Traditional SMS texting is something that was with us for a long time. There’s just something extremely efficient about being able to key in a real short message and instantly send it to someone else’s phone that isn’t likely to go away any time soon. But what will likely change is the way that this is accomplished. There’s no reason for traditional SMS services to stick around when there are much better solutions now like VoIP and Instant Messaging. Here are a few reasons why.
It’s Already Happening
One good reason to believe this will continue to happen in the future is that it’s already happening now. There are many statistics to back this up as well. For example, one group named Informa says that there were 19 billion messages being transferred on chat apps last year, as opposed to only 17.6 billion SMS texts. People are moving to chat apps at an accelerating pace even right now, never mind in the future.
Sometimes It’s Free
Never underestimate the power of free. While there are some free phone programs that will offer free phone service and texts to poor people who need help, these programs are usually limited to only those that qualify. The programs will also sometimes only allow so many free texts per month. It’s definitely true that this will be way more than enough for many people, but there are plenty of people who will want an unlimited number of texts for free, and who really won’t mind a few ads for it. It’s true that the cost of data still has to be paid for, but Wi-Fi SMS is often completely free.
Wi-Fi Coverage Is Increasing
Three are many states like New York that are experimenting with more free public Wi-Fi solutions, such as pay phone kiosks. There’s already a lot of free Wi-Fi in airports. And any time there’s free Wi-Fi, there’s free instant messaging. This means that anyone who is able to get access to free Wi-Fi could get a message in a chat program or through certain VoIP programs off to their friends without having to pay the extra charges for texting at the same time. And the more governments and private institutions offer Wi-Fi, the more this is going to cut into the popular consensus of how much it’s worth to pay for each text message when you can instead message friends completely for free. It’s not like governments are the only ones who offer free Wi-Fi either. There are many restaurant chains, hotels, and so on that are doing this now as well, and there’s no reason to think it won’t just continue into the future.
The Future of Texting
Overall, chat programs are on the rise, as membership to each of these programs increases at an exponential rate. The use of VoIP solutions for calling and text is increasing like crazy too. The Internet is being used for more and more applications throughout the world, so there’s increasingly less and less room for traditional SMS solutions as VoIP rises ever higher.
This is a post by Ashley Williamson. Ashley is a freelance writer and an occasional guest-blogger interested in tech, business and health related topics. When she is not working she likes to travel and read as much as she can. If you have any question please do not hesitate to leave a comment.