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Organisations with up to 250 employees in engineering and manufacturing were found to be extremely active in using mobile messaging to enhance their operational and logistical performance; whilst greatest benefits were derived from its speed and accuracy for allocating jobs, confirming their status/completion and for ordering parts from suppliers.
‘For each call we text before and after to confirm completion of the job. The information goes to the server. At the office they can see who is on call and who is not. It’s like clocking really’
Technical Engineer
Telephone interviews were carried out with business managers in companies and organisations across a variety of sectors and locations to assess attitudes to using mobile messaging within a business context.
Those industries relating to the engineering and manufacturing industries made up 12% of the total sample. From a base of 250 active mobile users, 36% of respondents were heavy messaging users, sending in excess of 21 work related mobile messages per week.
‘We have peculiar shift patterns, so it’s a good way of getting times and dates to people all over the country’ Operations Manager, Engineering
Company Culture
Generally, attitudes towards using mobile messaging for business were found to be extremely positive within the SME sample. 45% of respondents claimed that the technology offered considerable cost and time saving benefits for their own particular organisations.
‘For logging our drivers in and out, it saves time and money’
Office Manager, Manufacturing/Engineering
Companies actively making the most use of person to person, business related mobile messaging tended to have between 11 and 50 employees. Wider usage also appeared to be directly related to mobile phone provision for employees – 62% of respondents all had company owned mobile phones and were active mobile messaging users.
Mobile Message Usage
Most organisations (75%) use mobile messaging for internal communication and, where this is the case, actual usage tends to be low with individuals sending less than 5 messages per week. In contrast, where organisations are using the facility as part of their overall operation or for customer service/purchasing and ordering communication, usage is much higher with more than 21 messages being sent per week.
‘It’s quick and easy. I can keep in contact with a variety of people very easily’
Office Manager, Manufacturing/Engineering
Types of Message Sent
100% of respondents to the market research study actively send text messages and 14% send picture messages for clarification, greater accuracy and to generally enhance communication. Greatest picture messaging use was found in the construction industry closely followed by manufacturing and engineering.
‘Our technicians use picture and video messaging sometimes; they may film a piece of machinery working and send it back’
IT Manager, Manufacturing/Engineering
Location & Devices Used
Clearly the research highlighted that location and message purpose determined the type of mobile messaging being used. 86% of field based respondents were found to be using mobile messaging for making contact with another mobile user, whereas office based personnel often used machine to mobile facilities for group messaging to colleagues/customers and consumers and, in some cases, their superiors too.
‘We send text messages to our travelling site engineers - it’s very often flight bookings, appointments and meetings. We do use voice as well but with text, it can get through without worrying about the network’
Telecoms Manager, Engineering
Benefits
The key benefits of mobile messaging for the SME sample interviewed were that it saves time, that it can be accessed globally and that it is an extremely cost effective way of communicating.
‘We do a lot of international work, so there are time zone issues. Texting allows us to keep updated without waking people up’
Engineering
‘It’s much cheaper and faster for the company’ Technical Engineer
Areas of Improvement
47% of respondents suggested a number of areas for improving mobile messaging facilities in the future including:- making it easier and cheaper to send mobile messages, providing more space for message content and written confirmation of messages sent and received.
‘I would prefer to have more character space - also bring the cost down!’
Financial Controller, Manufacturing/Engineering
Conclusion
The MDA’s research study into how the SME sector is using mobile messaging clearly indicates that the facility has a raised profile and is being widely used for informal and brief business communication internally, as part of an organisation’s operation and for liaison with suppliers and customers.
‘One of my colleagues in the team is deaf and SMS is very useful for getting hold of him - it’s not expensive’ Managing Director, Manufacturing/Engineering
Whilst e-mail remains the favourite communication tool for more formal and detailed business communication, evidence suggests that mobile e-mail take up by the SME community is growing fast. Offering the same flexibility as sending a text message, mobile e-mail can overcome the 160 character space restriction on message content and also the perception associated with text messaging being an informal form of communication.
‘We are about to bring in push-pull e-mail which will mean the managers can get hold of their e-mail without coming back to the office, this will improve efficiency - they can respond to the customer quicker’
Communications Manager, Manufacturing/Engineering
Motivated by making potential savings and generating income, SME organisations now have the opportunity to improve their efficiency and profitability, and can adopt more creative and innovative ways of communicating. Looking ahead, organisations need to be aware of the full potential mobile messaging has to offer and to retain the technical knowledge and capability for successful implementation of the wide variety of business related mobile applications currently available.
‘I like that we can take pictures/video and send it back in real time - that’s a huge bonus for us’
IT Manager, Manufacturing/Engineering
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