Johannesburg-based legal firm, Van de Venter, Mojapelo Incorporated (VVM) has shown a considerable increase in communication efficiencies while cutting down on communication costs by making use of an automated SMS (short message service) facility.
Martin Cohen, head of business data at VVM, comments: "VVM specialises in the recovery of debt. As an integral part of the collection process, we make use of SMS Cellular Services' CellSys software suite to send high volume, standard or individualised SMS messages via the CellSys SMS Gateway."
Along with SMS messages, VVM also makes use of e-mail, letters and telephone calls. A large portion of telephone calls have been replaced with SMS messages, which generates significant savings in the cost of running such a facility. Cohen adds that savings in time and resources are also realised as SMS messages can be delivered to thousands of recipients almost instantaneously, whereas a call centre agent would take days to contact only a few hundred customers telephonically.
Rob Airey, managing director of SMS Cellular Services, comments: "SMS messaging is emerging as the most cost-effective, quickest and easiest form of peer-to-peer mobile communication ever. There is no other non-verbal medium of communication that is used by so many individuals and business alike. Organisations can no longer afford to ignore the positive impact that SMS messaging can have on their communication strategy.
SMS Cellular Services offers mobile solutions that keep organisations close to their debtors 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, thereby improving debt collections and saving millions of rands. SMS messages can be delivered as a real-time, accurate and reliable communication medium, providing the sender with the assurance that messages will reach their destination successfully and timeously."
Cohen goes on to say that VVM is also planning to install an inbound message service enabling customers to request information simply by sending an SMS to a direct number at VVM. The CellSys SMS Gateway will receive the incoming message and pass the query to VVM's line-of-business (LOB) systems for processing and resolution. The Gateway can conditionally route all inbound messages based on the content thereof. An automated SMS reply will then be sent to the debtor in response to the original request.
SMS technology is not only a quick form of communication but the time and cost savings are remarkable, especially in the debtor and creditor management industry. "One can choose not to answer a ringing phone but with SMS messaging, a full detailed activity log and audit trail of every message, to and from every user, is maintained," concludes Cohen.
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