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What is VoIP texting and how does it work?

VoIP texting technology isn’t just for phone calls. With SimpleTexting, your business can start text marketing through its dedicated VoIP lines.

  • Get a new text-enabled number with your area code
  • Add texting capabilities to your existing VoIP number
  • Send mass texts or have two-way conversations
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Collage of SimpleTexting's VoIP texting service which shows various UI elements including the ability to select a virtual local number, organize messages by status, and view response rates.
10+ years in business. 17,000+ paying customers. Billions of texts delivered.

What Is VoIP Texting?

VoIP texting is a text-enabled virtual phone number that isn’t assigned to a device, but rather to a user. And that user (or users) can send texts by using an internet connection. In short, it lets you send text messages to cellphones from your computer or our app.

When you buy a cell phone, you also need to buy a wireless plan to make it more than just a glorified calculator or camera. Cell phone plans enable things like calls, texts, and data, so your device can communicate with other devices.

With VoIP, you can still do all of that, but you’re not limited to a physical phone! You can also:

Can You Text a VoIP Number?

Yes! VoIP text messaging allows businesses to send and receive SMS/MMS just like traditional phone numbers. The key difference is that VoIP SMS operates over the internet rather than cellular networks, providing flexibility for businesses to manage messages from multiple devices.

Unlike standard mobile numbers, VoIP numbers are not tied to a single device. This means your business can use VoIP texting to:

  • Send and receive texts from computers, tablets, and smartphones.

  • Enable team collaboration by allowing multiple users to access the same number.

  • Integrate text messaging with CRM and marketing tools for streamlined communication.

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How businesses can use VoIP texting

Text-enabling your business with VoIP texting opens up a plethora of opportunities. Here are just a few ways your organization could leverage it.


Provide customer support with VoIP texting

Top-tier customer support requires a multi-channel approach. A VoIP texting number gives you the versatility to talk on the phone and text back and forth with customers—all from the same number at the same time.

  • Receive inbound messages

  • Handle more many customer support inquiries with ease
  • Assign support conversations to team members for faster response times

Share mass updates via VoIP texting

Make it easier for customers, employees, and partners to stay on the same page and communicate with one primary channel to distribute information.
  • Broadcast a text message to a group within seconds
  • Segment your audience to send more personalized messages to specific sub-groups
  • Crackdown on company-wide silos with 90% of text messages read within just three minutes of receipt

Post-Conference Follow-Ups

One of the most common uses of VoIP numbers is for large conference calls. But what happens after you hang up?

  • Easily text out follow-up materials, meeting minutes, and action items 
  • Schedule ahead texts with follow-up instructions to send when a meeting ends
  • Field post-meeting questions in your inbox

Share scheduling reminders with VoIP texting

You can cut down on missed meetings and appointments dramatically when you combine VoIP texting and calling.

  • Schedule text messages reminders to send days or hours before a meeting/appointment
  • Send trackable links with calendar reminders to invitees

  • Integrate texting with popular scheduling tools like Calendly

Benefits of VoIP texting vs. traditional phone-to-phone SMS

Texting is a fantastic tool for reaching people quickly with questions, offers, alerts, and surveys. But what sets VoIP texting apart from using a traditional cell phone to send your organization’s texts?

Reach more customers at once

Unless you’re sending a group message (in which case, the recipients would know that more than one person is getting the message) you’re limited to texting one person at a time with a cellphone. With VoIP texting however, you could send one text out to 10, 100, even 1,000’s of people at once.

Automate your processes

Text-enable your VoIP number with SimpleTexting, you gain access to advanced features that save you time. You can schedule texts, segment your contact list, personalizes messages with custom fields, and set up autoresponders.

Save some money

While any VoIP service has a subscription cost, the price of texting is often less than what a traditional cellphone plan would run. Especially when you begin factoring in the volume of messages your organization will be sending out.

Why VoIP Texting is Cost-Effective for Global Messaging

Unlike traditional SMS services, which charge high fees for international messages, VoIP text messaging allows businesses to communicate with customers worldwide at a lower cost.

How does it save costs?

  • Internet-Based Messaging: VoIP texts use an internet connection instead of expensive carrier networks.
  • No International Fees: Businesses avoid high charges that typically apply to cross-border text messaging.
  • Scalability: With VoIP SMS, companies can send mass messages without increasing costs significantly.
  • Example Use Case: A global e-commerce brand uses VoIP texting to send order updates to customers in multiple countries without incurring international SMS fees.
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How does VoIP texting work?

Any device equipped with Wi-Fi or an internet connection (tablets, laptops, desktops, etc.) can act just like a cellphone with VoIP texting and send text messages.

To the recipient, it’s virtually undetectable that the text is coming from anything other than another phone. But as the sender, you have the added flexibility of using VoIP texting from anywhere with an internet connection.

If you’re just looking to text-enable your business, it all begins in just a few steps.

  1. Find a text marketing platform (we hear SimpleTexting is a fan favorite 😉).
  2. Work with the provider to either text-enable your existing 10-digit number, choose and verify a toll-free line, register a local number, or provision a short code.
  3. Within minutes your business will be up, running, and ready to send/receive texts.

💡 SimpleTexting Tip: Here at SimpleTexting we’re a provider who is actually able to text-enable VoIP numbers. So if you’d like to add voice services alongside your number, know that you might actually end up saving money by opting for a third-party VoIP provider for calling, and SimpleTexting for your SMS needs.

How Do VoIP Text Messages Appear to Recipients?

VoIP texting works just like traditional SMS, meaning that messages sent from a VoIP text number land in the recipient’s inbox just like any other text message. The recipient cannot tell whether the message was sent from a VoIP SMS system or a traditional mobile carrier.

Key benefits of VoIP text appearance:

  • Seamless User Experience: Customers receive messages as standard texts, ensuring familiarity and ease of use.
  • Business Credibility: Unlike shortcodes, VoIP text numbers appear as virtual phone numbers, making businesses seem more professional.
  • Two-Way Communication: Customers can reply to VoIP SMS just as they would respond to a personal message.

How does VoIP SMS work?

We hope after this crash course on VoIP texting, you’re feeling a little more confident in your options. To see if SimpleTexting is the right VoIP texting platform for your business, test it out with our free 14-day trial.

As this technology continues to evolve, so do we! Let us help you work through the digital minefield that is the world of virtual communication.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About VoIP Texting

Yes, VoIP texts can be traced similarly to VoIP calls using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). However, while the transmission path can be identified, the actual text content is often encrypted, making it difficult for third parties to access the messages.
VoIP texting and SMS differ in how they transmit messages: VoIP texting sends text messages over the internet, allowing businesses to communicate using a virtual phone number rather than a mobile carrier. SMS operates on cellular networks, typically limiting messages to 160 characters per text.