Find the Best SMS Gateway and SMS API to Fit Your Needs

Each mobile network out there has its own way of communicating. This makes it difficult when a company wants to send message to many customers across multiple networks. An SMS gateway solves this problem, making it easy for mobile networks and SMS applications to communicate. The result? Your organization can easily and reliably take advantage of one of the most effective forms of marketing and transacting today.

You can use SMS messages to:

• Remind clients that they have upcoming appointments (and even ask them to confirm that they will arrive on time).

• Send links that customers can use to access their online invoices and payment portals.

• Tell customers that where their packages are and when they can expect orders to arrive.

• Collect answers to simple questions about what customers and clients expect from service providers.

SMS Communication Benefits

Incredible worldwide reach

With SMS, your business can reach 85% of the world’s population. That’s significantly more than you could hope to reach using email.

Impressive effectiveness

Your customers are more likely to pay attention to what you’ve got to say—and sell. SMS messages have much higher open rates than email—98% compared to 22% for email campaigns.

Low cost

The best part? With bulk SMS services, your company can connect with customers for a very low cost.

It’s quick

You can send a coupon to every one of your customer contacts in less time than is takes to read this article.

Customers love chat

You probably already know that millennials hate phone calls. They much prefer texting when connecting with friends—and businesses. Older generations don't always feel the same aversion to talking on the phone—until they pick up and find a company representative on the other end.

A Clickatell survey of consumers shows that 54% of consumers already use chat apps to communicate with businesses. Possibly more important: 71% of people who haven’t used chat apps to communicate with businesses say they are willing to do so.

 More effective communications = more conversions

Conducting business in chat yields up to 4 times more sales conversion than traditional buying channels.

SMS Communication Challenges

The need for SMS Gateways—and SMS APIs—becomes obvious when you consider the many texting technologies people use to communicate with one another.

Popular options include:

• Telegram

• Facebook Messenger

• Signal

• WhatsApp

• Chomp SMS

• Google Messages

Each of these applications takes a slightly different approach to communication. As the number of SMS applications grows, connecting with them becomes increasingly problematic. How can you trust that sending an SMS message from one device will appear as intended on another device?

Other challenges of sending SMS messages around the world include:

• The huge volume of information that must be processed to reach individuals reliably.

• Ensuring that the information you share stays safe.

• Connecting client phone numbers with their accounts.

If one of these issues arises, your outreach campaign can fail. That’s where the SMS gateway comes in.

How SMS Gateways Overcome Communication Challenges

SMS gateways revolutionized communication technology to make messaging more reliable.

Bulk SMS Gateway

A bulk SMS gateway lets you send messages through thousands of mobile networks all over the world. The gateway can adapt the messages you send to cooperate with technology used by diverse networks. With a bulk SMS gateway, you dramatically increase the chances of reaching your intended audience.

SMS APIs Have Transformed Compatibility

API stands for "application programming interface." An SMS API adapts commands from one system so that other systems can understand those commands.

Think of it this way:

• Your business sends an SMS that says, "You have an appointment at 5:30 tomorrow. Do you still want to keep it? Reply 'yes' or 'no.'"

• Your message goes to the SMS gateway API.

•  The API notices that your intended recipient uses a network that works a little differently from yours.

•  The API adjusts your message so it will appear as you wrote it on the recipient's device.

The same process happens in reverse when the person responds. Their messages come to the SMS gateway API, which adjusts the information for your system and produces a text message your systems can understand.

APIs Have Moved SMS Gateways to the Cloud

SMS gateways have evolved considerably over the last couple of decades. Early mobile devices had built-in physical SMS gateways. The SMS gateway hardware included the device’s SIM card and an embedded radio.

Today, consumers and businesses do not need to rely on devices with SMS gateway hardware. Instead, they use cloud-based systems that translate and communicate messages seamlessly. This improvement in technology comes from SMS gateway APIs that can deliver messages to specific devices at specific times.

Partner with a Leader

The technologies and strategies for SMS and chat commerce will continue to evolve. The best way to ensure that you are taking advantage of the right opportunities for your business is to find a partner with the experience and track record of success.

Twenty years ago, Clickatell created the world’s first SMS API. We’ve continued to lead with smart, scalable, secure SMS solutions that let you connect with customers across the globe. Our SMS gateway API stands out as one of the most effective ways for you to stay in contact with customers and build relationships. We’ll help you:

• Keep customers informed with notifications

• Send marketing messages

• Time-sensitive critical alerts

• Two-way messaging

• Verify identity with one-time passwords and confirmations

• Enable two-way messaging with customers

• Expand into chat channels that improve your efficiency and solve problems for customers

More than 15,000 businesses count on Clickatell for SMS reliability and reach. Each year, those businesses send a combined 10+ billion SMS messages using Clickatell. Clickatell employs innovative intelligent routing, so messages take the highest-quality path available. That means a higher percentage of messages reach customers reliably. And the Clickatell support team is there when you have questions.

We’d love to talk you through how we can help your company take advantage of connecting with your customers via chat.