MOBILE VERSUS INTERNET

MOBILE VERSUS INTERNET

Dear Mr. President: There was a time when messaging via mobile and messaging via internet were two different options that were separate from each other. During that time, it was cheaper to send messages via mobile means, through the short messaging system (SMS) because we did not need an internet connection to use that option. However, our behavior changed when we were offered another option to avail of messaging via the internet, using personal computers, and using web applications such as Facebook Messenger.

Eventually however, we were also offered the option to connect to the internet by using our mobile phones, using either WI-FI or a mobile data plan. Because of these two connectivity options, we were able to also use Facebook Messenger in our mobile phones, through what we thought was a mobile application, or a mobile app for short. Later, we were also offered other mobile apps for messaging, such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype and Telegram.

But why am I writing about these obvious realities that are already very clear to almost everyone? I am doing that, Mr. President, as a “wake up call” to all National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) that are seemingly not using the full potential of both web apps and mobile apps that are now known as “multichannel apps”, for lack of a better term. Either that, or they have not discovered it at all.

Not too long ago, it was cheaper for most Filipinos to use SMS for messaging, instead of Facebook Messenger. Everything changed however, when Facebook was offered to use for free in mobile phones, and of course, Facebook Messenger became free also. Because of that, Mr. President, we now have an ironic situation wherein most of our NGAs and LGUs are not accessible in Facebook Messenger, and even if they are, only their chatbots are sending automated replies. Meanwhile, most NGAs and LGUs are still publishing their landline numbers even if most Filipinos do not have landlines anymore.

Technically speaking, Mr. President, a web app is not the same as a mobile app because the former requires a browser, while the latter is “native” to the device, hence it does not need a browser anymore. There was a time when the user interface (UI) and the user experience (UX) in using browsers for mobile phones was not good, but that is no longer the case now. Right now, the difference between a web app and a mobile app has been blurred, and the age of multichannel apps has arrived.

Mr. President, can you imagine what will happen if all our NGAs and LGUs will decide to use Messenger and all the other multichannel apps properly and aggressively? I believe that would immediately improve the government’s Customer Relations Management (CRM) systems, such that the satisfaction ratings of these government entities will go higher. I think Mr. President, most Filipinos will be very happy to know that they could communicate with the government, in the same way that they could communicate with their friends and relatives.

And the good news Mr. President, is that these multichannel apps are free to use, meaning that the government does not have to buy anything, therefore it is not subject to the complicated procurement rules that are prone to corruption. The other advantage, Sir, is that government transactions could become more transparent, there will be “ease of doing business” and therefore there will be lesser corruption, at least hopefully.  IKE SENERES/09-30-24


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