There are ways to send free SMS text messages using the Internet, but free SMS text messaging has several drawbacks that businesses should consider when deciding if they want to use a free or a paid SMS text messaging service.
SMS text messaging is rapidly increasing in popularity, but the cost of sending SMS text messages adds up quickly. Individuals who send a lot of text messages often get a more expensive cell phone plan that allows them to send unlimited texts. Businesses and organizations using SMS text messaging for SMS marketing or advertising also need to find a way to make SMS text messages more cost effective. One option they may consider is free SMS text messaging using the Internet, either through a free SMS text messaging website or through email.
There are a number of free SMS text messaging websites available online. These programs are quick and easy to use. The legitimate free text message services support themselves through advertisements on their websites and selling premium services, and they guarantee not to send spam to the parties involved in the text messages or to sell their information. They also usually have safeguards to make sure that threatening or offensive messages are not sent through their websites. The downsides to these free SMS text messaging services for businesses include:
- They usually have a limit on the number of messages that can be sent at one time, somewhere between 1 and 10.
- They do not guarantee the timely or successful delivery of messages.
- They require you to know or look up the cell phone provider for the person receiving the text, and some less common cell phone providers are not compatible with this service.
- While many of these sites are legitimate, there are some that use their “free” text messaging service to harvest cell phone numbers and email addresses and sell the information to others who will use it for fraudulent or unethical purposes, which could put both organizations and their customers at risk.
The other way to send free SMS text messages is through email. Almost all cell phone providers have an email address that you can email a message to and the cell phone provider will forward the message to the correct phone as a text message. For instance, if someone’s mobile number was (234) 555-5555 and they used T-Mobile, you could send a message to 2345555555@tmomail.net and it would reach the person’s phone. There are also some limitations to this method of sending free SMS text messaging:
- You have to know or look up the person’s cell phone provider and find the correct email address for each provider, and a few providers don’t participate.
- The person sending the messages must be certain that they have entered a short enough message, under 160 characters, or the message may not go through.
- This form of free SMS text messaging can be much slower than phone to phone text messaging.
- In some cases, sending a large number of messages at once through email may trigger an email provider’s anti-spam filters and interfere with sending the messages.
Using email or a legitimate free SMS text messaging website to send free text messages may work well for a business trying to reach a relatively small audience or not sending messages very often, but for those trying to send bulk text messages on a more regular basis they may prove too cumbersome to be worth the money saved. Businesses with a larger audience for their SMS text messages may find a good balance between cost and convenience by shopping around for an inexpensive SMS text messaging service that is designed for organizations running an SMS text message marketing or SMS advertising campaign.