Messaging Administrator: Managing a Host of Functions
By Deanna Hartley —
The desirable academic backgrounds for both mail administrators and instant messaging administrators are similar, however: a MSCE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) or a Linux-certified engineer would be the typical prerequisite.
That said, “the role of a [text messaging administrator] requires a high level of legal understanding — maybe one or two law courses for text messaging — as well as some basic communication skills because so much of the job surrounds communication with the carriers and best practices, compliance stuff,” Wachs added.
Since text messaging is a relatively new field, there are no certifications that have been developed yet. However, it would be useful for someone in this field to become a member of the Mobile Marketing Association, Wachs said.
Each Role Has Its Own Rewards
Each area of messaging administration is a growing field, Wachs said.
“An e-mail administrator plays a critical role at an organization,” he said. “There are opportunities to grow in areas of network administration because they’re dealing so heavily with the core network requirements.”
What may be considered a significant benefit of an instant messaging administrator — which also holds true for an e-mail administrator — is the face-to-face client time internally, with employees, Wachs explained.
As for text messaging administrators, it’s an exciting time to be in the field.
“The role with text messaging would be an opportunity to shape an industry because it is such a young industry and it is changing so quickly,” he said. “The technology is changing so quickly that [answering questions such as] ‘What is a text message?’ [or] ‘What is an MMS (multimedia message)?’ [is] what it’s all about.
“Right now, text messaging is growing at a very rapid pace,” he added. “In the United States, there’s going to be a need for people who understand the correct way to communicate with employees and clients over this new technology.”
1 | 2 |
