Ask a millennial to call you and you might be waiting for a while. Digital natives generally prefer texting over talking and Short Message Service (SMS) is one of the most widely used forms of communication today. An effective way of connecting with your audience is to invite users to engage via text message.
The WMS supports the sms: protocol by allowing you to create links to telephone numbers. In a similar fashion to how email links work using the mailto: protocol to initiate an email, the sms: protocol initiates a text message to the linked number.
When a user clicks on an SMS link while viewing a web page on a mobile device, it launches their text messaging application with the destination phone number already entered. The user only has to type their message and send.
Although the sms: protocol can be extended to include a pre-populated message body, this works inconsistently depending on the device and platform (e.g., iOS vs. Android). Due to the significant variance in results, only the basic protocol is advised for the WMS since this has been tested to work most reliably.
The recommended HTML syntax for an SMS link in the WMS looks like this:
<a href="sms:+15143983398">Text us at 514-398-3398</a>
For folks more inclined toward an old-fashioned phone call, the WMS also makes it possible to create links to telephone numbers using the tel: protocol.
When a user clicks on a telephone link while viewing a web page on a mobile device, they will either be prompted to call the number, or their telephone application will launch with the recipient's number already entered.
The recommended HTML syntax for a telephone link in the WMS looks like this:
<a href="tel:+15143983398">Call us at 514-398-3398</a>
SMS and telephone protocols can be integrated into your WMS website content effortlessly. Try adding them to contact information or call-to-action links and start connecting.
For more information, see the IT Knowledge Base article Links in the WMS.
