This content originally appeared on Twilio Blog and was authored by Julie Griffin
Whether you're looking to send text messages to update your customers on their order or you want to confirm the time of your dinner date, it’s helpful to be able to text from your computer rather than your phone.
From a business standpoint, it simply isn’t possible to text all of your customers because you can’t send text messages at scale using your personal phone. As an individual, it’s convenient to text from your computer, especially if you’re like me and frequently misplace your cell phone.
Your use case will determine the method that you use to text from your computer, so think about your goals when looking for a solution. Do you want to send 1:1 texts to your friends from your computer? Are you a business looking for a one-to-many short message service (SMS) solution?
We’ll cover a number of ways individuals and businesses can text from their computers. Here’s a quick preview of the different methods and setup requirements.
1) How to send texts via email
Sending a text message via email is simple. All you need to know is your recipient’s phone number and their carrier. If you’re not sure about the carrier, you can use Twilio’s Carrier Lookup tool to find out.
Once you know those two pieces of information, type in your recipient’s phone number and the corresponding carrier email address into the “To” section of your email. Below we’ve listed the most common carrier SMS and MMS addresses.
If you want to send an image or a gif, go for the MMS option. (SMS is a text-only option). For more information on the differences between SMS and MMS, check out our guide SMS vs. MMS.
A sample address looks like this: 1234567890@tmomail.net. You can add whatever text you want, and your SMS will look something like this:
If you’re looking to do the opposite, here’s a technical tutorial that shows you how to send an email from a text message.
2) Send messages from your Mac with iMessage
If you have an iPhone and an Apple computer, you can easily send text messages from your computer to other iPhones or Androids. You’ll need to enable message forwarding so that your computer receives the messages alongside your phone.
Once you enable message forwarding, sending a message is as simple as opening the Message app on your computer, entering your Apple ID and password, and composing a message to one of your contacts.
3) Text an Android phone from your computer
If you have an Android phone, you can download the app, Messages by Google. This process is similar to setting up your computer for WhatsApp (more on that below). All you need to do is scan the QR code using your phone to sync the devices.
And make sure your phone is nearby and turned on. Otherwise, you won’t be able to text from your computer.
4) Send a message via WhatsApp on your computer
WhatsApp is a messaging app that allows you to send wifi-enabled messages and make voice and video calls. With more than 2.5 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in over 100 countries. The app is an incredibly useful messaging solution for individuals to connect with friends and family and businesses to connect with customers.
To send individual WhatsApp messages from your computer, download the WhatsApp desktop app. Then sync your devices by scanning the QR code that pops up on your computer screen. Once your phone and computer sync, you can send WhatsApp messages from your computer.
5) Set up bulk SMS using APIs
While the options above are excellent for sending one-to-one messages, most of these methods do not work well for businesses that want to send bulk messages to their customers.
Just like your Gmail account isn’t set up to send emails to thousands of your customers, your phone carrier isn’t prepared to send thousands of messages from your one device.
That’s where Twilio comes in. Twilio provides multiple messaging solutions depending on your needs.
- Twilio’s Programmable Messaging API allows you to send and receive SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp messages. Send order confirmations, shipping notifications, time-sensitive communications, and marketing promotions to your customers.
- With Twilio’s Conversations API, you can manage multiparty communications through SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Chat. This is an excellent product to provide customer support, appointment rescheduling, and cross-channel communication.
- If the majority of your customers are outside of the U.S., try using Twilio’s WhatsApp Business API. Using Twilio’s WhatsApp API, you can provide customer support, deliver appointment reminders, order confirmations, or send urgent alerts.
If you’re curious to see how these applications are used in the wild, check out how Airbnb streamlined its vacation rental experience using Programmable Messaging.
6) Send texts with low-code/no-code SMS apps
If setting up SMS using APIs is a bit outside your wheelhouse, try sending text messages using low code or no-code applications. Twilio offers a variety of Quick Deploy apps that make it easy to send text messages from your computer in under 5 minutes or less.
Here are a few examples of what’s possible with Quick Deploy:
If you still don’t believe how easy it is to set up, check out this article, Expanding Into SMS (for Those Who Don’t Code, Like Me).
7) Send SMS for your business with a visual builder
For a no-code or low-code solution to building out SMS for your business, look for a visual builder, like Twilio Studio. Visual builders are often equipped with drag-and-drop tools to make it easy for you to build your ideal communication flow.
With Twilio Studio, you have the option of adding custom code to craft the perfect communication solution for your business. You also aren’t limited to SMS. Twilio Studio has the ability to connect multiple channels—chatbots, interactive voice response (IVR), SMS surveys, call center workflows, and so much more.
Best ways to text from your computer
There are many ways to text from your computer, but the best solution comes down to your texting requirements. In particular, if you’re looking for a 1:1 or one-to-many solution and a developer-savvy or low-code setup.
Whatever your needs, Twilio can help. Sign up for a free Twilio account and try our messaging solutions for yourself. From fun projects, like scheduling SMS reminders to feed your sourdough starter, to providing businesses the communication tool they need to reach customers globally, Twilio has it all.
Check out these additional resources to get started:
This content originally appeared on Twilio Blog and was authored by Julie Griffin
Julie Griffin | Sciencx (2021-08-23T16:42:47+00:00) 7 Ways to Text From Your Computer (for Businesses & Individuals). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/08/23/7-ways-to-text-from-your-computer-for-businesses-individuals/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.