Allen J. Hall

This post is not exactly the status quo for this blog, but I wanted to share with you two things. First, that there are some wonderful companies out there that are very helpful. Second, that sometimes spammers do anything they can to spam.

I’ve been receiving a few SMS messages from number 83960 that were pretty much junk, nothing useful there at all, and I wasn’t sure what was going on. Perhaps it’s a company I recently decided to try out (beta software for phone productivity applications), or perhaps it’s a spammer. My bet right now is a spammer.

This is a tale of amazing customer service, and what the real skinny on 83960 is… (read more by clicking through below)

In searching for the answer to “spam or no spam,” I found a post regarding the company called “Hot Lava Software” that was using the 83960 SMS number. They are doing some very interesting work on education and learning via SMS text messages! Quite a new take on learning. The post that got me in touch with their company was this one: “Mobile Learning”

In trying to track down my answer with them, the kind person who replied to my slightly pointed e-mail suggested a phone-call with the CEO. Now, I’ve known a number of small companies before, so talking to a CEO is not a complete shocker to me (one of my friends was a CEO for a while); however, to not know the size of company, and also be placed in contact with their head-honcho was a shock to me. So, I had to tell you about it.

In my experience, the people who staff a company when it is small make all the difference in the world. Being in a small start-up may be a bit like selling your life to the company, but in the end, it either makes or breaks the company (and you hope makes or breaks your future financial status). Although many things can break a company- those first few years are extremely critical. In my opinion, the type of customer service, personal attention, and time that Hot Lava Software paid to my problem (which was an extremely small and easy one) shows me that they are a company that has serious potential. In my opinion, it won’t be the staffing of this company that hurts it’s ability to move forward and grow. So, my thanks go out to Hot Lava Software, Bob Sanregret, and Barbara W.

Mr. Sanregret was able to explain to me that the number 83960 is an SMS number which is used by thousands upon thousands of people who have small companies. These people are waiting on approval for new SMS numbers for their companies, and therefore find themselves in a pool with each other (both good and bad all together). So, one day Hot Lava Software will be at a different SMS number, their own, and the spammers will still be in the pool of 83960.

My best wishes to Hot Lava Software, I hope you do well!