Mobile Marketer recently posted an article on how SMS is the only reliable channel during significant events. The article takes a look at the spikes in traffic around significant events, such as the Chile earthquake and events like football games, elections or big holidays.
The findings are not shocking – but they are extremely interesting. After looking at the SMS traffic patterns, the results are: SMS surges after and during big events (something Waterfall Mobile experienced with “The Cove” after the call-to-action for that very successful campaign was flashed onscreen during the Oscars).
So, why the surge? Simply put, SMS is the best way to communicate in high-traffic times. Many of those texters probably tried to place a call and couldn’t get through and then realized they could get in touch with loved ones via text.
As the writer, William Dudley of Sybase 365 explains:
Traffic channels have significantly more bandwidth than do the control channels, but control channels are not held up as long as traffic channels.
So when multiple calls are in progress, as when there is some event, the traffic channels are allocated. However, there is almost always control channel room for SMS traffic.
Even if there is no network capacity to deliver the message immediately, SMS messages are stored by the carrier’s SMSC, so when the network capacity is available, the message is then delivered.
The Mobile Marketer article noted when the earthquake hit Chile on February 27th, SMS surged as much as ten times the normal rate for the first 24 hours. Since that earthquake the SMS levels have remained double the normal rate and have surged even further around any aftershocks.
You can read the full article here.
I know in times where I’ve experienced earthquakes, placing a call immediately after was impossible – but SMS messages to family worked perfectly. Have you had any similar experiences?
(Jason Saroyan is the AlertU business lead at Waterfall Mobile. For questions or inquiries regarding the AlertU emergency notification platform, please email him.)