Man, I can't believe how much these SMS messages cost us.
I think only about 250 people have added their number to the
SMS so far, despite over 420 subscribers using the KISS systems or
at least who have set favorites.
Anyway the text messages, I just looked at it has costs us $1200
so far in Aug, and Aug is far from over yet. I could see the SMS
bill for us running $2000 per month easily for this.
like I wrote in my last post -we are pushing the final bug fixes
tonight. I'm not saying that it's all 100% perfect yet, but we
fixed the issues you guys have been seeing the last few days and
will push those changes tonight.
anyway maybe on the weekend or next week I need to push the
subscription service for the KISS systems in order to pay for this
stuff.
also - the subscription service is NOT for the high performance,
those simply come with the KISS systems. Again - we always intended
to charge something for the KISS systems, and they have been live
for 18 months now incurring 1000's of dollars of cost on the
backend! I'll have a free tab with a few items in it that folks who
don't subscribe can see and use - but in order to use all the KISS
data, the standard daily, setting favorites, and the high
performance that will come with an added subscription. I'll
be offering a coupon whenever we password protection that
section.
Haven't fully thought through how it could work, but I wonder if
you could implement the messaging using Whatsapp? I realize this
would require integration work, but it might represent a huge
savings for you in the long run moving away from SMS. Food for
thought.
The further thought being ... you could create a WhatsApp group
for each High Perf system. When someone clicks a particular system
as a favorite, they would get added to that particular group. For
privacy, WhatsApp does allow you to hide participants. Again, food
for thought, but may be worth the investigation if you're staring
at a $2K/mo operating cost for SMS.
Yeah, that's insane that the cell providers want that kind of
money on the SMS messages.
My daughter was in Africa for Peace Corps and we found that the
telcos would charge $5/min to talk and some crazy messaging fee. So
we basically lived on WhatsApp for a couple years to communicate
which cost nothing...
Posted by talleyrand on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 08:33 am
I didn't use the msm service (visited the website instead), as I
am European and found it too cumbersome... Whatsapp would be a
great alternative without exploding costs (and higher subscription
fee)
Totally agree on WhatsApp. The nice thing is it has familiarity
around the world and NO fees.
After the WhatsApp choice for messages, I'd vote for good old
email as you can set notifications on your phone to alert when an
email is received or just check it hourly. Almost everyone has a
phone in thier pocket and can check email a few times a
day.
Wow, what a scam these telco's run. I suspect its a bit more
complicated that a standard personal mobile service, where you get
unlimited sms, but $1200... really!!
yeah and they have only been up about 1/2 the month - so I could
see 2000 - 3000 a month in the future
yeah - maybe a whatsapp or something - plus it would be easier
for the subs not in the US because Android SMS and iMessage is
really only a US thing - most of the world uses Whatsapp or WeChat
in China
I agree. That's a lot of monthly cost for the SMS service.
Definitely good idea to consider alternatives that would still be
timely at a more reasonable cost.
Posted by crossharry on 21st of Aug 2024 at 07:16 pm
Yeah, surely no need to bear the cost for SMS. I'm on an
Android phone here in the UK and could get alerts for my linked
Googlemail account just as easily rather than SMS. Most people
would be in a similar position, I reckon?
Perhaps consider sending through Whatsapp? Or I am happy just to
receive email alerts, as I am not sitting at my desk all day to act
precisely on the alert.
It's all about cost/benefit ratio IMHO.
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KISS high performance systems and high costs for us
Posted by matt on 21st of Aug 2024 at 06:30 pm
Man, I can't believe how much these SMS messages cost us. I think only about 250 people have added their number to the SMS so far, despite over 420 subscribers using the KISS systems or at least who have set favorites.
Anyway the text messages, I just looked at it has costs us $1200 so far in Aug, and Aug is far from over yet. I could see the SMS bill for us running $2000 per month easily for this.
like I wrote in my last post -we are pushing the final bug fixes tonight. I'm not saying that it's all 100% perfect yet, but we fixed the issues you guys have been seeing the last few days and will push those changes tonight.
anyway maybe on the weekend or next week I need to push the subscription service for the KISS systems in order to pay for this stuff.
also - the subscription service is NOT for the high performance, those simply come with the KISS systems. Again - we always intended to charge something for the KISS systems, and they have been live for 18 months now incurring 1000's of dollars of cost on the backend! I'll have a free tab with a few items in it that folks who don't subscribe can see and use - but in order to use all the KISS data, the standard daily, setting favorites, and the high performance that will come with an added subscription. I'll be offering a coupon whenever we password protection that section.
Haven't fully thought through how
Posted by mkwalsh on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 09:50 am
Haven't fully thought through how it could work, but I wonder if you could implement the messaging using Whatsapp? I realize this would require integration work, but it might represent a huge savings for you in the long run moving away from SMS. Food for thought.
The further thought being ...
Posted by mkwalsh on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 10:06 am
The further thought being ... you could create a WhatsApp group for each High Perf system. When someone clicks a particular system as a favorite, they would get added to that particular group. For privacy, WhatsApp does allow you to hide participants. Again, food for thought, but may be worth the investigation if you're staring at a $2K/mo operating cost for SMS.
yeah we're going to check
Posted by matt on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 10:16 am
yeah we're going to check it out. I could see the SMS costs running into the $2000 to $3000 range per month, which is beyond ridiculous honestly
Yeah, that's insane that the
Posted by oreo on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 11:10 am
Yeah, that's insane that the cell providers want that kind of money on the SMS messages.
My daughter was in Africa for Peace Corps and we found that the telcos would charge $5/min to talk and some crazy messaging fee. So we basically lived on WhatsApp for a couple years to communicate which cost nothing...
A private members only discord
Posted by swamii2021 on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 10:41 am
A private members only discord feed would be awesome. And more cost effective. Just an idea.
I didn't use the msm
Posted by talleyrand on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 08:33 am
I didn't use the msm service (visited the website instead), as I am European and found it too cumbersome... Whatsapp would be a great alternative without exploding costs (and higher subscription fee)
That'swhat I suggested Matt. Most
Posted by nichi on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 09:10 am
That'swhat I suggested Matt. Most of the WORLD uses WHATSAAP. It works great.
Totally agree on WhatsApp. The
Posted by oreo on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 09:58 am
Totally agree on WhatsApp. The nice thing is it has familiarity around the world and NO fees.
After the WhatsApp choice for messages, I'd vote for good old email as you can set notifications on your phone to alert when an email is received or just check it hourly. Almost everyone has a phone in thier pocket and can check email a few times a day.
Matt instead of text messages,
Posted by nichi on 22nd of Aug 2024 at 12:34 am
Matt instead of text messages, look into sending every one Whatsapp messaging with 0 (zero) cost. Regards
Oh man thats expensive. Had
Posted by morton7 on 21st of Aug 2024 at 06:58 pm
Oh man thats expensive. Had no idea
Wow, what a scam these
Posted by vasiboy on 21st of Aug 2024 at 06:34 pm
Wow, what a scam these telco's run. I suspect its a bit more complicated that a standard personal mobile service, where you get unlimited sms, but $1200... really!!
yeah and they have only
Posted by matt on 21st of Aug 2024 at 07:12 pm
yeah and they have only been up about 1/2 the month - so I could see 2000 - 3000 a month in the future
yeah - maybe a whatsapp or something - plus it would be easier for the subs not in the US because Android SMS and iMessage is really only a US thing - most of the world uses Whatsapp or WeChat in China
I agree. That's a lot
Posted by craigm on 21st of Aug 2024 at 08:30 pm
I agree. That's a lot of monthly cost for the SMS service. Definitely good idea to consider alternatives that would still be timely at a more reasonable cost.
Yeah, surely no need to
Posted by crossharry on 21st of Aug 2024 at 07:16 pm
Yeah, surely no need to bear the cost for SMS. I'm on an Android phone here in the UK and could get alerts for my linked Googlemail account just as easily rather than SMS. Most people would be in a similar position, I reckon?
Perhaps consider sending through Whatsapp?
Posted by vasiboy on 21st of Aug 2024 at 06:39 pm
Perhaps consider sending through Whatsapp? Or I am happy just to receive email alerts, as I am not sitting at my desk all day to act precisely on the alert.
It's all about cost/benefit ratio IMHO.