Connect your team with the best business text messaging options in 2024. We cover all the solutions you need for team chats, direct messaging, customer texts, and collaboration.
Communicating effectively with your team is essential to the success of your business. Texting apps are an excellent solution because they let you connect instantly with your whole team, no matter where they are. This makes them especially beneficial for coordinating a deskless, frontline workforce.
The best business texting apps also include powerful features for sharing information with your team, even when meeting in person is impossible. You can easily send individual messages and company-wide updates and create group chats for different projects and tasks.
We’ve looked at the 10 best business texting software solutions and will show you how to choose the right option for your business.
If you don’t have the time to read through our research, jump down to our quick comparison table.
Our Top Picks
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Best for All-in-one business text messaging
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Good for Customer-facing messaging
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Good for Outgoing marketing texts
Why trust us?
Our team of unbiased software reviewers follows strict editorial guidelines, and our methodology is clear and open to everyone.
See our complete methodology
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Tools considered
25
Tools reviewed
10
Best tools
chosen
How To Choose a Business Text Messaging App
There’s much more to business texting software than the ability to chat with workers online. The best text-messaging service for businesses combines real-time messaging with features for working more efficiently. Here’s what to look for:
- Strong security. Traditional text messaging via SMS is not encrypted, making it less than ideal for business matters. Look for text messaging software with end-to-end encryption to keep company chats secure and private. Messages should never be stored on workers’ devices, either, and you’ll want to be able to control who has access to which conversations and when.
- Share images, videos, and files. You’ll get more out of our business text messaging if you can share images, videos, audio recordings, and documents. Workers can share pictures of job sites and watch training videos all in one place.
- Privacy for team members. Look for text messaging software that lets you keep people’s phone numbers private from others. Only admins should have access to this information, preferably stored securely in the cloud.
- Connect chats to day-to-day operations. Context matters. By opting for an all-in-one team management platform like Connecteam, you can create chats around specific clients and projects, schedules, timesheets, job forms, and more. It’s the simplest way to keep your conversations organized.
The 10 Best Business Text Messaging Softwares of 2024
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Connecteam — Best for: All-in-one business text messaging
Connecteam is the best all-in-one text messaging software solution. Designed specifically for business use and deskless teams, it has all the features you need for one-to-one and group discussion.
Let’s take a closer look at everything the Connecteam app has to offer.
Secure, distraction-free business chat
Employees using the Connecteam app don’t need to share their personal numbers with each other. Only managers have access to this information, and it’s stored securely in the cloud at all times.
As a manager, you also have full control over who can send messages to whom and who has access to which chat groups (both for sending and receiving messages). Workers can find each other in the company directory—but only if they’ve been given access.
What’s more, chat history and shared files, images, and other media are stored in the cloud rather than on workers’ devices and can’t be saved or exported.
By offering a separate space for professional conversations, Connecteam’s chat function helps keep discussions free of private chatter and unnecessary distractions. Managers can remove inappropriate and non-work-related content and files, too.
Unlimited text messaging between team members
Unlike with traditional text messaging, where carrier charges can apply and add up quickly, Connecteam offers unlimited messages between team members. Your employees will thank you for helping to keep the phone bill down, and you never need to worry about quotas or surprise charges related to messaging.
Connecteam was built from the ground up for mobile devices, too. This makes it a great solution for deskless teams and anybody who relies on their phone to stay connected.
Chat groups for projects, clients, and shifts
Connecteam lets you create different chats, teams and channels for all your projects and clients. This helps provide a clear context for discussions and makes it easier to share relevant information and attachments.
The Smart Groups function simplifies managing permissions for all your different chat groups and channels. Smart Groups allow you to define custom rules, like all new employees or all workers at a given location. These users can then be added to chats, teams and channels.
Because Connecteam offers an all-in-one experience, you can also launch discussions around specific shifts in a schedule, company events, and more.
Share documents, task lists, updates and more
Connecteam’s chat features make it possible to share much more than just text. You can send images and videos as well as audio messages. Workers can snap a picture of a job site on their phone and send it for review or inspection, watch how-to videos created on-the-fly by a manager, and communicate via audio notes.
Sharing options go way beyond just images and videos, though. You can share documents and articles from your company knowledge base, gather feedback and information through surveys, forms and job reports, send checklists and tasks, and invitations to company events.
The Channels feature also lets you create special chat groups where only you can send messages. This is a great way to send company- and team-wide messages and notify your workers of changes in a work order or a brewing storm front.
Finally, the Updates feature allows you to quickly send out important updates to specific users, groups, or the whole team. Work faster with templates for birthdays, payroll, tutorials and more. With your permission, workers can comment on updates and offer feedback.
Reduce chat clutter with self-service tools for employees
In addition to text messaging and chat, Connecteam offers a variety of ways to provide workers with the information they need. This helps reduce needless and repetitive questions and discussions in chat groups.
For example, workers can consult your company’s knowledge base for safety protocols, tutorials and instructions, and more. You have unlimited storage, and it’s all end-to-end encrypted. You can also attach notes, images, and documents to shifts in the job scheduler, while checklists keep you up-to-date on workers’ progress without the need for heaps of messages.
And much, much more…
As mentioned above, Connecteam is an all-in-one team management platform. In addition to the communications functions mentioned above, it also includes outstanding tools for task and operations management and human resources and training. The app can be fully customized to suit your business needs and includes exceptional customer support.
Key Features
Secure business conversations, free of distractions
Set up one-on-one, group, and team chats in seconds
Send files, images, video, and audio, and more
Use Smart Groups to simplify permissions
Use updates, checklists, and forms to reduce chatter
Pros
GPS tracking
Managers have permissions and content control
Free for businesses with 10 or fewer users
Many business features beyond text messaging
Cons
No video chat yet, although you can send video messages
Pricing
Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Start your free trial -
Whatsapp — Good for: Customer-facing messaging
WhatsApp for Business is owned by Meta and was designed specifically for staying in touch with your customers. You can set up a business profile and send automatic greetings to new clients, organize and filter incoming messages, and set up auto-responses for frequently asked questions.
WhatsApp’s Business Platform is another option that allows for two-way customer communication. Send calls to action, product lists, media, and more. Let customers know when their order ships or when they need to complete a shopping cart order.
Key Features
- Customers can place orders in WhatsApp
- Reroute customers from autoresponders to live support
- Integrate with marketing and customer relationship management
- Announce special offers and products
Pros
- Convert Facebook ads into customer text conversations
- The first 1000 conversations are free
Cons
- Pricing is per conversation and can get costly
- No good options for internal texting in WhatsApp Business
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: Yes
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Sakari — Good for: Outgoing marketing texts
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Send delivery notifications, appointment reminders, and special offers to customers. With Sakari, you keep track of past conversations you’ve had with customers. You can even launch a marketing campaign right from the dashboard.
Pricing starts at $16/month for 500 messages—sent or received. Inbound messages aren’t free. This means it’s only a suitable option for sending out notifications rather than offering text customer support. If customers do contact you on the platform, you can have notifications sent to Slack, email, or your own business platform.
Key Features
- Text customer mobile devices or landlines
- Send an SMS from your email
- Quick setup of your account
- Multiple integrations
Pros
- Easy to use
- Can schedule messages
Cons
- Not for internal team communication
- Inbound messages are not free
Pricing
Starts at $16/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
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RingCentral — Good for: Connecting with clients and team members
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
RingCentral lets you send texts of up to 1000 characters, allowing you to provide customer service over text messaging. Connect through email and phone too.
Your team can send meeting requests, links, files, and marketing messages to leads and clients. Integrate with your customer-relationship-management program or your inbox. You can also access the RingCentral dashboard to see all the messages between your team and your customers.
Text messages are unlimited, so you can connect with a large client base. RingCentral also allows for texting between colleagues at your organization.
Key Features
- Video meetings with up to 200 users
- Voicemail to text so you can send messages with your voice
- Share documents as a team
- Unlimited calling in US and Canada
Pros
- Analytics
- Message and phone tech support
Cons
- No free version
- Expensive for larger teams
Pricing
Starts at $19.99/month + $19.99 per user Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
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Slack — Good for: Teams who need to keep track of details
Slack is a messaging system that lets users create channels for different projects or teams. Create an all-team channel to send messages to everyone in your organization. Set up separate channels just for specific roles or departments.
Everyone in a channel is notified each time that channel is updated. This allows team members to stay on top of every detail in a project. On the downside, it can also be distracting and can make it harder to manage a high message volume.
Send direct messages to individual team members instantly. Hop on video or phone calls using “Huddles”.
Key Features
- Slack Connect lets you message individuals at other companies
- Integration with Google Drive, Asana, and Salesforce
- Clips let you share short videos, audio, or screen shares
- Keyboard shortcuts for accessibility
Pros
- Use “Huddles” for conferences or calls
- Organize teams and projects into channels
Cons
- Difficult to organize individual messages
- Messaging can become distracting
Pricing
Starts at $8.25/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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EZ Texting — Good for: Companies new to text marketing
Available on
- Web
- iOS
Send out mass texts for your marketing campaigns with EZ Texting. In a few clicks, you can send:
- Exclusive offers
- Digital coupons and coupon codes
- Information about contests
- Vouchers.
Analytics lets you track the success of every campaign.
Each time you log in to EZ Texting, see instructions about how to set up campaigns and send texts. You can call the support team for one-on-one help too.
Import your current sales list and manage contacts from the dashboard. Add personal details about each contact to personalize every message you send.
Key Features
- Customers can opt out of receiving texts
- Up to 160 characters for SMS texts
- Template and design library for creating messages
- Sort contacts by shared interests or other characteristics
Pros
- Text forwarding and mass texting
- Clear instructions and phone support
Cons
- Focused on consumer texting rather than internal messaging
- No Android app
Pricing
Starts at $20/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
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Signal — Good for: Secure texting
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Signal is a 501(c)(3) non-profit offering secure texting for individuals and businesses. This means the app is free for business and personal use. Every message is protected by end-to-end encryption (E2EE). The company doesn’t use trackers or ads, so no one sees your texts but you.
Send messages with audio, video, pictures, or files. Capture important information by sending a text to yourself using the “note to self” feature. Stay connected with audio and video conference calls. Collaborate on group chats. Customize your screen with colors, wallpapers, and themes, which can be different for each group or project.
Key Features
- Messages can be scheduled to self-erase after a set time
- In-app purchases with MobileCoin
- Built-in photo markup
- Blur faces in photos to protect others’ privacy
Pros
- Signal’s policy does not allow them to sell user data
- Customize messages with sticker packs and emojis
Cons
- Users need to enter their phone number to download the app
- No business option available/ no enhanced business features
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: No
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SimpleTexting — Good for: Sending automated customer notifications
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
SimpleTexting is a streamlined platform for sending individual texts or marketing campaigns to your customers. Upload your contacts list to send:
- Auto-responders
- Push notifications
- Polls
- Scheduled texts
- Direct SMS messages to customers.
Create a short, memorable code or keyword so customers don’t have to remember your number to text you. Every time customers type the keyword in their phone, they connect with you.
Automatically update customers on your offers with trigger-based messaging. This sends customers a specific message after making a purchase or viewing your site. Schedule texts to send your promotions at the perfect time.
Key Features
- SMS sweepstakes to attract new customers
- A toll-free number is included with your account
- Customers can also text a local number or code to reach you
- Web forms let customers sign up for your text list
Pros
- Incoming texts are free
- Set up in minutes
Cons
- The starting tier of pricing only allows 500 outgoing texts
- Not designed for connecting with your team
Pricing
Starts at $29/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
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ClickSend — Good for: Companies new to business text messaging
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
ClickSend makes it easy to get started with SMS customer service with a pay-as-you-go model. You can try offering text-based customer support before committing to a more robust service. Or, use ClickSend for occasional or holiday marketing campaigns.
The simple business text messaging app lets you chat with customers or send push notifications. Resend emails as text messages with Outlook integration. One of the nice features here is that ClickSend lets you communicate with customers through direct snail mail, text, voice, email, and fax.
Key Features
- Dashboard to manage campaigns, automated messages, and texts
- Integrates with Zapier, Salesforce, Slack, and others
- Create direct mail campaigns in ClickSend
- Send faxes from ClickSend
Pros
- 100% uptime guarantee
- Inbound messages are free
Cons
- Messages over 160 characters automatically counted as two texts
- No file sharing
Pricing
Starts at $ $0.0244/outbound message Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
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Textedly — Good for: Small businesses
Available on
- Web
Textedly makes it simple to send automated replies or mass texts. Schedule your team messages and track sent messages too. Textedly is good for small businesses because it has customer service options to help those new to business texting.
Textedly also has SMS campaign templates for specific industries. For example, if you’re in the event planning business, just tweak the templates for that industry to launch your marketing efforts fast.
Create marketing campaigns and SMS-exclusive offers for your customers through integrations with:
- HubSpot
- Zendesk
- Slack
- Mailchimp
- QuickBooks.
Attract more customers with a form on your website, so your leads can sign up to receive messages from you.
Key Features
- Text messages of up to 300 characters
- Toll-free business numbers for customers to text
- Text scheduling
- Send up to 30,000 messages a month
Pros
- Messaging analytics
- Auto-reply texts
Cons
- The focus is on customer messaging, not connecting your team
- No Android or Apple app
Pricing
Starts at $24/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
Compare the Best Business Text Messaging Softwares
| Topic |
Start for free
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews |
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N/A
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 |
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| Pricing |
Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users
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Contact vendor for price
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Starts at $16/month
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Starts at $19.99/month + $19.99 per user
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Starts at $8.25/user/month
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Starts at $20/month
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Contact vendor for price
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Starts at $29/month
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Starts at $ $0.0244/outbound message
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Starts at $24/month
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| Free Trial |
yes
14-day
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no
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yes
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yes
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yes
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yes
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no
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yes
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yes
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yes
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| Free Plan |
yes
Free Up to 10 users
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yes
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no
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no
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yes
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no
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no
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no
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no
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no
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| Use cases |
Best for: All-in-one business text messaging
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Good for: Customer-facing messaging
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Good for: Outgoing marketing texts
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Good for: Connecting with clients and team members
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Good for: Teams who need to keep track of details
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Good for: Companies new to text marketing
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Good for: Secure texting
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Good for: Sending automated customer notifications
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Good for: Companies new to business text messaging
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Good for: Small businesses
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| Available on |
Web, iOS, Android
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Web, iOS, Android
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Web, iOS
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Web, iOS, Android
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Web, iOS, Android
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Web, iOS, Android
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Web
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What Is Business Text Messaging?
Business text messaging refers to messages sent and received by coworkers. Some business text messaging apps also let you send and receive messages from customers. Many business messaging apps let you send messages, files, voice messages, and images in real time.
Connecteam excels at business text messaging by offering unlimited, secure text, video and audio messages, and much more. It’s the best all-in-one team management platform, with great communications features.
How Does Business Text Messaging Work?
Business text messaging offers a secure and effective way to share work-related information. Simply invite your team members to join the app, and they will be able to start communicating more effectively.
As a manager, you can use an app like Connecteam to create groups, teams and channels for sharing messages. You also have more control over the messages workers send and to whom they can send them. Importantly, you’ll be able to remove any inappropriate or non work-related content.
Additional business features let you communicate more effectively than with traditional text messaging. Feature-rich, company-wide updates and invitations to company events, for example, are more impactful than a simple text message. The ability to send images, videos, checklists, forms and surveys helps make communicating with your team easier and more efficient.
Regardless of the size of your business or the industry you operate in, the right business text messaging software can help streamline all your communications.
The Benefits of Business Text Messaging
There are many benefits to business text messaging. Here are some of the most important ones.
Communicate instantly from anywhere
Business text messaging software lets you communicate instantly with your team no matter where you are or what device you’re using. You can send messages and share files whether you’re writing from your phone, a tablet, or a mobile or desktop computer. This helps eliminate many of the most common communication problems that result in delays and confusion.
Keep all your business discussions in one place
Workers who aren’t provided with a proper business texting solution to discuss projects, switch shifts or ask questions will do so using private messaging services. This leaves companies out of the conversation and makes it difficult to ensure messages are accurate and appropriate. The best way to avoid this is with a simple and intuitive business text messaging solution where employees can discuss business, without the distractions of private chatter. Plus, you’ll have better control over who can send messages to whom. And you’ll be able to remove messages that are incorrect or inappropriate.
Conversations stay secure
Businesses always need to be aware of how company information is being shared and with whom. Text messaging software gives you greater control over your information.
For example, conversations can be kept in the cloud, rather than users’ devices, and the ability to share or export conversations can be turned off. Likewise, chat groups and permissions ensure nobody sees conversations that aren’t relevant to them.
Automate messages and send timely updates
Business text messaging platforms make it easy to automate the delivery of important or time-sensitive messages. For example, you can schedule a series of messages to go out to individuals or groups leading up to an important event, like a training day.
Sending updates to groups or your entire organization will also be easier, and extra features like comments and reactions foster a sense of community and give you access to important feedback. With some apps, like Connecteam, updates can be made to appear front-and-center on workers’ devices, ensuring important information is never missed.
Business texting helps you keep better records
Phone calls, in-person meetings, and video conferences don’t automatically record what’s being said. Texting means there’s an accurate record of who contacted you, when they texted, and what was said. Whether you shared a brilliant insight or reached an important decision, with texting you can always go back and review the details.
How Much Does Business Text Messaging Cost?
Pricing for business-texting software is typically by volume. You might pay a set price for a specific number of incoming and outcoming texts. However, some apps only charge you for the number of outgoing texts that you send.
There are apps that charge you per month and per user—although this is less common. For example, RingCentral plans start at $19.99/month plus an extra $19.99 per month for every additional user.
Connecteam is the best value for most organizations. It’s free for companies with 10 or fewer employees and includes unlimited messaging for everyone. Connecteam’s paid plans start at just $29 per month for 30 employees, and just $0.50 per month for each additional employee.
Best of all, Connecteam includes so much more than a messaging feature. You have access to scheduling features, a company directory, customizable employee training programs, clock-in-clock-out functionality, and more.
FAQs
When should a business use text messaging software?
Businesses with deskless employees will want to start using a texting service right away to easily stay connected with workers. It’s the best way to connect all your employees in a secure manner.
Can business messaging software be used from different devices?
Software varies, but many services can be used on tablets, mobile phones, and other Android and iOS devices. Many can also be used from any computer with an internet connection. Conneteam works on iOS, Android, and Web, so you can access it from almost every modern device.
What is the best business text messaging service?
Connecteam is the best business text messaging service. It offers an incredible range of communications tools for sharing information, fostering company culture, and ensuring everybody has the information they need, when they need it.
The Bottom Line On Business Text Messaging Software
Businesses want to improve both the employee and customer experience. For companies with deskless teams, connecting with workers is crucial. With employees in the field rather than in an office, a reliable form of connection makes sure you function as a team.
The right business-texting services let you stay connected with employees or customers. They help you address opportunities and problems in real-time.
Connecteam is the best all-in-one text messaging app for businesses that are looking for business text messaging software for internal communication. Your conversations are private and secure, and you have full control over who can contact whom. Plus, Connecteam comes with outstanding features for task management and operations, training and onboarding, scheduling and payroll, and so much more.