Member Article

GlobalMessaging becomes part of CM Telecom family

Renowned international mobile marketing company CM Telecom has purchased SMS specialists GlobalMessaging.

The Peterborough-based SMS firm is the 16th company to be acquired by CM Telecom, a firm which began in the Netherlands in 1999 and is now a leader in its field in the Benelux.

Simon Fraylich set up Global with his dad Peter in 2002. It was a departure from his previous experience running restaurants in Hampshire, but the pair spotted a gap in the market and were able to exploit it effectively.

Simon said: “We had a number of people making offers at the time but CM came to the forefront as the company that we wanted to take GlobalMessaging forward.

“We got it to where we wanted and now, with CM, it has the backing to push the products internationally.

“It is important for us, as founders, that GlobalMessaging became bigger, that’s what we wanted. It was our baby and we wanted to make sure it wasn’t just swallowed up. We quickly realised that CM Telecom was really going to push it forward.”

Phil Stubbs, country manager for CM Telecom in the UK, said the company can offer the full range of services a business might want to use on mobile including apps and payment platforms – and these will soon be open to existing Global customers should they want to build on their existing SMS campaigns.

He said: “We have lots of other services and our company can help with mobile-first strategies that take firms where they need to be in the future.

“It is business as usual for customers. We will take the strengths of their platform and build it into ours, with benefits to customers of both companies going forward. We will bring a lot more to the party.”

Simon said the customers will enjoy the best of both worlds as they move forward, adding: “GlobalMessaging is still being supported by the same team that was originally in place but now customers have got the backing of an international company so, if anything, they are going to get an even better service.”

Global has been in business at a time when the use of mobile phones has exploded – with the first camera phones only just coming in to use back in 2002 as ‘slider’ phones such as the Nokia 7650 took off. Nowadays 91% of the adult population owns or uses a mobile phone, and about two thirds have a smartphone.

Over that time a number of innovations have been hailed as being a possible replacement for SMS – including MMS and WhatsApp – yet none have taken its crown.

Simon predicted that this trend will continue, meaning Global’s platform will be a vital part of the armoury for businesses who need to connect with their customers in a fast and effective way. He added: “I think there will be a place for SMS for a long time to come.”

CM Telecom started in 1999. Its GroupText product was used by nightclubs across the Benelux region to inform clubbers about guest DJs, promotions and more. Over the years its platforms have been used at festivals, in TV station votes and by the Dutch government. Its platform sends more than three million SMS messages every single day.

About CM Telecom: Launched in Netherlands in 1999 and with more than 15,000 clients worldwide, CM Telecom’s platform helps brands conduct critical business processes including customer interaction, marketing campaigns, transactions and mobile CRM via mobile messaging, mobile apps, voice services and payment functionality. CM Telecom is a pioneer of mobile messaging and is also active in app development, security and push messaging. A self-funded company, CM Telecom’s consistent growth has been recognised by its placement amongst the Fast500 of Europe’s fastest-growing companies for eight years. Headquartered in Breda, CM Telecom’s platform is powered by its own self-built infrastructure, supported by a 24/7-network operations centre including in-house data centres and a fibre network across northern Europe.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Rawlings .