Text Messaging v.s. Email Part 2

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In our last post, we discussed the differences between text messaging and email in a professional setting. Just as a recap, we said that email was considered the standard form of communication in the workplace, but text messaging is becoming more and more popular with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and the need for instantaneous, brief ways to communicate with one another.

However, with the “mobile revolution” that we now find ourselves in, the boundary between text messaging, email and all other forms of communication via mobile, isn’t so clear. For example, most of us who have smartphones, have one or multiple email accounts synced to their device. When an incoming email comes in, how do you treat it? Like a text message? Do you respond to it right away? Or do you wait until you have access to a computer to respond? Personally, I like the option of being to check my incoming email messages when out of the office but will only respond if it’s urgent (and as I always tell my co-workers, if it’s urgent, send me a text message!).

Furthermore, what is the proper etiquette for sending an urgent email message? Do you send the email, and then text the same recipient that you’ve just sent them an email? I know I’ve done this several times, even though it does seem redundant when they may receive the email and the text message at the same time on their smartphone.

Conversely, how often do you respond to text messages while you’re in the office? Sometimes I wish I could respond to incoming text messages directly from my computer, as opposed to from my phone. It’s a bit distracting to keep switching back and forth between desktop and mobile. I wish there was a desktop interface that keeps track and organizes of all my incoming text messages and push notifications and have the ability to respond directly from there. Do you use applications that have both desktop and mobile interfaces for easier messaging (and just as FYI, TeleMessage has both web and mobile versions of the application)?

What are some other ways in which text messaging and mobile intersect? One “challenge” I always have is sending photos from my mobile via email. I feel that it is a much simpler process to send text messages or push notifications with attachments than it is to send email messages with attachments. At least on my smartphone, it is practically the same process for both text messages and email but with email, it just seems longer…

And just to make this a bit more complex…for those of you who need to send secure text messages, what do you do? Do you use a specific application for sending messages that include passwords, pin codes, tokens or other sensitive information? Or do you send it via your company’s email exchange? (Another FYI, you can use our Outlook Plug-In, to secure send text messages as emails directly from your computer.)

It’s clear that as mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, wearable technology) becomes more and more integrated into our daily lives, the lines will become blurred between what is done purely from a stand-alone computer and what is done from our mobile devices, and the norms and practices that evolve from the intersection of the two.

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