Business Texting: Fast, Cheap, Effective, Professional

Why it is a good thing for businesses

Texting is a bulletproof way of contacting other people, as the vast majority of phone users keep their device close to them – but not to read their emails. In fact, emails, as well as voicemail messages and even phone calls, are often ignored (especially if you receive tons of them each day), whereas the abrupt nature of a text message forces us to check our phones and quickly write a short answer to the sender. Shortness is another advantage of SMS texting over emails and calls: due to this medium’s limitedness regarding the number of characters, you are forced to keep your message to the point which is a huge relief for you and the receiver, compared to long emails and conversations.

How VoIP takes business messaging to the next level

Like we mentioned before, business texting using your VoIP system doesn’t require a secondary phone number, as messages can be sent using your computer or your cloud phone system’s app, which can alert you by push notifications or emails. This way you can easily separate private messages from business related ones without spending a dime with your regular mobile phone service provider. Speaking of the costs, business texting is usually an extra feature charged monthly (the rare exception being RingCentral that includes business texting in all pricing plans). Unlike private texting, VoIP business texting plans contain unlimited messages with barely any restrictions whatsoever. This way, you can include around 1,000 characters per message and invite as many people as you want for group conversations.

How to business text

Even though texting is fast, convenient and cheap, there are a few rules you should take into consideration – the most important one being that you have to use a more formal communication; we’re talking about business after all. This also means that abbreviations and an overdose of emojis are out of question, and you have to pay attention to your tone (no caps), and your spelling, grammar, punctuation. You should send your messages to the right person during the right time (only during business hours) and you should sign your messages before sending. Do not abuse the group texting feature, and don’t resort to sending texts as long as an email (forget about novels). Send your message only once and do not send confidential information and/or bad news via text, as it is a matter to be discussed face-to-face. And last, but not least, think before sending that message: if it doesn’t require immediate attention, use email or just call.