Baylor Comes Under Fire For Emergency Text Message System Use

admin    Text Messaging     Baylor, emergency text message

A recent emergency text message system use by Baylor University had many students scared and their fears were reasonable based on the message that was sent.

While our emergency text message system can be also be used for general campus information, it is recommended that the two be kept separate.  If that is not possible, it is at least best to note that this is not an emergency message in some fashion.

Baylor students received these text messages last Wednesday. After confusion stemming from the first message, the university sent a second text message of clarification.

Employment: Marketing – Wayne, PA Office

admin    Company News     employment, job, marketing, part time, pennsylvania, wayne

Advanced Telecom Services has an immediate opening for a part-time marketing associate in Wayne, Pennsylvania.  –>

Text Message Marketing

Market Watch Joins QR Code Craze

admin    QR Codes     Advanced Telecom, Bob Bentz, QR Codes

MarketWatch from Dow Jones has joined the QR Code craze by mentioning Advanced Telecom Services in its article about the latest happening in the mobile marketing world.  The article reviewed the authors that appeared in the USA Today article about mobile marketing on Friday, September 9, 2011, including Advanced Telecom Services’ own Bob Bentz.

Mobile Web Sites Becoming More Critical for Businesses

admin    Cell Phones, mobile marketing     Mobile Apps, mobile web sites

More and more Americans are accessing the web from their mobile phone.  In fact, nearly 100 million consumers are forecast to be on the mobile web this year in the USA.  That makes having a mobile web site and an app an increasingly important proposition.

She uses apps

The U.S. mobile web population will grow nearly 25% this year as 97 million mobile owners log on to the internet from their device at least monthly, according to a new report from eMarketer. By 2015, more than three in five mobile users and almost half the total U.S. population will be using the mobile web.

Most of the growth will come from increased smartphone penetration, which will reach 38% of mobile users and 29% of the overall population by the end of this year. The number of smartphone users is set to increase by half this year and continue growing at a steady double-digit pace through 2015, when nearly 150 million U.S. consumers will have such a device.

Mobile internet usage is still heaviest among young adults — about half of 18-34 year-olds are logging on to the mobile web this year. But usage is on the rise among older adults as well. With consumers flocking to the mobile web in record numbers, marketers are close behind.

A new Forrester report projects mobile to be fastest-growing interactive advertising category with a compound annual growth rate of 38% between now and 2016, more than double that of the total interactive marketing spend. “The rapidly expanding smartphone and mobile internet user populations raise the stakes for marketers and make the mobile web more of an imperative than ever,” says Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst for mobile.

ATS Remembers 9-11

admin    Company News     9-11, office

ATS remembers 9-11

by Bob Bentz

There are poignant moments in everybody’s lives that they always remember.  Decades later, people will ask “where were you when…”

Such are the memories of 9-11 and my experiences at Advanced Telecom Services.

I recall driving to the office and listening to my then favorite radio show The Howard Stern Show.  It was 8:46 am when the first plane hit the Twin Towers.  That’s how I first heard about it; on the Howard Stern Show of all places.

As I arrived at the office a few minutes later along with many of the staff, the office talk was all about the airplane that crashed into the Twin Towers. I had the only television in the office at the time.   The team gathered in my office and we watched on over the air television about the reports of the plane crash.

There were about 25 of us in the office getting the latest updates when a second airplane crashed into the second Twin Tower at 9:03 am.  Then, the third plane that crashed into The Pentagon and the final plane that the passengers courageously down in rural Pennsylvania.  All crashed within a 120 mile radius of our offices in suburban Philadelphia.

On this day, the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 disaster, we are happy that Osama Bin Laden is no longer a direct threat to our country and the rest of the world.

On this day, we remember those who perished on 9-11 ten years ago.

ATS Staff at Penn State

admin    Company News     Alabama, football game, Penn State

Several members of the ATS staff attended the Alabama at Penn State game.

Several members of the Advanced Telecom Services staff celebrated an outstanding quarter by attending the Alabama at Penn State game on September 10, 2011.  The Crimson Tide rolled to a 27-11 victory.

Sexier than Skin

admin    QR Codes     QR Codes, Victoria's Secret

Victoria’s Secret QR Codes

When a team wins a championship, a good announcer will take a moment of silence while the viewers at home take in the moment, listen to the crowd, and watch the champions celebrate on the field.

When I saw this QR Code campaign from Victoria’s Secret, I felt the same thing.  What an innovative way to use QR Codes!

Take in the moment for yourself.

40% Now Have Smartphones

admin    Cell Phones, QR Codes     smartphones percent

According to July 2011 data from Nielsen, 40% of all mobile phones in the USA are now smartphones. Android is the most popular operating system, with 40 percent of mobile consumers reporting they have a smartphone with an Android OS. Apple’s iOS is in second place, with 28 percent.

Among those who are planning to get a new smartphone in the next year, 40% will choose Android and 32% will choose an iPhone.

Proliferation of smartphones in the USA certainly leads to increased importance for QR Codes.