Build customer relationships and save time texting with the best phone system for teams. Plus, enjoy free calls and texts to US and Canadian numbers.
Two-way SMS (also known as two-way text messaging) is a type of messaging conversation that allows two parties to send and receive messages in two-way conversations.
Two-way SMS is common for personal messaging, but it’s relatively new for business communications. Previously, businesses could only message their customers using one-way text communications, like SMS short codes. However, short codes were expensive to get and use because they charged businesses for each text message sent. They also have a lower messaging throughput, making them less effective than two-way SMS messaging.
Two-way SMS messaging is a powerful tool for businesses because it allows you to easily have text conversations from your computer or cell phone with your customers.
With a 98% open rate, it’s also more reliable than phone calls or emails for reaching customers. If you’re looking to grow your small businesses and form strong connections with your customers, consider adding two-way SMS to your customer communications mix.
Two-way SMS service is included with every OpenPhone number by default. Plus, you can use local and toll-free numbers.
It’s important to keep in mind that you’ll have to file for A2P 10DLC registration to message US phone numbers. This is due to emerging regulations pushed for by the large US cell carriers. Any business that sends messages to US numbers through a cloud-based phone provider like OpenPhone must complete this verification step.
Get started communicating with your customers by SMS text messages in just a few steps.
Upgrade your texting experience with two-way text messaging
Bring your customer conversations to life. Easily send text, photos, videos, and GIFs to your contacts right from OpenPhone’s texting platform.
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Make sure to respond to every customer – even after hours – with SMS auto-responders. Create automated responses that let your customers know you’ve received their message and when they should expect to hear from you.
Quickly respond to common inquiries and allocate time to complex customer issues with business text templates.
Working across time zones? Engage customers without being intrusive by scheduling messages at convenient times for them..
Easily work together to provide a better customer experience. Tag your colleagues directly on calls and texts in OpenPhone to improve visibility and get input when you need it.
Unsure of how to implement two-way SMS at your business? Here are a few use cases:.
Text timely notifications to your customers about their upcoming appointments and give them the ability to reschedule or cancel through text.
If you’re looking for appointment reminder text templates to get started, here are 31 free appointment reminder templates you can use.
Business SMS and MMS can keep your deals moving forward by answering product questions from your prospects on the go. Understand objections and use text conversations to convert contacts into customers.
Free up your team to focus their efforts on complex support calls and improve customer satisfaction with two-way communication over text. By answering basic support questions over text instead of the phone, you can reduce your call volumes and hold times and help your team serve more customers faster.
Need real customer reviews? Use SMS personalization to build relationships and ask your customers for authentic reviews of your business.
Go beyond two-way text. Explore why OpenPhone is the #1 business phone, as voted by thousands of professionals.
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OpenPhone is a flexible phone system that grows with your business. Each colleague in your workspace is assigned their own number, and you can share numbers for different departments. Choose from local US and Canadian numbers and toll-free numbers, depending on your business needs.
Need additional numbers? No problem — each additional number costs $5 per number per month.
Never miss an important incoming call. Streamline your call flow and cut down on hold times by simultaneously ringing all available team members.
Set up a phone menu to greet customers and help them direct their calls to the correct team member. Need to transfer a call? Use warm transfers to share important context behind the scenes so customers don’t have to repeat themselves to a new team member.
Get more flexibility and easily manage your contact list with custom properties. Whether you want to search customers by funnel stage, events they’ve attended, or when they were last followed up with, the choice is yours.
Get your whole team aligned around a common goal and reduce silos. OpenPhone’s shared numbers give the entire team visibility into what everyone is working on.
Use internal threads to solve customer challenges quickly. Tag and mention colleagues next to a text exchange or a call recording when you need to assign a task. Easily see who’s already in the loop with inbox viewers.
Text smarter, not harder to reach more customers with less effort. OpenPhone goes beyond basic texting and helps your team efficiently reach more customers with custom text automations.
Connect OpenPhone with any tool in your stack with Zapier, no code required. Automatically send welcome texts, appointment reminders, and personalized discounts based on custom triggers.
Want even more control over your automated text messages? The OpenPhone API gives you just that. Trigger messaging based on custom criteria and automatically send scheduling reminders, shift confirmations, project updates, and more.
Don’t let repetitive admin tasks take your team away from focusing on customers. OpenPhone’s AI-powered summaries and transcriptions automatically keep an accurate record of communications, cutting down on the need for note-taking.
Plus, never manually send updates to other platforms again. OpenPhone’s CRM and VoIP integrations ensure all your customer data is up to date so that nothing slips through the cracks.
Give your team the ability to fully switch off after work with business hours. Create separate call flows for regular business hours and after-hours calls with OpenPhone’s call flow builder.
Create custom voicemail greetings and SMS auto-replies to manage customers’ expectations of what to expect next.
Amir Ghorbani
Find out how much you’re investing in your business phone solution upfront on our pricing page.
Can’t find the answer here? Check out our Help Center.
Two-way texting allows for both parties to send and receive messages in a conversation.
One-way texting only allows for one party to send messages without the ability to receive a response from the other party.
1. Build trust with your customers
When customers chat with you in a channel that’s more comfortable for them, they’re more likely to trust you over time. Two-way SMS helps you become more approachable to customers and reduces friction they might have in reaching out to your team.
2. Save time responding to questions
Sometimes customers might have a quick question but might not want to spend time calling your support team. Two-way SMS provides a low-effort option to answer customer questions and saves your team the time required to jump on a call.
3. Close more deals faster
Two-way SMS isn’t just a powerful tool for your support team; it can also empower your sales team.
Your sales reps can use a virtual SMS number to build better rapport with your prospects so they can address sales objections quickly and discuss important deal contexts before scheduled calls.
It’s vital to get SMS consent to text your customers. Follow these steps to gather compliant opt-in requests for informational or promotional two-way texting.
There are many creative ways to use automated text messages for your business communications.
One common use case is sending SMS auto-responders when you receive a message outside business hours. Here are a few examples:
Want more options? Here are 40 auto-reply text examples to help you boost your response times.
Automated text messages are also helpful for sending appointment reminders to customers. Here’s how you might implement this:
Need more templates? Here are 31 appointment reminder text examples.
Join thousands of businesses already using OpenPhone to communicate better with their customers.
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