Last month, cellular-news contemplated ‘the end of SMS’ and the booming rise of Over-the-Top (OTT) messaging services. The article cited a Portio Research forecast that OTT messaging traffic will reach 20.3 trillion messages by the end of 2016. However, the research firm also noted that OTT services are not ‘instant SMS killers.’

Still, carriers are certainly feeling the financial impact of the SMS to OTT messaging transition. Ovum reported in February that carriers saw a decline in messaging revenue by $13.9bn in 2011, or 9% of total messaging revenues. Though that number seems insignificant when you consider the $153bn carriers earned from SMS in 2011, it is still enough for carriers to start considering their options as this alternative market continues to grow.

SEVEN’s answer is to give carriers an app for their users that makes all messaging more useful, fun and easy and incorporates chat. In addition to giving consumers one app for checking messages from major social media sites and email and voicemail, our Ping app also incorporates chat capabilities that allow operators to offer their own branded messaging services. And carriers can monetize the chat service through advertising.

The carrier-version of Ping is currently in trials, but a free version is available now for download on Google Play. Stay tuned for more on how this app can help carriers compete in the hot chat market without sacrificing their sales!