Getting the message
Issue: Volume 28 Number 2
Morse code or SMS (short message service)? Which technology transmits a simple message faster?
Trust Australians to make a sport of answering the question. But when Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum pitted morse code against its twenty-first-century successor, the result was unexpected: Samuel Morse’s 1832 invention won by some 18 seconds.
While SMS, or text messaging, may not be the world’s fastest messaging system, it is undoubtedly the most popular. Australians alone sent more than six billion text messages in 2004 — or 300 text messages for every man, woman and child.
Email versus SMS
However, even 300 text messages would not get Chris Wall very far through a Canberra winter. Wall, who coaches a women’s soccer team at the Australian National University, prefers email to communicate routine information such as team selections to his players. But when the information is urgent or last-minute, Wall quickly moves from his keyboard to the keypad on his mobile phone.
‘If it’s late on a Friday and there’s been a change of venue, I can’t be sure everyone will check their email before the game,’ Wall explains. But certain that, like more than 85 per cent of Australians, his players regularly use SMS, he can be sure his text message will get through.
Wall is not alone. He is one of a growing number of coaches realising the value of SMS. More direct and immediate than email, a text message — at a cost of around 20 cents on most mobile phone networks— is also cheaper than a mobile call, an important consideration for amateur coaches like Wall.
Time-saving technology
Another important consideration is time. While a call to each player might add a personal touch, it is likely to cost an hour of your time that you could be spending with a grumpy partner — and probably should spend on your day job.
SMS can ‘downsize’ the task to a matter of minutes. Most mobile phones support group SMS, allowing you to send the same message to more than one recipient (unfortunately, your service provider will charge you as though you sent separate messages).
‘Predictive text’ technology has made it easier for even techno-phobic coaches to compose messages in the first place. Many have been put off by the traditional multi-tap method, which involves pressing the ‘2’ button, which corresponds to the letters ‘ABC’, once for ‘A’, twice for ‘B’ and so on.
T9, the predictive technology included with most Australian phones, makes typing common words much easier. To type the word ‘ball’, for example, you simply key in 2255, since ‘B’ appears on the ‘2’ key, and so on. But because the same combination also corresponds to the word ‘call’, T9 involves a special key to allow the user to step through the alternatives in its dictionary.
But if the thought of entering anything more than a number into your mobile phone still leaves you cold, there are other ways to enjoy the benefits of SMS. One is to send text messages from the relative comfort of your PC. A number of companies offer so-called ‘web-to-SMS’ services, which allow you send text messages directly from a web browser.
These services normally require you to buy a minimum number of text messages up-front. The more you buy, the lower the cost per message. Nearly all allow you to set up groups, while some even let you transfer mobile phone numbers from an existing database, say your Microsoft Outlook address book.
The best web-to-email services also support two-way SMS, so you can also read replies on the web or, in some cases, have them forwarded to your email account.
If you find the mere mention of email reassuring, you may want to consider email-to-SMS services. These allow you to send, as well as receive, text messages so they appear just like regular email. Instead of a regular email address, you use the recipient’s mobile phone number, followed by the familiar ‘@’ symbol and a domain name provided by the service.
As the popularity of SMS continues to soar, expect SMS to crop up in other computer software used by sports coaches and administrators.
Case study
Consider ResultsVault. The web-based results and administration service used by one-third of Australian cricket clubs added SMS communication in November last year.
‘Even though we already had a web-based system and email communication’, explains ResultsVault co-creator Andrew Walton, ‘there are times when users need to get information out more quickly. And the quickest way is SMS’.
Cricket coaches in a hurry can now SMS player availability notices, team selections and anything else they could only send previously via email. As with email and web-to-SMS services, clubs purchase SMS credits up-front (for 20 cents each) and replies come back to a user’s inbox at ResultsVault.
Walton says the Melbourne-based service will soon allow users to enter, as well as communicate, information via SMS. A coach will then be able to send a text message to ResultsVault with their team selections and have it relayed automatically by either SMS or email to players, supporters and even the local newspaper. All without leaving the training nets — or club bar — in search of a computer with Internet access.
What about individual sports?
Coaches of individual-based sports are unlikely to miss out on SMS either. Equip your charge with a heart rate monitor from Polar Electro and Nokia 5140i mobile phone, and you can now receive summary information of their performance during exercises as a text message.
Of course, that message cannot be longer than 160 characters or about 25 words. While most phones and text messaging services allow you to split longer messages over two or more instalments, the character limit forces you to be either succinct or learn some SMS shorthand.
Limitations of SMS and shorthand
Apart from requiring you to set aside everything your English teacher ever taught you, SMS shorthand adds to the potential for misunderstandings that are another downside of the technology. If you have bad news or something uncomplimentary to get off your chest, it is probably best to pick up the phone.
These limitations, combined with the advance of the mobile Internet and email-capable mobile phones and personal digital assistants, could spell doom for SMS in the long run. In the meanwhile, SMS is a cheap, direct way to get your message through. Best of all, you most likely have everything you need to get started, right in your pocket.
Further information
- Mobile phone SMS
Telstra: http://telstramobileloop.com/productsandservices/sms/index.htm
Vodafone: http://www.vodafone.com.au
Virgin Mobile: http://www.virginmobile.com.au
- Web to SMS
SMS’er: http://www.smser.com.au
Net2Mobile: http://www.net2mobile.com.au
BulkSMS: http://www.bulksms.com.au
- Email to SMS
Message Media: http://www.message-media.com.au/email.html
Redcoal: http://www.redcoal.com/email_sms.aspx
Optus EmailSMS: http://www.optus.com.au
- SMS and other software
Results Vault: http://www.resultsvault.com
Polar and Nokia partnership: http://www.pursuit-performance.com.au — Australian distributor of Polar products
