AN INNOVATIVE Southampton text message company has reached a milestone by selling its one millionth message since launching nine months ago.

Called Text-Alert.co.uk, the fast-growing service promises to revolutionise the way estate agents communicate with clients.

The service allows agents to automatically match and send new property details to their registered clients with a highly personalised text message.

Compared to traditional methods it is fast, easy, accurate and cost effective.

Text-Alert's Managing Director, Gary Young, said "This is an important landmark and, at our current rate of growth, we will quadruple our message sales in the next six months".

Launched in February 2004, the service has already attracted customers ranging from Countrywide and franchise giant Re/Max to leading independent agents such as Romans in Camberley, Surrey.

Romans director Iain White said: "In a competitive housing market, we need to get information across quickly and accurately. Text-Alert is one way to do that, and an increasingly important one for us. It not only gives us an edge in our market but both applicants and vendors love it".

The success of Text-Alert reflects the wider phenomenon of text messaging itself. Since its inception, text messaging or short messaging service has grown dramatically in the UK, mainly as a way of exchanging personal information and greetings. The Mobile Data Association predicts that we will send more than 24 billion messages in 2004, an average of 6.5 million messages every day.

Gary Young is confident that Text-Alert will continue to develop rapidly as well: "While we have made a great start, there is room for fantastic growth; our forecasts show that by March 2006, we will have delivered more than 20 million messages for our clients."