You just sent 2,000 patients the same "Spring Whitening Special" text. Patient A already has a whitening appointment next week. Patient B unsubscribed from promotions after your last blast. Patient C has $4,000 in unpaid treatment plans and needs a financial discussion, not a promo. Blast SMS treats every patient identically. Your patients are not identical.
TL;DR
EZTexting ($25-$3,000/month) and SimpleTexting send bulk SMS — the same message to everyone. At $0.004/message carrier cost, the per-message markup is 10-50x. Optimal.dev sends contextual messages at carrier cost, personalized by CRM data: appointment reminders to pending patients, reactivation to lapsed patients, and review requests to satisfied patients. Same channel, different intelligence.
Blast vs. Context
EZTexting and SimpleTexting are blast tools — they send one message to a list. The technology is straightforward: compose message, select list, press send. SMS has 98% open rates, making it a powerful channel. But open rate without relevance is noise. When 2,000 patients open your promo and 1,950 of them have no interest in whitening right now, you have generated irritation, not revenue.
Key Insight: SMS has the highest open rate of any marketing channel — 98%. This makes it the most powerful channel when used contextually and the most annoying channel when used for blasts. One irrelevant promotional text can trigger an unsubscribe that costs you a patient worth $1,200/year. Context is not a nice-to-have — it is risk management.
The pricing model reveals the economics. EZTexting charges $25-$3,000/month for plans based on message volume. The actual carrier cost to send an SMS is approximately $0.004. At scale, the markup is 10-50x. This markup pays for EZTexting's platform, infrastructure, and compliance management — but it also means you are dramatically overpaying for what is essentially: compose text, send to list.
| Factor | EZTexting/SimpleTexting | Optimal.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Message model | Blast (same to all) | Contextual (personalized) |
| Per-message cost | $0.04-$0.20 | $0.004 carrier cost |
| CRM integration | ❌ Basic lists | ✅ Full AI-powered |
| Personalization | ❌ Name merge only | ✅ Treatment/appointment context |
| Timing | Manual schedule | AI-optimized per patient |
| Voice AI | ❌ Text only | ✅ Voice + text |
| Reviews | ❌ Not included | ✅ AI-timed |
| Compliance | ✅ Opt-out | ✅ TCPA-compliant |
Contextual Messaging: Right Patient, Right Time, Right Message
Optimal.dev's AI sends messages based on CRM context — not broadcast lists. Each message is triggered by patient-specific data:
Appointment reminders: Sent 24 hours and 2 hours before scheduled appointments. The message includes the provider name, service type, and any prep instructions. This is not a blast — it is individually triggered by each patient's specific appointment.
Reactivation: Patients who have not visited in 6, 12, or 18 months receive escalating reactivation messages. The AI adjusts the tone: 6-month is a gentle reminder, 12-month includes a limited incentive, 18-month is a last-chance outreach. Each message references the patient's last service type for personalization.
Review requests: Sent only to patients the CRM indicates had positive experiences — completed procedures, minimal wait time, no complaints logged. Timing is AI-optimized: review requests sent 2 hours after a routine cleaning, 24 hours after a cosmetic procedure (to see initial results).
Treatment follow-up: Patients with pending treatment plans who have not scheduled receive personalized follow-ups. "Hi Mrs. Johnson, the implant consultation Dr. Chen recommended is still available — would you like to discuss financing options?" This message goes only to the patient with the pending implant plan, not to all 2,000 contacts.
The cost difference is dramatic: contextual messaging at $0.004/message vs. blast messaging at $0.04-$0.20/message — with 5-10x higher conversion rates because every message is relevant.
See also: Twilio alternative and Podium alternative.
