The private sector has been going in the direction of Digital Transformation (DX) for quite a while now. However, the governmental sector has been traditionally lagging on that front, at least until recently.
COVID has forced governmental institutions to rethink their work and communications methods to such an extent that DX has now become a top priority for them.
Rising Customer Expectations
As part of the COVID-induced changes, one of the main drivers for government agencies to modernize operations and move to the cloud is to provide the same level of service as the private sector does.
Naturally, when governments try to live up to standards set by the private sector, they are inclined to move more of their communications operations to the cloud. But in doing so, they often realise that building any robust communication channel strategy, even in the cloud, has to start with a solid telephony layer.
Therefore, for most countries in APAC, SMS – the traditional backbone of a solid telephony system – still remains the most reliable channel for communication with citizens.
SMS: The Governmental Channel
For governments, SMS tends to be the best solution in cases where they want to proactively communicate with citizens.
“What’s very interesting about SMS is, because it is so ubiquitous, and functions even when there is no data connectivity, it’s still perceived as the most reliable option as far as knowing that the other end will definitely receive the message,” notes Thomas Cazacu, VP Public Sector at Toku.
As an APAC-native telco, offering a comprehensive suite of business communications tools to both government and private organizations across the region, Toku provides government organizations in Southeast Asia with SMS APIs and campaign management platforms with targeted SMS capabilities.
“This way, instead of someone having to approach your organization to get information, you can proactively send them SMS to improve retention, engagement and satisfaction,” adds Cazacu.
APAC Government Agencies Are Embracing SMS APIs
Toku offers SMS APIs that are currently being used by a variety of APAC government institutions as part of their DX initiatives. One of Toku’s customers in that area is PUB (Public Utilities Board), Singapore’s National Water Agency.
“Every time it rains in Singapore, PUB sends out batches of SMS to all their agents in real time, since they have to go check the water catchment in specific areas. SMS is the channel to use for these time-sensitive notifications, which are more often than not received in remote locations with weak or no mobile data connectivity,” Cazacu explains.
Going Beyond SMS
Although SMS remains a solid communications channel for governments in APAC, methods to ensure that the population is updated with relevant information as fast as possible are likely to evolve.
This is especially true given the rapid pace of DX. Governments in APAC are keen to unify communications with citizens across a spectrum of services – just like the private sector has done so successfully.
