How to Choose a Free SMS API for Your Business in India

Today we will be telling you how to choose the best SMS API in India for your business, how to use them in the best way and how to get the most out of it.

Bulk SMS is something that is mandatory for businesses today but a lot of them opt for the wrong services.

So what are the factors that you need to consider while choosing the right SMS API for your business in India? Let us find out.

Choose the right Software Protocol

Although there are more than ten messaging protocols that can be used. Currently, bulk messaging has 3 most popular protocols which are:

  1. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
  2. FTP(File Transfer Protocol)
  3. SMPP (Short Message Peer to Peer)

Now there are various technical aspects of choosing these software protocols, but the one that will affect the volume of the messages should be your concern.

HTTP and FTP are mostly used for bulk SMS format i.e. used for sending SMS to more than one person like marketing SMS or notification messages.

Whereas, SMPP is used to send SMS to single users. They are used for sending OTP, account opening, personal notification, push notification etc.

Types of SMS APIs

Below are some common instances where SMS APIs come into play:

  1. Welcome Message
  2. OTP Verification
  3. Email Confirmation
  4. Marketing
  5. Sales Notification
  6. Payment Reminders
  7. Order Confirmation
  8. Two-Step Confirmation
  9. Important Reminders
  10. Offer Notifications
  11. Important Updates
  12. Appointment Reminder

These are some common instances where you would need an SMS API. Looking at these you will realise how important they are for your business. There are 2 main benefits of having a good SMS API for your company;

  1. Good Customer Relationship
  2. Lower costs of Customer Acquisition

Developer Friendly

A developer-friendly API is a must as many a time people switch from one SMS API to another and having a switch friendly API is necessary. At the same time having good documentation code examples (in different languages) is important. The easier it is for the developer to implement your API the better it is for the end-user. Also having a good feedback system will ensure client retention.

Business Friendly

A user-friendly API is a business-friendly API. While a developer-friendly API requires good documentation and communication, a user-friendly API needs to focus on a good design for the end-user. Investing in good UI/UX design for the API is necessary for it to be user friendly.

Communication

Most businesses today operate on a global scale. Which is why establishing communication for businesses all over the globe is of prime importance. Now an API needs to have both languages as well as connectivity all over the globe. Some mandatory SMS need to be in regional languages whereas most need to be in good and easily comprehensible English. Also having APIs that operate over networks all over the world is important.

Scalable

Businesses operate at multiple levels and across different products and services. Using an API for one business and able to scale them across different levels and types of businesses within the same company requires the API to be scalable. Also being able to change to voice or automate as per the products’ need is important.

Templates

This is important as sending different messages as per customer’s needs requires a lot of personalization. Having a predetermined set of templates for the business to choose based on the type of target audience or customer is a very good feature you must look for in an API. Also, a predetermined course of communication, some preconceived set of SOPs as a way to establish good communication with the customer/user is required.

Pricing

Most Companies offer prices based on the blocks. You are offered to purchase SMS only in those numbers.

Many companies offer flexible plans where you will be charged only based on the SMS you send. Now, you may ask why you would need a flexible plan when you have slabs that offer you more SMS at a lesser price.

The key is to always look for companies that have flexible plans as they are better for the overall performance.  At the same time, however, if you know exactly how many messages you need to send you might opt for the slab system for your SMS.

Conclusion

So there you have a guide for your SMS API in India. It is important that you keep all of these points in mind before you choose the correct API service for your company.

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