Unlocking the Future of Business Messaging: Download the MEF Yearbook 2024

Stay Ahead of the Curve in the Dynamic World of Business Messaging

In today’s mobile-first world, business messaging has become a critical channel for customer engagement, marketing, and authentication. The MEF Business Messaging Yearbook 2024 offers a comprehensive overview of the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Download the MEF Business Messaging Yearbook 2024

The newly released whitepaper, “Optimizing the Customer Experience in Direct Carrier Billing (DCB),” provides an in-depth exploration of how industry stakeholders can improve user satisfaction and drive growth in the DCB ecosystem. Created by the DCB Content & Advertising Working Group, this whitepaper offers actionable insights into enhancing customer engagement across the entire lifecycle, from onboarding to support and retention, particularly in digital content and subscription services.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to help shape the future of DCB and the digital payments ecosystem. Download the whitepaper today and consider joining the working group to contribute to the ongoing development of a sustainable and customer-focused DCB market

This comprehensive guide, a first of its kind, is the result of collaboration among seven industry leaders and twelve contributors, creating a cross-industry resource for navigating the complexities of 10DLC.

It serves as an invaluable resource for brands seeking to harness the power of 10DLC business texting. By understanding the ecosystem, following best practices, and partnering with the right providers, brands can unlock the full potential of 10DLC to enhance customer engagement, drive conversions, and build lasting relationships.

Business messaging has steadily evolved from a series of individual channels siloed into specific use cases to a more interwoven solution where organisations increasingly look to offer communications platform as a service (CPaaS).

At the same time, however, the P2P behaviour of consumers, and different demographic preferences for how organisations actually contact them, has also evolved – largely driven by the growing availability and capabilities of richer channels.

Download this report to learn how digital transformation is modifying the messaging and channel behaviour, experiences and expectations of 9,750 smartphone users across 15 countries surveyed on behalf of MEF by On Device Research.

The ultimate success of RBM will be based on its ubiquity and scale. However, only 15% of all mobile network operators worldwide were in a position to offer RCS Business Messaging (RBM) services as of end-2023, with monetised traffic in just 18 markets and monetised traffic volumes a fraction of those seen on A2P SMS.

In this document, MEF’s Basic RCS Working Group (established in January 2023) focuses on creating momentum behind the adoption of RBM by positioning Basic RCS (160-character text messages sent via RCS with verified sender ID) as a cost-effective and more secure platform for brands and businesses to communicate with customers.

Alongside the use of Basic RCS to help drive scale, this document also provides business case scenarios based on how RBM can help mitigate against at least two of 14 fraud types identified by MEF in order to encourage more universal MNO adoption of RBM services.

A storm is brewing in the world of international SMS, putting its future at risk. Two key threats are driving this: skyrocketing costs claimed by enterprises and “fake traffic” fraud used to inflate those costs.

This is leading major brands to abandon SMS for authentication messages, like one-time passwords, and explore alternative channels. Both sides, brands and the messaging ecosystem, are losing money as a result.

The report urges an immediate collective effort to address these issues, including reviewing costs, tackling fraud, and finding collaborative solutions. If nothing changes, the future of international SMS, especially for critical tasks like authentication, might be bleak.

- What is basic RCS? - What is Orange Spain’s strategy (introduction of their 3 phases) - Examples of basic RCS campaigns launched - First richer messages emerging (phase 2) - Has the launch of basic RCS been a success so far - What are Orange Spain’s expectations for 2024? - Key success factors for basic RCS messages

Half a century ago, the mobile industry connected two people for the first time. Today, the total number of connections is closing in on 11 billion. What does this tell us?

First, it reflects the universal human desire to communicate (and pay to do so).

Second, from the telco point of view, it reveals that for all the success of value added mobile services, our industry’s foundation will always be connectivity. This yearbook – the first ever on wholesale – is your guide across that vast world of connectivity.

The Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging market is both vast and varied. Nothing stays the same for long and the only REAL barometer of how the industry is truly doing surely can be through speaking to the people whose lives we are attempting to impact – subscribers, consumers – and asking them?

Well, this is what we have continued to do here at MEF, year after year. On behalf of MEF, On Device Research surveyed 8,450 smartphone users, 650 in each of 13 markets.

In general, businesses messaging is bigger than ever with an increase in users who received messages from businesses across every channel.

Download the latest edition of MEF's Future of Messaging Guide 2023 - Carrier Edition

Whats in the guide:

A2P messaging: are the MNOs missing out? For two decades businesses have grown to love the mobile channel. During COVID, their engagement spiked even more. Yet MNOs don’t really ‘own’ this flourishing market. Is there a way for operators to change the narrative?

How did business messaging get started? Where is it now? How is the market and the tech evolving? What makes the mobile channel such a compelling tool for marketing, customer care and alerts?

Introducing a new concept that promises to place MNOs at the heart of the business messaging market: One estimate says A2P SMS accounted for just 1.77 percent of MNO revenue in 2021. Can operators do better? Some insiders think they can – and the carrier hub is why…

Business messaging is booming. Enterprises now send trillions of ‘A2P’ messages every year. And why wouldn’t they? Mobile messaging is the most immediate, personal and effective comms channel ever invented. It’s why the industry is now worth – by one estimate – $48 billion.

But nothing stands still. The market faces external challenges from regulation, fraud and scams. And it has to wrestle with ‘internal’ questions around commercial models, technology and regulation.

So how is the industry handling these issues?

The MEF is well-placed to provide the answers. Now, we have completed the first ever business messaging yearbook. In it, you’ll find the latest market data and expert analysis of the industry’s biggest challenges.

Of all the A2P channels to choose, there isn’t one that drives engagement quite like RCS. Enterprises are beginning to realise this. This is especially evident we comparing RCS to its distant cousin, the email, which remains the most popular channel for businesses trying to reach consumer. The simple fact though is email provides the lowest engagement rate, let alone view rate.

This white paper, written entirely by MEF Members, puts forward a new unified approach which it advocates being implemented universally if we are ever to see RCS reach mass adoption.

It’s obvious that SIM card-based proof of possession has emerged as one of the de facto market leading authentication solutions protecting all mobile subscribers from identity theft and shielding enterprises from fraud. While SMS OTP has remained the dominant method for this form of 2FA, an alternative method that has existed for over 5 years has slowly been gaining momentum, Flash Call.

This white paper, written entirely by MEF members, impartially lays out the opportunities and pitfalls associated with A2P Flash Calling. It describes how a more nuanced perspective is necessary. It seeks out to answer some of the key questions on every telco’s mind such as the potential risk of SMS OTP cannibalisation and what use cases Flash Call can be better suited for 2FA than SMS OTP. It also explores the situations where Flash Call is simply not viable and SMS OTP remains king.

The Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging market is both vast and varied. Nothing stays the same for long and the only REAL barometer of how the industry is truly doing surely can be through speaking to the people whose lives we are attempting to impact – subscribers, consumers – and asking them? Well, this is what we have continued to do here at MEF, year after year. On behalf of MEF, On Device Research surveyed 6,500 smartphone users, 650 in each of 10 markets.

RCS is not a new topic in the telecommunications industry - there is still a lot to explore, as well as countless opportunities to improve Enterprise Communications, using the technologies that are available in the market.

How many text messages do you receive from friends, family, loved ones and organisations of every type and size? We suspect the answer will be “A lot!” Heading towards the three trillion mark annually globally (and that’s just the A2P, application-to-person bit), text messaging, whether it be using the humble SMS or one or many of the legion of chat apps out there, is here to stay.

The Third edition of MEF’s Future of Messaging Guide provides an invaluable resource for any enterprise looking to get started with business messaging

MEF’s annual Future of Messaging Guide 2021 is a free 41-page PDF that gives enterprises an introduction to the power of business messaging.

The guide takes readers on a tour across the landscape of mobile messaging for enterprises – all the way from basic one-way text alerts to bot directories to the potential of conversational banking.

COVID-19 has proven itself time and again to be a disruptive force. It has spurred genuine digital transformation across the globe and accelerated the transition towards more mobile working like no other force and period before in modern history. The smartphone is at the centre of this, proving to be a huge enabler, with ‘bring your own device’ being the most prevalent model.

We first surveyed how employees use their smartphones for work at the end of 2019, just before the pandemic arrived on the scene. Now our second iteration of the survey in 2021 has uncovered some staggering results: mobile, whilst already the instrument of choice for many, has now become the accepted reality. Download this report now to see just how much your office truly is ‘mobile first’!

To ascertain how mobile operators are reacting to the threat posed by fraud, MEF has once again teamed up with Mobilesquared to look at the impact fraudulent A2P SMS traffic had on the business messaging ecosystem in 2020, and how this might affect the opportunity in 2021.

This report explores the key findings from the exclusive mobile operator research and follows on from a similar project conducted by Mobilesquared for MEF in 4Q 2019.

If you’ve received an SMS, email or other type of Business Message from an enterprise or public sector organisation this year, you are most definitely not alone. Business Messaging transaction volumes grew c. 10% last year and number in the trillions. Yet there is plenty more headroom for growth. Many different digital channels are used for driving client communications and, as our survey of 6,500 smartphone users across 10 different countries shows, the traditional ones still punch hard in the engagement stakes. 46% of users surveyed prefer email but as you’ll see from our report, what people REALLY appreciate is brands using a rich mix of communication solutions to converse with them.

Check out this report now for a tonne of useful insight into the consumer behaviours and preferences really fuelling the hypergrowth in what (not so many years ago) was a much overlooked area by venture capitalists.. How times have changed…

Business SMS (also known widely as Application-to-Person, A2P SMS or bulk messaging) is a well-established, generally very safe, efficient and cost-effective way for organisations of all sizes and types to communicate with both existing and potential customers. This helps to build trusted relationships and increase brand loyalty.

Version 3.0 of the Fraud Framework offers yet more insight into the impact of fraud on all parties within the ecosystem. A total of 14 fraud types have now been identified, defined and mapped providing recognisable, real life examples of how fraud can occur.

Where there are digital transactions, there is the risk of fraud. Mobile content is no exception. Unscrupulous individuals and criminal networks use ever-evolving methods to defraud customers, mobile content providers, payment aggregators and MNOs.

In this ongoing fight, it is essential that the entire ecosystem works together to combat fraud. All stakeholders must be aware of the fraud types, and their differing impacts. Aligning on best practice limits the risk and helps everyone to stay ahead of the fraudsters.

This whitepaper was developed by MEF’s DCB Fraud Working Group which brings together representatives from every part of the mobile content value chain to help better educate the market.

The meeting of Business Messaging with Artificial Intelligence has created a new way to interact with consumers: P2A or person-to-application messaging.

Users can now text to ‘chatbots’ and engage with their accounts directly, enquire on services, schedule appointments or even buy goods. Many do not realise that there is no human typing back: it is the power of artificial intelligence that allows quick and efficient messages. The advancement of AI has made automatic chats a reality, but are users ready to embrace them?

MEF’s P2A Business Messaging 2020 report is based on 6500 interviews across 10 countries: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, Spain, UK, USA.

MEF’s Future of Messaging Guide 2020 published in association with Syniverse explores the growth of business messaging via a series of interviews and case studies to showcase how messaging continues to evolve and enable better customer engagement.

The 40-page guide is a comprehensive look at the trends, technologies, business personas and use cases driving the future of business messaging in a series of interviews and use cases across different sectors and regions.

MEF’s Future of Messaging Programme Security Working Group has carried out an analysis of the end-to-end processes that help secure SMS for business messaging. The Securing A2P SMS Business Messaging Whitepaper explains the messaging delivery chain and sets out clear guidelines for securing SMS for two factor authentication. It explains the technical, device and industry solutions available and provides recommendations to brands and enterprises based on a three-step approach.

The paper looks at potential SS7 vulnerabilities in the messaging delivery chain as well as data and identity frauds including SIM Swap / Port Out Account Takeover, SMS Malware and Smishing as detailed in MEF’s A2P SMS Fraud Framework.

Developed by participants of the Future of Messaging Progamme, MEF’s RCS Business Messaging Best Practices Guidelines aim to help accelerate the adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS) for application-to-person (A2P) and person-to-application (P2A) messaging.
These guidelines were developed by MEF’s working group and via industry consultation in 2019 (V1.0) and 2020 (V2.0) led by David O’Byrne. They provide a framework for the technical and business options for deploying RCS Business Messaging and streamline the processes to enable a faster and more efficient launch of A2P and P2A communication services via RCS.

Advancements in digital technologies coupled with an increasingly mobile workforce are reshaping workplace communication. The modern workplace is characterized by distributed employees and virtual teams, fueling a mobile-first approach to communications. While more and more employees are using mobile messaging to communicate and share data, these new workplace mobility norms present data security, privacy and compliance issues for enterprises large and small.
The insights provided in this report should serve as a wakeup call for enterprises to address the misalignment between mobile device usage for workplace communication and strategies for ensuring control and security.