Tampa service enables customers to text business phone lines

John Dalrymple called his veterinarian with a simple request. He wanted medication for his chocolate Labrador, George. But what he hoped would be a brief phone call turned into a 15-minute or more exchange, with him on hold the bulk of the time.

Dalrymple realized telephone calls weren’t always the most efficient way to do things -- and Text Our Company was born.

“We’re text enabling your traditional business landline and giving you the capacity to send and receive messages on that number,” says Dalrymple, CEO, President and Founder of Mobex, the Tampa company offering the texting service. “No one else is doing this to my knowledge.”

Text Our Company’s innovative service isn’t looking to replace the phone, he says.

“There are some kinds of transactions that just make it [texting] more efficient for the company,” he explains.

He points out most business lines don’t have texting capability and emails can become buried. “Texts get seen and responded to right away, but they are not so immediate you have to drop everything,” he says.

Companies access Text Our Company using a computer, tablet or phone connected to the Internet. Individuals log into the company account, where they can utilize a chatroom to communicate with clients.

Converting to the service is seamless. Customers can retain their existing business number, without changing providers, and/or add a new line.

Text Our Company is available as a monthly subscription, with no contract, for $29.95 and up. It has the ability to go beyond automated texts with their yes and no answers; customers can ask questions and receive answers to their questions.

“We’re really focusing on businesses that have a traditional business line,” he says.

Founded in 2013, Mobex is a telecommunications provider of VoIP, text messaging, and phone systems management services. It began developing the Text Our Company service last year with Haneke Design, a Tampa-based custom software developer, which transformed the idea into a usable product.

Dalrymple’s son Johnny, who earned an MBA from UT, has been working with him.

Text Our Company has been participating in the University of Tampa’s Community Incubator. It took first place in technology at 2017 New Venture Expo in April at the university.

Now UT’s Entrepreneur Center is among the firm’s customers, along with the Pinellas County Democratic Party, some doctor’s offices and an accounting firm. Mobex is rolling out Text Our Company to customers nationwide.

Because its business customers probably won’t be expecting to be able to communicate by text, the package includes an initial mass mailing to notify clients of the texting option.