Messaging | vSMS

2 min read

Businesses across the globe send trillions of SMS messages to their consumers every year because they understand that the SMS engagement rates are very high when compared to email. Nearly 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of receiving them, which thereby makes SMS the best communication channel for businesses. However, from a consumer’s perspective, it can become really difficult in ascertaining the trustworthiness of these messages as they are sent from random numbers. 

The absence of branding remains one of the known limitations of SMS, which is causing a hindrance for businesses in establishing the element of trust among their end-users. The present day’s safety-conscious consumers find it extremely difficult to filter out genuine business messages from the fake ones as they receive tons of messages from various brands every single day.

What can businesses do to build trust?

If businesses can do more to instill confidence among their consumers by proving that they are trusted senders, it will significantly improve their engagement and relationship with their consumers. Recently, Google introduced a new feature known as Verified SMS to help businesses enhance their conversations with end-users, build trust, and prevent scams. Google’s initiative to enable business verification for SMS will certainly be a game-changer when it comes to business SMS messaging. 

Similar to how the verified checkmark on social media platforms indicates the trustworthiness of a business page, verified SMS brings the same badging and verification to messaging. This new feature will enable businesses to display their brand name and a business logo along with a verification badge when sending SMS to consumers. 

How does vSMS work?

When vSMS is activated and the user receives a message from a business that is registered with Google, Google translates the message that the user receives into an unreadable authenticity code on the user’s device. Google then compares this code with unreadable authenticity codes that were sent to the tech giant by businesses. If these codes match, then Google will confirm that the message content was sent by a trustworthy business, and then the users get to see the actual message along with other details about the business such as their logo and their verified icon.

Spam detection and reporting in real-time

Apart from verifying the business which is sending messages, there is an advanced level of spam filtration also available. It warns users of suspected spam and unsafe messages. The consumers can report spam texts in messages at any given time and can block the conversation to stop receiving messages in the future.

Fraudulent messaging is turning out to be a serious issue, with more and more dangerous phishing and spam attempts being sent out. A lot of senders pretend to be businesses or brands that people trust, benefiting from the trust your brand has instilled in consumers.

Ensure that your customers always know it is you by getting your brand name officially verified by Google. Each SMS that you send will be thoroughly verified, so recipients are ensured that the message is sent by a trusted business.