What Is Call Blasting? A Small Business Guide
Corey McCraw is a staff writer covering VoIP and Unified Communications. Corey has over a decade of experience in marketing, tech writing, and corporate communications and has even penned content for the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.
Silvana is a staff writer at Fit Small Business who covers business technology, audio and video conferencing tools, and phone services.
This article is part of a larger series on VoIP.
Call blasting, also called phone blasting or voice broadcasting, is a quick, easy, and affordable way to instantly contact hundreds or thousands of people to notify them or, in limited cases, promote your business. It offers several benefits for small businesses, including increased productivity, personalized service, and efficiency. Find out how it works, its benefits, and our recommended best practices for effective outbound messaging.
How Call Blasting Works
Voice broadcasting is a powerful voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) and private branch exchange (PBX) feature for simultaneously sending prerecorded messages to multiple phone numbers. The easiest way to understand the technology is to think of it as an audio version of an email blast. The number of outgoing messages in a call blast quickly scales into the thousands, allowing you to save a great deal of time compared to any means of manual communication.
The process is straightforward, as most VoIP and PBX providers can import phone numbers from Excel or Google spreadsheets. Setting up a call blast can be completed in three easy steps:
- Select: First, prepare the digital version of your message by recording your voice message or utilizing text-to-speech technology.
- Record: Second, create, and upload the list of contacts to whom you will send the information.
- Launch: Third, finalize the date and time of the broadcast and let the platform do the rest.
Call blasting setup process
Once the three steps have been completed, the recorded information will be broadcast to your target audience on the selected date and time. Almost entirely automated, this technology saves businesses a considerable amount of money compared to the personnel costs needed to place calls manually.
You may also integrate interactive voice response (IVR) menus into the messages to allow customers to select from predefined options. For example, voice broadcasting alerts customers about new bill pay options and will walk the customer through your new self-service processes.
Are you looking for an inbound and outbound messaging telecommunication system? Check out our automated voice messaging guide. We give a comprehensive rundown of this alternative broadcast technology used for improving business greetings and providing relevant information, helping customers solve issues themselves.
Call Blasting Benefits
Overall, call blaster software enhances customer engagement and helps improve operational costs by saving time and financial resources necessary to reach targeted audiences. It is an efficient solution, especially if you don’t have a dedicated call center for customer outreach. With communications being a core element of business operations, here are the advantages of using call and voice broadcasting:
Wider Customer Reach
Recent marketing statistics reveal that in 2022, 6.65 billion people have smartphones, with 60% of customers reading texts within one to five minutes after receipt. Call blasts create opportunities for direct connection with customers from all over the world. Voice broadcasts also foster inclusive and equitable communication that benefits people who are illiterate, visually impaired, or primarily communicate verbally.
Cost-effective & Budget-friendly Application
Making thousands of calls and messages weekly costs a fortune in terms of calling minutes and staffing. Voice blasts are almost entirely automated, making them a more cost-effective option than calling your customers one at a time. Often, this feature is incorporated into a plan tier, or a preset amount is charged for messaging a set number of recipients.
Improved Targeted Sales
Send specific messages to targeted subgroups with similar profiles or needing the same information. Since messages are geared toward that particular audience, sales conversions are higher. Call blasting for sales with integrated IVR allows interested customers to make immediate inquiries, speeding up the sales process.
Enhanced Productivity
While there are advantages to having live staff reach out to customers to answer questions or personalize the experience, it takes a significant amount of time and business expenditure. One of the greatest benefits of call broadcasts is that they are simple to use and require little human intervention. You save time and resources by automating message sending, giving your team more time to do other tasks.
When to Use It
Call blasts, when used correctly, have the potential to expand your business, improve relationships with your customers, and decrease your operational costs. Here are some tried-and-true applications for adopting a voice broadcasting solution:
- To increase brand recognition: Voice broadcasts are an excellent way to tell subscribers about new products, services, and campaigns you’re currently having. However, remember that voice marketing messages should only be sent to customers who have opted into the service.
- To disseminate important alerts: Use call blasts to share information about service interruptions, emergency alerts, important announcements, and upcoming events related to your business. An IVR-style menu structure for weather or emergency notifications is helpful for this use case.
- Survey and polling feedback: Simultaneously send prerecorded surveys to your customers, which would be a much faster way to collect their data than asking for it individually. You are also sure of the consistency of delivery, minimizing the possibility of human error, such as skipping a question or influencing the recipient’s answer.
- Timely event reminders and notifications: This technology benefits businesses looking to notify customers about appointments and required preparations. Phone blasts are also an excellent way to alert customers about upcoming bill dates.
When Not to Use It
- Businesses that aren’t focused on telemarketing: If you have low-volume calling needs and operate using other communication channels, such as social media, an auto-dialer may be all you need. Check out our guide on the best auto-dialer apps for small businesses.
- Startups and small teams looking for free, basic VoIP services: For startups looking for a simple, free business phone system, Google Voice offers a straightforward VoIP solution for businesses with a Google Workspace account. Read our Google Voice review to learn more about this provider.
- Companies needing simple bulk SMS functionality: If you’re on a budget and more interested in bulk SMS and business messaging than voice calls, a text messaging service is better suited for you. Here’s our list of best text messaging services.
Interested in learning more about different business phone systems? Check out our list of the best business phone systems to determine if any of the top providers match your needs.
Tips for Effective Call Blasting
Now that you have a better understanding of the ins and outs of the technology, it’s time to talk about best practices when crafting your audio message. Here are the top tips to keep in mind that will make your efforts more effective and beneficial to your organization.
Keep Information Up-to-Date
This is essential for a variety of reasons. First, update your customer database to ensure potential audience members are not on a do-not-call list to avoid fines. Second, make sure to broadcast information that’s accurate and updated.
Get Consent & Offer Marketing Opt-in or Opt-out
Just because you have a customer’s contact information does not mean you have consent to reach them for marketing campaigns. Calling someone on the do-not-call list without expressed consent is a sure way to get fined. To obtain consent, start with an opt-in text messaging campaign that allows your customers to opt in to your marketing text messages.
Twilio has an SMS Opt-In Builder (Source: Twilio)
Twilio enables users to voice broadcast through its outbound IVR system. This system is configurable by developers thanks to a representational state transfer application programming interface (REST API). Twilio plans are pay-as-you-go, and it’s been reported that its Programmable Voice customers send billions of voice and text messages each year.
Keep Messages Short & Concise
When dealing with customers, brevity is always the order of the day. Keep messages no more than 20 to 25 seconds long. Customers will quickly lose interest when presented with long recordings and are more inclined to hang up, negating the value of phone blasting. Ensure that your main point gets across and that secondary information does not overshadow your main message.
For messages that can’t be made shorter, consider providing a set of tiered menu options, which helps the call recipient stay engaged. As a rule, avoid messaging packed with filler. Let the call recipient get off the phone as soon as possible without losing the value of the message.
Use the Right Tone & Speed
While messages should be brief, they should not be rushed. Tone matters, and customers may find it off-putting trying to listen to the information you’re providing. Customers could opt out of future notifications or stop using your products or services if they become annoyed. Set a friendly, positive, easy-to-listen-to tone when creating your call blast messaging.
Professionally recorded messages enhance the overall caller experience and leave a lasting impression. Here’s a list of our recommended professional voicemail greetings providers with recording talents so you can get started.
Use a Local Presence Dialer
Call blasters may be even more effective when combined with a local presence dialer. This feature helps your business appear local to the person receiving the call, so they may be more likely to pick up and feel connected with your business.
Provide a Call to Action & Contact Details
Make sure you don’t leave out a powerful call to action (CTA) and your contact details. If you’ve recorded an informative and enticing message, ensure your audience is informed of how they can reach you for inquiries or service contracting, if they desire.
Call Blasting Software Providers
Call blasting technology is available as a feature in some business phone systems and standalone cloud-based software services. By its very nature, this capability “blasts” out audio messages to a preset grouping of customers. Depending on the features of your subscription, users can easily track all call blasts using real-time call analytics.
Before adopting this technology, learn what different providers are offering. Here are a few voice broadcast software platforms to consider:
VoIP Providers | Starting Price | Key Features | Call Blasting Solutions |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Free; paid plans start at $20 per user (monthly) 4 cents per call plus calling charges |
| Voice Broadcast
|
 | $149, monthly |
| Automatic Dialer
|
 | $31, monthly Call blasting is available as an add-on for $10 per month |
| Message Recording
|
 | Programmable Voice: $0.0085/min to receive and $0.013/min to make a call |
| Outbound IVR System
|
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is call blasting legal?
Call blasting is legal, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) forbids blasting commercial or non-informational messages without written consent. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) states that businesses must have customers’ “express written consent” before receiving automated, prerecorded messages. For this reason, you must ensure that every call you make is either informational (non-promotional) or has been approved by the customer.
Do I need to purchase any hardware or install software for call blasting?
Most VoIP providers have web-based platforms where you will set up each call and text broadcast. This means there’s no need for special hardware or software—just standard computer applications, such as Excel and your browser.
Which businesses benefit the most from call blasting?
From healthcare to banking and telecommunications, all companies benefit from using a call blaster regardless of size and sector. This technology helps deliver messages to all the customers at once, making it a handy marketing and customer coordination tool for small businesses with limited human resources.
Bottom Line
In this overview of call blasting, you’ve learned voice broadcasting is a valuable tool for a contact center that doesn’t require sizable capital investments. It enables companies to keep customers abreast of significant announcements and information, and is excellent for businesses with a large customer base without call center resources. There are steep penalties for misusing call blaster software, but smart use leads to a more satisfied customer base and increased sales.
