SMS and Cell Phones

April 5, 2005

Kenton has got me thinking about SMS tonight. He’s been looking at ways to enable our users to sign up for SMS notification of their Sirsi account status, e.g overdue notices, holds, and the like. Providing an alternative delivery method for people to opt into simply gives our users a little flexibility — never a bad thing. The other side of the SMS/libraries coin is of course, what are the potential reference applications of such a mobile service? I was interested to read tonight that Southwestern University will be launching a pilot service using Altarama’s Reference by SMS package. The package is described as:

…a new service designed specifically to allow libraries to expand their reference delivery methods to include SMS, the mobile/cell phone text messaging system so popular with the youth of today. Your clients can use this service to contact the library no matter where they are - for example they can use it to ask for assistance at a library computer carousel, without having to relinquish the computer, or move all their gear to a reference desk.

The service is simple to use, highly effective, and can be implemented by any library anywhere in the world where SMS (mobile/cell phone Short Message Service) services are available.

The “Reference by SMS” service provides a mobile/cell phone number, unique to your library that you can advertise as the number for SMSing your library. SMS’s received by that number are automatically delivered to an email address that your library specifies. The librarian monitoring that email address creates responses in email using their usual “Reply” facility and an integrated “Send by SMS” tool designed to assist with the short replies used by SMS. Your responses are automatically delivered to the client’s mobile phone by SMS.

The “Send by SMS” tool fully integrates with common email client’s, to provide a shorter signoff, optional conversion to normal SMS phonetic shortcuts, and a character count to assist with minimisation of character usage.

Many other powerful features are provided to assist with implementation, usage, management and marketing of this service. Don’t limit your imagination to reference. This service can also be used for any library correspondence by SMS, for example, contacting staff about meetings, or sending any sort of notices to clients. If you are contemplating SMS for contacting patrons about overdue items, be sure to consider “Reference by SMS” which adds the incoming SMS, and powerful management features, that will make the service a much more powerful tool for your library. [altarama.com]

I’m hoping Southwestern reports back on how the service plays out for them. Regardless, I can appreciate projects like this that at least take a shot at meeting the millenial crowd on their own turf (although I read in the local paper tonight that at Telus is attributing much of their text messaging growth to the business crowd. In 2004, 710 mill. text messages were sent in Canada, doubling the number sent in 2003. Astounding!). My wife and I have started to text message each other with stuff that doesn’t require a phone call. “Don’t forget the eggs,” “I’m going to be late for supper,” “Did you see my car keys this am? Help!”. I have to say - messaging really is a handy tool, even if it does currently take me just as long to text message a five word question as it does to write a 1000 word blog posting on my PC. Only kidding. It’s not that bad. Practice makes perfect. And when it doesn’t, there’s Fastap.

One other cell phone related service that I’m starting to give more thought to is good ol’ fashioned “talking.” That’s right - cell phones are great for SMS, but we can also talk on them. Since so many users are walking around with them in their pockets, I really do wonder if there isn’t a way that we can better advertise or administer phone service, so that users can find out what floor has that call number they’re after, what time the library closes that day, or what keyword might get them the answer they need. We do have phone service, but I think its been somewhat muffled as we pay most of our attention to working out the quirks of chat reference, email, and other IT-related services.

But of course, that means that people might talk, which will no doubt cause some of you to raise your eyebrows and click through to the next blog. I don’t know. I’m thinking most of the conversation would be outgoing — them calling us, no bad midi file ringtones to contend with– and that we could likely work around where they call from. Cones of silence dropping from the ceiling, perhaps. The short of it is that they call their friends and parents now, so maybe a call to the librarian isn’t such a bad thing??

Posted in Handheld/Wireless News, Libraries, Technology, Uncategorized