Limo dispatchers of old might be speechless at this move.
Bell Trans of Las Vegas, which says it's the largest single-city limo company in the country, plans to enable customers to schedule transporation by texting their reservation requests to a shortcode.
Customers also will have be able to use click-to-call functionality and they can opt-in to receive mobile-marketing plugs from area businesses.
Bell Trans, which says it also is the largest bus company in Nevada, will deliver these new capabilities through a mobile-marketing partnership with Hipcricket, which is based in Kirkland, Wash.
Bell Trans will tap into Hipcricket's Hip 6.0 [pdf] mobile marketing and advertising platform.
The cloud-based platform, delivered SaaS-style, facilitates local mobile campaigns, has interactive voice response capabilities, features hyper-local targeting and includes analytics about the marketing campaigns, Hipcricket says.
As part of the campaign, Bell Trans will use the services of another Las Vegas firm, Shonkwiler Partners, to access the advertising offerings of local businesses.
Through the mobile campaign, Bell Trans hopes to increase reservations by using a mobile platform, enhance its customer engagement and induce brand loyalty.