Text messaging lets your business talk to customers the way they already prefer, from your business phone numbers rather than someone's personal mobile. This article is the starting point and links to the how-to for each part.
What you can do
- Two-way texting. Send and receive SMS from your business numbers in Messages, and reply from the same screen.
- Picture messages (MMS). Receive images and other media from customers, and send them from numbers that support MMS.
- Shared team inboxes. Let several teammates work the same texting number together.
- Saved templates. Reuse your most common messages, with fill-in fields for names and dates.
- Opt-out registry. Keep a list of numbers that asked to stop hearing from you. STOP replies are added automatically.
- Business texting registration (10DLC). Register your business with the carrier registry so your texts to US numbers are delivered rather than filtered.
- Bulk campaigns. Send one message to a list of opted-in contacts, if campaigns are enabled on your account.
Where you can text
This decides which number you need, so it comes before everything else:
- Canada. Texting Canadian numbers works from a Canadian ReliaRing number with no registration to complete. This is ordinary back-and-forth conversation with your customers.
- United States. Texting US numbers works from a US ReliaRing number, and only after your business texting registration is approved. Until then those messages are refused with a clear reason rather than disappearing into a carrier filter.
- Anywhere else. Not available. We do not carry messaging outside Canada and the United States.
- Toll-free numbers are shared between Canada and the US, so a text to one follows the US rules.
What it does not do
Being straight about the edges, so you do not spend an afternoon on something that will not work:
- Scheduling a text for later is not available in the portal. There is no scheduling screen.
- Inbound texts are not forwarded to email. Read them in the portal.
- Short codes (5–6 digit numbers) are not offered.
Where to find it
- Messages in the sidebar is your live inbox. Both customer texts and internal team chat appear here.
- Phone System in the sidebar holds the admin tools: Shared Inboxes, Auto-Responders, and — when enabled on your account — SMS Campaigns and the Opt-Out Registry.
The Phone System tools are available to administrators.
Getting a number ready for texting
Not every phone number can send texts. Texting is a capability of the individual number. When you start a new text conversation, only text-enabled numbers appear as sending options — if none appear, no number on your account can text yet, and our team can help you enable one or choose a number that already does.
Read next
- Business Text Messaging: Getting Started — send your first message.
- Picture and Multimedia Messages (MMS) — images and media.
- SMS Templates for Faster Replies — reuse common messages.
- Shared Team Inboxes for SMS — set up a team number.
- SMS Consent, STOP, and Opt-Outs — the compliance basics.
- Business Texting Registration (10DLC), Explained — texting into the US.