Just days before Apple was set to launch iOS 6, the tech giant experienced a potentially damaging incident regarding its mobile operating system. On Monday, iMessage – Apple's answer to SMS messaging – went down, which prevented users from sending "text" messages via the iMessge system. While the service was eventually up and running later in the day, the event showcased why many answers to SMS messaging are still pretenders and why traditional texting will continue to reign supreme.
Apple release iMessage last October, a service that runs on the SMS application but uses data networking. The advantage of this service is that users can send messages to other iMessage users when they only have Wi-Fi and are unable to connect to their carrier's local tower. However, incidents like Monday's show that any advantages gained can easily be lost.
Michael Harper, a contributor for the online publication RedOrbit, covered the story and mentioned that users had to switch off their iMessage service and revert to standard SMS texting.
"Therefore, iPhone users were still able to text normally with everyone," Harper wrote. "iPad, iPod Touch and Mountain Lion users, on the other hand, were out of luck when it came to iMessage yesterday, and likely had to resort to sending old fashioned email or just pulling their phones from their pockets and sending a text."
Companies should remember this incident when executing mobile marketing campaigns. Using channels such as iMessage or various social networks can hit a decent number of people, but if and when these services go down your marketing efforts will be wasted. SMS marketing relies on carriers to deliver messages. Therefore, not only will this communique hit a greater number of people, it has proven to be more reliable. Swift SMS Gateway offers the tools marketers need to launch effective SMS campaigns.
