The wheels of the Boeing 777 touch ground in Dublin, Ireland at 8:00 am local time – midnight in Nevada. I wish for a Red Bull as I turn on my Nokia 6820 phone and wonder which U.K. wireless provider it will latch onto. Seconds after “Vodafone” appears on its smallish screen, my pulse quickens as messages start to beep in.
I’ve been unreachable for 10 hours on a midweek business day. God knows what I’ve missed in my trans-Atlantic journey. I have 17 text messages and three voice mails. Only three new voice mails – I’ll listen to those in the cab. Two years ago it would have been different. I cringe as I recall the days of deciphering the babble of dozens of voicemails, transcribing them to my iPaq while hoping I didn’t have dyslexia when noting the call-back numbers.
Before the plane reaches the gate I’ve scanned through the mobile text messages, otherwise known as SMS or TXTs. My heart rate subsides as I note no real emergencies.
Any cell phone sold today supports SMS, or short-message-service. You have 160 characters to ask a question, make a point, convey information, carry a conversation, take advantage of a promotion or sell something. In Europe, 20 billion short messages fly through the air every month. The U.S. is far behind, but catching up quickly. Ask any parent of a teenager with a monthly $60 text-messaging bill. My company develops software around SMS automation, so I’ve been addicted since 1997.
My CRM (customer relationship management) system has alerted me to four sales leads from our Web site. I smile as I note that one is from a man I met on the plane from Vegas to Atlanta about 15 hours ago. Good – I won’t have to enter him as a lead. He did the work for me. I forward it to the sales rep and provide details I learned in person. My company’s software will have already “personally replied” to this lead by e-mail and alerted the rep with an SMS.
One SMS from my CRM catches my eye. A $25,000 deal has reached “Closed-Won.” Yet another alerts me to an opportunity with a “Stage-Age” ratio out of whack. I forward the Closed-Won SMS to the rep who nailed it, along with my kudos. Never mind that my sales rep back in San Jose is in bed and his phone just beeped. Hey, it’s a 24/7 world economy. He’ll dream of sugarplum commissions and sleep happy knowing that I noticed.
I go back to the Stage-Age alert, forwarding it to the designated rep. “This deal is important,” I SMS. “TXT me if U need me 2 help move it along.” I confirm three conference calls and make the appropriate calendar adjustments in my iPaq. I read the last few messages: The Giants won 4-2. The hotel SMS’d me their address and phone number while welcoming me to Dublin. I thumb a few more “Yes” and No” responses, and my 17 SMSs have been dealt with.
Before I stand up and reach for my luggage, I thumb-type two final TXTs. To my partner in our Dublin office: “Just landed. On way 2 hotel to shower/chng. Will catch cab 2 office. B there by 10a. L8r.” And to my wife: “Just landed. Call me if still awake. Would’ve called but don’t want 2 wake boys. Luv/miss U.”
My phone beeps. It’s a TXT from my partner: “Out front. Blue Merc. Lane 6. CU soon.” Cool. No cab ride. It’s going to be a long day. I still have 200 e-mails to go through and I suspect most won’t be 160 characters or less.