This bulk SMS comparison site will assist you in easily comparing SMS distributors’ prices, reliability, compliance as well and customer service.
Updated on 4 January 2024.
In Australia, we are fortunate to have some good and reliable bulk SMS companies that provide a range of features and services to cater for small, medium and large businesses and organisations.
These providers will make your life easier by servicing your needs by offering a seamless platform system that makes the distribution of text messages (SMS) efficient and effective. In most cases, the only requirement is to provide the bulk provider with the database of customers, consumers, clients or employees whom you wish to communicate with.
The whole process from start to distribution to your target audience can be done in a matter of seconds or the longest would be minutes. It doesn’t matter whether the volume of SMS is low under 10,000 SMS per month or large volumes of 250,000+ over a month. It is the way of the future to communicate in a friendly and efficient way through the use of mobile phones, the web or any other mobile communication system available.
Note that this is not an exhaustive list and there may be other bulk text messaging companies available in Australia. It’s important to do your research and compare the services and pricing offered by different providers to determine which one is the best fit for your specific needs.
The list of bulk SMS companies is long so the authors, who are experts in the SMS field, narrowed it down to those companies that could offer a range of features, reasonable charges with a track record of reliability. The list ended with the following bulk SMS providers namely ClickSend, CellCast, Notifyre, WholesaleSMS, SMSTech, SMS Central, TextIt BurstSMS, SMS Broadcast and DirectSMS.
A Bulk SMS Provider Comparison Table and site were prepared so that you can compare one provider against the other before deciding on engaging one of these companies.
It takes quite some time, good research and, of course, experience to find the right bulk SMS company that would meet all your needs.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing a bulk text messaging company:
It’s important to weigh the various factors and choose a bulk text messaging company that meets your specific needs and requirements.
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 Australian companies have realised the great benefits SMS are doing to their marketing or communication campaigns whether they be special deals, alerts, reminders or just plain updating on the latest updates.
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 on you having a web browser and access to the 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 that 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.
In summary, you need to research, understand and be fully aware of the company’s 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.
Here are some key features to look for in a bulk SMS provider:
By considering these features, you can find a bulk SMS provider that meets your specific needs and helps you reach your target audience effectively.
Take delivery as a feature. Although it will depend on your needs to distribute within Australia or not, it will be a factor as to whether the distributor has an onshore or Australian delivery service and the ability to distribute SMS offshore to places other than Australia. This can be supported by a global coverage dependent on the gateway systems available to the provider. In the Bulk SMS Comparison Table provided, it can be seen that some companies have onshore and offshore delivery while some providers have provided optional delivery of such a service.
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 engaged provider can distribute mass text messages to specific groups of people efficiently and, on your request, receive replies back through your email address. This means that you can view 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 SMS 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 no longer work in that area) that Bulk SMS Providers such as ClickSend, Cellcast and Notifyre 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. Other qualities need to be considered as will be outlined further on this site.
The pricing factor is a major factor in the decision-making process for a company or organisation wishing to engage the right bulk SMS provider. The charges incurred are made based on the number of SMS distributed in a monthly period. From a review of all major bulk distributors in Australia, it was evaluated that the provider with the cheapest pricing schedule was CellCast. This was followed by Notifyre 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 its prices for SMS distribution.
Price matching was one aspect only covered by several SMS providers. The other competitors did not match competitive prices which put this company ahead of others. Payment by the monthly plan was a feature either not available or optional when companies engaged bulk SMS providers.
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.
One of the critical features in ensuring a reliable and efficient bulk SMS provider is to rate their set time of SMS transmission from the time it was decided that an 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 99% or between 99% to 99.99% or 100% with a service level agreement to ensure an overall assurance of distribution.
All provide an SMS platform that provides a web-based system that 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 Privacy 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 good reliable service to clients and customers. It can be seen that Wholesale SMS, ClickSend, SMS Tech, and SMS Central all rated 95 or more in a rating out of 100.
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 bulk SMS offers.
The quality of customer service can vary greatly among bulk text messaging companies. When choosing a provider, it’s important to consider the following factors:
By evaluating these factors, you can determine the quality of customer service offered by different bulk text messaging companies and choose one that meets your needs.
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 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 SMS to a maximum of 50 free SMS.
Some Australian 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 help 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 SMS companies just mentioned.
A Bulk SMS Provider Australia comparison site and the table were developed as a result of the details required 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 but no longer work in this field. Therefore they are independent, not biased and offer a neutral position of these entire SMS providers discussed on 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 their link, then the authors may ask the engaged company to pay a commission.
Please be aware that 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.
Latest update on 4 January 2024