Verizon challenges OTT rivals with cross-platform messaging

March 22, 2013 | By Jason Ankeny

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) is overhauling its Verizon Messages service, enabling subscribers to send and receive text and multimedia messages across multiple device platforms.

Any message sent to a Verizon mobile number will now appear simultaneously across the customer's Android smartphone, iPad or Android tablet and PC. The Verizon cloud transmits the message to all devices and stores it for up to 90 days unless the user deletes it; consumers may also store messages indefinitely on an SD card.

The Verizon Messages app additionally allows users to set personalized Auto Reply responses and custom notifications. A Content Finder tool makes it easier to find photos, Web links and contact information within messages.

Source: Verizon

The revamped Verizon Messages arrives as operator SMS services are losing ground to over-the-top challengers like Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iMessage, which transmits more than 2 billion messages per day between iOS devices, and BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) Messenger, which is used by three out of every four BlackBerry device owners, corresponding to roughly 60 million active users worldwide. Verizon Messages also faces competition from fast-growing cross-platform services like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber.

More than 45 percent of smartphone owners now use some form of instant messaging or OTT messaging app in addition to or instead of traditional SMS, according to a survey conducted in late 2012 by Analysys Mason. In addition, 20 percent of consumers use a VoIP app, and 20 percent within that segment use it more than conventional voice services.

For more:
- read this Verizon Wireless News Center post