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Yes, very much so.  Starting in mid-March, 2020, global GRX peering traffic dropped considerably from their normal, seasonal averages, due to vast majority of the world staying home – in their home networks.  For a while, mobile roaming dropped more than 90% as the world really went into lockdown in mid-March.   Digital Interconnect - GRX Peering Amsterdam     Mobile roaming has since recovered to more 'normal' levels.   ... View more

Yes! In fact, in many markets, such as the USA & Canada, it resulted in a large daily and hourly P2P messaging increases – especially in early and mid-March.  Some hourly volumes exceeded 130% of the usual traffic figures as the US began early lockdowns.  Throughout April, May, and into June, US P2P traffic remained somewhat elevated above normal.     Outside of the USA, this varied by country.  For example, the UK did not see huge P2P increases like the USA did.  Other countries that rely more on non-operator messaging for P2P such as WhatsApp, saw little change to their SMS volumes.   Read my blog, for more insights on the impact of COVID-19 on the mobile messaging.   ... View more

Yes. Toll-free numbers are an important business asset and to many enterprises.  The fact that they can now be text-enabled for SMS simply increases the value of that asset. Digital Interconnect can text-enable any toll-free number to allow it to be shown as a sender ID for business texts as well as providing the ability of customers to send texts to the toll-free number.    Many toll-free numbers are used for customer support.  A text-enabled customer support toll-free number can provide businesses with the ability to say "Call or Text Us," which is important to many consumers today.  The ability to interact via text or SMS with a business over their toll-free number provides consumers with a popular channel to reach the business.  Additionally, it increases the equity of an existing communications asset by supporting channels that can help lower the cost of customer support as well as consumer outreach.   ... View more

In today’s ever-changing ecosystem, the answer is a resounding YES! I have highlighted a couple of examples below:   Group Messaging In common group-messaging scenarios, group (or club) messaging is provided through an app or online service. The group owner is assigned a group telephone number (TN). Group members may join the group by sending messages to the group TN to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the group. The group owner may solicit other subscribers via SMS to join the group or may create the group from a list of TNs (such as a church, school, class, club, family, or any other type of group). Again, there are numerous variations.   Typically, SMS-based groups built in this manner are recommended to have no more than 60 members; however, this limitation is somewhat ambiguous, as it is not clear whether the group size is defined by one MNO/service provider or all MNOs/service providers. A typical scenario goes like this: A user sends a message to the group. Group members receive messages from the group TN. Group members can reply individually (to the group owner) or to the entire group, depending on the capability of the service. The key is that the group members have the ability to originate messages to the group owner or to all members of the group through the main group TN. It is different from an alerting service, in that the message to group members is human generated rather than being automated or software generated.   Call Center and Customer Support The call-center or customer-support scenario is an increasingly common use of P2P SMS. Using a text-enabled vanity landline or toll-free number as a method by which to engage with a business is gaining acceptance in the United States. Subscribers simply text questions or even requests to order products or services to the designated number. The business call-center personnel manually respond to incoming texts with the information needed or to complete an order.     The call-center scenario may also include auto-responders – that is, automated responses that would indicate some status regarding the exchange or transactions (for example, “a customer service representative will respond to your request within 3 minutes”).   Can these types of scenarios be acceptable over P2P messaging routes? Yes, call-center scenarios are acceptable on P2P networks and provide an alternative, asynchronous means to engage a call center or customer service center. The mobile subscriber initiates the exchange with an SMS sent to the call center (through a vanity number – toll free, landline, mobile, or otherwise).   The back and forth is human generated. Some automated responses can be supported, as long as their content does not become advertising.   ... View more

Yes, absolutely. In fact, Digital Interconnect, by virtue of its strong P2P pedigree in the North American market, is in the unique position to provide specialty 10-Digit Long Code (10DLC) support for businesses who wish to leverage these low-cost sender identifiers for both person-to-person as well as business messaging solutions.  10DLCs may now be used for business (or A2P) messaging as long as they use specific, approved routes into US mobile carriers. Digital Interconnect can enable these approved routes on behalf of businesses that desire to use 10DLCs for A2P traffic.    We should note that 10DLC A2P traffic is not approved for Canada (also in the +1 marketplace) at this time. Of course, the usage of 10DLCs for non-mobile operator P2P traffic has been prevalent for a long time and continues to be leveraged by a number of specific messaging apps as these traffic profiles comply with strict requirements and policies for P2P traffic.   Visit the Sinch 10DLC Product Page to learn more or if you need more help with 10DLC or have any questions, contact Sinch, who will be happy help!   ... View more