Everyone knows how popular texting is. Nearly 10 trillion text messages were sent last year. Of all U.S. cellphone owners, 80% of them use text messaging, also known as SMS (short message service).
Texting has become an essential collaboration tool for work. But texting remains a clumsy fit inside the office. Text messages from an employee or customer to an employee may offer meaningful business information, contacts, and schedules, but they almost always arrive at a personal mobile number; lack a corporate identity, and may or may not be attributable to a specific office location. This creates potential breaches of corporate security and compliance policies.
Mobilizing workers is a key goal for any business, but mobility without business identity or security is like walking down the street talking to oneself. Businesses can learn to live with BYOD as long as it is secure and provides an archive of the messages. Even mobile emails carry a corporate identity and security. Until now, texting did not live up to the standards set by lowly e-mail, and has not been ready for business.