Your Audience, Your Message, Their Terms

by Marty Wall

Text messaging gives individuals a new and powerful way to reach one another, anytime, anywhere. But it was the medium's possibilities for business that really got the blood pumping at TextCaster.

There's a miracle moment for every inventor. And it's not the one you think. It isn't the flash of the first light bulb or the hiss and crackle of the first broadcast. For those at the vanguard of new technology, the real miracle moment lasts longer. And it must be a little overwhelming.

The guys at TextCaster know the feeling. They knew that text messaging was great technology. They watched as all of America embraced the versatility and convenience of both mobile phones and e-mail. They knew the combination of the two--instant mobile messaging--was powerful. And they knew that nailing down the technol-ogy that would make it easy and available for everyone was the key. They knew that. And they had that. But the miracle moment wasn't really about the technol-ogy itself. It was the intoxicating rush of ideas that came when they realized just how many ways the technology could be applied. Ways that made reaching one another easier and more dynamic. Ways that made sense. Ways that made money. Ways that seemed endless. It was a little overwhelming.

If you haven't seen text messaging work, here's a primer: Virtually all cell phones currently in use are capable of receiving lines of type just like the ones you are reading. They come across the screen several lines at a time and in most cases are sent from another person's cell phone. A text message is like a mini, mobile e-mail.

The initial application of the technology is obvious to TextCaster and to the wireless carriers: Personal messaging. The airwaves are full of commercials from Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint PCS--every major cellular provider--touting text messaging services that allow individuals to reach one another in a brand new way. It is clear the big boys think text messaging is a big deal as they are promoting this new form of communication and selling their own customers on the ability to text one another from a cell phone.

TextCaster, on the other hand, is a desktop messaging solution that offers anyone the ability to textcast: to send messages from any Internet-connected PC to anyone, anywhere in the United States and Canada--regardless of what carrier they use. Users can schedule messages to be delivered at specific times, in specific time zones, on specific dates. Messages can even be set to recur daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. TextCaster's product geared to individuals is logically called TextCaster PERSONAL. It is available at www.textcaster.com for $4.95 per month. That price includes 500 messages each month. Additional blocks of messages can be purchased for as little as $3.75. TextCaster also offers a 30- day free trial period to individuals as an incentive to sign-up and try the product.

The uses for TextCaster PERSONAL seem endless for household and business use: subscribers are limited only by their creativity. Where some people might use PERSONAL to schedule text message reminders to their own mobile phones, others might use it to send brief in- formation to the mobile phones of family, friends and co-workers. A local law firm eliminated the partners' pagers: legal assistants now use PERSONAL to textcast information to their mobile phones. Partners now use one device-- the mobile phone--to stay connected with the office.

Text messaging gives individuals a new and powerful way to reach one another, anytime, anywhere. But it was the medium's possibilities for business that really got the blood pumping at TextCaster. Millions of businesses worldwide spend billions of dollars trying to reach customers with e-mail and direct mailing. Imagine that same reach. But now imagine it no longer tied to a specific location. E-mail can now reach cell phones. So now, with TextCaster, e-mail to the phone can go virtually anywhere, regardless of wireless carrier. It can reach them all--almost instantly. And that was the first real miracle moment for TextCaster: This was a potential money maker across all lines of commerce. But there was still a nasty little problem to deal with. E-mail marketers currently hold about the same position in society as plaid-jacketed, swift-talking used car salesmen. No one wants their messages. No one wants their…spam. For TextCaster, this was only a problem of perception. Because the initial design of its bus- iness products, TextCaster PRO and ENTERPRISE, had already eliminated any trace of spam.

TextCaster was designed from the start as an "opt-in" program: Only those people who wanted the messages were going to get them. And they could sign up for them in one easy step on the web. Why would customers want to sign up? To get the latest information on products they use…to receive breaking news…to save money with special offers. Again, the possibilities seemed almost endless.

These days, flush with an ever- deepening understanding of their technology's vast potential, TextCaster has been busy exploring opportunities with a diverse assortment of possible clients. There is a pharmaceutical company interested in giving TextCaster as a branded premium, practice enhancing tool for physicians. A multi-national advertising agency is interested in its many public relations uses for their diverse client base. One of the largest banks in America is looking at enhancing its internal communication capabilities.

Closer to home, TextCaster is the technology that supports the mobile messaging component of KC Alert, a hometown AMBER Alerts program. It also lets Northwest Missouri State University and Washburn University enhance the way they deliver sports information. "TextCaster gives us the ability to instantly connect with fans all across the United States and provide breaking sports information that usually is not covered by ESPN, or even reg-ional media", said Andy Seeley, Sports Information Director at Northwest. "We're able to immediately textcast information from any Internet-connected computer and touch fans with information they want and demand."

It's worth mentioning again that it wasn't the technology itself that so excited those around at the genesis of TextCaster. But that's not to slight the technology. The ability to reliably deliver hundreds of thousands of text messages, to schedule them to arrive at an exact time or to recur, to get those messages to anyone, anywhere, using any wireless carrier--that's good technology.

The guys at TextCaster have become fond of an analogy. They believe they are handing each potential client a blank slate. It is up to each client to decide the many and varied ways that this new broadcast--no narrowcast--channel can reach consumers. They are absolutely sure they haven't begun to think of the tiniest percentage of potential uses. And that is exciting. Written by Marty Wall, a freelance writer and media consultant from Kansas City, Missouri

Rob Sweeney is Founder & CEO of TextCaster. He can be reached by phone at 816.746.6835 or by e-mail at rob@textcaster.com. For more information, about TextCaster go to www.textcaster.com