San Francisco-based Hearsay Systems Inc. has launched a new application that allows financial advisors to involve their support staff in communicating with clients via text messages from the phonenumber assigned to the advisor’s business.

The social-media management company’s new “texting console” gives an advisor’s team the ability to schedule appointments, send out meeting reminders and communicate with clients on other administrative matters — all on behalf of the advisor.

The tool builds on the company’s messaging platform, Hearsay Messages, which archives advisors’ digital communications with clients to satisfy requirements set by their respective regulatory bodies.

In a recent survey of more than 2,500 advisors in Canada and the U.S. that Hearsay conducted, 52% of survey participants indicated that they engage with clients regularly over text messages to discuss business.

That potentially opens the door to a host of compliance issues, Hearsay’s announcement says. Thus, this new tool is designed to share the load of staying on top of client communications with the rest of an advisor’s team while adhering to the firm’s compliance policy.

“Not only are we empowering advisors to engage with clients and prospects via text messages compliantly, but we are providing huge efficiency gains to them without compromising visibility or ease of use,” says Mark Gilbert, chief technology officer with Hearsay, in a statement.

This new feature is accessible through Hearsay Messages’ mobile application — available on both Android and iPhone devices — as well as through the texting console’s desktop or laptop platform.

In addition, users of this new application can view a collection of their exchanges over text displayed in real time.

Hearsay’s new texting console is now available to those who have subscribed to the messaging service developed for the financial services sector.

Photo copyright: Hearsay Systems