Marketing is often seen as something hard on the environment, especially if direct mailing or physically visiting clients is involved. Managers have emphasized digital communication even more as a result, but there are at least some environmental problems associated with this too.
The Short Message Service’s Footprint
Companies that plan on using SMS broadcasting services to reduce their carbon footprint could actually be doing the planet a favor if they’re currently invested in an expensive plan that sends business representatives all over the country. Even smaller businesses that have their agents fly commercially will still see a huge improvement by switching at least some of their sales workflows over to SMS broadcasting.
Legacy communications methods such as direct mail and fax broadcasting use a lot of paper as well as ink, bleach and other chemicals needed to process it. This can become a major issue for anyone who has to send messages to more than a few people.
Switching over toSMS broadcasting software technology can completely eliminate the problem of using any physical medium to get a message out. Considering that other methods of broadcasting a message already consume at least some electricity, local power concerns normally aren’t an issue. However, what happens at the facilities where texts get processed is a different story.
Water Usage at Data Centers
Technicians normally wouldn’t associate telephone company central office buildings with the consumption of water, but it’s quickly becoming an issue in drought-stricken areas. Data centers use water in two different ways. The first and most obvious comes in the form of cooling systems. Radiator cartridges are used to keep down the heat that individual servers have to dissipate. That becomes a major issue for electronic switching systems that manage a large number of texts over a brief period of time.
Electrical generation is the other way in which these facilities use water. Both hydroelectric dams and coal-fired power facilities require operators to divert water to some degree. While hydroelectric power doesn’t release much in the way of carbon emissions, environmental problems still exist. Organizations that are working on reducing their overall footprint will want to keep this in mind when selecting greener energy sources.
Solar power is normally the greenest in this respect, and several major wireless carriers have started to invest in solar generation systems that help to feed their central office buildings. All of this tends to be out of the hands of the individual operating as a broadcaster, though, so it might be best to focus on issues that are a little closer to home.
Greening Local Software Operations
Using an efficient SMS solution that works with standard personal computer hardware can help to reduce energy consumption since these machines will normally consume much less power than a large automated server would have.
Working with an outside organization that offers this kind of service can also help things along since they’re usually invested in the most efficient equipment possible. Trying to do everything with on-premise machinery will generate a lot of extra waste heat anyway, so sourcing the SMS broadcasting process to someone else is usually a greener choice.
Reusing existing equipment is also a great idea. Many technology shops will end up with a huge collection of surplus gear they don’t immediately use for. Dedicating at least some of this to SMS broadcasting can reduce the need to purchase new computers or mobile phone handsets. Considering the negative environmental effects of the kind of rechargeable batteries used in cell phones, sticking with conventional equipment might be best.
Headless operation is a great option for those who want to cut things down as far as they could go. This involves setting up a machine to send SMS messages without input automatically. Once they’re up and running, there’s no need to provide power to a display screen.
No marketing method is going to be completely green, but SMS broadcasting is much better than many of the alternatives. With a little bit of work, it can be part of a multi-pronged approach to greening a company’s overall operations.
