--- title: "SMS Text Alerts: Emergency Text Message System | Sakari" description: Learn how to effectively use auto-reply messages in customer service. Explore examples, best practices, and tips for creating automated responses. --- # Emergency Text Messaging Alert Software Emergencies happen in the blink of an eye, and when they do, fast and reliable communication is critical. [Start Your 14-day Free Trial ](https://sakari.io/signup) [![google-sakari](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/google-sakari.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) [![capterra-sakari](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/capterra-sakari.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) [![hubspot-sakari-v2](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/hubspot-sakari-v2.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) ## Keep Two-Way Conversations Flowing, Never Miss a Beat. Keeping conversations alive has never been easier. Our message inbox helps you create contextual interactions, ensuring your responses feel authentic and personal. Send messages that make a positive impact on customer relationships. ## What is an Emergency SMS Alert System? An emergency SMS alert system is software that allows you to send time-sensitive text notifications to the phone numbers of large groups of people at once. These people often make up a specific contact list. ## Why Do Businesses and Organizations Need Emergency Alerts? Businesses and organizations can benefit from emergency alerts because they ensure employee safety, operational continuity, and a coordinated crisis management response. Because these messages are sent to mobile phones, your people will receive them regardless of what type of mobile device they have or where they are located. In today’s landscape, texts are also quicker and more effective than automated phone calls. ### Effective Messaging & Audience Targeting When every second counts, emergency SMS alerts allow you to push the right message to the right audience. For example, perhaps a storm will be a local emergency in a specific geographic area but not another in a different location. Emergency SMS alerts allow you to send these critical weather updates to the affected area. ### Crisis Management & Response Coordination Emergency SMS alerts can help your organization mitigate the effects of the emergency, mobilize a coordinated response, and monitor threats to ensure organized action.  ### Real-Time Communication & Insights Emergency text messages allow you to reach your people in real-time, providing valuable information. With two-way communication, you can gain real-time insights from your people and enhance organizational decision-making. # Who Benefits from Emergency Text Alerts ### Crisis & Emergency Mass Notification When a crisis occurs, notify your employees quickly about critical company messages, office closures, and other crisis communications. ### Severe Weather & Natural Disasters Weather emergencies can be deadly, but text alerts can notify your audience of safety risks, such as National Weather Service watches and warnings, and when to seek shelter. ### Security Threats & Office Safety Emergency texts can help protect your people from active shooter, workplace violence, facility issues, or other workplace safety hazards. ### Business Continuity & IT Escalations If an IT issue arises, emergency texts allow stakeholders and critical personnel to respond to the issue faster. ### Supply Chain Logistics Alert logistics teams and traveling personnel about any threats that might impact operations or travel. ### Party & Event Organizers Provide relevant information about event safety, security, or weather conditions. ### Remote Workforce Safety Facilitators Provide safety updates to your mobile workforce, keeping them safe no matter where they are. ### School & College Administrators Inform faculty, staff, and students about critical events, inclement weather, or building drills. ### Financial Institutions Communicate any important security or fraud concerns to your employees. ### Volunteer Organizations Keep volunteers in the loop about hours or adjustments to volunteer schedules. ### Businesses & HR Staff Communicate important information, mandatory events, and deadlines to all employees. ### Health & Fitness Centers Utilize emergency SMS texts to convey early closures, class changes or cancellations, and holiday hours. ## Why use Sakari as Your Emergency Text Alert System? - **[International Messaging](https://sakari.io/product/international-sms):** Doing business in today’s market often requires working across borders. Our platform gives you global reach to your people around the world. - **[Sakari SMS Workflows](https://sakari.io/product/workflows):** Our powerful [custom SMS automation](https://sakari.io/features/sms-automation) capabilities such as [SMS autoresponders](https://sakari.io/features/sms-autoresponders) help you streamline your business operations. - **[Strong Integrations](https://sakari.io/integrations):** Sakari seamlessly integrates into your favorite tools, including HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Pipedrive, Slack, and more. - **[Affordable Pricing](https://sakari.io/pricing):** Our competitive pricing makes advanced messages more accessible for businesses whether big or small. [Try Sakari For Free ](https://sakari.io/signup) ## Start Your Free Trial Today No commitments. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial ](https://sakari.io/signup) # Start Sending Text Alerts 1 ### Determine Purpose & Collect Contacts First, you’ll want to decide how to use emergency SMS messages. For businesses, your emergency SMS alerts will be different from those who run events. Once you narrow your use case, collect contacts of your audience. This could be employees, team members, or customers. As you’re collecting their data, it’s important to ensure they opt-in to receive text alerts. 2 ### Write, Schedule, & Test Alerts Using Sakari, write your alerts for all of the use cases you decided upon in the previous step. Customize these messages when you can, and then schedule these messages when applicable. On occasion, send a test alert to your list so you can confirm these texts are working effectively. 3 ### Routinely Check & Reiterate for Optimal Functionality As your needs change, so will the SMS alert texts you’ll send. Therefore, revisit your bank of emergency alert messages and reiterate them to make sure they fit your needs. ## Check Out Sakari's Pricing Plans Multiple pricing options for your business teams. [Sakari Pricing Plans ](https://sakari.io/pricing) INTEGRATE ## Send Alerts Online with Integrations Connect your existing systems to create and send alerts online in one place.    ![sakari-integration-options](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/sakari-integration-options.png) [Explore Integrations ](https://sakari.io/product/integrations) CUSTOMER REVIEWS ## Hear What Our Customers Are Saying - "Top off your important email campaigns with text! Our email open rate has improved by 5-10% with Sakari due to sending texts to those who haven't opened our emails. Also, the team is very friendly and provides prompt user support." ![Kyle_Thompson](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/Kyle_Thompson.png) Kyle T. Catalyst Resource Group - Our businesses understands how absolutely foundational to our marketing and sales strategy this application is. On my end, Sakari has proved invaluable to my department and is worth every penny we spend to send texts -- literally!" ![Ashley-Stryker](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/Ashley-Stryker.jpg) Ashley S. James Crawford Law - "I've been using Sakari for a couple of months. I'm still new to this SMS marketing, and their people were INCREDIBLY helpful, spending several Zoom sessions with me whenever I have a question, walking me through the system. Great company, great product, great people!" ![briank](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/briank.png) Brian K. The Securities Guys - "Sakari offers a great Product and their team provides wonderful customer service. We do sales by phone and adding services from Sakari has allowed us to expand our reach by texting potential customers. I would recommend this company 100%!!" ![lindsaya](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/lindsaya.png) Lindsay A. Wayne Reaves Software Frequently Asked Questions ## SMS Text Alert FAQs ### How can I send a text alert to a phone? You can utilize a texting service like [Sakari](https://sakari.io/) to send emergency information to cell phones. ### How can I send a mass text alert to many people at once? Texting software makes it quick and easy to coordinate emergency management and send safety alerts via [mass text to a large number of people at once](https://sakari.io/use-cases/mass-texting). Sakari is a leading [SMS marketing software](https://sakari.io/product) that can help with all [aspects of SMS marketing](https://sakari.io/use-cases/sms-marketing), including [mass text alerts](https://sakari.io/use-cases/mass-texting).  ### How much does setting up a text alert system cost? Text alert systems can vary in price based on the number of text alerts you plan to send. We offer [pricing plans](https://sakari.io/pricing) that make texting software accessible for all types of businesses. ### How do I set up automatic text alerts? To set up automatic text alerts with Sakari, follow the steps mentioned in the article above. For more help, [Contact Us](https://sakari.io/contact-us). ## Try Sakari for free. 100% Free trial · Easy setup · No credit card required [Start Free Trial ](https://sakari.io/signup) [![software-advice-frontrunners-2022-768x807](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/software-advice-frontrunners-2022-768x807.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) [![GA_Badge_CategoryLeaders_2022_FullColor-1-qig96e5ir61jakcpyytjjrpvf0cas9869o3h4oy87w](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/GA_Badge_CategoryLeaders_2022_FullColor-1-qig96e5ir61jakcpyytjjrpvf0cas9869o3h4oy87w.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) [![GA_Badge_CategoryLeaders_2021_FullColor-p2yl6wehgxyfqrxmdtffvauhx72gs9bnxri7etgf8c-qig96d7okc08yye34gewz9yetmgxkk4fxjfznezme4](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/GA_Badge_CategoryLeaders_2021_FullColor-p2yl6wehgxyfqrxmdtffvauhx72gs9bnxri7etgf8c-qig96d7okc08yye34gewz9yetmgxkk4fxjfznezme4.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) [![Capterra-p17oc1np16vz3huwnxf0gc5odhzhjhlslpee95zw2k](https://sakari.io/hubfs/Website%20Images/Feature%20Pages/SMS%20Online/Capterra-p17oc1np16vz3huwnxf0gc5odhzhjhlslpee95zw2k.png) ](https://sakari.io/use-cases/emergency-text-alerts/#) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "US", "addressLocality" : "San Francisco", "addressRegion" : "CA", "postalCode" : "94105", "streetAddress" : "201 Spear Street, Suite 1100" }, "contactPoint" : { "@type" : "ContactPoint", "areaServed" : "US", "availableLanguage" : "English", "contactType" : "Sales", "email" : "sales@sakari.io", "telephone" : "+1-844-472-5274" }, "logo" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/3466277/sakari-logo.png", "name" : "Sakari", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/sakari.io/", "https://x.com/sakari_io", "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNuMiGwYv5jyc6al2vGtCJA" ], "url" : "https://sakari.io/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org/", "@type" : "AggregateRating", "bestRating" : "5", "itemReviewed" : { "@type" : "Product", "image" : "https://sakari.io", "name" : "Sakari", "offers" : { "@type" : "Offer", "price" : "25", "priceCurrency" : "USD" } }, "ratingValue" : "4.4", "reviewCount" : "192", "worstRating" : "0" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "SMS marketing offers an open rate of over 90%, making it one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. With SMS, businesses can deliver time-sensitive information such as promotions, appointment reminders, or flash sales directly to customers' phones. It’s faster and more personal than email, and customers are more likely to see and respond to a text message." }, "name" : "Why should my business get SMS online?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Replying to thousands of unique messages from all of your customers is overwhelming- but it doesn't have to be! With SMS automation and custom workflows, you can build SMS marketing campaigns that do the work for you! Automation with online SMS allows businesses to schedule and send text messages automatically based on specific triggers or actions, such as customer sign-ups, purchases, or abandoned carts. It can also segment audiences, personalize messages, and create workflows that manage follow-ups or responses without manual input." }, "name" : "How does automation work with online SMS?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Compared to traditional methods, SMS online offers better scalability, enhanced customer engagement, and more robust reporting, making it a powerful tool for modern marketing efforts. With features like real-time analytics, two-way communication, and integration with other tools like CRMs and email marketing software, SMS online provides greater flexibility and control." }, "name" : "Are there unique features or perks when you get SMS online?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "When you get SMS online, you can use it to work alongside other channels, such as email, social media, and paid ads. Use SMS for time-sensitive updates, reminders, or flash sales, while relying on email for longer-form content." }, "name" : "How can SMS online impact other marketing channels?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Sakari does not support messaging from your current mobile number. However, you can select a dedicated number from our phone number options— these include local numbers, toll-free, landline, or VoIP." }, "name" : "Can I use my existing phone number?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Yes. Sakari integrates with over 1,000 of your favorite applications. Check out our integrations page here: Sakari Integrations." }, "name" : "Does Sakari integrate with other applications?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "No, our desktop application is web-based and doesn’t require anything to be downloaded. If you choose to install the mobile app (it’s not required), you can download it from the Apple or Android app stores." }, "name" : "Do I need to download any software or a mobile app?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "We offer monthly subscriptions which start at $16 USD per month and include one free dedicated USA, Canada, United Kingdom or France phone number. These plans are all month-to-month with no contract and you can upgrade or downgrade at any time." }, "name" : "How do the pricing plans work?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Your cost per text message is based on three criteria: 1. Your Sakari messaging plan. 2. The length of your message, which is measured in segments. 3. The destination country of the recipient." }, "name" : "How much does it cost to send an online SMS message?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Any unused credits from previous months will rollover for 90 days." }, "name" : "What happens if I don't use all my online messaging credits?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Yes, both sent and received SMS messages count toward your total messaging credits. The cost per message depends on your plan and the country of origin." }, "name" : "Do I pay for inbound SMS messages?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Text messages are measured in character batches called segments. You are billed for each segment sent and received. Segments are typically 160 characters in length." }, "name" : "What is a message segment?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Yes. We support two-way MMS (image) messaging in the United States and Canada. MMS messages are priced at a $0.02 USD premium to whatever plan rate your account is on." }, "name" : "Can you send MMS text messages?" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "You can utilize a texting service like Sakari to send emergency information to cell phones." }, "name" : "How can I send a text alert to a phone?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Texting software makes it quick and easy to coordinate emergency management and send safety alerts via mass text to a large number of people at once. Sakari is a leading SMS marketing software that can help with all aspects of SMS marketing, including mass text alerts." }, "name" : "How can I send a mass text alert to many people at once?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Text alert systems can vary in price based on the number of text alerts you plan to send. We offer pricing plans that make texting software accessible for all types of businesses." }, "name" : "How much does setting up a text alert system cost?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "To set up automatic text alerts with Sakari, follow the steps mentioned in the article above. For more help, Contact Us." }, "name" : "How do I set up automatic text alerts?" } ] } ```