Members of the global travel industry have used SMS technology since 2002. Among the first notable examples that year was Gulf Air who started using Sabre’s SMS travel notification service for real time alerting to travelers. The development and widespread use of SMS technology in the travel industry follow one particularly notable trend: they did not take place in the United States. That late adopter mentality has its pros and cons.

Given past trends, I predict that the future of SMS for travel will include more robust reminders, and simplified processes through the entire travel life-cycle. From approvals to planning, booking and expense reporting, SMS will become a player in improving the accuracy and speed of these processes to the benefit of the bottom line.

Other future trends will include increased use of GPS-based SMS services also known as social travel media. Speaking more to your travel budget, we will see an increased use of SMS for reporting and tracking functions. Imagine that you are checking out of your hotel after a productive set of meetings. Your itemized expenses are sent by SMS to the automated back office at your organization. Out-of-policy expenses are flagged in real time and your are notified by SMS that a particular expense on your bill might better be paid on your personal account.

SMS applications overall are useful for improving speed, accuracy, timing, ease of use, and overall cost savings. How can it do all of that? Information is transmitted instantly. Information reported as it happens is more accurate than information reported a week later. Information arrives when you are in the right location and have an opportunity to act. Texting is fast and easy; especially for generation X and beyond. Lastly, better decisions, more accurate reporting and time saved all translate to cost savings.

SMS as a technology has come of age. This versatile tool for fast and simple reporting and notification enables a myriad of possible applications for marketing and internal advantages. Considering now how these trends will translate into advantages for organizations in the future; you must first identify where organizations will need which type of advantage. Then tailor applications of SMS to meet their particular goal.