Text messaging: the difference between SMS, EMS and MMS

The various acronyms used to describe the different kind of text messaging services are not always intuitive and can be confusing to new users. Hopefully the following breakdown of the three most popular messaging services will help clear things up.

1. SMS
SMS stands for Short Message Service and is the most widely used type of text messaging. With a SMS, you can send a message of up to 160 characters to another device. Longer messages can be split up into several parts. Most cell phones support this type of text messaging, and sending a SMS is usually very cheap. SMSs can also be used to access various services from a portable device, such as Google and MSN. Spam sent as SMS is also becoming more common.

2. EMS
EMS means Enhanced Messaging Service and is an extension of the SMS. It provides SMS with functionalities such as text formatting (bold or italic fonts) and limited picture and animation support. If an EMS is sent to a phone that doesn’t support it, it will display as a standard SMS. EMS will probably be rendered obsolete by MMS.

3. MMS
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and this type of text messaging is an evolution of the SMS. With a MMS, you can send a message including pictures, video or audio content to another device. It is very useful to send a photo taken with a camera phone to another phone. Most new cell phones with multimedia capabilities support MMS. Because the size of the message is defined in kilobytes, a MMS can contain a lot more information than a SMS. Be careful, carriers can sometimes charge high fees for data transfer over their network if it’s not included in your plan.

Now get to your keypads and start typing!

Following up on my “Text messaging is still underused!” post, I have just discovered Wiffiti from an article over at SON-OF-A-PITCH.

Wiffiti is another great innovation in cell phone text messaging. It consists of plasma screens installed at various locations onto which you can send text messages from your mobile phone. You can either respond to a text message or simply throw in a thought or a quotation. It is really like a graffiti wall, and you can also follow the conversations on the web at Wiffiti blog.

While the messages get smaller over time, it is also possible to agree or disagree with them on the Wiffiti screen via your cell phone. You can make the messages bigger to have them remain on the screen longer, or smaller to have them fade away faster.

There was even a marriage proposal on Wiffiti, and it was accepted!

There is a currently a Wiffiti screen installed in Someday Cafe (Davis Square), Toscanini’s (Cambridge) and Good Time Emporium (Somerville).

I have been reading an article entitled Text Messaging and Customer Service over at Influential Interactive Marketing. The article gives interesting ideas on how to further exploit the potential of text messaging.

I periodically receive text messages on my cell phone from my phone company informing me of different services they have to offer. I just have to reply with my zip code to get more information on the services concerned. But the ideas expressed in that article go way beyond this - imagine reducing the time you wait in lines at a government’s office, in a megastore or at restaurants?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem there are enough people with cell phones to make these ideas worthwhile for an investor yet, at least where I live. I do believe the future of portable devices is in cell phones though, so maybe we will see some of these ideas develop into new trends over the next few years.