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Telecommunications Want info from a web page? SMS it to yourself
Telecommunications Want info from a web page? SMS it to yourself | Want info from a web page? SMS it to yourself |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Monday, 05 November 2007 | |
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The functionality can be added to a web site for a one off fee of $299 plus a $88.00 annual fee. Website owners have the option of either paying for the SMS messages (18 cents inc GST) or of the end user being charged for these (25 cents inc GST). However while the service is being touted as a benefit to users to gather information from web sites, it is clear that some web site owners see it primarily as means of harvesting mobile phone numbers for marketing campaigns. In the customer testimonials section on the SMSwebinfo web site, one customer says: "We use SMSwebinfo to capture our visiting website customer’s mobile phone numbers, and broadcast SMS to them our upcoming events and promotions. The functionality available in this software is great and has allowed us to direct market to our new and existing customers." This is not made clear to end users when they register to use the service: they see a statement saying "all registrations are confidential". Nor, so far as iTWire could ascertain, is there any means of users opting not to receive unsolicited SMS from web sites using the SMSwebinfo service. iTWire emailed SMSwebinfo seeking clarification of how the service operates, but received no response.{moscomment}
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