Seeking a modern solution for strata/owner communications ('net/app/sms based)

[StrandedonEarth]

Oh fer.... why does everything have to be so difficult....?

My wife is on our 88-unit strata. Strata is wanting to shift away from archaic email that nobody* checks regularly anymore. A text-based solution is considered optimal. Ideally not a typical group message where all the numbers (if not names) are shared (privacy concerns) and any replies go to everybody.

It's like I'm so close to the solution I can taste it, yet device/tech yanks it out of reach like Lucy pulls the football from Charlie Brown**.  There's a setting in iPhone that should send group texts individually, although a family test still appears to be a shared group message. I can create a group of contacts, but the messaging app won't find the group to add, although the mail app can find the group. ***

I've found a workaround, disabling iMessage appears to allow sending multiple SMS messages in a BCC fashion. But still no contact group and can't name the message thread, need to pin it to keep the "strata message thread" easy to find. But wasting "pinned contact" space on strata biz? Yuck. And turning iMessage on and off is a hassle, affecting other communication.

We found one commercial solution, Project Broadcast, which is sort of what we're looking for, but not ideal.

What I envision is a platform similar to PB, which provides a "Contact number" (cell/mobile number) to broadcast from. This number would be accessible from an app or webpage, by those with the proper login credentials (strata council members). News (water turned off, work being done, snowplow due, etc) could be broadcast to everyone in the strata via text (iMessage, SMS, MMS, whatever). Questions or issues could be presented to strata council by messaging this number, without every resident getting pinged and seeing the message. Note that the number not be tied to an actual phone for one person to monitor, but all strata council members could be pinged by an app.

Does anyone here know of a solution that doesn't cost an outrageous amount, or feels inspired to build a solution for this sort of situation?

*close enough to be accurate

** I think I need to create a meme for that.

*** I seem to have found some older how-to's (5+ years) for doing this, but I can't seem to make it work, I dunno if the info was out-of-date and things have changed or what the heck.

[kerbiloid]

A messenger with private chats?

[StrandedonEarth]

35 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

A messenger with private chats?

As simple as possible. Text message to phone, primarily for urgent notifications. No app for the strata members to have to get, just whichever council members decide to use it.

[kerbiloid]

We use Telegram, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate in your planetary sector.

Also it automatically includes your phone contacts.

Edited September 18, 2022 by kerbiloid

[Shpaget]

At work we have [email protected] address that forwards the email to everybody in the list (BCC to hide individual addresses).

Perhaps something along those lines?

[StrandedonEarth]

10 hours ago, Shpaget said:

At work we have [email protected] address that forwards the email to everybody in the list (BCC to hide individual addresses).

Perhaps something along those lines?

Something like that, yes, but wanting to use text instead of email. Since not enough people check email often enough. Although there is at least one whose phone is off unless out of the house, so we'd end up using both anyways...

[Shpaget]

1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said:

wanting to use text instead of email

Oh, I parsed "text" as "sequence of written letters as opposed to voice", and not "SMS". In that case, apparently you can send SMS through email:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-send-a-text-from-your-email-account/

So the above would still do the job, it would only be a matter of inputting their phone numbers instead of email address. I'm not in USofA, so can't test.