Business, sales and mobile expert Frank Tüting joins GTX founder Oliver Zabel and his team in order to prepare for a strong future development in the SMS industry. Tüting has been appointed as managing director to join Oliver in leading the company. 

Oliver, GTX seems to have received a face-lift: You have re-launched your website, you are adding new staff as well as new solutions for GTX customers. What are the most important new features?

OZ: “Let me answer by not answering your question. We do in fact work on additional features each day, but the most important fact is that we offer customers the easiest, most affordable and reliable access to SMS for their business. Our new approach allows virtually any business to implement SMS. We make it as simple as needed, but we are also more than ready to provide high-level support to pinpoint SMS needs and develop individual solutions.”

Frank, is the on-going development of the GTX the reason for you to join the SMS specialist company?

FT: “Yes. I have been working in the SMS industry for more than ten years, but the use cases we promoted back then needed years to become reality. Today, we see SMS plug-ins, add-ons and, for various different tools, applications and software solutions. And: I still think there are many more to come. Next to the already existing business with high volumes, GTX wanted to offer new turnkey solutions to a wide range of potential new customers. That is why they brought me here.”

So, what is your job now at GTX?

FT: “My job at GTX is to support the market entry of GTX’s new features and make sure our technology is ready when we hit the market. I’m also responsible for identifying promising solutions as well as the acquisition of strategic partners in order to develop our company even further. Our goal was and will be to help people and their businesses to use SMS as an easy-to-integrate communication tool. We don’t want to proselytize them to ban messaging apps from their phones. We just think the SMS is still the best way to reach out to customers or business partners in a wide range of use cases, especially in a business-to-consumer context or where reliability has a special value.”

Oliver, what would be your answer to people who say that the SMS is dead?

OZ: “Well, they may be partially right when you’re looking at person-to-person communication. Especially in countries where mobile operators offer data flat rates, users are using more and more OTT messaging services like WhatsApp, Viber or the Facebook messenger. Due to the fact that they can share information, pictures or videos not only with one person but with their friends in group chats at no costs, the personal two-way communication via SMS will fade even more within the next years.”

But that can’t be your whole message, right?

OZ: “On the business side, we do know that there is no alternative to the SMS when it comes to application-to-person, or as we say A2P, messaging. GTX Customers know that the SMS will be delivered to the client’s phone without the need to rely on other factors such as an installed app enabling push messages. The delivery is always guaranteed with SMS, secure and even possible if a client has bad or no internet coverage at his location. That is why banks are using SMS to send PINs or TANs to their customers, doctors are reminding their patients about appointments they have, online shops are converting open shopping carts by sending individual coupons, and fleet management services are sending orders or order changes to their drivers while they are on their way. You see, there are still so many business areas where the SMS could help to overcome organizational difficulties.”

Can you exemplify in which cases the new APIs could help your customers with their SMS messages?

FT: “For example, more than 5.000 users of a certain point-of-sale system will be able to send individual reminders, vouchers or special offers to their customers after registering for a GTX SMS account online. Without the need for any technical integration even customers with small monthly volumes can use our 160 character messages easily and benefit from our new program without any monthly or setup fees. Pay as you go.”

To wrapping this up, Oliver, please give us a short ‘Ode to SMS’. Why is SMS still your favorite medium to use?

OZ: “In more than 20 years, the SMS has gained such a prominent role as the number one communication tool every mobile phone user knows and trusts in. Yes, there are new web-based messaging apps, which provide more functions, but they still can’t match the safety and the sure-handedness the SMS offers. Adding to it, the SMS still makes me think in a 160 character frame while I’m not limited anymore. I think that’s a blessing. We sometimes have forgotten to focus on the important things when we are chatting the whole day. Personally, I like messages to be simple like ‘We’ll meet at 7 at the bar next to my place. See you there’. No need for any additional chatting around this. We’ll see each other later. But that might sound very old-fashioned in a world where everything gets texted, snapchatted or instagramed in a heartbeat. All in all, I still use SMS on a daily basis and won’t stop it any time soon.”

Oliver Zabel is CEO and founder of GTX Messaging. Frank Tüting was recently appointed as managing director to join Oliver in leading the company.

 

ABOUT

GTX Messaging

Your message. Delivered., GTX Messaging

GTX Messaging was founded in 2006 as a mobile messaging specialist of Venista Ventures from Cologne. Our small team is working together since the 90s and consists of technology experts, network specialists, a studded field service and highly competent customer service. GTX is pursuing the goal of becoming one of the most innovative providers with global SMS services for B2B customers. Here GTX offers a unique combination of global reach, reliable technology and reasonable prices.