It all started with an SMS text message from Nigel Harris’s dentist, reminding him of a recent appointment. If dentists can reach clients quickly and effectively with text, why couldn’t accountants, he wondered. IT Zone’s John Stokdyk investigates the possibilities suggested by AccountingWEB members.
“This looks like a very effective way to get urgent messages to clients, especially sole traders who are always out of the office. Does anyone use texts to communicate with their clients?” asked Nigel Harris in Any Answers last week. In particular, he wanted to know about web-based text services that would let him type the messages quickly on his PC and dispatch them to the recipients’ mobiles.
Room101.co.uk offers such a service that is designed to support “push” applications that automate delivery of business information to people who are eager to get immediate updates, for example someone who has posted a query on an online software support forum who wants to be notified if anyone responds, or someone who has placed an order for an out of stock item who wants to know when it becomes available. Appointment diaries can also benefit, according to Room101, for example someone wanting an appointment at the earliest opportunity could be notified by text if there are any cancellations.
The energetic discussion in Any Answers raised two side issues. The first point raised by two members concerned the legal status of such messages. Do they count as official communications subject to the Companies Act 2006 requirement to include company details on its correspondence, wondered Padstowe. The act set out very specific requirements to put company address and registration details on websites, business letters and documents in electronic form, so text messages may not be covered. However, from 1 October 2008, amendments to the 2006 act set out in Statutory Instrument 2008 No 495 will require a company’s registered name to be displayed in emails and “all other forms of its business correspondence”.

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