Back before the internet, people had to rely on text messages to communicate with each other. SMS stands for Short Message Service, and MMS is short for Multimedia Messaging Service. These two types of services are often confused by those not around when they first came out. This blog post will help you understand what these two technologies are and how they compare to one another so that you can stay up-to-date in this digital age, especially if using them for your business.
What Are the Differences Between SMS and MMS?
Many people usually get confused when trying to explain the difference between SMS and MMS. This recent article does a great job explaining the differences between Multimedia Messaging Services and Short Message systems. Both of these technologies are used to send text messages, but there is one key difference. MMS will allow you to include pictures or videos with your message, while SMS does not.
SMS technology was first introduced to the public in 1992 and stands for Short Message Service. This service allows users to send out text messages that do not exceed 160 characters at a time. Typically, these texts are sent between mobile devices but can also be used on regular cell phones as long as you have an available SMS plan subscription from your wireless carrier.
MMS technology was first introduced to the public in 1998 and stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. This service allows users to send texts that contain pictures or videos of any media file type, including GIFs and emojis, between mobile devices. Like SMS, you can also use MMS on regular cell phones as long as you have an available messaging plan from your wireless carrier.
Who Uses SMS over MMS?
Even though MMS is more popular technology, there are still some people out there that prefer SMS. This may be because they were around before the internet came along, and for them, it’s just easier to remember what SMS stands for than MMS.
Both SMS and MMS are great technologies to use in business, but it might be better to use them depending on what you need for the best results. If you want to send pictures or videos, then use MMS. However, if your business needs text messaging between mobile devices but does not cross borders, then SMS is the best method for this job.
When it comes to cost, SMS is typically less expensive than MMS. However, if you use a lot of text messages and cross borders frequently, then it might be better to pay for an unlimited messaging plan from your wireless carrier so that the costs do not add up quickly.
What Are the Advantages of Using an MMS Over a Text Message?
Now that you understand how different SMS and MMS are, here is a list of their advantages.
MMS allows for multimedia content to be included within your text while SMS does not. You can send pictures or videos with an MMS message, but this isn’t possible with SMS messages without using some other third-party software program.
With SMS, you can only communicate with another user if they have an available messaging plan through the same wireless carrier. However, MMS allows your texts to be sent between different carriers and mobile networks without any trouble because of its advanced header options.
MMS messages tend to get delivered faster than their text counterparts due to routing issues in SMS. If your business needs to communicate with customers and clients across borders, then MMS is the best method for this job because it does not rely on wireless carrier networks.
What Are Some of the Disadvantages of Using an MMS Over a Text Message?
Even though SMS and MMS have many advantages, there are still some disadvantages when using MMS messaging.
Since multimedia content is included within an MMS, the file size of your texts can be much larger than that of a text message sent through SMS. If you need to send out many messages quickly or over mobile data plans with limited monthly usage, sending them as an MMS might not be ideal.
MMS messages may take a bit longer to get delivered than SMS texts due to routing issues. If your business needs fast messaging between mobile devices, then you should consider using an MMS only if it’s necessary for multimedia purposes or cross-border communication.
In conclusion, there are some major advantages to using MMS over SMS, but there isn’t a clear winner between the two. The best way to choose which one you should use is by choosing what’s most important for your business and how it will benefit from using either technology. Some companies provide different plans for SMS and MMS, so if you need to use both for your business, their services might be a great option.