O2
announces the launch of its Business Text Service, a quick and easy
way to broadcast text messages to a target audience from any internet-enabled
PC. The service, targeted at SMEs, provides a cost-effective alternative
to direct marketing as well as enhancing internal communications across
an enterprise.
Business Text allows
organisations to send text messages to just one person or to groups
over 100,000 recipients regardless of which network they are
on. The service costs a minimum of £80 for 800 messages and just
£6,100 for 100,000 messages, with no time limit on when the block
of messages should be
used up and no set-up costs or ongoing subscriptions. Companies simply
register for the business text service by going to www.o2.co.uk/businessstext.
Registration is free and all new customers get 20 free text messages
to get them started.
Business text can
be used for both internal and external communications.
For example notifying
employees about schedule changes, prduct launches and
contract wins, recruitment agencies sending out notifications of new
vacancies to potential candidates, estate agents issuing alerts to
prospective clients about new rental properties and night-club owners
sending out promotional alerts to club goers.
"Unlike traditional
postal methods of marketing, a text message is cheap and
distribution is almost instantaneous. It provides an incredibly quick
way
to get a message out direct to the people who you need to reach. Because
it
is a permission based marketing tool, you know that the person you are
sending the message to wants to hear from you, said Paul Longega, head
of
client services, O2: "The advantage of SMS is it allows organisations
to
send personalised messages, and a text message is always opened before
it is
deleted so it is almost certain that the recipient will read the message.
"Business Text, when
compared to other direct marketing channels, is fast,
flexible, easy to use, cost-effective and extremely potent. It is a
very
simple but powerful tool which brings tangible benefits to small businesses"
added Longega.
Once a company has registered
for the Business Text service they can use the
O2 Business Text service web page to create their text mailing list.
Alternatively they can download free software and access the service
via
desktop applications such as Microsoft Outlook and excel or send out
messages via email. The service also provides an instant online reporting
tool so that companies can track the progress of their messages to see
the
time received on the recipient's mobile phone.
O2 (UK) Ltd background information
* The UK business of mmO2 plc is branded O2. The company name is O2
(UK)
Ltd, replacing the former company name of BT Cellnet Ltd.
* O2 (UK) Ltd has nearly 11.2 million customers (end June 2002), of
which
33% are contract and the remainder pre-pay. The proportion of service
revenues generated by data usage has doubled in the last year, with
14.1%
achieved for the three months to end June 2002. The number of SMS messages
handled on by O2 UK has more than doubled year on year to 3.9 billion.
* O2 UK's GSM network, including GPRS capability, covers over 99% of
the
population and approximately 90% of the UK by land area, and comprises
well
over 8,000 base stations.
* O2 UK was the
first mobile network in the world to have launched and
rolled-out commercial GPRS services. Work is underway to develop its
future
3G network capability, including a special agreement with T-Mobile for
constructive infrastructure sharing for the roll-out of 3G coverage.
* The company's streamlined network of 187 wholly owned retail stores
across
the UK are being progressively branded as O2. The company's 40% shareholding
in The Link Stores Limited continues.
* International
roaming agreements with 317 networks allow our customers to
receive and make calls in 138 countries. Additionally, O2 customers
are now
able to roam with GPRS across all the O2 territories, bringing the total
number of countries in which you can use GPRS roaming to 14.
* O2 UK became the first UK mobile operator to achieve registration
to BSEN:
ISO 14001, the international environmental standard. The main theme
of the
standard is continual environmental improvement and endorses our commitment
to the positive protection of the environment.
