If you're a business sending your customers text messages, you're partnering with an SMS aggregator - a crucial and necessary link between wireless carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and any business or application looking to send SMS, MMS and RCS messages to consumers quickly and efficiently. Yet not all SMS aggregators are the same. A Tier 1 SMS aggregator connects directly to every major wireless carrier, with no other aggregator in between.
Why exactly does this matter?
It’s no secret that intermediaries often mark up prices to cover their own costs, don’t have connections to the original source and may not offer the same quality product or service that you would expect from a direct provider. Work with a middleman and you may wind up paying excessive fees and giving up some control of the process.
Similar risks exist in the SMS aggregation space. Fortunately, the list of Tier 1 SMS aggregators is short, and working with one removes these risks.
What is a Tier 1 SMS Aggregator?
Tier 1 aggregators connect directly to both the top wireless networks and the smaller cellular carriers. This ensures that both SMS and MMS messages take the fastest path from your company to its customers. Plus, even the largest non-Tier 1 aggregators don’t always provide the level of service businesses expect from a true partner.
Vibes is a Tier 1 SMS aggregator with direct connections to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and 65+ regional carriers, and the only independent Tier 1 aggregator in North America.
If you use a non-Tier 1 aggregator, your messages will have to be funneled through one or more additional aggregators before they even reach the carrier. That carrier then sends the message to the end user, which means there will always be a minimum of three different touchpoints before final delivery.
Risks of Using a Non-Tier 1 Aggregator
The majority of Americans - 98% - own a cellphone, which makes text messaging one of the easiest and most accessible ways for your organization to communicate with current and prospective customers. These advantages can diminish quickly when companies work with non-Tier 1 aggregators.
Here are just a few real-life examples of challenges that companies have faced when not using a Tier 1 aggregator:
- A credit card holder who receives the text message alerting them of a fraudulent new transaction - asking them to approve the purchase or not - too late.
- A patient who misses a dentist appointment because they received their text reminder for it after the fact.
- A two-factor authentication code that arrives six hours after being issued by a financial institution, sending the customer into a panic because they thought someone might be trying to access their account.
You can help your customers thwart fraud, get to the doctor on time or sleep more peacefully by working with a Tier 1 aggregator that offers the connections, expertise and customer service levels that your customers deserve.
If you're looking for a reliable and reputable way to send SMS messages, a Tier 1 SMS aggregator is your best choice. By removing one or more “middlemen”—all of whom need to be paid for their services—from the process, Tier 1 aggregators save your business money while ensuring reliable, rapid text message delivery to your recipients.
A Tier 1 aggregator partnership isn’t just a "nice to have" for world-class message delivery; it’s a necessity. Relying on a lower tier of SMS aggregation services can increase reputational risk and position your business as unreliable in your customers’ eyes.
For example, when an SMS aggregator can’t manage a high volume of messages at scale, that can diminish customer service levels when your customers need it most.
And if you run into a problem and need it fixed fast, there may not be anyone standing by to help you at 10pm on a Saturday night.
Benefits of Working With a Tier 1 SMS Aggregator
- Faster campaign provisioning. Tier 1 aggregators handle the submission process for short codes and other sender IDs, which allow companies to send SMS and MMS messages to their customers. Without direct connections to the carriers, Tier 2 aggregators can’t handle those intricacies on your behalf.
- Better connection speeds. Tier 1 aggregators get the highest throughput between the carriers and the messaging providers, resulting in faster distribution of SMS and MMS messages and a higher level of successful messages sent.
- Proactive technical support and streamlined troubleshooting. If there’s a technical issue at the carrier level, the Tier 1 aggregator is likely well aware of the problem and able to address it proactively (versus waiting to be alerted to the problem and reacting to it).
- More affordable pricing. Every extra set of hands in the delivery path adds cost to each message you send. Removing those middlemen means a business can deliver its text messages for up to 20% less by working with a Tier 1 aggregator.
Vibes as a Tier 1 SMS Aggregator
As a Tier 1 aggregator, Vibes offers:
- 24/7/365 US-based, award-winning customer support
- Direct US carrier connections to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and 65+ regional carriers
- Unrivaled throughput and uptime: our SMS uptime record since 2016 is 100%
- One central hub for short codes, toll-free, 10DLC and RCS - we get our customers’ campaigns provisioned 3x faster and program briefs approved 2x faster than other SMS aggregators
- A system that has machine learning compliance tools that automatically police bad traffic, ensuring that only safe, compliant messaging makes it through
We’re also the first to know about any carrier rate changes or other news that may impact your mobile messaging and services.
The Bottom Line on Tier 1 SMS Aggregators
Companies looking to build resilience in times of uncertainty can lean on their Tier 1 SMS aggregator to help them develop more efficient text campaigns, save them money and to do more with less.
By removing one or more “middlemen” - all of whom need to be paid for their services - from the process, Tier 1 aggregators save your business substantial cost. They also ensure reliable, rapid throughput of text messages to your customers, every time.
Tier 1 SMS Aggregator FAQs
What is a Tier 1 SMS aggregator?
A Tier 1 SMS aggregator offers a direct connection between wireless carriers and any business or application trying to send large volumes of text messages efficiently. As opposed to messaging "middlemen", Tier 1 SMS aggregators guarantee every message takes the absolute fastest path from sent to seen. Vibes is a Tier 1 SMS aggregator with direct connections to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and 65+ regional carriers, and the only independent Tier 1 aggregator in North America.
What is the difference between a Tier 1 aggregator and a Tier 2 aggregator?
Tier 1 aggregators are the only aggregators with direct connections to every US carrier, ensuring text messages take the fastest path from a business to their customers with no extra hops to slow them down. Tier 2 aggregators have indirect connections to the carriers, meaning they have to route traffic through a series of "hops", which can result in slower messaging speed, inconsistencies in message deliverability, and more expensive.
How do I find out whether my SMS provider uses a Tier 1 aggregator?
Ask your SMS provider who routes your messaging traffic and whether that connection is direct. In the US, Vibes, Sinch, Infobip and Tata Communications are the only providers with direct carrier connections. If your provider routes through another aggregator first, your messages take at least one extra hop before they reach the carrier, which affects both speed and cost.
Is Vibes a Tier 1 SMS aggregator?
Yes, Vibes is a Tier 1 SMS aggregator with direct connections to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and 65+ regional carriers, and the only independent Tier 1 aggregator in North America. Also known as a direct connect aggregator, our direct carrier connections plus our hands-on personal service pair the business messaging reach and reliability businesses expect with the trusted long-term relationship you deserve. This means no middlemen, no delays, and no surprises.
Get in touch to learn more about working with a Tier 1 SMS aggregator, and how Vibes can help your messaging program run faster and more reliably.
