On Thursday May 12, 2016, as SMSGH celebrated its 11th anniversary, Chief Executive Officer Alex Adjei Bram adviced the company’s employees to utilize the years ahead saying, “Whatever our reasons for coming to work every day – let us ensure it is bigger than us. That a good reason – and there are many – is simply not great enough.”

In an email to the company’s team, Alex Bram reiterated his commitment to the vision the founders laid out over a decade ago that technology could empower the world, and asked staff never to forget what it can do to change lives.

Here’s the full anniversary letter to employees:

Dear All,

Just over a decade ago Twitter was a bird sound, WWW was a stuck keyboard, a Cloud was only in the sky, 4G was a ticketing booth at the trade fair, Google was a baby’s burp, Skype and WhatsApp were typos and SMS was simply the Super Morning Show.

Our world is changing so fast and information technology has become so important that it is technology itself. And who can lay a better claim — by 2050 the world will be home to more than 10 billion people, and technology will play a key role in the way we organise and get people to engage.

But before you even think we are well on our way, think yet of how far behind Africa is. Here in Ghana among the many problems of the land, we still battle with availability of the most basic ingredient of the information technology age – electricity.

I remember one of our very first founders meetings to start a company… and after laying out our first set of working policies, Leslie says to us, ‘Gentlemen, let us go challenge the accepted wisdom’. That statement remains true today. It resonates of innovation to re-invent a better way of doing things, of creating useful things and of responsibility in doing so.

Today as we celebrate our 11th anniversary, it is important to remind ourselves why we do what we do.

We do it for a better tomorrow – for our society, our country, for our continent.

Sometimes it takes us years to figure out even the very product of our intended change, sometimes we spend years convincing people and organisations of that change, and other times we are not even as proud of the outcome of our efforts, but throughout all of the past 11 years we always march on — in the single belief that technology applied right will someday contribute to speedy development of Africa.

I believe a company is simply a conspiracy to change the world. And with all the tools, skills, talent and market opportunities we have at our disposal, there exists a real chance for us here to make a real contribution towards a better society.

As I said at the beginning of the year, we are pioneers at this. We don’t want to just build a good company. We want to be a part of the history of a great company. What we do today should it be successful must impact generations to come.

On our trip to Silicon Valley we learned of how a single company started by 2 university roommates, Hewlett and Packard along with the hardwork of many others (just like you), impacted a small community, then a city, then the state and country, and today Sillicon Valley represents the 4th largest GDP and provides employment and opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people and has been a source of great pride for many men and women who help start it.

Whatever our reasons for coming to work every day – let us ensure it is bigger than us. That a good reason – and there are many – is simply not great enough. That the 11th anniversary motto is ‘In Pursuit of a Great Company’.

Thank you all.

Happy Anniversary.

MYtxtBOX offers you more reason to use Email messaging to interact with your customers and audience.

For as low as GHS0.008 per message, you can send emails to your customers, making MYtxtBOX Email the preferred messaging choice for businesses.

Enjoy the freedom that you deserve with MYtxtBOX Email’s pay-as-you-go service. Top up anytime, at your convenience because MYtxtBOX was created with the budgets of small businesses in mind.

We’re excited to announce that SMS Global Holdings (SMSGH) was one of a number of global business giants selected by the Stanford University in Silicon Valley, in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, for its annual Stanford African Business Forum.

Co-founders of the company, Mr Alexander Adjei Bram and Mr Ernest Appenteng, along with Chief Technology Officer, Mr Kwadwo Seinti and Board Chairman took a trip out to Silicon Valley to present our work to leading entrepreneurs and change pioneers from Africa and the world on April 23, 2016.

The annual Stanford African Business Forum (SABF) is the premier networking opportunity for African business interests for the Stanford and larger Bay Area community. This year, SABF celebrated thought leaders and changemakers on the African continent with the overarching theme of reimagining development through creating local value. The theme “Creating Local Value” captured the rise of African consumers, companies and innovations, and the growth of African economies. The forum showcased how enterprising individuals and organizations across Africa are meeting the growing needs of Africans.

CEO of SMSGH, Alexander Adjei Bram, explained before his trip to Silicon Valley: “Africa is emerging as a hub of start-ups in a wide range of areas and we aspire to take this further. We want the world to see our innovation capabilities in the startup sector. At this event, a group of African businesses will showcase their innovations and forge partnerships with the vibrant American business industry.”

“Personally I think this is one of the best times to be in Africa. There’s a lot of growth. I think in the last few years there has been a lot of capital infusion into the continent, which is providing part of the much-needed seed capital to grow. It’s pretty awesome to see how the African business is developing its own mark on the world and to be a part of that,” he added.

The Stanford African Business Forum had in attendance a number of Ghanaian speakers including Patrick Awuah (Founder & President, Ashesi University College) and Eric M.K. Osiakwan (Managing Partner, Chanzo Capital).

Others from Africa and beyond include Hans Nilsson (Board Chairman, SMS Global Holdings), Paul Mfonfu (Tools and Client Engineering Team head, PayPal), Teju Ajani (Youtube, Content partnerships lead, SSA) and Jessica Vernon (Co-founder & Director, Miti Health), who spoke on topics ranging from the Future of Content Creation and Distribution in Africa, Business Models in Financial Services to Investing in Africa.

As a keynote speaker at the event itself, Alexander Adjei Bram addressed participants on the theme “Driving Business Productivity Through Technology – Enabled Platforms,” expanding on how technology can unlock value for African businesses to better serve customers, run more efficiently, make communication simpler and more affordable, and create employment opportunities.

He shared the SMSGH success story with the Stanford community and results of the technology company’s participation in the Stanford Seed Transformation Program that began in 2014.

Silicon Valley and SMSGH are both leaders in innovation. Silicon Valley, home to major technology companies, start-ups and prestigious universities, is the world’s top innovative hub. Cooperation with Valley-based companies and institutions offers exciting prospects for SMSGH, while expanding business networks for better future collaboration.

90 percent of text messages get read within 3 minutes of delivery according to one study from 2011.

Most of your customers have a mobile phone and studies show that about 98% keep their phones within an arm’s reach. This implies that, they are very likely to reach for it at the sound of a beep or at the blink of an LED light. Bulk SMS then offers constant access to your customers.

Why SMS Campaigns?

1. SMS messaging is very popular.       Chances are that you have your phone next to you as you read this and will pick it up as soon as it beeps….and so will the 4 billion users worldwide.
2. SMS Messaging is intimate. The people you engage in via your SMS campaigns will more often than not opt to receive messages from you, because they trust you. Whatever information you send via SMS is guaranteed to reach an audience genuinely interested in your message. Don’t forget to personalize your messages by including your customer’s name and using a unique Sender ID.
3. SMS is flexible and responsive: When you’re launching a new product/service or business is slow, the fastest way to reach your customers is via SMS. You cut out the stress of using other mediums which may require more resources, making SMS Campaigns a more convenient choice in terms of pricing.
4. Instant feedback: SMS is a convenient way to ask your customer for feedback on services provided. Their responses will inform how you do business in the future. Offering freebies or discounts? People love bargains and are bound to respond to SMS campaigns almost immediately.
5. Less is more. In 160 characters, you can send your message across concisely and get your audience’s attention.

Convinced? Sign up at www.mytxtbox.com

Analyzing past campaigns is crucial to improving results in the future. SMSGH has added a new feature – Daily digests – on its messaging platform, MYtxtBOX. By introducing this, customers will receive daily and weekly reports on their account usage and balance notifications.

Importance of reports and balance notifications for Bulk SMS Campaigns

Every SMS you send out is important to you and your target market. Daily digests help account managers monitor and measure effectiveness of SMS Campaigns in the following ways:

• Track results: Our delivery reports provide detailed information on the status of each message you send.
• Have control of your account. Imagine that you have to send an urgent SMS broadcast to you customers, and log into your account and realize your account balance is too low. Receiving prompts when your account is low on messaging credits will avoid any such disappointments. Just as your bank account notifications are important to you, so should your bulk SMS account. Get notifications when your account reaches a threshold (set by you). Don’t wait till it is urgent to top up.
• Plan your SMS Campaigns. Daily reports on your SMS campaigns will inform your decisions when planning your next SMS Campaign. For premium messaging, you are in a better position to determine which of your subscribers to target or put more marketing efforts into.

With these you can customize your approach to customer engagement and marketing for SMS subscriptions to drive productivity.

Don’t have an account? Visit www.mytxtbox.com and sign up

Source: Morgan Stanley

Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) hosted this year’s SME Business fair in Takoradi for interaction and networking opportunities for SMEs within the Western Region.

The two-day MTN SME Business Fair, organized under the theme “Accelerating SME growth with smart ICT solutions and partnerships” officially opened on 23^rd March 2016 at the Akroma Plaza in Takoradi . The fair brought together about a number of companies including SMSGH Solutions Limited, Fidelity Bank, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), GCB Bank, TXT Ghana, Glico and other businesses, who engaged participants in various products/ services they offer.

Participants had the opportunity to experience MTN’s ICT offers which includes Corporate Voice Solutions, Internet Messaging Solutions, Data Centre Services and Security Solutions. Other products showcased included MTN’s vehicle tracking devices, modems, routers, and corporate devices.

SMSGH, one of MTN’s leading partners was privileged to be a part of this event and had the opportunity to present to participants one of its products MYtxtBOX. Mr. Emmanuel Offei talked about the various advantages of using the right communication tools for customer engagement, explaining the benefits of using MYtxtBOX, its features and various offerings especially the recently launched MYtxtBOX Email.

Visitors at the SMSGH booth were taken through live demonstrations on various features of MYtxtBOX such as the #HashTag for feedback; real time messaging reports; multimedia messaging; voice messaging; e-mail messaging among others.

The Business Fair was proudly sponsored by MTN in partnership with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Western Ghana Chamber of Commerce.

Email is an essential tool for most businesses to communicate and connect with both employees and customers. The proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices have increased the percentage of emails people read on the go.

Why Email Messaging Is Important For Your Business.

The world is going mobile – and email is going with it. Today’s customer is at the center of sales and marketing, and in order to satisfy their needs, you have to understand and provide before they even realize their need for it. Here is why you should use email messaging:

• Keep your customers informed of new products/services
• Retain customers through constant communication
• Provide information of interest to your customers.
• It’s a very affordable, effective means of customer outreach
• Your audience has gone mobile and receiving emails is only as easy as they receiving SMS messages
• Grow your social network followings by including links to your social media platforms at the bottom of your emails to help your contacts easily subscribe

SMSGH recently launched MYtxtBOX Email offering its customers multiple channels to engage with their audience. Business owners who want to reach their customers using email can do so online here.

MTN Business is hosting its maiden edition of its immensely popular business Fair in Takoradi. MTN Business is the business unit of MTN Ghana responsible for providing innovative and cutting edge communication services to small-large businesses and institutions in an effort to enable and inspire growth.

This year’s event slated for the 23^rd and 24^th March at the Akroma Plaza and Takoradi Market Circle, will expose small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to smart solutions that address challenges they face in running their businesses.

One of MTN’S leading partners, SMSGH Solutions Limited, who has over the years contributed to the growth of businesses, is one of the major exhibiters at the fair. SMSGH has innovative tools and solutions for SMEs to help boost productivity, enhance customer experience and promote business growth.

If you are interested in finding out more about our business solutions, meet us at the MTN Business Fair on the 23^rd and 24^th March 2016 at the Akroma Plaza and Market Circle respectively, or go through our website. You can also send an email at [email protected]

Don’t forget to add it to your schedule.

Top local mobile value added service (VAS) providers who constitute the Wireless Applications Services Providers Association of Ghana (WASPAG) have suspended all their services on Airtel citing unfair revenue share.

Director of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs for WASPAG, Conrad Nyuur told Adom News that, the mobile network provider, like all other telcos, have over the years been imposing unfair revenue share arrangements on VAS players but this time round “they went too far”.

He explained that Airtel is one of the telcos that keeps 70% of revenue generated by services of VAS providers and gives 30% to the VAS providers, who in turn share their portion with content owners and App developers.

“That revenue share arrangement is bad enough, but just this year they wrote to us and said they will now keep 80% and give us 20% but we resisted and they reviewed it to 75% to 25%, but we still insist it is unfair,” he said.

Nyuur said they therefore gave Airtel one month notice to reverse the decision and that one month ended on March 16, 2016, but they have still not heard anything from Airtel so they have suspended all their services on Airtel until they reserve the decision.

By this action, all premium-rated and subscribed services such as all SMS-based services, caller ring back tone (CRBT), MMS or WAP content services and even some voice services have all been cancelled on the mobile network operator.

This means customers who subscribe to those services, some of which are essential, would no longer enjoy the services until Airtel reaches a compromise with their local VAS partners.

Nyuur noted that this is not the first time VAS players have had to boycott Airtel, saying that in the first instance, Airtel and Tigo failed to pay that exact amount due VAS players as reflected in mutually reconciled financial statement.

“They insisted on paying what they unilaterally collated and we lost money because we had then paid our content providers based on what the reconciled statement said,” he lamented.

He said initially the local VAS players had a 50-50 revenue share arrangement with Airtel but they kept scrapping off part of the share of VAS players every year and claiming it is based on orders from their headquarters in India.

Nyuur said “to add insult to injury”, the network even imposed their Indian-based sister company called ComViva on the local VAS players to play middle man for CRBT services.

“ComViva is nothing but a content provider like us but Airtel forced us to give our content to them in India and then they place it on the Airtel network in Ghana and that has reduced our share of the revenue from CRBT to 11% and not 30% as agreed,” he said.

He said WASPAG is particularly surprised at Airtel because, in India where it is headquartered, it gives VAS players up to 70% of the VAS revenue, but it has decided to shortchange VAS players in Ghana.

“The protest to Airtel’s imposition of unfair revenue share arrangement was necessary because we have endured that unfair cycle for years, where one telco scoops some of our revenue off and once they succeed the other telcos follow and we keep losing,” he noted.

Nyuur said WASPAG is very worried that so far, the telecoms industry regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA) is not providing any real protection for VAS players after licensing special number resources to them at a fee.

He said the last time VAS players took an issue regarding Airtel to NCA, the regulator said it could not interfere in commercial arrangements between two private entities, “but when we suspended our services the NCA said we should restore the services to customers while we negotiate with Airtel.

“We feel that was double standards on the part of the NCA because our commercial arrangement with telcos is always about the customer so why would NCA stay off the arrangement which has ramifications for the customer,” he asked.

Meanwhile, since the WASPAG members suspended their services, Airtel is said to have started feeling the pinch so its officials have called WASPAG for a meeting later today to discuss the way forward, after ignoring the VAS providers all this while.

AIRTEL

Airtel officials reached on the matter confirmed they are aware of the issue but declined comment until after negotiating with the VAS players.

But until then, all VAS services provided by WASPAG members to Airtel customers remain suspended.

WASPAG

WASPAG represents over 20 top VAS providers in the country, and they include MobileContent, SMSGH, TXTGhana, Rancard and many others.

SMSGH has launched Email Messaging on MYtxtBOX in addition to its SMS and Voice messaging. The primary aim is to give users multiple channels to engage with their audience.

MYtxtBOX is a communication tool useful for businesses and individuals to reach a large number of people through bulk messaging. The addition of email messaging is in response to the demands of customers for messaging content that promotes visual advertising.

Research shows that more than 85% of internet users use email and users have a one-stop communication tool that improves customer satisfaction, saves costs, and inevitably increases revenue.

Features

• Create your own marketing campaigns using Email messaging on MYtxtBOX
• Professionally designed email templates for different email campaigns.
• Preview to check how your emails will look like.
• About 60% cheaper than most email messaging providers
• Pay-as-you-go service

MYtxtBOX remains the most effective communication tool useful for reaching a large number of people with personalized information at the lowest costs.

Send an email on www.MYtxtBOX.com

Over the years, SMS has proven to be a cost-effective communication channel with a 98% open rate. It is accessible by both feature phones and smartphones. Knowing the right SMS pricing plan to use can greatly help you reach your target audience.

The following are useful tips to guide you to choose the right SMS pricing plan.

1. Remain Within Character Limit.

To remain within character limit, you have to take note of the pricing scheme used by your SMS provider. Most SMS providers price an SMS based on the number of characters in the message.

A normal SMS has a maximum limit of 160 characters. For example, if you send a message of 180 characters, you will be charged for the price of two message bodies.

You can adopt shorthand texts to ensure that you use the fewest number of characters possible but still convey your message in the most comprehensible form. For example you can replace for your information with FYI or adopt emoticons.

2. Segment Your Contact List

You can also reduce your messaging costs greatly by ensuring that you are not sending messages to people on your contact list who may not be your target audience.

You can segment your contact list into various groups to ensure that you target your communication at the right audience.

The people who are really in need of your message are most likely going to act on the information you provide them.

3. Take Advantage of Price Discounts

Another point to consider is price discounts. You can take advantage of discount offers that come with high volume thresholds. At SMSGH we offer competitive discounted prices for clients who send lots of messages.

4. Choose The Right SMS Provider

Finally, it is very important to choose the right SMS provider that offers you with the best pricing plan to meets your needs.

You do not want to make the painful mistake of engaging the services of a poor SMS provider. A poor provider will hurt your reputation with your audience with system failures. They will also increase your cost of messaging in re-engaging the services of a better provider.

Note that choosing the right SMS pricing plan is key to the success of your communication.

Contact our sales team at sales@smsgh for more information. You can also check out our pricing page for more details www.smsgh.com/pricing.

Create a free account on MYtxtBox to receive free credit for your messaging needs.

Is it bad to charge your phone overnight? What about charging an iPhone with an iPad adapter? Tech myths… whew!!!

Despite how often we use devices like smartphones and laptops, we have plenty of questions about how they work. And with so much information out there — not all of it true — it’s hard to know if we’re treating our electronics properly.

We’re here to debunk some of the biggest tech myths and misconceptions out there.

Mac computers can’t get viruses

Yes, Apple computers are susceptible to malware, too. Apple used to brag its computers aren’t as vulnerable as Windows PCs to viruses, but the company quickly changed its marketing page after a Trojan affected thousands of Mac computers in 2012.

Private/Incognito browsing keeps you anonymous

There’s a misconception that “incognito” and “private” are synonymous with anonymous. If you’re using Incognito Mode in Google Chrome or Private browsing in Safari, it simply means the browser won’t keep track of your history, import your bookmarks, or automatically log into any of your accounts. Basically, it’s good for keeping other people who use your computer from seeing what you’ve been doing. But it won’t keep your identity hidden from the sites you visit or your ISP — so keep that in mind if you’re visiting sites you shouldn’t be.

Leaving your phone plugged in destroys the battery

If you’re like most people, you probably leave your phone plugged in overnight long after the battery is fully charged. Some used to say this would hurt your phone’s battery life, but in fact, there’s no proof that this damages your phone’s battery in any way. Modern smartphones run on lithium-ion batteries, which are smart enough to stop charging when they’ve reached capacity.

You should always let your iPhone battery completely die before recharging

This, too, is a popular myth. Apple points out that its modern lithium ion batteries mean that “You complete one charge cycle when you’ve used (discharged) an amount that equals 100% of your battery’s capacity — but not necessarily all from one charge.”

More megapixels always means a better camera

What’s the difference between 12-megapixel cameras and 8-megapixel cameras? Not much, as it turns out. The quality of an image is determined in large part by how much light the sensor is able to take in. Bigger sensors may come with larger pixels, and the larger the pixel the more light it can absorb. So, it’s really the size of the pixels that matter as much or more than the sheer number of pixels. (A megapixel is simply shorthand for a million pixels.)

Here’s how TechCrunch’s Matthew Panzarino, who’s also a professional photographer, describes the role of the pixel: “Think of this as holding a thimble in a rain storm to try to catch water. The bigger your thimble, the easier it is to catch more drops in a shorter amount of time.” The thimble is a metaphor for a pixel — using a few buckets would be much more efficient than a bunch of thimbles for catching water.

Higher display resolution is always better on a smartphone

Some have argued that at a certain point, screen resolution doesn’t matter on a smartphone. Gizmodo cites experts in saying the human eye can’t discern nitty-gritty detail when a display packs more than 300 pixels per inch. Earlier this year, LG unveiled its first quad-HD smartphone, the G3, which has a resolution of 2560 x 1440. That’s much higher than the average high-end smartphone, which usually comes with a 1920 x 1080 resolution display.

But it’s unclear if those numbers really matter after a certain point because the eye can’t discern individual pixels beyond a certain resolution. When I tested the G3’s display alongside the 1080 Galaxy S5’s display, there was hardly a difference in terms of sharpness — that’s why companies like Apple tend to focus on brightness, more so than ultra-dense displays.

It’s bad to use your iPad charger for your iPhone

This one is a little trickier than a standard “yes or no” answer. Apple’s official website says its 12-watt iPad adapter can charge both the iPhone and the iPad. However, Steve Sandler, founder and chief technical officer at electronics analysis company AEi Systems, told Popular Mechanics that this could stress your iPhone’s battery over time if you do it regularly. It would take about a year, however, to notice any changes in battery efficiency.

You shouldn’t shut down your computer every day.

While some may believe it’s harmful to shut down your computer every night, the truth is it’s actually good to turn off your computer regularly. It’s easy to get into the habit of putting your laptop in sleep mode so you can easily return to it without having to boot up. But, as Lifehacker points out, shutting it down when not in use conserves power and places less stress on its components, which could enable it to last longer.

Holding a magnet close to your computer will erase all of its data.

This technically isn’t wrong — you may remember how easy it was to wipe a floppy disk using a magnet back in the day. But you would need a really, really big magnet to wipe out your computer’s hard drive. Experts told PCMag that hard drives on modern computers would only be susceptible to really strong magnets with really focused magnetic fields. So your average refrigerator magnet wouldn’t do the trick.

Cell phones give you brain cancer

Although cell phones emit radiation that can be absorbed by human tissue, there isn’t any conclusive evidence showing that cell phones actually cause cancer.

Here’s what a report from the National Cancer Institute in the USA says:

Although there have been some concerns that radiofrequency energy from cell phones held closely to the head may affect the brain and other tissues, to date there is no evidence from studies of cells, animals, or humans that radiofrequency energy can cause cancer.

More signal bars guarantees great cell service

While having more bars helps service, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee excellent reception. The bars just indicate how close you are to the nearest cell tower. But there are other factors that impact how fast the internet on your phone performs, such as how many people are currently using the network.

Credit: Tech Insider

Over 130 million mobile money transactions in 2015¹, 5 million mobile wallets and a population of over 25 million². These times signify limitless possibilities for commerce in Ghana!

In the ever-evolving world of business, a key differentiating factor between businesses that lead the pack and those that are left behind is their ability to rapidly adopt new technologies that increase productivity and outcomes. The local Ghanaian business scene is no different.

Cashless Payments, The Next Business Driver

When it comes to accepting cashless payments for goods and services, mobile payments is becoming the major technological driver. This has been due to its unique characteristic and ability to reach both the underbanked and unbanked sectors of the economy who form 80% of Ghana’s population. There has never been a better time to assess your business’ readiness to exploit the emerging opportunity for commerce in a cashless economy than now.

From cash to cheques, to credit cards and debit cards, and now to online banking and mobile commerce, payment methods and rise of mobile phone penetration is changing the way business accept payments!

MPower Payments, the foremost digital payments enabler in Ghana is propelling new innovative channels for businesses seeking to benefit from the cashless revolution. MPower recently introduced the MPower Mobile Point of Sale application (mPOS) to allow businesses operating from any physical location to accept various forms of cashless payments.

mPOS is designed to work across a wide spectrum of industries; from supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, salons, small shops, to delivery agents. No matter the business size, mPOS is easy to set up for various store locations or at multiple sales points within a single store.

Customers purchasing from mPOS enabled merchants can choose their preferred mode of payment – be it their MPower wallet, mobile money on any network or bank card. The mobile nature of mPOS means the point at which payments is made is not restricted to stationary cash registers and this can potentially go a long way to reduce queues. Businesses on the other hand will no longer lose sales from customers carrying limited cash. mPOS simplifies daily sales management and eliminates the risk of transporting physical cash to the bank.

MPower seeks to make mPOS accessible to every businesses by removing the financial barriers to inclusion hence set up is currently free.

Get started at www.mpower.com.gh or call MPower on 0202532273 to request a demo.

–First published on www.GhanaWeb.com