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8 best text messaging services for business in 2024

Best business texting services

When you’re running a business, you know every message counts. 

SMS messaging has changed how businesses and customers communicate, but SMS services can’t just be about sending and receiving texts. That’s why you’re looking for a text messaging service that goes beyond the basics.

The best SMS services reduce manual work by automating responses, sending snippets, and helping teams nurture relationships with customers and prospects.

Ready to step up from the basic SMS app on your mobile phone or move away from your existing texting provider? This guide breaks down eight of the best text messaging services for business:

  1. OpenPhone: Best text messaging service for growing teams
  2. Google Voice: Top solution that integrates with Google Workspace
  3. SimpleTexting: Best option for SMS marketing
  4. SlickText: Best option for businesses building loyalty programs
  5. TextMagic: Most flexible pay-as-you-go text messaging app
  6. EZ Texting: Best for convenient list-building with QR codes
  7. RingCentral: Best text messaging solution for call centers
  8. Textedly: Best texting platform for payment transactions

We’ll also share how to select the right texting service for your company.

The top business text messaging services compared

Let’s take a closer look at how the top SMS services stack up against each other.

ProviderStarting price per monthShared phone numbersMMS supportScheduled text messagesAuto-repliesUnlimited calling to US & Canada
OpenPhone$15
Google Voice$16Texting in the US onlyXXUnlimited calls to Canada from the US
SimpleTexting$23.20Must apply creditsMust apply creditsX
SlickText$29Must apply creditsMust apply creditsX
Ooma$24.95XX
TextMagic$4X$.04 per messageMust apply creditsX
EZ Texting$20Must apply creditsMust apply creditsMust apply creditsX
RingCentral$19.99Up to 20 usersNot available in Canada or toll-free numbersXSMS only
Textedly$24Must apply creditsMust apply creditsXX

If you’re in the midst of your search, all the numbers and information might feel overwhelming. Use this guide as a springboard to help narrow down the right fit based on your needs and budget. Keep reading for more details about each provider to help you decide on the right SMS service for your needs.

1. OpenPhone: Best text messaging service for growing teams

Pros

  • Free calling and texting to the US and Canada included
  • Shared numbers to split responsibility for calling and texting
  • Dozens of ways to save time texting

Cons

  • Can’t verify other accounts through two-factor authentication texts*

*Nearly all virtual phone numbers run into this problem. For safety reasons, companies like Facebook, Uber, and Google rarely let you authenticate accounts through a virtual phone number.

Best text messaging service for business: OpenPhone

OpenPhone is a reliable VoIP phone system and versatile texting solution that lets you make calls and send and receive messages using just an internet connection. 

With OpenPhone, your team shares a unified number, so your team can manage calls and texts from a single platform. You can view all text messages, call recordings, and voicemails with specific contacts in a single view. This combination helps your team streamline your communication processes so you no longer have to deal with scattered messages and missed conversations. 

Anyone on your team can easily review and continue any conversations. Or move conversations to text if you’re playing phone tag with anyone — which is a breath of fresh air for your team and your customers.

As one G2 reviewer put it, “When I was introduced to OpenPhone by a colleague, I was surprised to find how many things I could do with OpenPhone. I could use OpenPhone both on my computer and on my mobile phone to make calls, send text messages, answer and reply to calls and texts, send or receive documents and even connect it to my HubSpot account to track calls and text messaging without having to pay the premium prices I found to be a bit too expensive if I used HubSpot’s internal system.”

With OpenPhone, you get free calling and texting to the US and Canada, so you won’t pay per text or worry about the maximum number of text messages you get with a particular plan (unlike some of the other best text messaging services for businesses on this list).

OpenPhone also excels at helping businesses save time texting and collaborating. With it, you can automate SMS messages and use snippets to answer frequently asked questions (faqs), schedule text messages to your contacts, and help your team collaborate on communications through internal threads or shared access to a business number.

Sign up for a free, seven-day trial of OpenPhone. If you need to port over an existing number, you can use a temporary phone number to confirm OpenPhone is a good fit. And when you’re ready, move any local US, Canadian, or North American toll-free number.

OpenPhone pricing

OpenPhone pricing

OpenPhone offers the following three flexible and straightforward pricing tiers:

Starter

  • Starting at $15 per user per month
  • Includes the option to share a number with up to 10 teammates, auto-attendants, scheduled texts, snippets, internal threads, shared contacts, and more 

Business

  • Starting at $23 per user per month
  • Unlocks call transfer, logs and analytics, Salesforce integration, HubSpot CRM integration, the ability to share your phone number with as many teammates as you need, and more

Enterprise

  • Custom pricing for a custom plan
  • Unlocks a dedicated account manager to tailor a plan to your team’s needs

Key features of OpenPhone

  • Free SMS
  • MMS support
  • Group messaging
  • Shared phone numbers
  • Auto-replies
  • Snippets
  • Scheduled text messages
  • Integrations for CRMs and other popular platforms, including Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier

2. Google Voice: Top solution that integrates with Google Workspace

Pros

  • Inexpensive compared to other providers
  • Integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace

Cons

  • Restricted to US customers
  • No other integrations outside of other Google apps
  • No toll-free numbers, snippets, auto-replies, or document/video sending
Best text messaging service for business: Google Voice

Google Voice for Business isn’t exactly heavy-duty text software. Still, it’s a natural choice if you already use Google Workspace. While reliable, it falls short in terms of being a comprehensive text messaging service. Keep in mind Google Voice doesn’t directly integrate with anything outside of other Google apps if you are looking to bring more of your tech stack together. 


One user’s G2 review sums it up well. “If it’s all you can afford, I think it is a good option. However, I’ve recently seen many other apps that do the same thing in a better way that I may consider changing soon.”

This reviewer isn’t an outlier, as Google Voice’s business SMS functionality is limited. Texting is restricted to US customers and lacks support for: 

  • toll-free numbers
  • snippets
  • auto-replies
  • sending documents or videos

Another Google Voice user wrote on G2, “Google Voice function is basic versus the paid options available through other companies and wasn’t able to do as much as other companies. It worked for us, but we ended up needing our texting service to do more.”

This is why Google Voice is best suited for businesses with minimal messaging needs —especially if your team primarily responds to incoming messages rather than conducting mass texting campaigns. 

Google Voice pricing

Although a personal number is free, all businesses must have a paid Google Workspace plan for $6 per month in addition to their business number.

Google Voice pricing

Starter

  • $10 per user per month
  • Includes calls to the US and Canada and unlimited text messaging for up to 10 team members

Standard

  • $20 per user per month
  • Access to ring groups, multi-level auto attendants, and eDiscovery for text message records for an unlimited number of users

Premier

  • $30 per user per month
  • Unlock all of the above features and advanced reporting

Key Features of Google Voice

  • SMS to US and Canadian numbers (available to US customers only; excludes US territories American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, and US Virgin Islands)
  • Group messaging (up to eight participants)
  • Multi-level auto attendants and ring groups
  • Voicemail transcription

3. SimpleTexting: Best option for SMS marketing

Pros

  • Auto-responder feature for efficient customer communication
  • Flexible 14-day trial and pay-as-you-go option for cost control
  • Built-in marketing tools to run polls, surveys, sweepstakes, and push notifications

Cons

  • Potential additional costs for advanced features and integrations
  • Challenges with customer service and using numbers for calling
  • Limited texting reach to the US, Canada, and select Caribbean regions
Best text messaging service for business: SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting is a fine choice if you want to run and optimize SMS marketing campaigns. The service excels at sending bulk messages to a list of contacts, and its intuitive user interface (UI) is easy to navigate.

With SimpleTexting, you can set up an auto-responder to send new customers basic details, follow-up texts, or coupon codes based on specific keywords. 

For example, if a customer texts “PAW” to your business phone number to check current dog food deals, the auto-responder will send the customer a list of available deals. 

You can also access a range of technical marketing tools with SimpleTexting’s built-in apps. These tools help you run text-based polls, surveys, and sweepstakes. You can also send push notifications and gain valuable analytics for better insights. 

SimpleTexting has a 14-day trial that lets you access all features, but you’re capped at 50 daily messages. If you want to upgrade to the paid version, you can buy credits and pay as you go.

Keep in mind that SimpleTexting only lets you text numbers in the US, Canada, and select regions in the Caribbean. 

Another drawback? You end up paying extra for nothing if you don’t use the advanced features. If you wish to access SimpleTexting’s custom integrations, you must pay at least $229 per month for the package that includes those features. 

Credits and fees seem to be a common issue for SimpleTexting users. One G2 review states, “I wish their rollover credits and payment plans were a bit more transparent and easy to understand. I’ve also found that when I try to contact their customer service via phone, I am never connected with a service rep, and am instead asked to leave a callback number–but they never call back. I recommend using their live chat instead.”

Yet, SimpleTexting is a trustworthy solution for running SMS marketing campaigns because of helpful features like auto-responders, advanced tools, and custom integrations. However, it has limited reach when it comes to texting recipients. 

One G2 reviewer wrote, “I dislike the limits on sending MMS campaigns. I realize that I can pay more with a short code to overcome this limit; however, that means I would have to change my 800-number, which my customers already have in their address book on their cell phones.”

Another roadblock to keep in mind is SimpleTexting doesn’t support calling from their app. If you wish to use the same number to call and text yoru numbers, they offer limited call forwarding — except for toll-free numbers which you won’t be able to call from at all with SimpleTexting. If any of the limitations listed above would impact your business communications, consider shopping around to avoid the extra costs of advanced features or integrations.

SimpleTexting pricing

SimpleTexting plans start at $23.20 per month and vary depending on the volume and type of messages you send. For example, SMS messages cost one credit, while MMS messages cost three credits.

Any paid plan includes two team members and one number, along with the admin seat. If you need to add more team members, expect to pay $20 per month per teammate, and add extra numbers as needed.

SimpleTexting also offers access to advanced features such as contact syncs integrations starting at $49 per month and custom pricing for advanced automations.

Key features of SimpleTexting

  • Unlimited contacts
  • Unlimited keywords
  • Rollover credits
  • Mailchimp and Zapier integrations

4. SlickText: Best option for businesses building loyalty programs

Pros

  • Automation tools and custom keywords for effective campaigns
  • Ability to run contests and create assets like flyers and surveys
  • Options to sign into the loyalty program at check in

Cons

  • Must contact an account representative for additional text credits
  • No option to text PDF files
  • Expensive to scale
Best text messaging service for business: SlickText

SlickText is a low-cost text message marketing service that offers automation tools, custom keywords, and an intuitive user interface (UI). If you’re looking for a cost-effective option with strong campaign-building, automation, and segmentation capabilities, SlickText is a solid choice. 

At least, that’s the case for service-based businesses aiming to attract repeat business through loyalty programs. You can offer customers the opt into loyalty rewards at check in on your website or at the point of sale.

As one G2 reviewer put it, “SlickText has a strong presence on the front lines of what their clients may be looking for in terms of new ways to opt-in subscribers or fun and effective marketing measures to ensure end-user loyalty and success.”

Slicktext also gives you the ability to run text marketing campaigns. Once you set up a keyword in SlickText, you can add your contact list, send messages, and access analytics. Then, you can run contests and create assets like flyers, text-based surveys, and opt-in web forms.

Some users have reported they had to contact an account representative to buy additional text credits, which is inconvenient if you prefer a self-service business texting app. Smaller teams may also find challenges scaling their services as their base plan ($29 per month) only includes 500 text messages. 

Keep in mind SlickText is solely built around text marketing. You won’t be able to provide more personalized touchpoints in some cases as even the files you can send are restricted. Their platform doesn’t support sending PDF files for example. 

SlickText is known for providing clever ways to get people to sign up for your messages. But the budget-conscious might consider how its pricing works and if it fits your campaign budget before jumping in.

SlickText pricing

SlickText is a good service with a not-so-great pricing structure. All nine of its plans have nearly the same feature set. The primary variable is the number of texts you get. Plus, the pricing is different for the US and Canada. 

Here’s the breakdown: 

SlickText pricing

The Basic

  • $29 per month
  • Includes 500 texts per month and two Textwords

The Step Up

  • $49 per month
  • Includes 1,000 texts per month and four Textwords

The Lil Bro

  • $79 per month
  • Includes 2,000 texts per month and six Textwords
SlickText pricing for The Big Bro, The Boss, and The Albatross plans

The Big Bro

  • $139 per month
  • Includes 3,600 texts, eight Textwords, automated workflows, and 1 on 1 onboarding

The Boss

  • $189 per month
  • Includes 5,000 texts, 14 Textwords, automated workflows, and 1 on 1 onboarding

The Albatross

  • $350 per month
  • Includes 10,000 texts, 16 Textwords, automated workflows, and 1 on 1 onboarding
SlickText pricing for The Whale and The Monstro plans

The Whale

  • $750 per month
  • Includes 25,000 texts, 20 Textwords, automated workflows, and 1 on 1 onboarding

The Monstro

  • $1,250 per month
  • Includes 50,000 texts, 30 Textwords, automated workflows, and 1 on 1 onboarding

Enterprise

  • Contact for customization 

Key features of SlickText

  • Unlimited contacts
  • Rollover texts
  • Picture messaging
  • Live chat customer support
  • 1 on 1 onboarding (for higher-tier plans only)

5. TextMagic: Most flexible pay-as-you-go text messaging app

Pros

  • Offers message templates and auto-replies 
  • Two-way chat capability for remote communication with staff and customers
  • Advanced features for marketing lists, detailed reports, and message replies

Cons

  • Unpredictable costs
  • No direct CRM integrations
  • Challenges reported by users regarding message delivery notifications and identifying reply sources
TextMagic

TextMagic is an easy-to-use text messaging app that works on a pay-as-you-go basis, making it ideal for small businesses or individuals with changing texting needs.

Despite its simplicity, TextMagic offers advanced features. You can create marketing lists, access detailed reports, and receive replies to messages sent using your TextMagic number. TextMagic also has two-way chat, which makes it possible for staff and customers to communicate remotely using instant text messaging.

With TextMagic, you can create message templates for repetitive tasks like booking confirmations or appointment reminders and set up auto-replies so customers can receive real-time responses to messages as they send them.

Before you whip out your credit card, it’s worth noting pay-as-you-go pricing can be significantly higher than services with tiered pricing plans. TextMagic also doesn’t provide direct integrations with CRMs.If your business needs a single source for all interactions, you may need to explore other options.

Some users, like this G2 reviewer, report confusion regarding notifications: “I don’t like that I don’t get a notification if a text message wasn’t successfully delivered. I would have to look at my history to see if it was delivered or not.”

Another G2 user wanted more clarity on received messages, “Having to figure out which customer the reply message came from has been the biggest challenge.”

TextMagic is easy enough to use and has pay-as-you-go pricing, advanced features, and two-way chat capabilities. But consider whether that flexibility is worth higher costs, notification confusion, and a lack of direct CRM integrations when deciding if it suits your business needs.

TextMagic Pricing

Text messages

  • $0.049 per text + $10 per month for a virtual dedicated number
  • Includes bulk text messages, two-way SMS chat, email to SMS, and Zapier integrations 

MMS

  • $0.08 per MMS + $10 per month for a virtual dedicated number
  • Send texts with images, and access two-way SMS chat, email to SMS, and Zapier integrations 

Lookup

  • $0.04 per lookup + $10 per month for a virtual dedicated number
  • Validate numbers or emails one by one, in bulk, or via API.

Key features of TextMagic

  • Mass text to 190+ countries
  • SMS gateway API
  • Email to SMS gateway
  • Two-way SMS
  • SMS distribution list

6. EZ Texting: Best for convenient list-building with QR codes

Pros

  • User-friendly mobile app interface for easy SMS marketing
  • Access to Shutterfly’s image library and editor and QR codes
  • Offers drip campaign options

Cons

  • Each plan includes only one phone number, requiring additional fees for more numbers
  • Short codes for SMS campaigns cost a minimum $3,000 monthly
  • Less cost-effective than other text marketing platforms
Best business texting services: EZ Texting

EZ Texting simplifies SMS marketing with a user-friendly mobile app interface. And EZ Texting guides you through sending your first text message to simplify it even more. Along with the ability to set up drip campaigns,  EZ Texting offers access to Shutterfly’s image library and editor, and QR codes. These features help you create attractive messaging and build your contact list.

Plus, you can access two-way texting, group texting, and attractive templates for contests, vouchers, and coupon codes to drive more awareness and loyalty to your brand. 

Along with SMS analytics, the SMS marketing service also integrates with your email marketing software. This can give you a clearer picture of your marketing campaign’s performance. EZ Texting also offers up to six free keywords that can trigger an automatic text response from incoming messages, but it will cost you $25 per keyword to add more.

Keep in mind while EZ Texting bundles credits with each plan, these credits don’t roll over month to month on their plans. And they aren’t exactly clear on this inside their pricing page. To find this information, you have to sift through their Help Center

Additionally, using shortcodes for your SMS campaigns is costly, with a minimum monthly cost of $3,000. Consider taking a good look at the benefits and costs to determine if they line up with your business needs. 

Bottom line: EZ Texting is a valuable tool for businesses looking to increase customer engagement and attract potential customers. But some businesses may find other options more cost effective due to the lack of rollover credits.

EZ Texting pricing

EZ Texting is a fine service, but you’ll quickly pass through its pricing tiers if you’re a high-growth company. Here’s a look at the pricing tiers:

EZ Texting pricing

Launch

  • Starts at $20 per month for up to 500 contacts
  • Includes 500 free messages per month, incoming messages, contacts, keywords, two-way texting, and Shutterstock images and editing

Boost

  • Starts at $60 per month for 500-2,000 contacts
  • Includes 500 free messages per month, incoming messages, contacts, keywords, two-way texting, and Shutterstock images and editing

Scale

  • Starts at $100 per month for 2,000-50,000 contacts
  • Includes a dedicated short code, 99% delivery rate,  free messages per month, incoming messages, contacts, keywords, two-way texting, and Shutterstock images and editing

Enterprise

  • Starts at $3,000 per month for 50,000+ contacts

Includes 200,000 messages per month, incoming messages, contacts, keywords, two-way texting, and Shutterstock images and editing

Key features of EZ Texting

  • Keywords
  • Auto-replies
  • Integrations
  • Textable numbers
  • Mass and two-way texting
  • Message template library
  • Link shortener and tracking
  • Contact import and management

7. RingCentral: Best text messaging solution for call centers

Pros

  • SMS marketing campaign tracking from the dashboard
  • Texting capability and unlimited calls to the US and Canada
  • Integration with popular apps like Salesforce, Hubspot, and Slack

Cons

  • Base plan only allows 25 monthly texts per user
  • Storage limited to 5,000 text messages per user 
  • Standard plan lacks features most teams need
Best text messaging service for business: RIngCentral

Designed with call centers in mind, RingCentral is a VoIP service that helps teams stay connected through calls, texts, emails, and more. It’s a popular choice for overall business communication.

With RingCentral, you can text, make unlimited calls to the US and Canada, and track your SMS marketing campaigns from the dashboard. It also integrates with apps like Salesforce, Hubspot, and Slack.

RingCentral might not be the best choice for small teams or for sending a large number of messages. On its base plan, RingCentral lets you send 25 monthly texts per user. You can pay extra per message for anything over that, or upgrade your account. If your team plans to use RingCentral for calling and texting, The standard plan also lacks key features like automatic call recording.

One more thing to keep in mind: RingCentral only stores up to 5,000 text messages per user. So, if you text a ton of customers, you won’t have complete records of all your conversations. 

And the ones you do have might be challenging to find, as one G2 reviewer points out. “Searching for messages in RingCentral can be difficult, as it doesn’t show the most recent messages first. It can also be hard to hear during phone calls through the platform at times.” 

For small business owners, RingCentral may have a few downsides. Sifting through all your messages holds up your team’s work, and its fancy features come with a hefty price tag that is too much for many small businesses. 

Sure, RingCentral has cool stuff call centers love. But if you are making decisions for a small business, you might think twice before getting everything — sometimes, prioritizing what you really need and keeping costs in check is the smarter move.

RingCentral pricing

RingCentral pricing

RingCentral users can add high-volume SMS starting at $0.0085 per message sent or received. Here is the breakdown of its three pricing tiers:

Essentials 

  • $20 per user/month
  • Includes messaging and phone services

Standard 

  • $25 per user/month 
  • Unlocks texting, calling, and on-demand call recording

Premium

  • $35 per user/month 
  • Access messages, phone calls, videos, automatic call recording, and an open API

For more advanced features, RingCentral also has contact center-specific plans. You must contact them though to receive a quote.

Key features of RingCentral

  • 1,000-character-long text messages
  • MMS support for sending messages containing images, videos, and other multimedia files
  • Push and email notifications for incoming messages
  • Store up to 5,000 messages, including sent and received messages
  • Integrations for popular platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce

8. Textedly: Best online texting service for business payment transactions

Pros

  • Secure payment collection through text messaging
  • Lowest per-text price compared to other services on the list
  • Range of tools available, including auto-replies, bulk SMS, web forms, and scheduled messages

Cons

  • High learning curve to use
  • Lack of transparency in MMS pricing
  • Additional charges for some features like auto-replies, text personalization, and drip campaigns

Best text messaging service for business: Textedly

Textedly may appear basic at first glance. But in a go, go, go society, Textedly offers the chance for your customers to conveniently pay for services while on the go. This is handy, especially for service-oriented businesses with mobile teams.

Textedly is the only service on this list that lets you request and collect secure payments through text messaging. This means you can track requests and revenue all in one place. But you’ll have to pay for Textedly’s Plus tier plan, which starts at $69 per month.

With auto-replies, bulk SMS, web forms, and scheduled messages, Textedly offers plenty of tools. Plus, it offers the lowest per-text price compared to other services on this list.

Keep in mind that certain features like auto-replies, text personalization, and drip campaigns come with an additional one-off charge. The costs add up because Textedly’s lack of transparency about its MMS pricing may lead to unexpected costs. 

One G2 reviewer wrote, “There are additional monthly costs that I wasn’t told about that get billed automatically. It’s not a huge amount, but it was unexpected.”

There’s also a bit of a learning curve if you want to use advanced features, so you’ll need a savvy SMS marketer on the team — which may come with as another added cost if you’re a small business.

Textedly pricing

It’s worth noting each Textedly account requires a $6 Telecomm surcharge. You can also purchase extra texts and keywords at any time — $20 for an additional 500 texts and $5 per additional keyword. You’ll have to choose from the many pricing options available:

Textedly pricing

Basic 

  • $26 per month for 600 text messages
  • Includes a custom keyword, free incoming messages, unlimited contacts, and picture messaging

Bronze 

  • $38 per month for 1,200 text messages
  • Includes a custom keyword, free incoming messages, unlimited contacts, and picture messaging

Plus

  • $69 per month for 2,400 text messages
  • Access two custom keywords, text-to-pay, and everything from the Basic and Bronze tiers
Textedly pricing for their Premium, Pro, Gold, and Platinum plans

Premium 

  • $499 per month for 30,000 text messages
  • Includes 10 custom keywords and everything from the Plus tier

Pro 

  • $599 per month for 42,000 text messages
  • Unlocks 13 custom keywords and everything from the Plus tier

Gold

  • $849 per month for 60,000 text messages
  • Access 15 custom keywords and everything from the Plus tier

Platinum

  • $1,599 per month for 120,000 text messages
  • Access 20 custom keywords and everything from the Plus tier
Textedly pricing for their Diamond and Champion plans

Diamond 

  • $2,299 per month for 180,000 text messages
  • Includes 20 custom keywords and everything from the Plus tier

Champion 

  • $2,999 per month for 240,000 text messages
  • Unlocks 50 custom keywords and everything from the Plus tier

Key features of Textedly

  • Two-way SMS
  • Scheduled texts
  • Mass group texting
  • Built-in link shrinking
  • Comprehensive analytics

What exactly to look for in a business texting service

Not sure what you should expect to get from a business texting provider? Here are nine features you may want to prioritize when searching for the best text messaging service for your company.

1. Shared inboxes

A shared inbox gives you a consolidated view of text messages, voicemails, and calls, so you can preview your communications in one place. Shared inboxes allow your teammates to reply when you’re out of office or busy with something else.

Using internal threads in OpenPhone to tag a teammate for help answering a customer service issue received over text.

Need help from a colleague with a client query? Using OpenPhone you can also start internal threads by commenting on client messages to collaborate behind the scenes. Don’t worry. Your client won’t see the comments.

2. MMS support

MMS support is necessary when you want to send photos, videos, PDFs, or other multimedia files via messaging. Sending a quirky GIF every once in a while makes your communications more engaging. MMS also lets you send longer text messages of up to 1,600 characters. When you send an SMS message that’s longer than 160 characters, it’ll split into multiple messages that may arrive out of order. 

3. Numbers vs. short codes

Numbers are 10-digit long codes (10DLC) that we use for texting conversations, while short codes are five- or six-digit codes used for application-to-person (A2P) messaging by businesses. Using 10-digit numbers makes more sense for a company because recipients can reply to that same number. With some providers, your customers can even call the same number to reach your team.

Unlike numbers, short codes don’t support two-way messaging. Recipients can also call the number and ask follow-up questions that are complex to explain via text.

4. Device compatibility

Selecting a platform that has apps for all popular devices including desktop, Android, and iOS is critical because it enables teams to collaborate on communications and lets your team work remotely. You can also have a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy.

Your team can use their own devices so you won’t have to invest in expensive hardware.

For instance, if you’re on an important call, you can ask your colleague to respond to a client’s incoming text message, provided their device can access the platform you’re using.

5. Trigger-based texts

Looking to save time on routine text messages? Using a text messaging service that integrates with Zapier, you can automatically send a text based on a specific event. For example, a trigger-based text that goes out when someone fills out a form on your websites.

6. Snippets

Using snippets in OpenPhone

Who wants to type that same old response 15 times a day? With snippets, you no longer have to. Snippets on OpenPhone are essentially messaging templates. 

You can create responses for the most common questions you receive via text and use the template for responding to clients quicker, saving you time.

7. Integrations

The best text messaging service for business should integrate with a range of popular tools. Integrations make it easy to pull data from and feed data into your existing business apps so you have a single source of truth. This also allows all your companies’ apps to work together without the need to transfer info manually from one app to another. Integrations with tools like Zapier and webhooks allow you to automate parts of your workflow so your team can focus on other strategic parts of your business.

8. Group texting

Group messaging lets you create groups so specific conversations are accessible to multiple team members or external contacts. 

Once you create group text threads on OpenPhone and give team members working with specific clients access to their interactions, everyone will always be on the same page and able to respond in case one of the team members is unavailable.

9. Scheduling texts

Scheduling text messages from the OpenPhone desktop and web apps

Your platform needs the option to schedule text messages to send at a certain time during the day. The feature is especially important for businesses that have clients across multiple time zones — you don’t want to message someone outside of their working hours.

OpenPhone is far more than a basic text scheduling app. When you queue up a message to go out later in OpenPhone, you can specify the recipient’s timezone. You can even avoid awkward text exchanges as you have the option to automatically cancel a scheduled message if your contact reaches out to you first.

How we chose the best texting services

We looked at the following factors for selecting the best texting services for businesses:

  • Feature set: Many SMS platforms can help you send text messages, but as a company, you need more. You need capabilities like auto-replies and integrations to make running SMS marketing campaigns and responding to clients quick and easy.
  • Budget: As a company, you probably have a fixed budget to work with or at least a ballpark figure in mind. You shouldn’t just pick the least expensive service, but you can’t overspend either.
  • Customer support: What happens if you run into an issue, reach out to support, and receive a response 72 hours later? That’s bad for business. You need support that can help you solve problems fast.
  • User-friendliness: You probably don’t want to hire an expert to set up the SMS app and manage it. It’s best to opt for a user-friendly app that makes text messaging easier.
  • Integrations: Integrations streamline your internal workflow by seamlessly sending and receiving data from other business apps. The more integrations a service offers, the better.

Why text messaging is pivotal for growing businesses

SMS marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to market your businesses. But there’s more to like about SMS than just promotion. Following are more reasons you might want to use SMS communications for your business.

1. Better open and conversion rates

The open rate for text messages is 99%. Compare that to email’s open rate of 28-33% and you start seeing why SMS is important for your business. Text messages also generate a click-through rate (CTR) of a whopping 36%, versus 6-7% for email.

2. Your clients want to reach out over text

Is it surprising that 60% of consumers want to be able to respond to SMS messages they receive?

Not really. 

Many people prefer to communicate through text messaging because it’s convenient and feels natural to them. By incorporating text messaging into your business communication, you’re meeting them where they already are and making it easier for them to engage with your brand.

But it’s not just about convenience. Embracing text messaging can actually boost your customer support efforts. 

According to a Zendesk report, brands that communicate with customers via text experience a whopping 28% increase in ticket volume. This means that offering text messaging as a support channel encourages more customers to seek assistance and actively interact with your business.

Adding text messaging to your communication channels can give you a competitive edge because 76% of shoppers are more likely to support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that offer text messaging.

3. Set expectations

Setting the right expectations is key to building relationships. You can automate text messages for confirmed orders or appointments right after booking. 

Your clients and customers are likely to open the text message and read it, which means they’ll be on the same page about when they’ll receive an order or have the required details for the appointment.

4. Respond faster

Since 90% of people read a text within 3 minutes of receiving it, you and your recipient may feel compelled to reply quicker compared to email. 

But it’s also healthy to establish boundaries and stick to them. When you’re outside of work, you can set up an auto-response to inform the recipient about your business hours.

The rental platform, Ryna uses texting in OpenPhone to shorten their team’s sales cycles. Using shared numbers, they have full visibility into the conversations with potential customers and can coach their agents to continually tighten up their sales processes.

Choose OpenPhone for the best text messaging platform

If you’re looking for a tool that can help you deliver a dependable customer experience and make your internal communications effortless, OpenPhone is an excellent choice.

You get free text messages to the US and Canada and a suite of other automation and communication features, so you can focus all your efforts on clients instead of processes.

Start your free trial of OpenPhone today.

FAQs

What are some key features to look for in an online SMS messaging service for small businesses?

When selecting an online SMS messaging service, small businesses should prioritize services that offer comprehensive feature sets, budget-friendly pricing, outstanding customer support, user-friendliness, and extensive integration capabilities, as these elements are critical for both effective communication and seamless workflow integration.

Can I send SMS from my PC using a business text messaging service?

Yes, many text messaging services offer the ability to send texts from your desktop computer. With OpenPhone you can send texts using your browser or OpenPhone desktop app.

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