news & events

In this recent Shogun article, iconectiv’s Cliff Holsenbeck discusses how SMS marketing can be valuable to ecommerce businesses. Text messaging via shortcodes can offer the perfect opportunity for ecommerce businesses to engage in two-way text conversations with their consumers. With over 275 million smartphone users in the U.S. alone, there is a wide pool of potential customers. Data also shows that at the beginning of 2020, SMS was already averaging 2,755% ROI for ecommerce marketers — not too far behind email’s ROI of 3,800%.

In this Vanilla Plus article, iconectiv’s chief product officer Michael O’Brien discusses how understanding the real perception of consumer trust in communications these days is hard to know exactly because so many factors play into it. Over 76% of consumers no longer answer calls from unfamiliar and unidentified numbers, letting them drop into voice mail instead. Some contact center operators say that outbound call answer rates are down 30%.

In 2020, COVID-19 accelerated digital transformations that were expected to take several years. This article explores three ways that consumer trust in communications will evolve in 2021: mobile numbers will become your ID, the notion of privacy will get even more fluid and businesses can expect to face an identity crisis.

With 96 percent of Americans owning a mobile phone, human resources professionals are starting to see the benefits of tools like mobile messaging via short codes, chatbots and other forms of automation when it comes to adding an extra layer of personal connection to their recruiting efforts. In this article, iconectiv’s Cliff Holsenbeck explores short code messaging, the less explored channel of communication between recruiters and candidates that can be used to smoothly conduct recruitment conversations.

Over the last two years, retailers have been exploring the use of text messaging in addition to their email marketing. 2021 is likely to see SMS messaging supersede email messaging as retail’s gold standard for messaging channels. In this article, iconectiv’s Cliff Holsenbeck gives advice for retailers looking to utilize SMS messaging in their retail strategy.

As countries implement SHAKEN-based Calling Number Verification Services, for verifying legitimate calls and rebuilding consumer trust in caller ID, the industry needs to consider the impact on international call traffic. To ensure businesses are not disadvantaged, there is a need for authoritative guidelines for international service providers, to ensure the rules for handling their calls are clearly understood. Watch this executive broadcast with leaders in STIR/SHAKEN, here and abroad.

Consumer trust in communications must transcend all touch points – from voice to messaging to chatbot interactions. Trust should not be a nice-to-have, it should be an expectation. In this executive broadcast, iconectiv’s CPO Mike O’Brien explores omni-channel verification and how the ecosystem—from technology vendors, service providers, messaging providers, enterprises and regulators—can collaborate to deliver trusted communications.