Zipwhip Expands Landline Texting to Toll-Free 800 Numbers

May 14, 2013 Leave a comment

We have now extended our landline texting service to include toll-free business numbers! Below is our press release in it’s entirety. Please let us know what you think about this exciting new product.

Zipwhip expands landline texting to toll-free business numbers

New service multiplies the interactivity of customer care

 SEATTLE (May 14, 2013) — The approximately 10 million toll-free numbers used by U.S. businesses just doubled in value: Zipwhip, which pioneered the concept of cloud texting, announced today that it can now equip existing toll-free numbers to send and receive text messages.

That expansion of Zipwhip’s cloud texting innovation means toll-free numbers that have been limited to only receiving inbound customer calls can now become two-way portals for interaction with customers.

“Businesses’ toll-free numbers are only working half as hard as they could be,” said John Lauer, CEO of Zipwhip. “Being able to send and receive texts over those numbers means customers who previously had to navigate through several menu options and were held captive listening to hold music as they waited for a human voice to answer their questions can now simply text the same number for a quick response—and businesses can reply.”

Like its landline texting application announced earlier this year, Zipwhip’s toll-free texting service requires businesses to make no changes to their existing numbers, service or hardware—they simply sign up with Zipwhip, download the app and start texting from any connected device. Zipwhip partners with landline operators to offer this functionality, and Zipwhip text messaging supports all web browsers, all desktop operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux), iPad, Android tablets, Amazon Kindle, and Windows 8 desktop.

Businesses that have vanity toll-free numbers that are heavily promoted in various forms of advertising will find Zipwhip’s toll-free texting capability particularly appealing.

Zipwhip’s services allow businesses to leverage text messaging’s burgeoning popularity as the go-to form of communication for many consumers. And they want to do that from their own devices, not from one of many over-the-top messaging applications that are now available.

“Consumers don’t want to wait on hold—they want to use text messaging to contact businesses at numbers they already have, and at the time and place that’s convenient for them,” Lauer said. “Mobile carriers already are identifying that nearly two percent of texts from their networks are going to landline numbers, because mobile customers are experimenting or even assuming that the business numbers they’re familiar with are equipped to communicate with them the way they want to communicate—via text.”

The toll-free number texting service is available now, with pricing starting at $99 per month. Businesses interested in having their toll-free numbers text enabled should contact Zipwhip at info@zipwhip.com or sign up for service at zipwhip.com.

 

Filed under Our Service Tagged with , , , ,

Zipwhip’s Windows 8 App

November 1, 2012 16 Comments

 

The Windows 8 App Store is the first of its kind for Microsoft. It’s brand new, and as of this week we officially became part of it. As a company we felt it was extremely important to get into the store as soon as possible to ensure visibility and solid placement. Being available to early adopters with our app near the top of the Social category was a key part of our strategy.

Your homework has to be done before submitting an app to the Windows 8 store. Microsoft is one of the biggest companies in the world and their app store application process reflects that (lots of rules!). To ensure that we were accepted in a timely fashion we went native so to speak. We wanted our user interface to completely mimic the “Metro” style design of this new operating system. Tiles, notifications, and touch gestures? Check. Pin-to-start functionality? Check. The ability to share incoming MMS to SkyDrive, email, and other apps? Checkmate. These features make our app feel tailor-made for Windows 8. They’re also driving our ranking and installs up.

Like it or not, Windows 8 is going to be huge! With over 80% of the operating system market locked down (netmarketshare.com) millions of users are going to be flooding the store looking for apps that will benefit their lives. Being at the front of the class in this marketplace helps ensure our app will get the market recognition it deserves. Data shows that a majority of Android users use the Windows OS on their computers, which makes our total available market gigantic. All you need to use this app is an Android powered smartphone with an SMS plan. You don’t need a Windows phone. I repeat, you do not need a Windows phone.

So go be the first kid on the block with this new app and let us know what you think. Our VP of Product, Anthony Riemma, took a minute out of his day to give a quick overview of the app in the above video. Thanks Anthony!

In addition to the video, there are a few screenshots below so you can see what our app looks like in it’s new home. We’re thrilled to be part of the Windows family! Microsoft – you done good :)

Windows 8 log-in screen.

Zipwhip running inside Windows 8

Zipwhip’s placement inside the Social category of the app store (2 of 87)

asdasdfasfdasfasf

Filed under Our Service, Uncategorized Tagged with , ,

Zipwhip for Amazon

September 10, 2012 1 Comment

We recently received word that our app has been approved for download in the Amazon app store! We were successful in this endeavor in large part because we have built our own signal server in order to push messages to all end-clients, including desktops. Having notifications pushed to a given device is a critical feature for many apps like ours. However, because Amazon doesn’t support Google Push Notifications, apps that rely on that service simply don’t work on the Kindle. Because we have our own system in place, we’re able to perfectly support such a device while our competitors can’t.

It took a lot of time and effort on our part to build the signal-server. It takes even more time and effort to ensure that it’s working properly. Our team of network engineers are on call 24/7 to help ensure that we can successfully process the approximately 600 million text messages that pass through our servers every month. That’s no small task.

Because of our proprietary signal-server, we are first to market for Amazon Kindle/Fire. We were also first to market for the iPad and Android tablets. Our dedication to the text messaging space has allowed us to support virtually all devices in today’s market. As new devices come to market, we will be ready to move forward with a corresponding app. All of this in the name of achieving our goal- text messaging everywhere. Cheers!

Download Now From Amazon

Filed under Our Service Tagged with , , ,

Zipwhip Goes Global

September 6, 2012 3 Comments

It’s a very exciting day here at Zipwhip because we’ve just gone global! That’s right, Android users the world over can now download Zipwhip and start texting across their connected devices. There were some significant road blocks to overcome prior to this release. Dealing with the vastly different number formats of other countries was one. Achieving full international SMS connectivity was another. During registration, we send a link to your phone as part of our registration process. This is a crucial step to ensure that the number entered into our website really does belong to you and not an imposter. It took awhile to ensure that step was going to work in countries outside the US. We took that extra step because your phone number is the foundation of our business. It’s a key identifier in your life and that’s why you use it to log in to our apps. We’re the only company in this space that uses it as your user ID and it wasn’t by accident.

Gaining connectivity required a great deal of technical know how. There were updates to the web app, desktop app, and tablet app. Plus, we had to “internationalize” our entire cloud, as our V.P. of product Anthony Riemma explains it. We were frequently forced to troubleshoot…and scratch our heads. Thankfully we have an amazing team of developers and product managers that figured out solutions to every problem that arose. Way to go team!

If you have a friend in Canada that has been waiting to download our app, let ‘em know they’re good to go. Or a son or daughter in Beijing. Or a crazy uncle in Italy. Let the international cloud texting frenzy begin. Thanks for your support and patience as we’ve been finishing up this feature. Just a heads up, we’ve got some great new product updates coming down the pipe so be sure to check our social channels frequently. As of  2:30 p.m. (MST) Zipwhip Inc. became an international company. Cheers!

-The Zipwhip Team

Filed under Our Service Tagged with , ,

Privacy Mode

August 22, 2012 2 Comments

Do you love the desktop app, but worry about a text message popping up on your screen during a presentation or when you’re showing off something on your computer? That’s why we have a privacy mode option. Activation is simple and ensures that you can comfortably command a presentation or leave your desk without the fear of a message bubble appearing. Steps: Click on the Zipwhip logo in the system tray of your computer (a), click on privacy mode inside the box (b) and you’re good to go. Notice that our logo is dimmed when privacy mode is on (c).

(a.)

(b.)

(c.)

Cheers!

-The Zipwhip Team

Filed under Our Service Tagged with ,

Linux Desktop App

August 7, 2012 17 Comments

Zipwhip’s cloud texting lets you send & receive text messages from your computer using your main mobile number. Cloud texting. Pure and simple.

We’re happy to announce that our Linux desktop app is ready for download! This project was a full-on team effort complete with all the difficulties of a Linux build, so the launch comes with an especially big sigh of relief. As I mentioned in the video, Zipwhip is a Linux-based platform and there was no chance of us not supporting our beloved desktop app for the Linux OS. Saying that, we’re waiting with open arms for all your feedback and hope that together we can make this app even more powerful in the coming months. For now, please go to the Zipwhip homepage to download the app. Thanks for your support.

Filed under Our Service Tagged with , , ,

Zipwhip Desktop App Debut

July 12, 2012 4 Comments

 

 

We’ve been busy improving our desktop app since the last time we featured it here on our blog. You’ll see what we mean in this video. With some new features rolled out sending and receiving text messages with our app will be an even better experience.

The first thing you’ll see is an example of our read-sync technology. We strive to make sure that our apps make texting across devices as seamless as possible, and that’s why we focused a lot of energy on getting this feature right. It works like this; when you mark a message as read on your desktop, that message is also marked as read on your phone. It’s a simple yet critical feature that we know you expect as a consumer. It will help you keep better track of the status of your messages and improve your overall experience.

By far the coolest function of the app is the MMS feature. I can’t tell you how great it is to see a picture message come in on your screen as you’re pecking away on your keyboard. It’s one of the features that is separating us from the pack. Over the next few months we’re going to continue optimizing this feature to make it even more useful so stay tuned. With our hot-key functions (control+enter to send a message) and Windows key+Z (bring up a new message window) you’ll be even more efficient. Especially considering that when you enter a name/number into the “send-to” box our software automatically starts narrowing your field of contacts.

If you don’t have time to respond to a message right away our sticky-note function will come in handy. All you do is left click on the message and drag it to a different part of your screen. There it will sit until you have time to reply. I like to move mine to the very edge of the screen where I can barely read it. Then when I have a second I just drag it entirely back onto my screen and in-line reply. Done.

One last note. If you need to access our app for some reason just look down into the system tray of your computer. You’ll see our logo there. You can right click on it to exit the app, get to our web-app, etc. As always, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact us at support@zipwhip.com. Cheers!

Filed under Our Service Tagged with ,

Android Tablet App From Zipwhip

June 19, 2012 3 Comments

 

The Zipwhip Android tablet app has been published and is ready for download! Just go to our homepage and click on the tab (pictured below) after you sign in/register. The app is also available for download by just searching for Zipwhip in the Google Play store from your tablet. In this video Zipwhip’s John Larson takes you through the workings of the tablet application. You’ll quickly notice that this app UI is consistent with our web application and is very straight forward.

In just a few minutes you’ll be sending and receiving text messages from your main mobile number via your Android tablet. One especially convenient feature is that you’ll be notified that you have a new text message even when you’re not active in the app. That notification appears in the system tray of the tablet and is highlighted in our video. We hope you enjoy this short tutorial. Please share it with your friends. This app is a must have for anybody who uses their tablet throughout the day like we do.

Click on this button during registration to install the app.

Filed under Our Service Tagged with , ,

U.S. Cellular Launches Web To Text Powered By Zipwhip

March 23, 2012 2 Comments

 

 

We’re very excited to announce our new partnership with U.S. Cellular. This partnership allows all U.S. Cellular customers access to a co-branded version of Zipwhip’s web texting portal. The portal is accessible from the U.S. Cellular website or by going directly to uscellular.com/webtotext. Customers can now send text messages to friends and family on all major U.S. mobile networks.  More of the benefits and details are available in a press release that went out yesterday.

As you watch this video you’ll notice how incredibly fast and easy it is to send a text from you computer–that’s the beauty of U.S. Cellular Web To Text. Cristy Burgan, our VP of Sales, introduces the video. She played a big role in bringing this partnership to life, so it was very fitting to include her in this blog. Congrats to her and the rest of the Zipwhip and U.S. Cellular team members. This is another way that cloud texting is making communication better.

Filed under In The News, Our Service Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.