Text to landline for business

Let your customers text or call your main business number.

Text to Landline

Text enabling your landline

Your customers are used to calling your landline if you’ve had it for a while. They may even have your landline number saved on their phones. New customers can see your landline number in all of your marketing content and listing pages. Without text enabling this line, you’re missing out on offering all of your customers a more convenient communication channel—and missing all of the texts they’ve already tried to send. In this text to landline resource center, you’ll learn all about text enabling landlines, toll free, and VoIP numbers.

If you’re new to business SMS entirely, head to our business text messaging terminology page to review industry terms. Otherwise, let’s dive in.

What is text to landline for business?

Without any adjustments, your landline only accepts phone calls. If a customer calls, you can pick your phone up and say “hello.” If a customer texts, you won’t ever receive that message, and they will receive a failed message notification. That’s hardly an ideal customer experience. Business text messaging providers can text enable landline phone numbers to ensure your team receives every customer message. With text to landline capabilities, your team can also send texts from your landline number or engage in one-on-one conversations. When customers open their SMS inboxes, they’ll see texts from a number they recognize.

Benefits of text to landline

Text to landline capabilities empower your teams to improve the customer experience—and their own operations, too.

  • Reinforced branding awareness, since customers can text the number saved in their phones
  • Increased customer satisfaction, since customers can use a convenient channel for questions
  • Faster resolution times, since customers interact quickly through messaging channels
  • Improved team productivity, since your agents can answer multiple brief texts instead of answering long phone calls one at a time

Text to landline statistics

Customers want to be able to text and call your landline. They expect omnichannel communications from your brand, same as they do any other. Offering an omnichannel messaging experience is sure to boost customer satisfaction.

37% of customers expect to contact the same customer service representative regardless of the channel they use

9 out of 10 consumers want an omnichannel experience with seamless service between communication methods

89% of customers would like to be able to message businesses

What brands benefit from a text to landline service?

Every business that has a landline would benefit from text to landline capabilities. Encouraging customers to message your team is a big time-saver. Whereas your team members may have had to spend time answering or making calls one at a time, they can easily multi-task with a text to landline message or three. They can open one chat and start another while they wait for the first recipient to look up their order number or details. Businesses that frequently use their landline for scheduling appointments, confirming appointments, making reservations, and managing customer service may get the most out of a landline texting service. These businesses may include:

How does text to landline work?

After you ask “can you text a landline?” your next question may be “how does it work?” We’ve got answers for you, both from a technical standpoint and a user’s standpoint. Here’s how you can receive text messages sent to your landline and respond to multiple people at once — directly from your device or computer.

What’s the technology behind text to landline?

Every phone number has a service profile identifier (SPID). Landline, toll free, and VoIP providers can release this SPID, assigning it to a business texting provider instead. Once the SPID is assigned, the business texting provider can empower you to send and receive SMS messages from that number. Both during and after the text-enabling process, voice services remain intact and continue to go through your existing voice provider.

What’s the text to landline process like?

Ideally, you’ll choose a text service for business that has fully automated the text to landline process. In this case, it will look something like this:

  1. From your business SMS platform, initiate the text enabling process. Your platform will tell you how to do this, but usually you will just need to enter the phone number you would like to text enable.
  2. Your business SMS provider will verify that you control the number by calling it, providing a PIN code. You’ll need to enter that code online within a certain amount of time.
  3. Then, you will receive an electronic Letter of Authorization (LOA) to sign. This letter confirms that your business controls the number and that you would like to text enable it.

That’s it. From here, your business SMS provider will work behind the scenes with your existing voice provider to text enable the number. Your voice service won’t be interrupted throughout the process.

What happens if you send a text to a landline?

Once you have text enabled your landline, customers can reach your team by texting your number. These texts arrive in your business texting platform. Team members access all incoming customer texts in a shared inbox, where they can read them and reply or assign them to coworkers. This allows you to turn your landline into a powerful customer support tool, ensuring that your team can send replies quickly and provide top-notch support at every step of the customer journey.

How to text from a landline

It’s easy to send a landline text message once you text enable your number. Your team members can easily text from within your business texting platform. All messages sent from the platform will arrive in your contacts’ native SMS apps. The texts will indicate that they are from your landline number, so your recipients see a number they’re familiar with.

Why use a business SMS platform?

Some phone providers, like Google Voice, already offer SMS in addition to voice capabilities. You may still want to transfer your SMS capabilities to a text service for business. The best text to landline service will offer enterprise-grade features that help your teams build strong customer relationships through fast, personalized one-on-one chats. A platform like Heymarket, for example:

  • Empowers you to message with customers through channels in addition to SMS, including Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, WhatsApp, Google’s Business Messages, and Apple Messages for Business
  • Provides SMS integrations with your existing business apps, allowing you to sync data and add SMS to current workflows
  • Enables collaboration, offering team-centric tools like chat assignments and private messages
  • Works from anywhere, including your desktop, mobile phone, CRM interface, Chrome webpages, and more
  • Features an easy setup process and intuitive interface that takes minutes to master

Best practices for text to landline

Business texting providers text enable landline numbers frequently, so it’s a smooth process on their end. Ideally, you’ll choose a fully automated, online process that is simple and fast for your team. In addition, there are a few best practices you can follow as they set up your new landline text messaging capabilities.

1

Ensure your business SMS provider allows you to send texts from your long code (i.e., your landline number) so customers will recognize your business.

2

Use multiple shared inboxes if you have multiple landline numbers so each incoming customer message is routed to the correct department or team member.

3

Publicize your new texting capabilities on your websites, social media, and other content as soon as you have your business SMS line text-enabled so customers can enjoy your new text to landline service.