The SMS format of communication seems so simple that one may wonder if it offers any scope for innovation. When I pose this as a question to John McDonough, CEO and Founder, Shorthand Mobile, US (www.shorthandmobile.in), his response is immediate. “There is plenty of room for innovation!” avers John, during an early morning interaction with Business Line in Nageswara Rao park. The SMS format is just the channel, and the ease of use and complete user-experience is controlled by the SMS apps or applications, he explains.

John, who is ‘a named inventor on 36 issued and 11 pending patents in the area of wireless communications and systems, holds a Master of Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, and has completed the Executive Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management,’ informs his company site. And his current enterprise is about bundling ‘your favourite web content into one super simple, easy-to-use mobile application.’

There is always room for innovating around the user-experience and providing a more seamless access to valuable and popular content and services from the user’s preferred companies, he elaborates. “We have made accessing content through SMS apps fun, easy and interactive.”

One learns that John, who is also a Venture Partner with iSherpa Capital, a VC firm investing in wireless products and technologies, ‘led the development of the first CDMA base-station modulator chip which was part of the pioneering 5 chip set that signalled the commercialisation of CDMA in the early 1990s.’

The air around us in the park is full of communication, apart from the ubiquitous mobile phone signals: Birds chattering about through real tweets, shuttlecock teams noisily announcing scores and misses, and leisurely walkers exchanging their endless tales… And my conversation with John continues over the email.

Excerpts from the interview.

Looking at the SMS story thus far, how would you describe its maturity cycle? Also, what can be the developments ahead in the curve?

We’re just at the beginning of what people can now do with a user-interface on top of the ubiquitous SMS channel. In fact, according to Frost & Sullivan, text messaging (SMS) will continue its dominance in the messaging arena for the foreseeable future and will evolve with additional features over the next three to five years.

We find ourselves in the epicentre of this ecosystem, opening doors not just for mobile consumers but also for brands to connect with these users in more targeted and innovative ways. So much that was never done before can now be done on mass market phones, from job search, to local search, to social networking.

Innovations are also happening in the areas of mobile payments and purchasing, including ticket purchasing, and eventually fulfilment of ticket orders. Fast food can now be ordered using text, providing even faster food for the busy mobile consumer who can now skip the line!

Are there skews in the way revenues generated on the mobile platform get shared among the stakeholders in the ecosystem? Your suggestions on the required corrections.

We see dramatic variations in the revenue shares of the various stakeholders in different worldwide markets, particularly on the operators’ side. To support a thriving, dynamic and innovative ecosystem it’s important for mobile content, technology and service providers to be rewarded for the value they deliver to the operators and to end consumers. This will lead to innovation and growth in the SMS ecosystem, which is good for everyone, including the mobile consumer.

What are your recommendations to businesses on making the best use of the SMS medium, to augment revenues and achieve better customer service?

SMS is the ‘only way’ for brands to reach the mobile mass market – full stop. That said, SMS has limitations, in particular with the user interface and general lack of interactivity. Careful design for usability is key for these standard SMS services.

Thankfully, we can overcomes all of these limitations and take SMS to the next level. It is possible to deliver the richest possible user experience over the ubiquitous SMS channel to engage users and deliver to the mobile mass market targeted, relevant information and services otherwise not practical over SMS.

Do you observe any broad patterns in SMS usage across geographies?

Absolutely rapid growth. From leading economies to emerging markets, SMS growth is off the charts. Even in markets leading in data penetration we’re seeing tremendous SMS usage, both in the number of users sending SMS messages as well as the number of messages sent.

Any thoughts on SMS facilitating e-governance, and utilities.

SMS is a powerful personal communication channel. Wherever there is a need or benefit for sharing information, SMS can play a significant role. Specifically, government organisations can leverage the platform for collecting information from, and staying in touch with, various field organisations.

Because SMS is truly ubiquitous and available on virtually any phone, appropriate apps can allow governmental agencies to stay connected with organisations and teams spanning the largest metro areas to the smallest villages. Public employee reporting and communications functions can be made faster and more efficient than what is currently possible today, where phone, fax and the less pervasive web are generally used for such purposes.

In particular, in rural India, where mobile data has very little penetration, SMS could be a very useful tool for the public sector.

Other points of interest.

Brands can be taken mobile with SMS apps incredibly quickly (i.e. in a matter of weeks), with minimal time and at little or no cost. Deciding to offer a branded SMS app should be an easy choice for almost any company, big or small, regardless of the business they are in.

What is needed is a focus around user interface and ease of use, to leverage the benefits for the end consumer even as data adoption increases in India. That said, it is imperative to keep the required data rates under control, benefiting the operators who must pay for the associated data network infrastructure, and also benefiting the end consumer who is paying the bill for the data consumption at the end of the day.