Bulk SMS Service: Reach Customers Instantly With SMS and Text Messages

Bulk SMS is sending one text message to many mobile numbers at once from a web platform, instead of typing each message on a phone. A business pastes in or uploads a list of numbers, writes the message, and the platform delivers it to every number and reports back on delivery and replies. It is used for reminders, alerts, promotions and staff notices.

Open an account with an Australian SMS platform, paste in the mobile numbers, write the message, and click Send. With 160.com.au this is done from any web browser, or from your inbox using email to SMS, or from your own software through the SMS API. There is a step-by-step guide in our how to send bulk SMS online post.

160.com.au pricing is pay as you go: you buy a prepaid pack of SMS credits, and one credit sends one standard 160-character message to an Australian mobile. There is no monthly fee and no contract, the price per message falls as the pack size grows, and credits stay valid as long as you send one message every 180 days. Current packs are on the pricing page.

No. 160.com.au runs in a web browser, so there is nothing to install on a computer or a phone. You can also send from Outlook, Gmail or any email client with email to SMS, and developers can connect their own systems through the SMS API. Contacts can be pasted straight in or uploaded from a spreadsheet.

Yes. Replies come back to your 160.com.au account, where you can read and answer them in a two-way SMS chat view, and they can also be forwarded to your email or mobile. Two-way replies work on the shared number included with every account, or on a dedicated virtual SMS number of your own if you want a number customers can save.

Yes, provided you follow the Spam Act 2003, which the ACMA enforces. Commercial messages need the recipient’s consent, must identify who sent them and must include a working way to opt out, such as replying STOP. From 1 July 2026 a business name used as the sender ID must also be registered on the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register, which 160.com.au can arrange for you through our sender ID registration service.

Messages leave the platform the moment you click Send and are normally on the recipient’s phone within seconds, subject to the mobile network, and for Australian mobiles a delivery report shows the status of each message in the campaign. Large lists are sent in a single batch rather than one at a time, and you can schedule a campaign to go out at a set date and time.

No. Our SMS packages are one-off SMS packs, there’s no obligation to purchase another pack every 30 days for example, you simply purchase as many SMS credits as you need for your business.

An SMS service can be used for a number of different purposes, both personal and business. At a personal level, people may use them to send en masse messages to friends and family, particularly if they’re organising a large-scale event or simply need to provide updates to a large number of people. Businesses, on the other hand, often use SMS for internal communications and also for external marketing.

All of these forms of communication can be very effective — but if you’re just doing them from your phone and don’t have a virtual SMS number, it can be pretty expensive. Here at 160.com.au, we can provide you with all the tools you need to send bulk SMS nationwide or to send SMS to a global audience, including an SMS online program. You can browse our help guides to learn more about our messaging service.

As long as you send at least 1 SMS every 180 days your SMS credits will never expire.

No, an individual SMS doesn’t consume data for the sender or the recipient. However, an SMS that is longer than the standard 160 characters or incorporates emojis, photos or web links will use data for both the sender and the recipient. These are commonly known as an MMS or “Multimedia Message Service”.

At 160.com.au, we use a text-based SMS service rather than an MMS one for our bulk services; it’s easier to guarantee that your message will actually be received by your intended audience, without concerns around data usage. However, we can offer email to SMS services, thanks to our SMS gateway. When you’re sending mass text messages, you use our SMS online program, which allows you to easily personalise, customise and keep track of the messages that you send.

Yes, we’ve clients in dozens of different industries, including education, health, real estate, eCommerce, fitness, etc.

SMS marketing is a way of promoting products, services, or events through text messages to potential or existing customers.

An SMS gateway is a software or service that allows you to send or receive bulk text messages through a mobile network carrier, for example 160.com.au uses Virgin, Vodafone, Optus, and Telstra to send your text messages.

An SMS campaign is a planned marketing promotion that involves sending bulk text messages to a targeted mobile audience to achieve a specific goal i.e. increase sales, reactivate inactive customers, to send scheduled reminders to increase awareness for newsletters, product launches, etc.

You can schedule text messages in bulk SMS software by selecting the date and time you want the message sent and adding the recipient’s mobile numbers.

An opt-out option is a way for recipients of text messages to unsubscribe from further messages by replying to the message with a specific keyword or by contacting the sender. See our Help Guides on how to set this up using the 160.com.au messaging platform.

You can ensure compliance when using bulk SMS by following the guidelines set by ACMA. The main things to consider are:

• Obtaining consent from recipients
• Providing an opt-out option
• Avoiding sending spam messages

Under the Spam Act 2003, every commercial SMS sent to an Australian number must have the recipient’s consent, identify the sender and include a working unsubscribe option (ACMA, acma.gov.au/scams-spam-and-telemarketing).

From 1 July 2026, alphanumeric sender IDs used to text Australian numbers must be registered on the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register, and messages from unregistered sender IDs are labelled “Unverified” on the recipient’s phone (ACMA, acma.gov.au/sms-sender-id-register).

To get started with bulk SMS marketing, you need to choose a reliable bulk SMS provider. You can sign up for free with 160.com.au, where you get access to all of our features, and your account comes with a few free text messages so you can see how easy it is to use an online text messaging platform.