Archiving Text Messages

Mobile phones have without doubt transformed the way people conduct business. They have become the preferred channel of communication for many organizations, including those in the regulated sector. The obvious benefit of mobile communication is that 90 percent of the text messages are read within three minutes and 90 percent are answered within a minute. As one of the major communication channels being used in workplaces nowadays, SMS text messaging is considered as a public record in most states, and therefore it should be captured and retained formally in case they get requested under the public’s right-to-know mandate. Even with all the efforts, many agencies still do not meet their text archiving responsibilities. According to a report that was published recently, of 70 percent of federal, county, state and city government organizations that allow use of SMS/text for official business communication, 46 percent of them are not archiving the text messages. Failure to m