Research company OnePoint has revealed that its SMS survey tool has completed its first high-speed national general public opinion poll using the Ipsos Mobile general public panel. OnePoint chose a topical issue, running the poll for the Sunday Mirror in August, soon after the shocking news of the fatal shooting of Rhys Jones, aged 11, in Liverpool.
On 24 August, 2,500 people drawn from an Ipsos-MORI panel were sent a series of SMS questions. Within just a few hours, The Sunday Mirror was given validated and statistically robust results indicating that a quarter of Britons have been victims of crime in the past year, and that a third of the population are afraid to go out. The numbers gave the newspaper an exclusive insight into the mood of the country. Sunday Mirror Editor Tina Weaver says:
With fast moving stories in todays 24-hour news environment, its crucial to get instant reaction to the days major news events. OnePoint have developed a new text survey system we found to be flexible, efficient and very fast.
Gareth Deere, Research Director at Ipsos-MORI, says the company was keen to adopt SMS technology for national opinion polls. He says:
SMS allows us to create snap polls from our panel of 10,000 demographically profiled people who have opted in for text based research, giving us a huge advantage in the market. Its a great addition to our research tool kit, alongside other data collection methods
Deere says that with SMS surveys, the company expects two thirds of respondents to reply within an hour.
Many organisations just want a couple of key measures, and with OnePoint we can do this very quickly, he concludes. 
The Ipsos-MORI/Sunday Mirror poll received a 30% response rate within the first few hours, an impressive result given the poll happened on a Friday evening between 8pm and 10pm. The poll was then closed so that data could be ratified and sent onto The Sunday Mirror to meet its deadline.