console integration. Your reps use Service Console or a Salesforce Console. Be sure your messaging app seamless integrates into their environment for fast time-to-messaging and ease of use.

4. Measure, analyze and adapt

There are so many ways to use messaging. Which is why it’s important to measure, then tune your approaches for optimal results.

• Rep and team metrics. Be sure you can track and analyze individual reps, team and overall center activity and performance with messaging, including time-to-resolution, volume handling, team effectiveness and overall messaging ROI.
• NPS or other scoring results. Whichever measurement you use, be sure your messaging app offers a seamless way to measure each customer’s experience then present that in analytics for review and improvements.
• Message performance. Be sure you can track and measure message delivery to optimize carriers and routing, and that you can track budget against results to optimize your message spends.

The Bottom Line

Messaging is the next channel for Service and Support. Yet not all messaging applications can support the needs of contact centers. Be sure you have the capabilities defined above as minimal requirements for your messaging app. You’ll enjoy better results, faster and more easily, when you take a bit of time to align your messaging strategy with the best possible solution.

If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging for your service or support team and want to learn more,
schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your contact centers.

Today, customers expect top notch customer support. You can make your contact center a competitive weapon with SMS, driving faster resolutions, increasing customer satisfaction and fueling more repetitive sales.

You have the opportunity to get a leg up on your competition by improving your personal responsiveness to your customers. Converse SMS text messaging increases the volume of cases handled by 10:1, while improving the quality of every interaction.

Even better, text messaging is how your audience wants to communicate. 79% of consumers aged 18 – 34 prefer to contact companies using channels other than phone calls, and 55% of all consumers say they prefer to use messaging.

So many of our customers ask about how a SMS tool for call centers can improve their customer relationships. We created this Infographic to share insights on how you can make your contact center a competitive weapon with SMS.

If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging for your customer service team and want to learn more,
schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your business results.

Customers want to be heard. But they also want to experience an engagement model tuned to their needs. Text messaging platforms are built to support the modern customer who is mobile and impatient. Messaging allows them to converse from wherever and whenever they choose to engage. Messaging is also a medium they are familiar with, so it’s comfortable and satisfies their need for immediate engagement.

Deloitte predicts that phone calls for customer service will likely fall from today’s 64% of contacts to 47% in 2019. Meanwhile, chat and messaging is expected to grow from 6% to 16%, ahead of both video chat and social media. With less than half of service interactions relying upon phone as the preferred channel for customer service in 2019, it’s time to adapt to what your customers want.

After all, customer experience drives customer choice. Contact center respondents to Deloitte’s survey agree, saying customer experience is predominantly influenced by providing accurate service and information (66%) and by making interactions effortless (62%).

Customer Experience Drives Customer Choice

Conversations with customers are markedly better when the engagement is enhanced by context. One of the things customers dislike most is having to repeat themselves and feeling like an anonymous account to the companies they contact for support. They may remember the experience, but are they remembering for the right reasons?

Converse is the text messaging platform that puts conversations in context. Each conversation is recorded in the customer’s record in your CRM so that customer service agents can quickly access the right conversation and step seamlessly into the conversation as needed—and whether synchronous or asynchronous, over time.

It’s important to remember that customer experience is the customer’s perception based on the outcome of each interaction, conversation, or engagement with your company’s people, products or services. And customers are clearly voting for the ease of a conversation, just not as often over the phone. That’s where conversational messaging comes in. Messaging and chat are replacing phone calls.

Your customers want accurate information via efficient and easy service interactions. Their preferred methods of engagement with family and friends, as well as how and where they shop are habits that work for their lifestyles. Text messaging is fast, efficient and easy. It’s comfortable and allows them to communicate with businesses from wherever they are and whenever the need arises.

In fact, research by NewVoiceMedia found that only 27% of survey respondents said calls are the most effective way to resolve an issue. When the experience—as defined by the customer—is inconvenient or inadequate, they are likely to jump ship. And defection is on the rise with consumers who reported leaving a business due to inadequate customer service jumping from 29% in 2016 to 67% in 2018. That’s $75B in economic value that walked in just the United States.

Move from Cases to Conversations with SMS Tool for Call Centers

Keeping pace with customer expectations means that companies need to consider how they show up in their customers’ lives in a way that provides mutual value. When you think about a “case” – it’s most likely to be a series of disconnected actions by the company and the customer. At least, that’s how customers have reported they feel when interacting with traditional customer service channels.

Yet, when you think about text messaging as a conversation, what you have is a connected set of “turns” or engagement and responses in relation to a customer’s inquiry and resolution of their issue. The beauty of it is that conversational messaging can be synchronous or asynchronous, but it will still be contained in the context of one conversation—easy for both your customer and your agent to follow and continue—without need for repetition.

Part of the resistance by contact centers to conversational messaging is the investment of time that increases costs to serve. The contact center has long been considered an obligation and a cost, rather than a top-line contributor, a focus on reducing costs via reducing average handle time (AHT) has had an adverse impact on customer satisfaction and lifetime value.

However, as first call resolution (FCR) takes precedence—given customers’ demands for accurate, fast and easy service experiences—this is the optimal time to consider adding messaging to your service channels. And the cost trade off will not be as high as you may have estimated.

One of the benefits of using a SMS tool for call centers is that an agent can handle six messaging conversations to one phone call. A combination of automated and human-driven messages can keep the all the conversation moving forward, allowing the agent to spend time in the conversation where she or he is most needed.

In comparison to chat bots that are mostly used for simple inquiries, using messaging that combines automated and human interactions can allow them to tackle more complex cases without needing to ask the customer to change channels. Creating continuous, connected conversations helps customers reach successful outcomes in the use of your products, on an emotional level and in brand affinity.

As to why they prefer texting as a communication channel for business, the top two reasons were convenience and speed of response. Easy to do on a mobile device, they’re familiar with it, and not having to speak to a person directly rounded out the list.

Your customers are your most important asset. If they want texting for customer service, make sure your contact center gives them the option to have it their way. The best part is that texting is not just a benefit for them. An advanced text messaging platform also brings value to your company.

You might also like to know that a recent survey found that 66% of consumers said they’d be willing to pay more for a product or service if it’s supported with a mobile messaging channel.

5 Ways A SMS Tool for Call Centers Improves Customer Service

1. Text messaging ramps up productivity

Messaging enables your agents to handle multiple customer requests simultaneously, increasing their productivity. Serving multiple customers concurrently increases efficiency and responsiveness to customer issues, improving satisfaction and retention or renewal rates. With the ability to see the entire messaging history with a customer, your agents will always have the right context to be relevant and avoid asking them redundant questions. Think of how much your customers’ experience will improve.

2. Texting doesn’t need internet

Your customer and your agent can carry on a conversation over text even in areas where internet service is spotty. This is especially useful if you are in an industry like transportation or agriculture and have customers in remote or rural areas you need to advise a customer about the status of a service appointment.

3. Texting integrates with CRMs

You likely rely on your CRM to keep track of your service interactions with your customers. An advanced SMS tool for call centers with native integration to your CRM makes it easy for your agents to access and quickly remember conversations held with different customers. With text messaging, your customer also has a record of the interaction for easy reference.

This conversational history eliminates the need for a customer to repeat their issue if they interact with various agents if several interactions are required for issue resolution.

4. Messaging automation increases efficiency for agents and satisfaction for customers

You can combine the simplicity of SMS messaging with the sophistication of automation. By sending an automated acknowledgement when a customer texts in an issue, you reassure her that you’re on the job. Once a service interaction has finished, confirm it with an automated text so that you end your exchange on a positive note. Then trigger a survey to gather feedback for continuous improvement. Setting up triggers for automated messages based on case status is simple with an advanced messaging platform.

5. Texting encourages customers to self-service

Gartner has predicted that by 2020, customers will be managing 85% of their relationship with the enterprise without interacting with a human. You can give customers an option to access FAQs by text or walk them through setting up a product via text, by sending them the information they need to enter or using an MMS message to send a video instruction.

Companies have seen reduced call volumes of up to 15% after they implement texting for customer service. Serving customers faster and better is within reach when you choose to offer texting for customer service. Your customers will thank you.

In Summary

Customers prefer short, interactive, and mobile-friendly communications. Texting fits the bill. It’s quick, intuitive, and is their preferred channel for customer-to-business communication. Messaging also makes sense for your business, as it boosts your agents’ productivity and reduces their workload through self-service and lower call volumes.

Given the fickleness of consumers and the low cost of switching brands, companies large and small can take advantage of SMS messaging to grow their business.

3 Reasons Your Customers Will Thank You

1. They’ll think you “get” them.

Customers want to be understood and appreciated by the companies they choose to do business with. They hate waiting and they don’t want to have to explain themselves again and again as they move from one agent to another to resolve an issue.

Automated messaging flows can be set up to answer FAQs instantly in response to a customer texting a keyword to trigger the answer. A standard HELP keyword can be routed to the next open agent to respond directly to the customer via text while an automated response is asking for the customer to explain their issue. Your agent steps in seamlessly and your customer is overjoyed at your in-the-moment responsiveness.

Advanced messaging platforms also help you meet these needs by archiving every message exchanged with a customer so that they’ll never have to explain their issue again. Even if a different agent must step in, they’ll be up to speed in seconds by glancing through the conversational history with the customer.

2. Messaging gives your customers more control than online chat, phone or email.

Online chat has taken off for customer service, but there’s a problem. Once the chat is over, so is your customer’s access to the information shared. When you use messaging, the customer has a record of your exchange in the messaging app on their phone. This way, if the agent has shared any links or instructions, the customer can refer back to them as needed. They can also choose when to delete the message thread, putting them in control of their issue resolution.

If they find they need additional help, they can send another text and it will be archived in the same conversational thread, making it convenient to see all the information in one place—for your agents and for them. If they returned to an online chat, it would start a new session which may or may not be connected to any past inquiries about the issue that needs to be resolved.

3. Communication is foundational for customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Keeping your customers informed about the status of their resolution of a complex issue is of the utmost importance in keeping frustration at bay. Text messages can be automated to send a status update that lets them know where the issue is in the resolution. If your company needs to send out a service technician, a message can be sent informing your customer the name of the technician and what time he or she will arrive. Yes, SMS messages could put an end to the dreaded 4-hour service window.

Messaging also offers an easy way for you to get additional information needed to resolve a customer’s issue. Simply text the question and you should receive a reply within minutes due to the responsiveness to messaging by consumers. This results in customers knowing that you’re actively working on their issue, as well as shorter time to resolution—and that means happier customers.

SMS for Customer Service is Smart Business

SMS texting hasn’t become the most used function on a mobile phone because it’s difficult. It’s native to mobile phones and always within arm’s reach. It’s concise and immediate and many of your customers grew up using it to communicate with friends and family. They’re now telling companies that it’s their preferred communication with brands, as well.

As with any channel, there are best-use applications for it and times when an alternative channel is better suited to serve your customers. If you’re unsure if texting is a preferred channel for your customers, have your agents start asking them if they’d be open to using SMS for customer service. Giving customers what they want is definitely smart business.

What’s interesting is, if a majority of organizations have enabled digital channels for customer service successfully, why in this research were only 5.4% of the service interactions consumers had recently resolved over digital or messaging channels?

Are companies not truly implementing these channels? Or, perhaps they’re not making it easy for their customers to find and use them?

This may be the answer:

Expectations about the responsiveness of digital and messaging channels changes dramatically from those for service interactions conducted over the phone.

Where 30 minutes seems to be the breaking point for response via phone call, over 50% of consumers surveyed expect a response on a digital or messaging channel within 5 minutes.

However, the research also found that 78% of respondents are willing to wait longer for a response from a messaging channel if their query is acknowledged. The reason 51% stated was that they wouldn’t be tied to a phone call, so there’d be no wait time. Not having to talk to an agent or needing to navigate multiple menu options were additional reasons stated by more than a quarter of consumers.

This indicates the overwhelming desire for low-effort, low-friction service interactions. It’s also an indication of how much consumers value their time. Not only that; 68% of consumers who used a messaging channel to contact a business preferred it to using either phone or email.

Contact Centers Meet Sky-High Expectations with SMS Messages

Text messaging platforms enable your contact center to instantly acknowledge a service query via automated text. This means you can easily satisfy that 78% who are willing to wait once you’ve acknowledged them.

Using messaging channels for customer service also satisfies those who prefer not to speak with an agent or navigate multiple menu options.

The use of messaging channels for customer service is simple for your customers.

Here’s how it works:

You publish a keyword and short code for customer service requests, such as:

“Text SERVICE to 123456” with your service inquiry.”

Once a customer texts the keyword, your text messaging platform automatically creates a service case then triggers to send a response telling them their query was received and the case number, with an instruction to ask a question or get the status of their case. Text-to-case is a fast and highly responsive way to manage service cases.

“Thanks for your inquiry. Your case # is 109678J. We’ll update you on progress. To get status updates or ask a question, just reply to this message. ABC Company”

Because text messaging is asynchronous, all the messages related to the customer’s inquiry will appear in the message conversation on your customers’ mobile phone.   All message interactions in the conversation are also attached to the customer’s record and case within the CRM. This makes getting service super easy as they don’t have to remember their case number, find your email address or jump through hoops to get their issue addressed.

Agents Use A SMS Tool for Contact Centers to Reduce Customer Effort

Messaging isn’t just easy and frictionless for your customers. It makes your customer service agents’ jobs easier and helps them work more productively to meet your customers’ soaring expectations.

Once the service case has been created in your CRM, the case is routed to the appropriate agent who receives an alert for the new query.

The agent can reply to your customer and ask a question, provide a status update, or notify them their issue has been resolved. If it takes longer to resolve an issue and shifts change, the next agent on duty can see the entire conversational case history so they can easily continue to complete the case resolution and keep your customer in the loop.

Intelligent agent desks also create prioritized worklists within your service desk, so your agents know which cases need responses and they can always quickly find any specific case through contextual filtering.

The Bottom Line

Using a sms tool for contact centers means your contact center can not only keep up with your customers’ expectations but will result in more satisfying experiences that drive higher loyalty and lifetime value.