Number of bulk text messaging companies in UK
In UK, we are fortunate to have a number of good and reliable bulk SMS companies that provide a wide and good range of features and services to cater for small, medium and large businesses. It is the way of the future in communicating in a friendly and efficient way through the use of mobile phone, web or any other mobile communication system available.
Such providers makes life easier by servicing customer or clients’ needs through the offer of a seamless IT platform system that make distribution of text messages very efficient and effective. In most cases, the only requirement to the Client is to provide the bulk provider with the database of customers or consumers or clients or employees that you wish to communication with.
The whole process for distribution to your target audience can easily be done in a matter of seconds or at the longest, in a matter would be minutes. It doesn’t depend on the volume of SMS, whether the volume is low, say under 2,000 SMS per month, or large such as 250,000+ over a month period.
The list of bulk SMS companies in UK is extensive so the authors of this site, who are experts in the SMS field, have narrowed down to those companies that could offer a range of very good features, reasonable charges, and with a track record of reliability. The selection list resulted with the following bulk SMS providers namely WholesaleSMS, SMSTech, SMS Central, ClickSend, Textit, BurstSMS, SMS Broadcast, and DirectSMS.
A Bulk SMS Provider comparison table and site was produced so that you can compare one provider against the other before deciding on engaging a SMS company.
Finding the right bulk text messaging company
It takes quite some time, good research and, of course, experience to find the right bulk SMS company that would meet all your needs. Price is a major factor but not the sole reason. Features that will allow hundreds, thousands or many tens of thousands of SMS distributed at one time, customer service and assistance, gateway accessibility, reliability and security are all factors that need to be considered.
Over recent years many British companies are realizing the great benefits SMS are contributing to their marketing or communication campaigns whether they are for special deals, alerts, reminders or just plain updating on latest news.
The first factor is to find a bulk SMS company that does not require additional software to be downloaded or installed. Bulk providers should be totally web based and therefore rely only on you having a web browser and access to an internet. That’s all!
By providing the selected bulk provider with the database of customers or clients or specific target audiences, they will be able to form groups of contacts so that when you want to send a text message all is required is to specify which target audiences you wish to deliver the message to. The provider has the platform and infrastructure to be able to send mass text messages in a matter of minutes if not seconds.
So what are the key features that you should be looking for in a bulk SMS provider?
Features offered by bulk text messaging companies
In summary, what you need is to research, understand and be fully aware of the companies features they have to offer like delivery service; price, web product, developer API customer service, reporting, emails to SMS and spam compliance to name the most important ones.
Take delivery as the first feature. Although it will depend on your needs to distribute within UK or not, it will be a factor as to whether the distributor has an onshore or British telecommunication delivery service and the ability to distribute text messages offshore to other places other than British. This can be supported by a global coverage dependent on the gateways’ systems available to the provider.
Another feature of importance is the ability of the bulk SMS provider to offer a two-way service process. As an organisation wishing to send out messages, you need to know that the provider can both distribute on mass text messages to specific groups of people or customers or employees efficiently but also, on your request, receive replies back through your email address. This means that you can view immediately the efficiency of the service and gauge the types of responses that result from the distribution of these text messages via mobile phones. Such analysis recording on an Excel spreadsheet, allows the provider and you to track delivery for ongoing review. This delivery reporting system will also show any bounces of messages.
The next feature of importance is the requirement that bulk providers have a Developer Application Programming Interface (API). This ensures they have a set of protocols and tools for building software and applications. A good API makes it easier to formulate the software and associated program which will assist the programmer. An API is usually a web-based system. These bulk SMS companies need to be able to offer and manage high speed connections which will allow them to ensure high volume text messages will be delivered within a short time frame.
Taking into account the range of features for mass SMS distribution, it was assessed by the authors of this comparison site, who are experts in the SMS field (but now no longer work in that area) that Bulk SMS providers such as TextIt, SMSTech, WholesaleSMS, ClickSend, and SMS Broadcast present a good range of quality and practical features for use in mass distribution. The other competitors rate lower but should not be excluded as potentially good bulk providers. There are other qualities that need to be considered as will be outline further in this site.
Charges by bulk text messaging companies
The pricing factor is a major factor in the decision making process for a company or an organisation wishing to engage the right bulk SMS provider. The charges incurred are made on the basis of the number of SMS distributed in a monthly period. From a review of all major bulk distributors in UK it was evaluated that the provider with the cheapest pricing schedule was WholesaleSMS. This was followed by SMSTech and ClickSend. DirectSMS provides a moderate costing structure and the most expensive company was TextIT. It was noted that SMS Central does not disclose any of their prices for SMS distribution.
Price matching was one aspect covered by WholesaleSMS and ClickSend. The other competitors did not match competitive prices which puts these companies ahead of others. Payment by monthly plan was a feature either not available or optional when companies engaged bulk provider.
The pricing structure is based on the volume of SMS distributed over a month period. The range of pricing depends on less than 10, 000 SMS per month; less than 100000 SMS per month; less than 250,000 SMS per month ; and more than 250,000 SMS over a month period. In the review done, low volumes of SMS charges indicating a 20% difference in charges. Larger numbers of around 100,000+ SMS have pricing difference of 30%. On the largest volume of text messages distributed per month, the range of price range around a 30% price variation.
Since prices may change from time to time, it is advised to discuss the pricing and terms and conditions for mass distribution with each company.
Reliability and compliance of bulk text messaging companies
One of the critical features in ensuring a reliable and efficient bulk SMS provider is to rate their set time of transmission from the time it was decided that a SMS was required to the time it was distributed to the specific audience required. Such value is decided by the uptime whether it be less than 90% or between 90% to 100%, with a service level agreement to ensure an overall assurance of distribution.
All provide a SMS platform that provides a web based system which does not require any new or different software which leads to ease and reliable knowledge and experience from a client perspective.
These bulk companies do cover an anti-SPAM policy and compliance requirements as well as their GDPR Privacy and Confidentiality Policy. Such details are easily seen on their website in a friendly, easy to read and follow version.
In the review of these major bulk SMS providers discussed, there is an indication that most of them do provide a very good reliable service to clients and customers. It can be seen that Wholesale SMS, ClickSend, SMS Tech, SMS Central all rated 95 or more in a rating out of a 100.
Customer service of bulk text messaging companies
With any type of online service it is important to have a bulk SMS provider who can provide support in times of need. Therefore, the authors considered customer service as one of the important selection criteria when reviewing the offers.
It was seen that all the major bulk SMS providers reviewed provided a phone support service, other than WholesaleSMS, during business hours. There is a dedicated contact number to discuss issues and matters related to text messaging issues. As stated above, all the providers investigated do offer delivery reports to show the effectiveness of penetration. They all do provide an email address for correspondence to occur and a promotional free trial to test the benefits of using SMS. Free trials do vary ranging from 5 free to a maximum of 60 free SMS.
A number of British and international organisations clients are displayed on the providers’ websites to show their satisfaction with the customer service provided. This can be viewed on the providers’ websites.
So when comparing customer support and assistance provided, it can be seen from the graph’s ratings below, that both SMS Central and DirectSMS have a very good level of service followed by ClickSend and BurstSMS. The others do offer a level of service but not of the same high standard as those bulk companies just mentioned.
About bulk text messaging companies comparison table
A Bulk SMS Provider UK comparison site and table was developed as a result of the detailed requirements that need to be analysed by companies and people wishing to engage a good and reliable bulk SMS company. It is not an easy task to decipher through a range of information between different websites. Therefore, this site has been developed for your benefit at no cost.
The authors of this site and table are experts in the area of text messaging, however they no longer work in this field. Therefore they are independent, not biased and offer a neutral position of these entire SMS providers discussed in this site. These authors wanted to make your life easier in the selection process. If you do decide to use the site and engage a bulk SMS provider from this site, the authors may ask the company to pay a commission.
Please be aware that the SMS providers may change their features and pricing without notice. If this is the case, please let the authors of this site know so that changes can be made as soon as possible.
This site was last updated on 27 January 2021.