Business Texting (SMS) for Small Business

Customers already text. If your business number cannot reply, they will text a personal cell, and the conversation leaves the company. Business texting is not a second product you bolt on. It is SMS and MMS on the same DID people already dial.

This is a practical guide for US small-business owners, not a carrier-engineering paper. Features here are the published ones: messaging, calling, routing, CRM, and a virtual receptionist. Public prices stay on the pricing page: $17 / $20 / $23 per user / 30 days. Existing A2P posts on this blog cover registry mechanics for high-volume senders; this guide is the shop-floor version.

What business texting actually is

Business texting means the number on your website can send and receive SMS and MMS. The customer sees the same ten digits they would call. Replies land in the XI app next to the call history, not in a private iMessage thread.

XI messaging lists two-way SMS, group texting, an SMS autoresponder, automated texts, and a virtual SMS number. Instant response is a subpage, not a promise about response-time statistics this article will not invent. Use the tools that match how you already talk to customers: a human reply for quotes, an autoresponder for “we are closed, we will text in the morning.”

Voice still matters. A text is a bad way to handle an angry billing call. Keep calling on the same number so the customer can escalate without hunting for a second contact. SMS vs voice on this site is written for outbound campaigns; the same split applies to a five-person shop: confirm by text, close by call.

Why the personal cell is the wrong inbox

When the owner’s cell is the business number, nights and weekends never end, and the next hire cannot see yesterday’s thread. When a tech texts from their own phone, the customer keeps that number forever. A business DID fixes both: the published number stays, the login changes.

XI is a virtual phone system. No landline is required. The FAQ lists iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and the web on the same number. Getting a number without a landline walks through claiming or porting the DID. Texting sits on that DID once A2P registration is in place.

If you are leaving a consumer texting app, XI vs Google Voice is the compare page. Google Voice can text. A small business usually needs the shared number, the call path, and a plan you can hand to the next employee.

A2P 10DLC is a carrier rule, not an XI upsell

Application-to-person texting in the US requires A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration. That is how mobile carriers decide whether your traffic looks like a business or like spam. The FAQ states it directly. XI also has brand and campaign registration pages for the paperwork. This guide will not invent fees beyond what the pricing page lists.

Inbound SMS is $5/30 days on the pricing-page add-on list. Extra DIDs start at $1. Starter includes one number with calling. Do not assume SMS is a silent extra on every seat — read the card, then add inbound SMS if you need the inbound thread.

Consent is your job. Appointment reminders and “your technician is on the way” are ordinary uses if the customer asked for them. Blast marketing to a scraped list is how campaigns get blocked. If you need the long compliance version, the existing A2P posts on this blog are the place; do not treat this guide as legal advice.

How SMS sits next to routing and the front desk

A text does not replace a missed-call path. Set call routing so daytime rings the right person, and after-hours goes to voicemail or a virtual receptionist menu. Then use SMS to confirm what that call decided. CRM notes keep the thread next to the contact so the next teammate is not starting from zero.

Autoresponders help when you are closed. They should say when a human will reply, not pretend to be one. Group texting is for a team conversation, not for hiding the business number. Shared numbers and the virtual receptionist are Scale items on the published cards — talk to sales if you need them off Scale.

Business at $20/user/30 days adds recordings, voicemail transcripts, a personalized greeting, and 24/7 support. That pairing — a spoken greeting plus a text follow-up — covers a lot of after-hours traffic without a live answering service. Virtual receptionist vs answering service is the companion piece if you are choosing coverage rather than a channel.

What it costs on XI

Starter is $17 per user / 30 days: calling system, one DID, unlimited US/CA calls, mobile and desktop apps, standard support. Business is $20. Business Plus is $23 for higher threshold limits. Those are the only public seat prices. Inbound SMS is $5/30 days. Checkout coupons are not list prices.

Integrations listed on the site include HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, Zapier, Google Contacts, Pipedrive, and Jobber. Use them if you already run a pipeline there. Do not buy a second texting inbox for the same customers if the business number can carry the thread.

A setup order that avoids a split inbox

Get the calling DID working first — new local number or a port. Put the people who answer on seats. Register the brand and campaign before you print “text us.” Turn on inbound SMS. Write one autoresponder for closed hours. Put the number on the website last, once a human can reply the same day.

The business SMS/MMS feature page and the FAQ sit next to this guide. Texting is easy to turn on and easy to do badly. Keep it on the number you already ask people to save.

Write down the three texts you already send from a personal phone. Typical ones are “we got your request,” “here is the arrival window,” and “here is the invoice link.” Move those onto the business DID first. Leave marketing blasts alone until the brand and campaign are registered and you can explain the opt-in. If a conversation needs a voice, tap calling on the same contact instead of stretching a text into a negotiation.

Shared inboxes only work if the team agrees who owns the unread thread. Assign one person for daytime replies. Use the autoresponder only when that person is off. CRM notes should capture the promise you just made — part on order, time window, who will show up — so the next login is not guessing. That is ordinary operations, not a new channel.