Your prospects read almost every text you send them. They pick up maybe one in three unknown calls.
That gap has been the quiet, expensive truth of outbound for years. Today we're closing it. AI SMS is now live in SalesAi — a fully conversational, two-way texting channel built into the same AI agents that already run your voice outreach.
It's not a drip tool. It's not an autoresponder blasting the same three messages to everyone on your list. It's a real conversation: your agent texts a lead, answers their questions, handles objections, follows up if they go quiet, and books a meeting directly onto your calendar — without a rep ever touching their phone.
Why Is SMS Becoming Essential for Sales Teams?
The numbers haven't just been trending this way — they've been shouting it. Industry benchmarks put SMS open rates at 90–98%, compared to roughly 20–30% for email, and most texts get read within minutes of hitting someone's pocket (Emarsys). Response rates follow the same curve: SMS pulls replies at around 45%, versus about 6% for email (Notifyre). And a growing share of buyers will now tell you outright — they'd rather text a business than call one.
Sales teams already know this. It's exactly why so many reps have been texting prospects from their personal phones for years. And that's the liability nobody puts in the deck: no consent record, no transcript, no opt-out enforcement, no way to prove compliance the moment a customer complains. The channel your buyers actually prefer has been running completely off the books.
AI SMS puts it back on the books — and puts a full AI agent behind it.
What Does AI SMS Actually Do?
Drop an AI SMS step into any SalesAi workflow, and your agent takes it from there. Here's what that looks like in practice:
It holds a real conversation. This is the same conversational AI already powering your voice agents — now texting. It responds dynamically, answers product questions on the fly, and adapts to what the lead actually types, because it's an agent working a conversation, not a script waiting for a keyword.
It books meetings mid-thread. The moment a lead says "sure, let's talk," the agent books straight onto your calendar using the same scheduling setup it already relies on for calls. No link-and-hope. No handoff. No 20-minute gap where the lead's interest cools off.
It follows up like your most disciplined rep — the one who never forgets. Configurable cadence controls let you decide exactly how persistent the agent should be, from a single message to patient, spaced-out re-engagement over several days. The second a contact replies, the agent picks the thread right back up.
It routes on what actually happened, not what you hoped would happen. Meeting booked, conversation only, no response, or do not contact — each outcome can automatically branch your workflow into the right next step, so your pipeline reacts to reality in real time.
It logs everything. Every message, both directions, lands in a full transcript with an AI-generated summary — right next to that contact's call history in your Activity Log. Need it in your CRM instead? A Post-SMS Webhook pushes the outcome, transcript, and contact record automatically the second a conversation ends.
How Does AI SMS Handle Consent and Compliance?
Business texting in the U.S. and Canada isn't a gray area — it's governed by real, enforceable rules. The TCPA requires consent before marketing texts are sent, and carriers enforce CTIA messaging principles for all automated (A2P) traffic. Most teams handle this today with a policy document, a training slide, and crossed fingers.
We built it into the product instead — and none of the following can be switched off:
Every conversation opens with a required consent message. It can't be edited or removed from the block.
Opt-in is enforced before any outbound message. No consent, no send.
STOP and Do Not Contact are honored automatically. No spreadsheet. No manual tracking. No exposure.
The result: the same audit trail your voice agent has always produced now automatically extends to text. Your team gets the channel buyers actually prefer, and compliance gets handled at the product level — not left to a rep's memory at 4:45 on a Friday.
How Fast Can You Go Live With AI SMS?
U.S. and Canadian carriers require every business sending automated texts to complete a one-time brand and campaign registration through The Campaign Registry — an industry-wide anti-spam standard, not a SalesAi-specific hoop. We handle the filing for you.
Carrier approval typically takes 10–14 days.
There's nothing you need to do while it's in review.
Once approved, SMS switches on directly in your account.
Your workflows can start texting the same day it goes live.
Translation: a deal that closes this week can realistically be texting real customers within two to three weeks. A deal that lingers in the pipeline just pushes that date further out.
How Much Does AI SMS Cost?
AI SMS is priced by monthly message volume, and the per-message rate gets better the more you scale:
Messages / mo | Price | Per message |
|---|---|---|
2,000 | $60 | 3.0¢ |
5,000 | $150 | 3.0¢ |
10,000 | $250 | 2.5¢ |
20,000 | $400 | 2.0¢ |
40,000 | $720 | 1.8¢ |
80,000 | $1,440 | 1.8¢ |
150,000 | $2,250 | 1.5¢ |
Need more than 150,000 messages a month, or something custom? Talk to our team, and we'll scope it with you directly.
Who Should Use AI SMS First?
If any of these sound familiar, AI SMS was built for exactly this moment:
Your connect rates on cold calls keep sliding, even though your list quality hasn't changed.
Your reps are already texting prospects manually — from personal phones, off the record.
Your leads keep asking "can I just text you?" and the honest answer has been no.
You're running high outbound volume and need follow-up that never forgets, never gets tired, and never misses a Friday afternoon.
None of these are edge cases. They're the default state of modern outbound — which is exactly why this launches as an upsell to your existing subscription, not a brand-new tool your team has to learn from scratch.
Ready to See AI SMS in Action?
AI SMS is available now for accounts in the U.S. and Canada. Book a demo and watch an AI agent run a live text conversation end-to-end — from opening message to booked meeting.
Your buyers have been waiting for you to text them. Now your AI agent can.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AI SMS? AI SMS is an AI-powered, two-way texting capability built into SalesAi's workflows and agents. An AI agent holds a real text conversation with a lead or customer, follows up on a configurable cadence, books meetings directly onto your calendar, and logs every message alongside that contact's call history.
How is AI SMS different from an SMS drip campaign or autoresponder? Drip tools send scripted, one-way messages. AI SMS uses the same conversational AI agent that handles voice calls, so it responds dynamically, answers questions, and books meetings mid-conversation — then automatically routes your workflow based on the actual outcome.
Is AI SMS compliant with texting regulations? Compliance is built in and can't be disabled: a required consent message opens every conversation, opt-in is enforced before any outbound message, and STOP replies and Do Not Contact status are honored automatically. SalesAi also files the one-time A2P 10DLC carrier registration on your behalf.
How long does it take to go live? Carrier approval for the required brand and campaign registration typically takes 10–14 days from submission. SalesAi handles the filing; once approved, SMS is enabled in your account.
Can conversation outcomes flow into my CRM? Yes. A per-agent Post-SMS Webhook automatically posts the outcome, full transcript, and contact record to your CRM or other systems when a conversation ends.
Can a human rep take over a live text thread? Not in this release — mid-conversation takeover is on the roadmap. In the meantime, the complete transcript and AI summary are always available in the Activity Log if a rep needs to continue the conversation manually.
Which countries does AI SMS support? Phone numbers in the United States and Canada.
How much does AI SMS cost? Pricing is based on monthly message volume, starting at $60/month for 2,000 messages (3.0¢ per message) and improving to 1.5¢ per message at 150,000 messages/month. Higher or custom volumes are scoped with our team.
