SMS is not just a handy chatty tool - it's a marketer's dream, writes Natalie Apostolou.

The mobile phone's most humble application - SMS, or Short Message Service - has finally attracted the attention of big business.

The SMS revolution was sparked by the simple but crucial advent of multi-carrier inter-operability. Cross-network SMS set up new possibilities for mobility's most basic application. During 2003, 3.9 billion messages were sent in Australia - about 294 SMS's per mobile phone user annually. Last New Year's Eve alone, Australians swelled the networks with 46 million messages.

With consumer thumbs already doing the talking, the next wave is coming from the business market. And we can thank the relentless barrage of reality TV for the turnaround in the business mindset. The high exposure of interactive mobile services and premium SMS has been driven loudly by interactive TV events such as Big Brother and Australian Idol.

Legion One, the business division of Sydney's Legion Interactive, which acquired consumer SMS operation BlueSkyFrog, is a specialist in this converged media and mobility market. BlueSkyFrog was one of the first Australian companies to experiment with cross-network SMS messaging before the carriers built their own gateways and the mobile distribution of icons, ring tones and picture messages.

The Legion One arm was created in 1997 on the belief that SMS business messaging was the future killer application.

According to Legion One's general manager of products and services, Andrew Grill, the potential of SMS in the business sector is explosive, with less than 10 per cent of businesses using SMS. ``Australian Idol has put it in their mind. There are 15 million handsets out there pre-loaded with this functionality and business is becoming aware of its cost-effectiveness and the potential to reach a mass market."

Traditional corporate clients are testing the medium by implementing SMS broadcasts via PC as an internal communication function for messages to staff, suppliers or clients, sales-based organisations are utilising the medium for the transmission of critical information in real time and service-based organisations are using it to create an immediate access point to the customer.

Grill said that organisations are reaping the benefits through significant cost savings, labour and time efficiencies. The rise of more sophisticated uses of the medium through premium-rate SMS allows corporates to charge anything from 55 cents to $5 for their content and recover costs. Grill said the instant gratification factor of content on demand drove the growth and was key for clients to exploit their brand potential.

Australia is lagging behind the highly evolved SMS market in Britain by 15 months but content developers here are closely following the trends. Branded SMS services for marketing advertising campaigns and informational messages are set to drive further growth.

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