Bird (previously named MessageBird) is a reliable, feature-rich SMS gateway provider that can help businesses communicate.
It offers an extensive range of global SMS features, but its reviews are poor.
By Alain Grossbard / Updated: Saturday, August 24th, 2024
This Bird (previously named Message Bird) review focused on its gateway service for Australian businesses. The service allows businesses to send SMS messages to their audience quickly and easily. The platform includes various features, such as message scheduling, personalization, and reporting, to help businesses create and manage effective SMS campaigns.
Key facts about Bird are:
Below, view the full Bird SMS review, which compares price, features, and customer service to other SMS Gateway providers.
Bird offers flexible pricing plans based on the number of messages sent and the features required. Rates vary based on the number of messages sent and the destination country.
The current price to send, receive, and monitor a text message through the Bird SMS gateway is reasonable compared to other Australian SMS gateway companies. It charges 0.071 cents for each outgoing text message. Inbound messages are free of charge. Bulk volumes of over 100,000 can be negotiated directly with the supplier.
The MessageBird text message gateway does not have a setup fee or a monthly fee account, but there is a three-month contract, so you cannot just use their services for a once-off. This contractual arrangement does not appear with other equivalent gateway providers.
Bird provides a means of sending messages through their website or API and then converting text to speech. With this service, clients receive a call and hear their message when answering it. There is a charge for each message (Australian) plus a tax. The comparison table below can be clicked to view the full SMS gateway comparison.
A dedicated virtual mobile number service is also available for $16 per month, which allows clients, customers, or employees to reach you anytime, anywhere by setting up your voice messaging technology. There is also a service to review the currency of the client contact information and whether the database needs to be cleaned up, thereby reducing the number of undelivered messages.
Apart from Bird SMS Gateway’s powerful messaging API platform that offers outbound and inbound text message distribution, it has several features, such as its Chat and Voice messaging platforms, which make it one step simpler to improve message awareness and notification between the sender and the individual through any mobile phone anywhere in the world. They state that their API, dashboard, and integrations can connect up to seven billion mobile phones anywhere in the world. This can be accomplished by their use of over 900 carrier connections worldwide.
Like several other gateway SMS providers, this company offers all the features other gateway providers offer, including a web SMS platform that can be easily integrated into the client’s web system. Bird provides a range of integration options to help businesses connect with their existing software and systems. The platform includes APIs, plugins, and integrations with popular platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier.
It has the infrastructure to connect its high-speed telecommunication networks to ensure messages are promptly delivered cheaply. Depending on the price and the client’s immediate requirements, it can provide both a direct and hybrid carrier.
Bird provides an email-to-sms service and two-way SMS communications so the client and customer know what is being delivered. They also provide bulk SMS and SMS marketing services.
Besides an email address in the form of personal contact for queries or discussions, Bird does not display a phone contact number or a live chat for interested or potential clients to discuss issues or matters relevant to text message distribution. The only phone contact is an overseas number, and with the time difference between Australia and Amsterdam, this may be a real problem or concern.
The other factor that needs to be considered is that Bird offers no incentive to try their gateway system through a free trial, unlike many of their SMS gateway competitors. They do offer real-time reporting like other SMS gateway companies in Australia.
Although Bird has an office in Sydney, its customer contact initiatives are limited to email rapport.
When reviewing the reliability of this provider’s gateway service, it was pleasing to note that it has a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that will offer a guarantee of 99.95% up-time, indicating its reliability in disseminating text messages is efficient and effective. If a server goes down or another problem occurs, this provider assures the clients that they receive an alert and will act on the problem immediately. Their fully redundant platform, telecommunication stack, and APIs have all been developed in-house to guarantee quality and control over their calling and messaging services.
Bird follows regulatory requirements built for international laws and regulations, including GDPR and PSD2. From a security point of view, MessageBird hosts and monitors its platform with the utmost attention to protection, safety, and security. It is very conscious of its security and privacy, particularly when many of its clients are hospitals, banks, and government institutions. It outlines its rules, regulatory requirements, employee screening, and data encryption to ensure security and reliability.
Bird SMS Gateway has several significant clients, which indicates that it is a reputable company, as stated in the introduction. Whether they are Australian clients is not stipulated on its website. It is also a member of the GSMA, which represents over 300 mobile operators globally.
Prospective clients asked numerous questions about the need to better understand what gateway SMS providers offer for a reliable, cost-effective SMS Gateway provider, so a group of experts in the SMS field decided to formulate a simple-to-follow and understand SMS Comparison Table and site.
The authors produced this information for you free of charge. They developed the site after leaving the SMS area to enter other IT areas and, therefore, could not disclose any conflict of interest in their evaluation of SMS providers. Therefore, it has presented an independent, unbiased assessment of the various providers.
While the SMS Gateway Australia Comparison Table is free for the public, the authors wish to disclose that some affiliate relationships exist. Such relationships do not impact the rates and fees users of the site will receive from these providers.
As the information comes from the provider’s website and not through an API feed, there is the risk that the data may become outdated without prior notice. As such, you should note below when the page was last updated.
MessageBird can help businesses connect with their audience quickly and efficiently. However, as with any platform, it’s important to test MessageBird’s features and ensure it meets your business needs. Before signing up, check with the SMS gateway provider’s website.
Published by Alain Grossbard