Toll-Free Texting: Benefits, Use Cases & Best Services

Introduction

With over 6 billion SMS being sent in the U.S. daily, SMS messaging is being used by businesses aggressively today. And if you have a toll-free business phone number, then you should know it can be text enabled for toll-free texting, allowing your customers to reach out to you for free. Whether it’s customer service, sharing updates, or solving queries, by enabling your business number for toll-free texting, you can improve your customer interaction and experience. And to make all this possible, you need a texting service.

In the guide below, we have discussed the best toll-free texting services in detail, but here’s a quick look of the best options available:

What is Toll-Free Texting? 

Toll-free numbers are those that start with the prefix 8 such as 800, 888, 833, 844, 866, 855, 877, 888. And toll-free texting is a messaging service that allows you to send and receive SMS and MMS messages using such toll-free numbers or TFNs. 

Toll-free numbers can be utilized for both calling and texting and can be used by businesses across all industries. It can be used to accelerate your outreach efforts, improve click-through rates, build customer trust, reduce spam risk, generate more revenue, and streamline sales and support. 

What are the Benefits of Using a Toll Free SMS Number? 

Toll free messaging is ideal for customer service 

One of the biggest advantages of toll-free texting is that it can be used to offer customer service. Using it, your customers can text you for free, and if you call your toll-free number, then they can even call you for free, allowing them to share their concerns and queries with you and help you improve your customer support.   

Offers convenience to customers

Toll-free number texting is extremely convenient for you and your customers. From solving customer complaints to sending out promotional messages, you can create a two-way communication channel and allow your customers to text you for free, improving their overall experience with your business. 

Great marketing tool

Using a toll-free number may not be the best for communicating important information with your customers but is a great marketing tool and can be used for running campaigns and doing business promotions. This is because toll-free messaging is very cost-effective and can be used to reach a wider audience. 

Greater flexibility & portability

Another great advantage of toll-free text messaging is that it is extremely flexible and can be accessed from anywhere at any time. This means customers can reach out to you 24/7, and they can text you right from their cell phone. Additionally, toll-free numbers can be ported very easily, so even if you relocate your business, your customers won’t encounter any issues because of it.   

Toll free numbers are easy to recall  

Remembering toll free numbers is typically easy as compared to remembering local numbers because of the repetitive nature of all 800 business numbers. This helps the customers to recall you easily in case they want to re-engage with you and your services.    

Cost-efficient

While toll-free SMS service comes at a price, it is still way cheaper compared to other SMS or calling alternatives and can help businesses save money in the long run. Additionally, this option comes with a lot of flexibility in terms of features and subscription plans, allowing businesses to manage the cost incurred on sending SMS to their customers. 

Toll-Free vs Short Code vs 10 DLC Texting

Here’s a table showing the basic difference between Toll-Free vs Short Code vs 10 DLC Texting: 

Features to Look For in a Toll-Free Texting Software 

When looking for a toll-free texting software, you should consider the following features:

• Two-way texting: This feature ensures that your customers are able to text you back so that you can have a two-way conversation with them.
• Scheduled toll-free text messages: See if the software allows you to schedule SMS for a set time and date. This can be really helpful for sending reminders, promotional offers, business updates, and more. 
• SMS marketing and text notifications: See if you can send marketing messages and other notifications using your toll-free texting software.
• MMS: The software should support sending images, videos, GIFs, and other files.
• Mass messaging: See if you can send toll-free SMS to a large number of people at once. 
• SMS templates: See if the software offers templates and allows you to add more templates when sending toll-free sms to customers.
• Auto replies: See if your software can send auto-replies to your customers based on different keyword triggers.
• Landline texting: If you want to get your landline number text enabled for toll-free messaging, then you must look for this important feature.
• Opt-outs: To comply with texting regulations, it is important to give your customers the option to opt out of your business SMS. So check if the software offers this feature.
• Integrations: Check if the software supports integration with your existing software so that you can simplify communication with your customers.
• Drip campaigns: Look for this feature if you wish to send a sequence of SMS to your customers, such as an initial message, then a follow-up SMS for running different marketing campaigns.
• Contact management: This feature is important to manage all your conversations by categorizing them into folders on the basis of the nature of the conversation.   

Best Practices For Toll-Free Text Messaging

Got your toll-free number? Now here are some best practices that you must keep in mind before kickstarting toll-free texting: 

Get consent 

Always get the expressed written consent of your customers before sending them any marketing messages. As per the TCPA SMS Compliance, you must always take the written consent of your customers by asking them to opt-in to receive marketing messages. Any failure to do that can lead to a mountain of penalties. 

Personalize your message 

If you wish to make the most of toll-free text messaging, then two-way communication is the key. Make sure to personalize each message that you plan to send out to your customers. With a toll-free texting service like Emitrr, you can send personalized messages on a scale and automatically follow up with your customers using drip campaigns. 

Provide a clear opt-out option 

Whenever you send marketing messages to your customers with your toll-free number, always make sure to give a clear option to opt out of the messages. You can simply add ‘Reply STOP to opt-out’. This will ensure compliance and will also save you the effort of sending messages to the wrong audience. 

Respect timing 

Always make sure to send messages keeping the timings and frequency in mind. The standard time for sending messages is between 8 am and 9 pm in the US. Sending messages at odd times will invite angry complaints and might mark your number as spam. Always honor the timing and frequency of sending messages to your customers. 

Legal Requirements For Toll-Free Texting

In addition to the aforementioned best practices, there are certain legal requirements that you must keep in mind to ensure seamless toll-free texting. 

Approved use cases 

Only utilize toll-free messaging for approved use cases. The graphic below explains the kinds of messages you can and cannot send. 

Verification is mandatory

As of 31st January 2024, any messages sent from toll-free numbers that are restricted or unverified will be blocked. You can only send messages from verified toll-free numbers. 

File size limitations 

While sending messages, especially MMS, make sure to check the file size limitations, as any file beyond the stated limit will leave your message undelivered. If you wish to choose Emitrr as your service provider, make sure to contact support to get an understanding of the file size limitations for sending MMS messages with toll-free numbers. 

Carrier fees 

The toll-free SMS and MMS carrier fee varies across different carriers. 

Use Cases of Toll-Free Text Messaging

Toll-free numbers starting with the prefix 8 are easily recognizable, and no matter which business you have, you can take advantage of toll-free texting. Here are some common industries and use cases of toll-free texting for the same: 

Toll-Free Texting For Healthcare 

If you are a doctor, physician, or clinician, then you can use toll-free text SMS in healthcare to send out appointment reminders to your patients, you can send prescription refill reminders, and even surveys to get feedback from your patients. The best part is, since toll-free texting is free, your patients can text back to you and conversate with you in case they have any questions or updates. 

Toll-Free Texting For Retail businesses 

Retail businesses are often required to share shipping information, order status, billing information, OTP, and other similar information with their customers. Such businesses can utilize toll-free texting and reach out to multiple customers at once, or can use it for retail SMS marketing as well. 

Toll-Free Texting For Real Estate 

Real Estate professionals get different property deals all the time, and they can share these deals and regular property updates with all of their customers or people who are interested in buying real estate property. The best part is that they can send these messages in bulk and even use templates meant for real estate to save a lot of precious time. 

Toll-Free Texting For Educational institutions 

Educational institutes often run different events, competitions, tests, and exams, and they can take advantage of toll-free texting by reaching out to parents at once. And the parents can also text back and discuss any queries without incurring any cost. 

Toll-Free Texting For Local businesses

If you are a local business that wants to run marketing campaigns and want to be seen and build a local presence, then toll-free texting may be very useful for you. For this, you can choose a toll-free number that can be identified with your area code, or you can even choose a vanity number to stand out and be remembered by your customers.

Toll-Free Texting For Home Service Businesses 

Another industry that can use toll-free sms messaging is the home service industry. Home service business professionals can use it to send billing information, share service timings updates, price quotes, customer support, etc., with their customers, and allow them to text you back to discuss anything they want with no additional cost. 

10 Best Toll-Free Service Providers 

1. Emitrr
2. SimpleTexting
3. Ez Texting
4. Textline
5. Textedly 
6. TextUs
7. Textmagic
8. Text-Em-All
9. ClickSend
10. Heymarket

1. Emitrr 

Emitrr Overview 

Emitrr is one of the best SMS texting services for small businesses. The platform offers end-to-end support to businesses whether they are looking for a new sms toll-free number or simply want to get their existing number text-enabled. With Emitrr, you can enjoy flexible pricing with the ability to upgrade or downgrade your SMS plan, you can seamlessly integrate your CRM/EHR/PMS software, and enjoy two-way texting with your customers. Emitrr is not only efficient and affordable but is also rated 5 stars for its customer service, ensuring you never get stuck after your purchase. Here’s a detailed overview of what else you can expect from Emitrr’s toll-free texting service: 

Emitrr Features 

• Set SMS character limit per user: Set SMS character limit for each user so that you have more control over the way SMS credits are being used.
• Track your team’s credit usage: Easily track and manage how your team is using their SMS credits and suggest changes if needed. 
• Volume-based SMS pricing: Get a price quote on the basis of the volume of SMS you need to send. Upgrade or downgrade your plan anytime for more flexibility during off and high seasons. 
• Buy additional credits: Buy additional credits upon exhausting your monthly SMS credit limit if you do not wish to upgrade your SMS plan. 
• Create conversation folders and subfolders: Track your conversations better by categorizing them into folders and subfolders.
• Limit conversation access: Limit access to conversations so that only a group of people or certain individuals can view and access customer conversations. 
• Label conversations with tags: Label different conversations with different tags, such as resolved, ongoing, etc., to be able to identify the status of conversations without needing to open them. 
• Two-way messaging: Allow your customers to text back to you with a two-way messaging feature.
• MMS texting: Send MMS messages by sharing files, such as images, documents, etc., with your customers. 
• Integrations: Integrate with third-party CRM/PMS/EHR tools to get customer data in one place. 
• Personalization: Send personalized SMS to your customers individually or at once.
• Opt-in & opt-out management: Include the option to opt-out or opt-in again in your messages and give your customers more flexibility. 
• Mass texting: Send messages to a large number of people at once. 
• Automation: Set automated responses to frequently asked questions such as business hour queries or whatever that may seem fit to you.
• 10 DLC registration: Get a 10 DLC number registered and verified. 
• Landline texting: Text-enable your existing landline number and use it to send SMS.
• Bilingual messaging: Conversate with users in more than one language.
• Analytics and reporting: Get detailed analysis of how well your toll-free SMS campaigns are performing.
• Subscriber list segmentation: Organize your contact list and segment them on the basis of age, demographics, behavior, etc.
• Customizable sign-up forms: Create customizable sign-up forms to get SMS subscribers from your website and social media accounts as well.

Pros of Emitrr

• Excellent customer service: Emitrr has the best customer service team and is known for offering excellent 24×7 support to its customers. 
• Customization at a great price: With Emitrr, you can enjoy a flexible and customized price quote depending on your texting volume.
• Feature reach toll-free SMS software: This platform not only offers toll-free texting capability but also features for reputation management, VoIP, appointment scheduling, and more. 
• Seamless integrations: Emitrr seamlessly integrates with third-party apps and tools, ensuring your workflow is never interrupted and your business SMS communication is carried out efficiently. 

Cons of Emitrr

There are more features that are being added. 

Emitrr Pricing

Emitrr offers a credit-based pricing model for toll-free SMS texting. The pricing starts at $149 a month, and you can choose to upgrade or downgrade your plan as and when needed. You can also buy extra credits for an additional cost in case you exhaust your monthly limit and do not want to upgrade your plan. 

Emitrr Integrations

Emitrr offers 500+ integrations with different external CRM/EHR/PMS tools, including but not limited to:

• MailChimp
• AthenaHealth
• Zapier
• Denticon
• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• HouseCall Pro
• Facebook
• And more!

Emitrr Reviews & Ratings

Emitrr has an overall rating of 4.8/5 stars on Capterra and 4.7 on g2. Here’s what customers are saying about Emitrr:

“You have it all integrated into one platform, the signatures, the amount of characters, you can attached files, send photos. You are able to create and send forms. Unlimited amount of things we can use and take advantage of.”

“I love that we can set reminders to each individual person, set campaigns for larger messages, assign conversations to other coworkers, and have multiple templates ready to send. These are all time saving services for us. Also, the customer service is amazing! We had a major tech issue that was resolved in less than 3 days. They were very quick, concerned, and professional.”

Emitrr Support Channels 

• Live chat: Chat with Emitrr’s live representatives
• Email: Send email to Emitrr’s support team at [email protected]
• Phone: Call Emitrr at +1 (210) 941-4696
• Knowledge base
• FAQs/forum
• SMS

Source: Capterra 

2. SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting Overview

SimpleTexting is a comprehensive business texting software that also offers toll-free texting capabilities. Using it, you can either set up toll-free number or text enable your current toll-free number to have one-on-one conversations with your customers. The platform seamlessly integrates with third-party applications and offers a bunch of useful features. However, it is quite expensive and is also not HIPAA compliant, making it unsuitable for small businesses and healthcare providers. 

SimpleTexting Features

• Two-way texting: Do one-on-one conversations with users directly from the platform.
• MMS messaging: Send multimedia messages that include images, videos, emojis, GIFs, etc. 
• Roll over credit: Utilize leftover SMS credits in the next month. 
• Bulk SMS messaging: Send messages to a large number of people at once.
• Link shortening and tracking: Shorten links and include them in your toll free SMS message to track how they are performing.
• Autoresponders: Sends out replies automatically based on specific keywords.
• Scheduled messages: Send out messages to your customers on a predetermined time and date.
• Customizable sign-up forms: Create customizable sign-up forms to get SMS subscribers from your website and social media accounts as well.

Pros of SimpleTexting

• Ease of use: SimpleTexting’s interface is easy to use and requires no technical expertise to use and operate.
• Great customer service: SimpleTexting has a rating of 4.8 for its customer service and is highly appreciated for offering quick and effective resolutions.
• Seamless integrations: SimpleTexting integrates seamlessly with more than 1000 third-party apps and tools. 

Cons of SimpleTexting

• Expensive price tag: SimpleTexting’s pricing goes up to $899 a month for 50,000 SMS, which might be quite expensive for growing businesses. Besides, why should you pay more if you can get the same number of SMS limits for a much lower price with SimpleTexting alternatives?  
• Non HIPAA compliant: SimpleTexting is not HIPAA compliant and so, cannot be used by healthcare providers.
• Limited international messaging: SimpleTexting mainly supports texting in the US and Canada, and is not ideal for scaling or global businesses.

SimpleTexting Pricing

The cost of toll-free texting with SimpleTexting depends on your SMS volume needs. However, its pricing starts at $29 a month for 500 outgoing messages and goes up to $899 per month for 50,000 SMS. Additionally, the platform charges an extra $20 per user per month for each additional teammate and $10 to activate your local number as well. 

SimpleTexting Integrations

SimpleTexting integrates with 1000+ third-party CRM/EHR/ tools, including:

• MailChimp
• Slack
• Salesforce
• Hubspot
• Zapier
• WordPress
• Podio
• Pabbly
• Amplifier
• Integrately
• And more!

SimpleTexting Reviews & Ratings

SimpleTexting is rated 4.7/5 on both Capterra and g2 & here’s is what its customers are saying:

“You have to upgrade your plan to use another toll free number than the one they give to you. I mean it’s alright, but I would have liked to see the different area code options before I pay for the month.”

“I love that it’s straightforward to onboard and get started. Also, there isn’t much downtime for customer support and business registration.”

Source: g2

SimpleTexting Support Channels 

SimpleTexting offers these customer support channels:

• Phone
• Chat
• FAQs
• Email
• Knowledge base

3. Ez Texting

Ez Texting Overview

EZ Texting is a leading SMS marketing service that offers toll-free texting numbers to businesses so that they can communicate with their customers with ease. The software is pretty easy to use, but it offers very basic SMS texting features. Another issue with EZ Texting is its expensive pricing plans, which often force customers to look for EZ Texting alternatives. Here is a closer look at what EZ Texting has to offer: 

Ez Texting Features

• Mass texting: Create different contact lists and send out SMS to them in bulk, perfect for marketing or announcements.
• AI-Powered SMS compose: Use AI to create templates & SMS. 
• Contact management: Send targeted messages to customers by segmenting them into groups and lists.
• Mass texting: Create different kinds of contact lists and send out SMS to them in bulk, ideal for announcements and marketing. 
• Grow contributor lists: Bulk upload your contacts & grow your list with keywords, forms, and QR codes. 
• Custom keywords: Create unlimited SMS keywords for different types of campaigns.

Pros of Ez Texting

• Easy onboarding process: Setting up Ez texting is very easy, and the quick onboarding process is highly appreciated by customers.
• AI automation: Ez Texting offers AI automation like AI-powered message compose, generative AI, etc., that can be helpful in drafting SMS and conversing with your customers.
• Great customer support: EZ texting’s customer agents offer quick resolution to problems and are quite professional to deal with. 

Cons of Ez Texting

• Costly price: EzTexting’s pricing goes up to $3000 a month, so it is definitely a costly option for those looking to send out SMS in large numbers.
• Issues with toll-free SMS delivery: EZ Texting users often complain about issues with toll-free SMS delivery, resulting in important communications being missed by their customers.
• Glitchy software: EZ Texting software gets glitchy quite often and basic tasks like setting up texting campaigns become difficult due to these glitches.

Ez Texting Pricing

Ez Texting offers four kinds of pricing options:

• Launch: $20/month for up to 500 contacts
• Boost: $60/ month for 500-2,000 contacts
• Scale: $100/month for 2,000-50,000 contacts
• Enterprise: $3000 a month for 50,000+ contacts

Ez Texting Integrations

Ez Texting offers integrations with many software and tools, including: 

• HubSpot
• SquareSpace
• Zapier
• Mailchimp
• Vortext
• Salesforce
• CustomerX
• QuickDesk
• And more..

Ez Texting Reviews & Ratings

Ez Texting is rated 4.3/5 on Capterra and on 4.5/5 on g2. Here’s what customers are saying about Ez Texting:

“The ease of use for training less technical people on how to buy keywords is excellent. The API is great to work with as well.“

“The platform is constantly pushing for increasing expense. And pricing displays are misleading to say the least.“

Source: Capterra 

Ez Texting Support Channels 

• Chat 
• Phone
• Faqs
• Email
• Knowledge Base

4. Textline

Textline Overview 

Textline is a comprehensive SMS messaging service that can help you text-enable your existing toll-free phone number or give you a new toll-free text messaging number so that your customers can take advantage of free SMS services. The platform offers many useful texting features, simply your workflow; however, delays in message delivery and high cost are two big reasons why users look for alternatives to textline. 

Textline Features

• Toll-free text enabling: Textline can text-enable toll-free numbers, VoIP number, landline number or your existing business number. 
• SMS templates: Use SMS templates and reduce time spent manually in typing messages.
• Group texting: Send SMS in groups and get replies on the same text thread.
• ‍Mass texting: Reach out to a large number of people at once. 
• Automated messages: Set up automated messages based on pre-set keywords.
• Landline texting: Text-enable your existing landline number and use it to send SMS.
• Scheduled messages: Schedule mass group text messages or a single SMS to go out at a future time and date.
• Two-way SMS and MMS: Allow customers to text you back for free, also send files, images, etc., to them with MMS messaging. 
• Text surveys: Create custom SMS surveys or use Textline’s pre-built customer satisfaction surveys to get actionable insights from your contacts.

Pros of Textline

• Ease of use: Textline’s interface is very intuitive and easy to use, and you require no technical knowledge to use it efficiently. 
• Helpful customer service team: Textline has a 5-star customer service rating on Capterra. Users appreciate the responsiveness and professionalism of their customer support team.
• Ensures smooth workflow: Using Textline users can enjoy a smooth workflow, they can assign/claim text chains to team members, collaborate together, utilize address books, resolve text chains, and so much more.

Cons of Textline

• High Textline cost: Textline’s pricing starts at $20 per user, per month, but your cost can quickly increase as you add more users.
• Hidden charges: Other than high costs, Textline also has hidden charges like industry fees, extra messaging costs, etc., making it expensive for businesses.
• Delay in SMS delivery: As per many Textline reviews, users often face errors and delays in SMS delivery, which makes it challenging for smooth operations.

Textline Pricing

You can choose from four Textline pricing options:

• Limited: $20 per month / per agent
• Standard: $30 per month / per agent
• Pro: $50 per month / per agent
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Textline Integrations

Have a look at some of the Textline integrations that you can find: 

• Salesforce
• Aircall
• Zapier
• Slack
• HubSpot
• Pipedrive
• Freshdesk
• Talkdesk
• And more.

Textline Reviews & Ratings

Textline customer rating on g2 is 4.5/5 and on Capterra is 5/5. And here’s what customers are saying about Textline:

“The UI is really a time saver. We send out text sequences to service our retail customers. the saved templates are my favorite feature. super fast support.”

“The updates made are not always user-friendly especially on mobile versions. Limits on what you can input in messages and setting up contact lists for announcements requires some work arounds. The biggest con is the price you pay for users and then text charges above and beyond the basics.”

Source: Capterra 

Textline Support Channels 

• Email
• Help Desk
• Chat
• Knowledge Base

5. Textedly

Textedly Overview 

Textedly offers a toll-free texting solution for SMS marketing to businesses of different industries, such as retail, real estate, spas, etc. The platform offers numerous features such as shortcodes, 10 DLC texting, etc., and is known for its affordable pricing. However, the biggest flaw with Textedly is that you have to pay extra to get customer support service from them. Here’s a detailed look at what Textedly is like: 

Textedly Features

• Two-Way SMS: Carry out two-way conversations with your customers.
• Auto reply texts: Send automated replies to customers as soon as they text you.
• Conversation triggers: Add free conversation triggers and converse with your subscribers on autopilot automatically.
• Send a long text message: Send a long text SMS to your customers with over 455 characters.
• Multi-user support: Add multiple users to your Textedly account. 
• Text message data collection: Textedly automatically retrieves and imputes the city, State, and ZIP code for all your subscribers.
• Schedule a text: Use a built-in calendar to schedule a single text message or mass group text messages to go out at a future time and date.

Pros of Textedly 

• Many useful texting features: Textedly offers a wide range of useful and unique texting features such as free incoming SMS, long SMS, single send, etc. 
• Textedly pricing is affordable: Textedly’s pricing is affordable, with pricing plans starting at $26 per month.
• Unlimited contact management: Using Textedly, you can manage unlimited contacts in your list.
• Intuitive interface: Textedly has a very intuitive interface and is pretty easy to use, requiring no technical knowledge. 

Cons of Textedly 

• Lack of dedicated customer support: Textedly does not offer dedicated customer support for all and you are required to purchase a higher plan to access it.
• Lack of AI features: Textedly lacks AI features for better optimization and automation. 
• Not scalable: Textedly may be ideal for small or mid-sized businesses, but it is not suitable for scaling enterprise businesses.
• Limited customization options: Although Textedly is very easy to use, it lacks depth of customization. 

Textedly Pricing

Textedly offers 14-day free trial and four pricing options to choose from:

• Basic: $26 per month for 600 messages
• Bronze: $38 per month for 1200 messages
• Plus: $69 per month for 2400 messages

Textedly Integrations

Here’s a list of Textedly integrations: 

• Salesforce
• MailChimp
• Zapier
• Zoho
• Constant Contact
• HubSpot
• Zendesk
• And more..

Textedly Reviews & Ratings

Textedly has a customer rating of 4.6/5 on g2 and 4.5/5 on Capterra and here’s what customers are saying about Textedly:

“This platform has allowed us to send/receive text messages from our toll-free numbers which is a huge plus as a small business that is less than three years old.”

“The pricing is a bit rough because using photos/emojis counts as more messages, I wish it was just a flat rate.. and the $25 a pop for more messages adds up. As a non profit we have over 200 members and so sending one text out with an image is counted as 800+ messages which is costly for us.”

Source: g2 

Textedly Support Channels 

• 24/7 (live rep) 
• Email/Help desk
• Chat 
• Phone support

6. OpenPhone

OpenPhone Overview

OpenPhone is a business phone system essentially, but it also offers a toll-free texting service. The software is known for offering useful calling features for business communication that too at a very affordable price. It also offers local numbers for sending toll-free SMS and calling, however, its texting capability comes with limited features. Here are more details on what OpenPhone has to offer. 

OpenPhone Features

• Send international toll-free SMS: Use OpenPhone to enable international toll-free texting.
• Toll-free MMS sharing: Send images, videos, GIFs, audio, and other files with your contacts easily. 
• Port existing toll-free business number: Port your existing toll-free number to a new SMS service provider. 
• Threads: Allow your team to reply to messages in a thread that is not visible to your customers. 
• Unified inbox: Transcribed voicemails, call logs, and call recordings all appear in a single inbox so that you can track all the conversations that have happened with a customer in one place.
• Auto-replies: Set automated replies for text messages, calls, or voicemails based on different triggers.
• Schedule your toll-free SMS: Schedule your toll-free SMS to be sent at a later date and time.

Pros of OpenPhone 

• Dedicated local toll–free number: OpenPhone offers a dedicated local toll–free number to businesses that can be enabled for both calling and texting.
• Competitive pricing: OpenPhone is one the most affordable toll-free SMS service in the industry, and users really appreciate their competitive pricing.
• Quick and easy set-up: OpenPhone users appreciate how easy it is to get the software up and running because of the fast set up process.

Cons of OpenPhone

• Frequent outages: Many OpenPhone users complain about facing frequent outages and technical issues with the OpenPhone software, which affects their business.
• Limited toll-free texting features: OpenPhone is mainly focused on calling, so they offer very limited toll-free texting features.
• Limited integrations: OpenPhone integrates with very few third-party applications and tools, which might be a big problem if it is not compatible with your existing tools. 

OpenPhone Pricing

There are three OpenPhone pricing plans to choose from:

• Starter: $19 per user, per month
• Business: $33 per user, per month
• Enterprise: Custom 

OpenPhone Integrations

OpenPhone integrated with limited tools only, including: 

• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Slack
• Gong
• Google Contacts
• Zapier

OpenPhone Reviews & Ratings

OpenPhone has a rating of 4.2/5 on Capterra and 4.7/5 on g2. Here’s what OpenPhone customers are saying about the platform:

“I was so looking for a service like this that was easy to use, reliable and ability to add and and manage multiple numbers and this is it.”

“Core features don’t work. They have a bug in their call routing that kept calls from coming to my team until I figured out a way to work around it. There is a bug “upstream at a carrier” that is preventing us from sending sms/mms from our core phone number. They failed to mention this prior to us porting our number into their system. Now we’re stuck, but it’s been weeks with no movement.”

Source: Capterra

OpenPhone Support Channels 

• Chat
• Help centre
• Email

7. Textmagic

Textmagic Overview

Textmagic is a popular business text messaging service meant for marketing and communication. The platform offers toll-free verified numbers to businesses and allows them to send and receive toll-free SMS to their customers in the U.S. and Canada. Textmagic has an intuitive interface and many customization options. However, it offers limited integration and is also expensive. 

Textmagic Features

• Toll-free texting: Deliver SMS, alerts, reminders, etc., and offer your customers a free number to text to, but only in the U.S. and Canada.
• Two-way SMS chat: Get in a two-way conversation with your customers.
• Email to SMS: Convert email into an SMS message and deliver it smoothly.
• Incoming message automation: Create automatic rules for processing incoming SMS for adding subscribers to lists or for automatic replies, etc.
• Text marketing lists: Segregate your contacts into different groups and lists to optimize your communication strategy.
• Long text messages: Send toll free SMS with up to 918 characters in length. 
• SMS attachment and MMS: Attach images, emojis, PDFs, word files, etc., and send them to your customers via SMS.
• SMS opt-out management: Allow your subscribers to opt out of your toll-free business messages by sending a STOP message. 
• Global SMS coverage: Reach your customers worldwide with access to 190+ countries and 1,000 mobile networks.

Pros of Textmagic

• Intuitive interface: Textmagic’s interface is quite intuitive, and its simplicity of use is quite appreciated by users.
• Great customization options: Textmagic offers many customization options, such as list building, sending SMS, or website optimization, among others. 
• Supports long text messages: Textmagic allows users to send short SMS with up to 160 characters and also long SMS with up to 918 characters.

Cons of Textmagic

• Missing features: Textmagic does not offer many basic texting features such as missed call-to-text, web chat-to-text, group texting, scheduled-based texting, etc.
• High price tag: Textmagic’s SMS pricing starts at $0.04 per message, costing businesses anywhere from $20 to $1,000, making it more expensive compared to other Textline alternatives.
• Inconsistent customer support: Textmagic customer support is not available 24×7, and many customer reviews suggest that their support takes too long to answer queries. 
• Limited integration: The biggest disadvantage of Textmagic is that it integrates with only Zapier.

Textmagic Pricing

Textmagic offers three pricing options:

• Essential: $24.5/ 500 texts/ month
• Professional: $80/ 2,000 texts/ month
• Connect: $100/ 10,000 texts/ month

Textmagic Integrations 

Textmagic integrates with Zapier only.

Textmagic Reviews & Ratings 

Textmagic customer rating on Capterra is 4.6/5 and on g2 is 4.4/5. Here’s what customers are saying about Textmagic:

“I have been considerably impressed with the level of customer service I have received from Textmagic. Lastly, I do have to mention, the new interface is wonderful and appears well thought out.”

“The prices of the sms compared to other services can be a bit high. Additionally I have had problems to reach all operators, apparently it is a problem with the number portability of this country.”

Source: Capterra

Textmagic Support Channels 

• Phone Support
• Chat
• Email/Help Desk
• FAQs/Forum

8. Text-Em-All

Text-Em-All Overview

Text-em-all is a comprehensive customer text messaging platform that allows you to market your business and communicate with your customers with ease. For this, the platform offers a bunch of useful features, which are all quite easy to use. However, the software lacks in offering the best integration capabilities and it is also an expensive option for smaller businesses. Here are more details on Text-em-all. 

Text-Em-All Features

• MMS: Send files and images to your customers using the MMS option.
• Flexible inbox: Share inbox with your team and allow them to collaborate on message threads.
• Surveys: Collect feedback and gain insight from your customers using the SMS survey option.
• Personalization: Add personalized fields for sending a personalized SMS to your customers when uploading the contact file to the broadcast page.
• Text templates: Create new templates or add previously created text messages to your text broadcast.
• Text signatures: Create a text signature and add it automatically to any text message.
• Message library: Use this to find a list of text messages and audio files that have been saved to your account.

Pros of Text-Em-All

• Excellent Text-em-all support team: This platform has an excellent support team, and users appreciate how efficiently and timely they get solutions to their problems.
• User-friendly interface: Text-em-all is quite easy-to-use and requires absolutely no technical skills to use.
• Ease of communication: Certain Text-em-all features, such as repeating broadcasts, auto-replies, combo broadcasts, etc., save a lot of time and help in easy communication with customers.

Cons of Text-Em-All

• Glitchy Text-em-all app: Though the computer version of Text-Em-All works fine, there are very limited features in the mobile app and many other glitches. 
• Issues with Text-em-all pricing: Text-em-all charges 5 cents per credit, which can be quite expensive if you need to send out SMS to a large group of people. Also, the second version starts from $10 per month which doesn’t include major texting functionalities.
• Delays in SMS delivery: Some Text-em-all users have complained about SMS not being delivered timely, the software really lags in this regard.

Text-Em-All Pricing

Text-em-all’s monthly plan starts at $19 per month based on group size. Apart from this, Text-em-all also offers a free plan with very basic SMS features and credit-based pricing options ranging from 5¢-9¢ / credit based on volume. 

Text-Em-All Integrations

Popular Text-em-all integrations include:

• Salesforce
• Shopify
• Zapier
• Facebook
• Pipedrive
• HubSpot 
• And more

Text-Em-All Reviews & Ratings

Text-em-all ratings are 4.8 on G2 and 4.7 on Capterra, and here’s what customers are saying about it:

“Because we use this software so infrequently, there are some updates that can be confusing when trying to set up at a moments notice for emergency notifications.”

“I love that we can contact all candidates at once with job openings, or important information regarding business operations. It saves so much time instead of having to make calls, and sending out text messages individually.”

Source: Capterra 

Text-Em-All Support Channels 

• Phone
• Email
• Chat
• FAQs

9. ClickSend

ClickSend Overview 

ClickSend is a popular business communication software that offers messaging and communication tools, such as SMS, Email, Fax, MMS, Voice, etc., for businesses to simplify customer communication. Additionally, the software also offers customization through API, 24×7 customer support, and more. However, complex design and lags are ClickSend’s biggest pain points. Have a look at the detailed overview of ClickSend below. 

ClickSend Features

• Online SMS: Send SMS globally right from your browser.
• Toll-free text enabling: Get your existing toll-free business number text-enabled. 
• SMS gateway API: Use ClickSend SMS API to build exactly what you want for the applications you are currently using.
• SMS Automation: Add set-and-forget automation for all your recurring messages without any need for coding.
• 2-way SMS conversations: Allow customers to text you back with two-way text messaging.
• Promotional SMS campaigns: Create quick SMS campaigns to give information, or to promote your products or services, etc. 
• Email to SMS: Convert your emails to SMS from almost any email provider.

Pros of ClickSend

• Customization: You can use ClickSend API, and build whatever features you need for your business for more customization.
• Reliability & Security: ClickSend comes with a lot of security capabilities and services, such as encryption in transit with TLS control network access and built-in firewalls to increase privacy.
• 24×7 global support: ClickSend offers real-time global 24×7 chat support.  

Cons of ClickSend

• Cluttered interface: ClickSend’s interface is quite cluttered, its services drop-down menus don’t function properly, and the performance of the software is also prolonged.
• Laggy ClickSend app & software: Users complain that the ClickSend software has a lot of bugs, causing many functionalities to be inconsistent.
• Issues with ClickSend pricing: The pricing of ClickSend is quite high and the company is also not transparent about its pricing details. 
• Poor ClickSend support: Customers often complain that CllickSend’s customer support team is very slow with responses and is even quite unprofessional.

ClickSend Pricing 

ClickSend offers a volume-based pricing model. Irs SMS pricing starts at $0.0936 per message for message volume under 5K and goes up to $0.0818 per message for message volume over 150k or more. Additionally, ClickSend also charges an extra $133.43 / month for a dedicated number. 

ClickSend Integrations

Here’s a look at a few ClickSend integrations:

• Zoho
• Salesforce
• Zapier
• Microsoft Power
• IFTTT
• Make
• Bubble.io
• And more..

ClickSend Reviews & Ratings

ClickSend customer rating is 4.1/5 on g2 and on Capterra is 3.9/5. Here’s what customers are saying about ClickSend:

“Very user-friendly and easy to get the hang of!”

“Recently, texts started failing. We can’t figure out why. We have reached out to Customer Service twice to resolve the issue. While we aren’t a big user on their platform, the fact is the failed text messages are costing us. We can’t troubleshoot effectively this way. No one is reaching back out to us.”

Source: Capterra 

ClickSend Support Channels 

• Phone
• Email
• Chat
• Knowledge base

10. Heymarket

Heymarket Overview 

Heymarket is a comprehensive tool for business communication and offers toll-free texting capability as well. The platform offers many useful features and integrates with CRM such as HubSpot, Zapier, etc. However, the only problem with this software is that it is glitchy and even expensive. Let’s have a look at Heymarket in detail: 

Heymarket Features

• Opt-in confirmations: This sends an automated SMS to customers when an incoming message with your business’s specific opt-in keyword is detected.
• Appointment reminders: Use automatic texting and schedule appointment reminders immediately after confirming an appointment.
• Mass alerts: Make important announcements, update your business hours or highlight new policies at scale with automated texts.
• Auto reply texts: Create auto-responses for questions that are asked repeatedly. 
• Drip campaigns: Send customers recurring messages for different campaigns to keep them engaged with your business. 
• Survey requests: Set up survey requests to send after order deliveries or ticket resolutions.
• Follow-ups: Set triggers based on specific actions or schedule automatic texts in advance in your CRM system.

Pros of Heymarket 

• Intuitive interface: Heymarket’s interface is designed beautifully, and you can use it seamlessly without any interruptions. 
• Easy communication: With plenty of SMS features such as two-way texting, drip campaigns, follow-ups, auto-reply texts, etc., Heymarket allows you to communicate with your customers flawlessly. 
• Automation: This platform offers features like email workflow follow-ups, auto-replies, CRM-triggered SMS, etc., and is highly suitable for businesses that want high automation. 
• Text compliantly: Heymarket is a HIPAA and TCPA-compliant platform, making it very reliable for customer communication. 

Cons of Heymarket

• Expensive: Heymarket’s pricing ranges from $19-$59 per user per month, and its basic plan comes with very limited features and supports only Hubspot integration, forcing you to pick a higher plan, which may not be affordable for small businesses. 
• No real-time message delivery tracking: Heymarket does not show if your message got delivered or failed in real time.
• Customer support limitation: Heymarket offers customer support via email only for its basic plan, and if you want access to the live chat option, then you will need to choose a higher plan. 
• Frequent downtime & other glitches: Heymarket customers often point at frequent glitches and prolonged downtimes in the platform.

Heymarket Pricing

Heymarket offers four kinds of pricing plans including:

• Standard: $19/user/month
• Plus: $39/user/month
• Pro: $59/user/month
• Enterprise: Custom

Heymarket Integrations

Here’s a bunch of Heymarket integrations that you can find: 

• Hubspot
• Clio
• Salesforce
• Zapier
• Shopify
• Aircall
• And more..

Heymarket Reviews & Ratings

Heymarket has a rating of 4.5/5 on Capterra  and 4.6/5 on g2. Here’s what customers are saying about Heymarket:

“The customer service lacks a bit; it seems they use the same product to communicate/resolve technical issues, and the software is not capable of handling it. Issues get lost and sometimes unanswered.”

“We like that it’s an easy SMS App, also the integration with ZD, we can set up templates and use the same one for automated messages like collections or surveys, which is great.”

Source: Capterra

Heymarket Support Channels 

• Chat 
• Email
• Knowledge base
• Phone support
• FAQs

Why Emitrr is the Best Toll-Free Texting Software? 

Emitrr is a great texting service if you’re looking forward to getting started with toll-free texting. Here’s why: 

• Emitrr will offer end-to-end support with regards to helping you choose a new toll free number or text-enabling your existing toll-free number. 
• If you choose a new toll-free number, then Emitrr will help you with the verification process. 
• Once the toll-free number is verified, the setup will only take up a couple of minutes and you’ll be all set to send SMS and MMS with your new text-enabled toll-free number. 
• With this number, you will be able to send mass text messages, two-way messages, personalized texts on scale, and marketing messages to your customers. 
• With an excellent throughput range of 10-150 MPS, you can ensure improved delivery and response rates.

How to Send Toll-Free Texts using Emitrr?

Sending toll-free SMS using Emitrr is very simple and straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step process on how you do this using Emitrr:

1. First, you have to decide whether you want a new toll-free text-enabled number or if you want to get your existing toll-free number text-enabled. 

2. If you choose a new toll-free number, then Emitrr will help you with the verification process, which takes about 7-10 days, and will take care of all the formalities.

3. If you want to get your toll-free landline number text enabled, then Emitrr will take care of that for you as well. However, for the verification, you will have to share a Letter of Authorization and the landline number that you want to get text-enabled.

4. Once your toll-free number is verified, the setup will hardly take time, and you will be able to start sending toll-free SMS to your customers. 

Here’s a video showing how you can use Emitrr to send SMS to your customers:

How to Get a Toll-Free Number for your Business? 

Wondering how to get an 800 number or how to get a toll-free business number? Well, the process is fairly simple. Here’s a step-by-step guide showing you how you can get a toll free number for business: 

Identify the needs of your business 

Start by identifying your business needs. Determine why you need a toll-free number. If you need a toll-free texting number for offering customer support or for promotion or marketing purposes, then it’s fine. But if you want it for say, sending appointment reminders or payment updates, then maybe sticking to your 10 DLC number may be a better option. 

Sign up for a toll-free texting service

The next step is to sign up for a toll-free sms messaging service like Emitrr. This is because a toll free SMS service can help you get started with toll-free texting. 

Choose the right toll-free number for your business

The next step would be to choose the right toll free number for your business. You can either choose a standard toll-free number, or you can choose a vanity number that is more customizable. A vanity number starts with 800 but is followed by a word that is relevant to you and your business, for example, (1-800-Roses). Vanity numbers operate just as standard toll-free numbers but can help you distinguish yourself and make it easy for your customers to recognize you. 

Get the toll-free number verified

After choosing your business’s toll-free number, you just need to get your toll-free number verified. However, don’t worry the toll-free number provider will take care of this for you. You will need to simply provide your basic details, such as the purpose of getting a toll-free number, your business name, etc. This verification process can take anywhere between 7-10 days. 

Start texting once the toll-free number is verified 

Once your toll-free number is verified, you can now choose your plan and start sending SMS to your customers or get in a two-way conversation with them. Emitrr is a great platform that you can use for this. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion 

Toll-free texting has become quite popular especially for marketing purposes due to its ease of use, high throughput, and low cost. Are you ready to get started with toll-free texting to achieve your marketing goals? Well, then wait no further! Check out whether Emitrr’s offerings fit your use case by booking a quick call here.