OpenPhone vs. SmartChat

OpenPhone and SmartChat are both powerful tools that serve to enhance business communication and engagement. While they share some common features, their approach to facilitating interaction between businesses and customers has distinct differences:

Platform Usage

OpenPhone is a modern business phone system that can be used on various devices, such as computers, smartphones, or tablets. It provides a traditional phone experience with enhanced features for the digital age. On the other hand, SmartChat is a chat-first platform, meeting customers in the space where they’ve shifted their communication preferences – chat and messaging.

Conversation Management

Both OpenPhone and SmartChat centralize all interactions into a single view, streamlining communication. OpenPhone does this through a unified inbox, while SmartChat does it within the chat window, providing a continuous, real-time conversation stream.

Team Collaboration

OpenPhone promotes team collaboration with shared numbers and internal communication threads. SmartChat, however, offers not only collaboration in real-time but also enables transactions directly within the chat window.

Privacy

While OpenPhone operates with traditional phone numbers, SmartChat uses usernames instead, providing an additional layer of privacy for both businesses and consumers by making the exchange of private phone numbers optional.

Consumer-led Tech Transformation

OpenPhone continues to enhance the phone-first approach, whereas SmartChat embraces the consumer-led shift to a chat-first world, evolving with consumer preferences.

Integration with Business Operations

Both platforms offer the ability to integrate with other business tools. OpenPhone can integrate with CRM platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot, while SmartChat, beyond communication, is also a platform for transactions, providing an integrated catalog to showcase products directly in the chat.

Conclusion

OpenPhone is a strong choice if your business requires an enhanced phone system with team collaboration features, while SmartChat is the go-to option if your business aims to ride the chat-first wave, value privacy, and streamline customer interactions and transactions within the same platform.