It's not always easy to understand, but there was a time when we humans lived without the ability to send text messages or access the internet. When the world wasn't wireless and the word "online" wasn't part of our everyday language.
In December 2022, text messaging turned 30 years old. That is, it's been 30 years since the first SMS was reportedly sent.
In this article, we take you through the history of text messaging, from the first message sent to the huge change in the way we communicate that the SMS unknowingly initiated. Before the history lesson begins, we'll take you through what an SMS (and MMS) actually is.
Enjoy reading!
What is SMS?
An SMS is a way to send text messages between two mobile phones or other mobile devices. To send an SMS, your phone must support the right technology for this. In addition, the phone must have a SIM card with a subscription or prepaid card that allows you to send text messages.
All phones made after the 2000s support the SMS format by default.
Nowadays, most people have a mobile phone and they often carry it with them for most of the day. This makes SMS a pretty brilliant form of communication because we can quickly and easily reach each other and send valuable information.
What does SMS stand for?
SMS stands for Short Messaging Service. However, in everyday speech, an SMS is usually referred to simply as a "message" or "text message". SMS is an appropriate name for the channel, as an SMS can contain a maximum of 160 characters and is therefore relatively short.
Today, however, it is possible to link multiple SMS messages together so that they are sent as one message. Most plans also include free SMS, so users don't have to worry about how many characters are written and sent. If you have a mobile subscription where you pay per SMS sent, you should be aware that 160 characters counts as one SMS and is therefore charged as one SMS - even though more than 160 SMS characters can be sent as a single message.
What is MMS?
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. If you send an SMS with an attachment, such as an image, video, audio file, emoji or GIF, you are actually sending an MMS.
Many users think of an MMS as just an SMS with an attachment, but technically it's actually something completely different. For example, you need data to send and receive an MMS, so if you don't have a strong internet signal, you may find that it's not possible to send an MMS. In addition, sending an MMS is typically up to 3 times more expensive than sending an SMS.
Today, there are also other evolved instant messaging technologies such as iMessage, WeChat, Slack, WhatsApp and more. However, these technologies rely on a WiFi network or mobile data to function.
The technology behind the SMS
In this post, we're not going to delve into the technicalities behind an SMS message. This section is therefore for those who want to know the basics about the revolutionary technology behind SMS.
SMS essentially transmits information through a standard mobile connection. It doesn't require an internet connection, which is one of the reasons why SMS is such a reliable communication channel.
When you send an SMS message from your mobile phone, this message is transmitted from your mobile device to the nearest mobile tower. The mobile tower forwards your message to an SMSC (Short Message Service Center). From the SMSC, the message is forwarded to a mobile tower near the recipient's device. Finally, this cell tower forwards the message to the recipient's mobile phone.
An SMS message uses the same infrastructure as a phone call, which is why you don't need an internet connection to send text messages on your phone. All you need is a phone signal.
What also makes SMS so brilliant is that the technology behind SMS is relatively easy to build into devices other than just a mobile phone. This makes SMS compatible with many different devices.
Using an SMS API (SMS Application Programming Interface), for example, you can connect an SMS sending software with other software and systems that you need.
World's first SMS message shares delivery room with Denmark's European Championship title
Do you ever stop to think that we don't actually have to go back more than 30 years to find a time when you couldn't communicate via SMS?
Yes, it's good enough. The world's first SMS message shares a birth year with the Danish national football team's European Championship title from 1992.
The story of how the world's first SMS message came to life, however, starts a little earlier. That's right, way back in 1982. Hold on tight as we take you through a short history lesson on the SMS message.
1982: GSM is developed
In the 1980s, wireless devices similar to what we know today as the mobile phone already existed. However, the concept behind the exchange of text messages between wireless devices had not yet been invented.
This invention took its first tentative steps in 1982 when Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert developed the GSM (Global System Mobile Communications) system.
1987: GSM is adopted as a standard in Europe
The GSM system brought wireless mobile devices to the world and in 1987, at a meeting of 13 European nations, the GSM standard was declared the standard for mobile telephony in Europe. A standard that has now been adopted as EU law.
It was during this collaboration that the SMS standard as we know it today began. Today, the standard is still very much the same, but there have been both changes and improvements since then.
1992: The world's first text message is sent
Opinions are divided on how the first SMS message was actually sent. However, the common story is that it was Neil Papworth who sent the world's first SMS.
The story goes that in December 1992, Neil Papworth sent the world's first text message to his friend Rochard Jarvis. The message was labelled "Merry Christmas" and was sent via the British telecommunications company Vodafone. A funny detail is that the message was sent from a computer. Mobile phones didn't have keyboards back then.
At the time, no one realised how revolutionary text messaging would become and how much it would change the way we communicate with each other.
1993: The first commercial SMS service becomes a reality
Just one year after the world's first SMS, in 1993, Nokia launched the first mobile phone with a keyboard that could be used to write and send SMS messages. They also launched a new feature with the phone. It was a sound that told the mobile owner when they had received a new SMS message. This was revolutionary technology that was subsequently commercialised by the Swedish SMS service Telia.
Initially, however, the SMS message was far from being for everyone. It was intended as a professional tool for exchanging important messages between colleagues and the like. However, it soon became clear that SMS was also ideal for everyday communication.
That's why it didn't take many years from the invention of the SMS message until the concept was commercialised and made available to ordinary people. In the early days, however, it was used very sparingly and typically only between family members and close friends when planning events or parents checking up on their children etc.
1999: SMS goes from a simple messaging system to a multi-tool
In the early 90s, it was free to send SMS messages in Denmark. However, it wasn't long before it cost as much as a penny to send an SMS. Furthermore, an SMS message could not exceed 160 characters. This meant that the user had to think carefully about how to get their message across in 160 characters. Otherwise, it could be an expensive experience for them.
However, it wasn't until 1999 that SMS really took off in the consumer market. It was in this year that it became possible to communicate across competing mobile operators.
Before 1999, it was not possible to send messages to other people using a different telecoms company than yourself. Fortunately, this changed by the end of the century, and mobile phones also became much more accessible during this period as prices dropped significantly.
Nowadays, we often take it for granted that our mobile subscription includes free SMS as standard. The ability to send free SMS messages and the ability to use more than 160 characters are probably two of the main reasons why the popularity of SMS messaging has grown so much since its inception.
SMS gave us a new language and new ways to communicate
With the invention of text messaging, humans didn't just get a new way to share information. The SMS has also had a major impact on the way the Danish language is used in written communication.
Because the SMS message was so limited in the number of characters and generally took a long time to write at first, users also had to think outside the box and invent new words and SMS abbreviations to make it easier to get their message across in 160 characters.
Before text messaging, you'd probably get a slap on the wrist for typing an SMS abbreviation like:
- "Knuz" (cuddle)
- "LOL" (laughing out loud)
- "becomes" (becomes)
- "oz" (also)
- "Snax" (snakes)
- Imorn (tomorrow) etc.
Today, most of us know the abbreviations and many of us have probably used them. Some SMS abbreviations are even recognised by urban dictionaries.
Today, SMS messaging isn't just used to send brief information between colleagues or friends. We use SMS for everything from SMS polls and competitions to parcel tracking, internal communication, customer service, SMS marketing and much more.
The SMS message lives on strong
As you've read and learnt, SMS communication is a few years old, and with the many new options for chatting and messaging online, you might be tempted to think that text messaging is on its way out again.
It's true that instant messaging apps like Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram have taken over a natural part of the messages we send from our mobile phones.
At the same time, the average time spent on mobile phones and the average number of messages sent from the phone has also increased. For example, did you know that:
- The number of smartphones in Danish homes increased by 5% from 2019 to 2022. Today 93% of Danes have a smartphone(dst.dk)
- 62% of Danes shop online via their smartphones(dst.dk)
- 99% of all SMS messages sent worldwide are opened, while 97% are read within 15 minutes(Hubspot.com)
- The number of messages sent in the US increased by more than 2000% from 2005 to 2021(statista.com)
- Only 1% of SMS messages are considered spam(mobilemarketingwatch.com)
- SMS marketing click-through rates are on average 10-15% higher than similar email marketing campaigns(linkedin.com)
- Consumers are 4.5 times more likely to respond to an SMS marketing message compared to a similar email marketing message(linkedin.com).
There's a lot to suggest that SMS messaging is here to stay for a very long time to come.
Fun facts about the SMS message
You now know what an SMS message (and an MMS message) is, how it technically works and the story behind its origin. The text message is a few years old and its life is full of fun stories and facts.
Here are our 8 favourite fun facts about text messaging.
#1 More than 23 billion text messages are sent every day around the world. That's about 690 billion SMSes a month or 270,000 SMSes every second(Forbes).
#2 Twitter, one of the world's largest online platforms, is actually inspired by the SMS message. As with SMS, they wanted to keep their platform simple and accessible by limiting the length of messages(textmagic).
#3 The idea behind the SMS is said to have originated from the popular pagers of the 90s, which told recipients which phone numbers to call.
#4 The text message took on a whole new purpose when it was used for voting on the TV show American Idol in 2003. Today, SMS is still widely used for polling in Denmark and around the world(textmagic).
#5 Most of us know the original Nokia tone that sounded every time we got an SMS. The tone actually means "SMS" written in Morse code. Creative, right? (medium.com).
#6 In the US, Americans check their phone an average of 96 times a day - that's the equivalent of checking your phone every 10 minutes(Asurion.com).
#7 SMS reminders for medical and dental appointments save the UK NHS up to £150 million a year(textlocal.com).
#8 The average SMS contains 160 characters. This was decided because postcards are usually that length and it was deemed appropriate(Twilio).
