In this guide, I’ll cover some of the more important features/benefits to look out for as well as some landmines to avoid when choosing your next SMS gateway provider.
Determine Your SMS Volume Requirements
Alright, let’s start with something super important – understanding how many text messages you expect to send each month.
Why is SMS volume so crucial?
Well, most SMS gateway providers price their services based on the number of texts you plan to send. More messages = different pricing tier. Knowing your expected monthly volume allows you to instantly narrow down the options to providers with appropriate pricing packages.
But how do I estimate my future SMS needs?
A good place to start is looking at any existing SMS communications you have with customers, employees, or partners. Get a sense of your current volumes.
From there, think about how you want to scale usage as you integrate SMS more tightly into marketing campaigns, notifications, alerts, and other systems.
If you’re just getting started with business SMS, spend some time mapping out all the different use cases and audiences. Add those up to approximate a monthly baseline that you can refine over time.
Example Scenarios:
- A retail store sending 5,000 promotional texts/month
- A food delivery app sending 25,000 order status updates/month
- A banking service sending 100,000 two-factor authentication messages/month
See the difference? Higher volumes unlock better per-message pricing with most providers. So getting an accurate estimate from the get-go is critical for choosing the most cost-effective SMS solution.
Pro Tip
Don’t just look at the pricing for your current needs. Ensure the provider can scale efficiently as your SMS usage grows through various packages or negotiated plans for high volumes. That’ll save you from costly migration hassles down the road.
Pricing and Fees
Now that you have a handle on volumes, it’s time to dig into one of the biggest factors – pricing.
Compare Per-Message Costs
The core pricing you’ll see from providers is a per-SMS rate, like 7 cents per message sent. But don’t just look at the sticker price – compare rates across different monthly volumes. Providers usually discount rates at higher volumes to incentivise more messaging.
Fees
Beyond per-message pricing, there may be some additional fees to factor in:
- Dedicated number/shortcode fees
- One-time setup/activation fees
- Monthly account fees or minimums
Anticipate these extra costs in advance. The goal is transparent, straightforward pay-as-you-go pricing with no surprises.
Tip: Negotiate!
Don’t be afraid to negotiate, especially if your expected volumes are on the higher side. Providers are often willing to offer better rates to lock in larger accounts.
Stay Ahead of the Curve
While focused on immediate pricing, also gauge how rates evolve as your future SMS needs grow. Will the provider’s pricing stay competitive and affordable as volumes increase? Avoid solutions with unsustainable pricing models.
Obviously, you want maximum messaging capabilities at prices that make sense.
An honest evaluation of all pricing factors gets you that transparent, budget-friendly SMS solution!
Assess Reliability and Uptime
Pricing is crucial, but you also need to ensure your SMS communications are rock-solid and reliable.
There’s nothing worse than messages failing to send or getting delayed, especially for time-sensitive notifications.
Uptime is key
The first thing to look at? Uptime guarantees. Look for providers promising 99.9% or higher uptime.
That basically means their systems are up and running to send/receive SMS almost all the time.
With that level of reliability, you can rest assured your messages will get through when it matters most – no expensive downtime or missed opportunities!
Built for Redundancy
But how do they actually achieve that level of uptime? It comes down to infrastructure redundancy:
- Direct telecom carrier connections (vs third-party routing)
- Multi-homed gateways across multiple carriers
- Geographically-distributed data centers
This ensures multiple pathways for SMS delivery, so if one route fails, others can instantly take over. Your messages keep flowing without skipping a beat.
Delivery
Of course, getting messages out is one thing – confirming they were successfully received is another. SMS gateways provide real-time delivery reports of the receipt of each message on the receiving handset.
Between high uptime, redundant infrastructure, and delivery confirmation, you have full visibility into the entire messaging lifecycle. No more wondering if communications made it.
Latency
Latency is how quickly messages are handed off to carriers. Faster latency means messages are delivered faster. Some providers prioritise least-cost routing over speed, which can be problematic for things like:
- 2-factor authentication (2FA)
- Order updates
- Emergency alerts
If near real-time delivery matters for your use cases, pay close attention to latency commitments or SLAs from prospective SMS providers.
The right provider will have reliability safeguards and transparency baked into their service – giving you a highly stable, always-on messaging platform you can depend on.
Match Feature Requirements
Two-Way Conversations
There are times where you may just want to send out a reminder text, but there are times where having a two-way conversation is valuable.
Whether it’s customer support chats, payment confirmations, appointment reminders or something else, that back-and-forth is invaluable. Look for providers with robust two-way messaging and tools to efficiently manage high reply volumes.
Email To SMS Magic
Another convenient feature – the ability to send SMS messages directly from email. This allows seamless SMS integration into existing communication workflows.
Your team can fire off text updates by just emailing a simple address. Customers can even reply to SMS messages which get routed back into email inboxes. It’s a frictionless experience.
The Power of APIs
Now, if you really want to go all-in on SMS, you’ll likely want programmatic access via APIs. This lets you deeply integrate text messaging into your apps, websites, backend systems and more.
Top providers invest in well-documented APIs, developer resources like code samples/SDKs, and tools for things like message scheduling, contact management, analytics and more. Robust API capabilities turbocharge your SMS use cases.
Tools of the Trade
Beyond core messaging functions, look for handy additional tools like:
- Dedicated virtual numbers or shortcodes for recognisable business messaging
- Multi-user account access and permissions
- Custom messaging flows and automation
- Message templates and personalisation
The goal is to find an SMS gateway that has all the bases covered – not just basic send/receive functionality. map out your current and future needs and match them to providers appropriately.
The goal is to find a feature-rich SMS solution – not just a bare-bones messaging utility. With the right functionality fit, SMS can transform how you communicate.
Review Compliance and Security
As a business owner, you know how important it is to follow the rules and regulations around customer communications.
Spam
Pretty much every region has laws against unsolicited SMS spam these days. You need an SMS provider that has robust spam compliance controls and filtering in place.
This includes things like requiring proven consent from recipients, automatically suppressing opt-outs, clear sender ID, and more. Violating spam laws can lead to heavy fines and other penalties. No thanks!
Data Privacy Matters
Privacy is also crucial when it comes to storing customer contact details and message contents. You’ll want providers with strong data privacy and security measures in place.
Check for standards like data encryption in transit and at rest, secure data centres, auditing and more. Having a transparent, GDPR-compliant data privacy policy is a must as well.
Sound Policies
Speaking of policies, Every SMS provider should have a clear and thorough acceptable use policy that governs the proper utilisation of their services and infrastructure.
This establishes rules around appropriate messaging content and use cases. Ensuring your SMS activities stay within permitted guidelines can prevent surprise account suspensions or terminations.
Privacy
Beyond checking the boxes, compliant SMS providers can actually be a major advantage for safeguarding data privacy and building customer trust.
Reputable vendors handle all compliance complexity and security best practices on their end. This allows you to focus on driving awesome messaging experiences without having to sweat legal/security details yourselves.
A Partner You Can Trust
Ultimately, you want an SMS gateway that treats compliance as a core part of their offering – not an afterthought. Structured policies, processes, and dedication to data stewardship.
With a trusted, compliant SMS partner, you get peace of mind that your messaging activities meet all regulatory standards while keeping customer data safe and secure.
SMS Integration
For many businesses, SMS isn’t going to operate in a silo. You’ll want to integrate text messaging into your existing apps, tools, and workflows for maximum impact.
API Integration
This is where APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) come into play. SMS providers expose APIs that allow your developers to connect messaging functionality to your software.
A well-designed, documented API is key. You’ll want to thoroughly review the API documentation, code libraries, sample code and other developer resources each provider offers.
The Right Fit
Beyond just having an API, make sure it supports your preferred programming languages and toolsets. Whether it’s .NET, Java, Python, Ruby or something else – see that the SMS API gives your team a comfortable, familiar integration path.
Plug and Play
For even faster integration, many SMS gateways offer pre-built plug-ins or connectors for popular platforms like CRMs, marketing automation tools, e-commerce software and more.
This allows you to instantly pipe SMS capabilities into apps you already use, without coding everything from scratch.
Sync Everything
With the right integrated approach, your customer text communications can become part of unified conversation histories and profiles synced across your systems.
A customer could engage via SMS first, then shift to other channels – all as part of a cohesive, streamlined experience powered by your connected software stack.
Set It and Forget It
SMS integration also opens the door to automated messaging triggered by customer actions, app events, inventory updates, and other system occurrences.
You could automatically fire off SMS order notifications, payment reminders, subscription renewal messages and more based on your integration scripts.
Expert Support
Integrating SMS can get complex for sophisticated use cases. You’ll want a provider that has savvy integration support teams to advise on API best practices and troubleshoot any issues.
With the right SMS software integration, you get a truly unified, omnichannel communication experience primed to deliver more value to your business and customers.
Customer Support
Even the most technical solutions require human support from time to time. When it comes to an SMS gateway that’s core to your communications, you can’t afford subpar support.
Access When You Need It
The first thing to look at is what support channels are available – phone, email, chat, etc. Does the provider have local support teams you can directly contact?
Also, pay attention to the actual support hours and response times.
Having reliable and timely support is crucial if you handle urgent SMS communications.
There will be times where tech issues will happen, no service is bulletproof but you do want to have a support team in your corner when you need it.
Help Early On
Beyond just reactive support for troubleshooting, you may need some hand-holding during initial setup and integration.
Having a dedicated onboarding specialist or professional services can help ensure a smooth implementation.
This is especially valuable if you have complex SMS use cases, need to migrate from another provider or require guidance customising workflows.
Self-Serviced
That said, you don’t want to have to pick up the phone for every basic request either.
Good SMS providers will invest in self-service support resources, for example:
- Comprehensive knowledgebases
- Technical documentation
- Sample code libraries
- Community forums and FAQs
This allows you to find answers and resolve basic issues yourself at your convenience.
Partners in Your Success
The best SMS gateway providers position themselves as partners invested in your long-term success – not just vendors serving up a basic product.
With accessible, knowledgeable support resources in your corner, you can be confident your messaging operations will run smoothly and seamlessly.
Consider Provider Reputation
With all the functional requirements evaluated, it’s time to step back and look at the bigger picture – the overall reputation and market standing of your prospective SMS gateway providers.
Years of Experience
How long has the provider been in business? Having seasoned industry veterans can be valuable versus a brand-new, unproven startup. That tenure translates to:
- Stable infrastructure and processes
- Regulatory compliance expertise
- Established carrier relationships
- Demonstrated performance at scale
A solid track record instils more confidence in a provider’s capabilities to handle your SMS needs reliably.
Future-Proofed
Ultimately, you want an SMS provider that’s established enough to be a stable, dependable long-term partner – but also innovative enough to continue evolving their offerings.
Assessing reputation holistically – history, market position, public feedback, roadmap vision – ensures you select a solution built to grow with your SMS needs.
Free Trials
While it can be time-consuming signing up for trials, it’s even more time-consuming paying for a service, then realising that it’s not the right fit and then having to go look for another option.
Many SMS providers allow you to try out their product with little-to-no commitment required upfront:
- Complimentary message credits
- Full-feature time-bound trials
- Sandbox testing environments
Taking advantage of these trials lets you experience the real thing – from sending your first messages to exploring APIs and self-service tools.
Scenario Testing
Go beyond just basic functionality tests. During the trial, simulate your actual planned usage scenarios and message workflows as closely as possible:
- Marketing campaigns and opt-in flows
- Transactional alerts and notifications
- Two-way conversational messaging
This gives you a true preview of how the SMS gateway will operate when deployed into your production environments.
Integration Validation
If API/software integration is a priority, the free trial is the perfect phase to tackle any proofs-of-concept and end-to-end connection tests with your applications.
Does the API behave as expected when slotting messaging into your apps? Are there any performance bottlenecks or unforeseen roadblocks? Working through these integration needs upfront surface issues.
Support Litmus Test
Trials also allow you to gauge the quality and responsiveness of each provider’s support channels first-hand. Reach out with pre-sales questions about setup, API usage, etc.
Their level of attentiveness and depth of knowledge provided can be very telling of what to expect as an actual paying customer down the road.
Leverage Insights
Be sure to also dig into any analytics, reporting dashboards, and messaging insights that surfaced during your trial period. If the platform offers meaningful visibility into usage patterns, delivery metrics and user engagement signals from the get-go, that’s an advantage.
Ultimately, there’s no better way to truly vet an SMS gateway than by putting it through its paces yourself during a free evaluation period. Identifying any potential issues trumps surprises after you’ve signed on the dotted line.