SMS which means Short Message Service is the transmission of short text messages to and from a mobile phone, fax machine, and computers.
Messages in this format do not exit 160 alpha-numeric characters (for one page) and contains no images or graphics but may support smiley.
The messages that are sent through this format get to the service provider before getting to the right receiver when redirected by the service company.
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The charge of SMS in Nigeria varies from telecom company to company while some give their customers free SMS in appreciation of customer loyalty and/or during a promotion.
Because of the need to create a platform where SMS can be sent in huge numbers simultaneously and at a cheap price, bulk SMS platforms were developed.
Bulk SMS platforms come in the form of websites and applications/software which enable users to send many SMS simultaneously.
Fortunately, these platforms are supported by Nigerian Internet Service Providers (ISP). Many Nigerians prefer to send SMS this way because of it is convenient, fast, cheap, and sends many messages to many different receivers simultaneously.
There are many websites which you can use to send bulk SMS in Nigeria and some of them are www.smsmobile24.com, www.bulksmsnigeroa.com, www.netbulksms.com, www.greenwhitesms.com, etc.
This piece will focus on how to send bulk SMS in Nigeria. These companies normally offer 24/7 service. So, customers’ SMS are delivered at any time of the day or night and they charge between 50kobo to 70kobo per SMS and there is a minimum number of SMS expected of a customer. For example, www.smsmobile24.com does to allow a customer to buy less than 1000 SMS at 65kobo per SMS while subscribing.
Guide1. Sign up on the website of the bulk SMS provider. For you to be able to send bulk SMS in Nigeria, you must register with a service provider like www.greenwhitesms.com; this is an important step to take.
But before signing up, you are to read about the terms of conditions of the company so as to know how they charge their clients for the services they render and compare it with that of other companies in a similar business. In some companies, a contact can be provided on their website where you can call an agent and get him or her to explain the conditions which are not clear to you.
When a client is registered on this website, he or she has fulfilled the first stage. Ensure that you use your real names, email address and correct mobile numbers. The name you use to open the bulk SMS alert is the name the service provider uses to recognize you. Make sure you copy the details and keep them safely.
Guide2. Make a deposit. On their websites, the account numbers of Nigerian bank accounts are provided for interested customers to copy out and use them. When making deposits, your username if filled on the teller of the name of depositor of bank deposit slip.
Immediately the company receives your cash deposit alert from its banker, they will credit your account with them accordingly by sending email and/or SMS alert depending on the company’s policies.
This SMS and email alerts will indicate the amount you deposited and the appropriate value in bulk SMS depending on how the company charges. Alternatively, you can also transfer from your mobile devices to the account of the service company.
Remember to type your username in the field provided for “Remarks,’’ “comment” or “purpose of payment” on the application or software. For example, if your username is IfesineVenture, you should type it there. Depositing into the account concludes the process and you may now log in with your username and password to start using the website to send bulk SMS in Nigeria.
Guide3. Go back to the website and log in. When you have received the notification from the service company, you can log in and start exploring the website. On www.greenwhitesms.com for example you will see menus of the website.
If you are navigating on the site, you will see all the features of the site. On the left hand side of the website, there are options for General SMS, Compose SMS, Draft SMS Credit, load voucher, subscribe to alert, personal settings, my debt profile, message history, etc.
All this has different functions and they help to make the website more fun to use. Note that immediately you get into the site you will see active sender ID, Recipients and Compose SMS fields awaiting you. Sender ID is a field where you type in the name of your company or topic, depending on your choice. But note that it is the field for sender’s name.
Also, note that it is advisable to compose the messages on a different environment like MS Word, then copy and paste into the website’s type-your-message field and the same goes for the Recipients. This is because the website automatically times users out if they spend more time than they should. Most of them are often designed like that.
When you are done typing the message and phone numbers of recipients, you can now click on send to forward the message to various persons whom you wish to send the message to. They will receive the message simultaneously.
Immediately the message goes, a prompt pops up to show you the amount of units used and the balance left. This often helps to remind you to renew your subscription (if need be). Go to message history to view all messages sent and the numbers to which the various messages were sent to.
It is important we learn how to send bulk SMS in Nigeria because they are cheaper, faster and more convenient way of sending messages to many mobile phone users simultaneously in Nigeria.
This technology has been around for awhile and it’s a good thing that most Nigerian societies, companies, small/big scale businesses, etc take full advantage of it to inform their members, workers, customers, etc of important events which they have to attend.
Bulk SMS also improves the image of the company because the receiver receives a message with the “name of the company on it as the sender” even when they don’t have the contact saved on their phones.
Furthermore, bulk SMS is used to market brands easily and cheaply because they just broadcast to all unknown mobile phone users whom the sender feels their numbers are valid; this is done because it is very cheap to use unlike normal SMS.