Outlook SMS plugin released

Having developed SMS applications and integration tools for businesses and developers, mobile solutions provider Clickatell has refined Mobimail for individual and corporate users to send SMS messages from their favourite e-mail application.

Clickatell Mobimail will seamlessly integrate into Microsoft Outlook by adding a 'New Message' button (like the 'New Mail' button). By clicking this button you will be able to write a text message intended for a Mobile recipient, in exactly the same way as a standard e-mail.

Clickatell Mobimail promises full integration into Outlook's calendar, offering reminders of meetings and SMS to almost all countries around the world, at a fraction of the cost of a standard SMS message. Clickatell's powerful SMS engine also allows users to send SMS messages to their Outlook address book contacts, and for those users with Outlook Express, the good news is that Mobimail is the first SMS plugin with full Outlook Express integration.

Clickatell Mobimail is setting the pace in full convergence of popular e-mail client and text message technologies, and will be targeted at Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express users. The developers of Clickatell Mobimail have also gone to great pains to ensure that installation is seamless, and that the application feels as much a part of Outlook as sending an e-mail, with message management and other popular functions all being controlled from within Outlook.

As with other Clickatell products, Mobimail is a free application and only messages are paid for. Says Clickatell's marketing director, Danie du Toit: "We believe that adoption of this product will be immediate, due to its small downloadable size and the fact that it is extremely simple to use. Anyone who knows how to send an e-mail will be able to use Clickatell Mobimail, and we expect market adoption from day one. The product is robust, and because Clickatell is one of the leading SMS gateways internationally, Mobimail offers carrier-grade SMS capacity and reliability."

An SMS application is only as good as the delivery and the simplicity of the user interface: Clickatell Mobimail is expected to be a killer application for those reasons alone, as it offers reliable SMS delivery at a competitive price and conforms to Outlook standards, allowing the user to interact without changing e-mail behaviour.

After several successful application launches, Clickatell Mobimail is Clickatell's first release for 2003, and will be launched to over 180 countries. Judging by the initial market reaction to the product, this is definitely something to keep an eye on!

Clickatell's solutions can be found at http://www.clickatell.com/