SMS stands for “Short Message Service”
SMS is a digital communication method invented in 1992, enabling text messages to be exchanged between people using cell phones.
Commonly known as a “text message”, it’s a simple message (without emoticons or images), with a maximum size of 162 characters, that can be used on all cell phones, including the predecessors of today’s smartphones.
SMS should not be confused with MMS, which is an extension of SMS, and overcomes some of these limitations.
After being highly used in the early 2000s, SMS has since a lower interest and use, and is gradually being replaced by social networks and instant messaging applications (such as Whatsapp), which enable easier and less restricted group exchanges.
It is estimated that the peak of SMS technology was reached between 2014 and 2016, when no fewer than 200 billion SMS messages were exchanged in a country like France alone. Since then, it’s estimated that around 15% fewer SMS messages are exchanged each year worldwide.
Nevertheless, SMS is still a very popular means of communication for companies, who use it to canvass their customers and offer promotions or commercial services.
Today, the main alternatives to SMS are email, instant messaging and social networking