Why you SHOULD invest in an SMS for Business

Why you SHOULD invest in an SMS for Business

Texting; almost everybody does it. Many of us probably do it when we shouldn’t (I’m looking at you texters and drivers). However, there is no denying that texting plays a huge role in modern society.

One big advantage of texting is it allows us to communicate in situations where a call is not warranted. If you need to ask a quick question, send a text. If you need to send a quick reminder to someone, send a text. Another benefit of texting is it allows us to share different forms of media (images, videos, webpage links, etc.) that you simply cannot send with a phone call. It’s without question that texting has made our lives more convenient.

Everything I mentioned in the previous paragraph can just as easily apply to a business. Need to remind a client about an upcoming appointment? Send them a text reminder. Need to update a team member out in the field that they have another scheduled job? Send them a text. Many people fail to realize that texting has many practical professional uses beyond our personal lives. According to Forbes, texting is one of the most preferred methods of business communication among consumers. That is definitely something to consider.

What type of SMS services are there?

All this talk about texting for professionals begs the question. What type of texting services for businesses are there?

For starters, the simple and most obvious answer to that question is your personal cell phone. Many people use their personal cell phone to conduct business, and for some that is perfectly fine. However, it can be very limited in some cases. Also, depending on the circumstances, some people might even view it as unprofessional.

Another answer to that question is, buying a cell phone for business use. While this solution solves some issues, and may provide additional business functionality versus having just a personal cell phone; the end user may still run into many of the same issues as a personal device that make its features limited.

Last but not least, we have dedicated business SMS services offered by a VoIP provider. This is without a doubt one of the best business text messaging solutions out there. Not only do these services have many great features beyond that of personal cell phones, they also provide a much larger range of flexibility in how they can be used.

What features do business SMS services have?

What we need to ask ourselves now is, “what features does a business SMS system even have?”

For starters, here are a couple features of a business SMS system:

• Send messages from your main business number
• Text seamlessly between smartphones, tablets & computers
• Reply to messages by mobile app, desktop or email
• Send & receive texts from extensions, local and long distance numbers
• Broadcast messages to multiple numbers at once
• Send and receive images, videos and files
• Respond to common questions with AI controlled bots

As you can see, there are a wide range of features to a business SMS. Some features are more general such as texting. Other features such as having AI controlled bots respond to frequent questions are more specific to business use.

Why do I need a business SMS?

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about what types of business SMS services there are, and what features they have. However, what it all boils down to is “why do I need it?”

One answer to that question is one word. Flexibility. Features like seamless texting between various devices is great for cross-functional teams that need to communicate to each other and their clients from various devices during the day.

Business SMS services also help businesses keep a professional look; many services can be configured to allow a company to send texts from their business number. Automated messages from AI bots makes responding to frequent messages and sending reminders easy and more efficient.

Lastly, with many business SMS systems, users can still enjoy sending and responding to messages from their personal smartphones. Many of these systems have dedicated mobile apps tied to their service that allow users respond to text messages within the app. The great part is, these replies can be configured so that it looks like messages were sent from a company’s main business number should the the sender chose.

Ending thoughts

In all, many businesses would benefit greatly from a business SMS service. The amount of functionality, connectivity and customizability they provide is unmatched. The great part is, many of these services are affordable and can be found in many existing VoIP service plans. For businesses already paying for a VoIP service, most plans allow subscribers to easily add the service onto their existing phone network.