Text Messaging vs. Voice Messaging
According to the latest mobile messaging study that was held by GSMA, about 47% of mobile users globally are only using their favorite phones for texting or talking. The number is supposed to shrink to 29% by 2030, however still accounts for many users preferring voice messaging to texting.
The preferences of end user is something BSG’s massive SMS solutions are designed to address, satisfying the needs in extensive text messaging in huge amounts. In modern communication world, people are not willing to listen to audio books any longer, but rather tend to interact with the digital assistants with the help of the voice commands, or smart home devices for getting feedback on a range of issues while being on a go via voice. So, there’s a tendency that voice messaging is popular not less than SMS. That’s why text messaging vs. voice messaging is an issue in focus.
Voice communication is one of the major smart phone features. No wonder, this was designed for communication after all, and only then as a hand computer. However, communication function nowadays is dramatically minimized, giving text messaging or the Internet surfing a priority. Probably this is strange: how can it possibly happen that talking over a mobile phone is a function that people almost forgot to use?
There are several reasons for this assessment, and the main one is the psychological discomfort that most of us experience in one way or another during a telephone conversation. Indeed, there are still a lot of shy people, apart from those who are mentally or physically challenged to talk over the phone easily, of course.
Besides, to have a deeper insight into the issue, it’s better to deal with some historical details. Yes, once it was different. Voice telephony served a specific purpose only: it provided instant communication. And this completely changed the rules of the game all over the world, back in 1844. Since then, it has been more than a century and a half, and during this period, the technical base of telephone communication has changed tremendously, and all by the standards of the technical progress, though, the principle itself remained practically unchanged.
The fact that the very opportunity to communicate with a voice over huge distances was amazing, voice messaging remains important and useful even nowadays, when there’s high tech progress observed in seemingly everything. Despite the fact that SMS is an extremely sought after communication tool, VoIP never falls behind, neither it will.
Mobile phones have made a special contribution to improving our quality of life. One of the main reasons why people buy mobile phones today is communication in emergency situations. Of course, even the fastest text messaging to 911 or something would cost somebody’s life. That is why voice communication is extremely important in a range of situations. Despite the fact that now there are many other advanced ways of mobile communication: SMS, email, instant messengers, voice never drops off the market.
Mobile Messaging Culture
Fast development and incredible popularity of mobile devices have formed a real mobile messaging culture among the users. Everyone has a favorite mobile device for staying connected on the go. Today, mobile phone is no longer a communication device, it’s everything. In fact, a whole mobile culture has been formed on the basis of seemingly ordinary and harmless voice communication as something subsidiary, instead, being able to message faster with the longest period of storing the information sent. Here comes SMS, that is beyond any competition and is a true sales leader.
There are certain proven reasons for that. The text is easier to collect and it’s a less formal way of communication, in which you feel more relaxed. The call, however, requires us to have a certain emotional tension, concentration, etc. Sometimes there’s a pressure on the interlocutor. We live in a world, where we have to plan our future calls. Usually we call, when there is some urgent matter, for which it is worth initiating the call. And, as psychologists say, this is often some urgent and unpleasant matter: “What happened? Why are you calling?”
Text messaging is a more reliable way of communication because it may be stored and read at any moment later, it’s clear and cannot be misunderstood, etc. That’s why more and more people are using smartphones for text communication mostly, but not the voice.
Swype-mode dial on the on-screen keyboard, along with automatic selection of words made non-voice communication methods even more convenient and informative. Some of them are good for business communication, some — for private conversations, but they are all psychologically more comfortable and tactful than a telephone call for the majority of users.
If you need to hear someone’s voice: your relatives, friends or business partners — then you usually find a cozy place to make a call and have a talk which is a more intimate procedure. And in these cases it is better to communicate via video chat, so as not only to hear, but also to see an important person for you, his or her reactions, etc.
If you are somewhere in a crowded place, and you are seized with the desire to share anything: feelings, emotions, empty thoughts, ideas, or any new food for thought, just get your smart phone, send a couple of lines — that would be enough. Modern chat interfaces allow us to constantly exist within the flow of information from our social connections, just like old good SMS technology. That makes it really hard to unequivocally say who’s the winner in a text messaging vs. voice messaging battle. It’s up to you to choose what to prefer, indeed.
For more interesting and challenging data on SMS, also read What’s Value Added Content in Mobile Marketing?
