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Client text messages can contain investment instructions, account questions, and other correspondence your firm needs to retain.
Your archiving system should make those records accessible for supervisory reviews, regulatory examinations, and internal investigations.
Your firm also needs complete conversation histories, retrievable attachments, and continued access when advisors leave.
The choice of provider, therefore, deserves careful evaluation.
Some platforms combine business texting with archiving, while others require external integrations that add subscription costs and administrative work.
Below, we compare five tools for archiving text messages for financial advisors, zeroing in on their retention capabilities, communication features, and pricing to inform your purchasing decision and establish what each service provides for your firm.
Table of Contents
1. Text messaging archiving tools for financial advisors
2. Message archiving tools for finance: frequently asked questions (FAQs)
3. Get up to 10 years of text archiving
Text messaging archiving tools for financial advisors
The options below differ in capabilities, cost, and how they archive text messages. In the sections below, we break that down.
iPlum
iPlum's mobile compliance solution gives financial advisors a dedicated business number to call and text from their existing smartphones.
With iPlum, your firm can assign individual lines and manage accounts centrally, separating client communication from personal phone activity.
The solution combines business communication with long-term archiving. It also automatically archives incoming and outgoing iPlum texts, with up to 10 years of retention. Your firm, therefore, gets the texting service and its archive through the same provider.
For record integrity, iPlum stores data in non-rewriteable, non-erasable WORM storage. Its compliance portal also provides search and export capabilities, so authorized reviewers can retrieve records for examinations or internal reviews.
Best archiving, iPlum also allows advisors to use web calling and texting, scheduled messages, templates, and voicemail transcription.
The feature-rich design and powerful technology make iPlum an option for firms looking to replace personal-number texting with an approved business line.
Features
- Automatic text archiving: Preserves incoming and outgoing business texts in the iPlum portal, with the Enterprise plan providing up to 10 years of retention.
- WORM storage: Protects archived records against alteration or deletion, preserving the integrity of retained communications.
- Administrative oversight: Allows your firm to manage user accounts, enforce password policies, and retrieve audit logs.
- Call recording: Automatically records incoming and outgoing calls, with customizable announcements that notify participants about the recording.
- Business messaging: Offers scheduled texts, reusable templates, group messaging, broadcast messaging, and text-to-email functionality for daily client correspondence.
- Mobile and web access: Lets advisors make calls and send messages through iOS and Android apps or their web browser.
- Phone system functions: Provides a phone tree, extensions, business hours, automatic text replies, voicemail transcription, and a host of other business features.
Pros
- Up to a decade-long retention
- Automatic text preservation
- Tamper-resistant archive storage
- Business number included
- Mobile and web access
Cons
- Enterprise plan required for decade-retention
Dialpad
While Dialpad can provide long-term text archiving, it needs an external service. It uses the Nuclei integration to allow you to export messages to an external archive.
The setup not only adds separate charges but also configuration requirements to your phone subscription.
Furthermore, the integration requires Dialpad Pro or Enterprise, along with account permissions for exporting message content. Your firm must therefore arrange the archive connection before using it to preserve client texts.
For existing Dialpad customers, the integration can make sense. However, firms purchasing a new system should assess the combined subscription and archiving costs.
Features
- Business calling and texting: Advisors contact clients through a business number.
- Automatic SMS export: Nuclei transfers messages to an external archival destination.
- Call recording export: Transfers recorded conversations for preservation, along with texts.
Pros
- Business calling and texting
- Automated SMS export
- Recording export available
Cons
- External archive required
- Pro or Enterprise required
- Additional integration setup
Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone uses external services such as MessageWatcher for long-term text archiving. MessageWatcher collects Zoom SMS, voicemail, and call logs and stores them in a searchable archive.
Your firm, therefore, needs a separate archiving subscription in addition to its Zoom Phone plan. Furthermore, MessageWatcher applies a minimum monthly charge, which increases the cost for individual advisors and smaller firms.
For firms already using Zoom Phone, adding MessageWatcher can make sense. However, a new buyer should compare the combined cost against a service that bundles texting and long-term retention.
Features
- Business communication: Unlimited US and Canada calling, plus domestic SMS/MMS.
- External archiving: MessageWatcher preserves texts, voicemail, and call logs.
- Record retrieval: Authorized users can search and export archived messages.
Pros
- Unlimited regional calling
- Domestic SMS and MMS
- Searchable external archive
Cons
- Separate archiving subscription
- Minimum monthly archive charge
- Additional vendor administration
Movius MultiLine
Movius MultiLine records business texts via a separate number on an advisor’s smartphone and transfers the communication data to an external archive for long-term retention.
Your firm can use its existing archival system to review MultiLine records alongside other correspondence.
Movius can be a good tool for archiving text messages for firms that already have an established compliance archive. For smaller practices starting from scratch, purchasing and configuring separate services adds administrative work.
Features
- Separate business number: Advisors call and text through a work number on their existing device.
- Archive integration: Transfers business communication records to an external archival system.
- Messaging policies: Offers client opt-in and message redaction capabilities.
- Call recording: Records business calls for transfer and preservation.
Pros
- Separate business number
- Existing archive integration
- Client opt-in options
Cons
- External archive required
- Additional configuration
- Quote-based overall pricing
RingCentral
RingCentral offers business calling and texting, but firms seeking long-term compliance archiving need an additional service. The Akazio integration collects SMS and other communication records, then stores them in a searchable cloud archive.
Your firm must therefore purchase and configure the archive alongside its RingCentral subscription. Although existing RingCentral customers can extend their phone system through this integration, the additional platform charge increases the cost for smaller practices.
Furthermore, your firm should confirm the archive’s retention period and user charges before signing an agreement.
Features
- Business calling and texting: Advisors communicate with clients through their RingCentral number.
- SMS archiving: Akazio collects and stores business text messages.
- Archive search: Reviewers can locate retained communication for examinations and internal reviews.
Pros
- Business calling and texting
- Searchable external archive
- Multiple communication formats
Cons
- Separate archive subscription
- Additional platform charges
- Integration setup required
Message archiving tools for finance: frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between text archiving and a backup?
A text archive preserves business messages for later retrieval. However, a backup primarily restores data after loss. Financial firms should assess retention settings, record integrity, search functions, and export capabilities.
Can advisors archive business texts from personal smartphones?
Yes, advisors can use a business texting application on personal smartphones. However, the archive must collect messages sent through that service. Conversations through personal numbers require a separate collection arrangement.
How long can these tools retain text messages?
The iPlum Enterprise plan provides up to ten years of text archiving. However, other providers set retention through external archives. Confirm the period, storage limits, and deletion settings before choosing a service.
What happens to archived texts when an advisor leaves?
Before an advisor leaves, confirm who owns the account and can access archived messages. Then transfer administrative permissions and verify retention terms before canceling the line or deleting their account.
What additional archiving costs should financial firms consider?
Some providers charge separately for archiving, connectors, storage, and monitored users. Furthermore, monthly minimums can increase costs for smaller firms. Request a combined quotation based on your required retention period.
Do text archives preserve attachments and group conversations?
Do not assume an archive preserves every attachment. Ask the provider to demonstrate how to retrieve images, documents, and group conversations. Then verify timestamps, sender details, and exported files remain readable.
Can a texting service use your firm's existing archive?
Yes, services such as Movius and Dialpad offer integrations that transfer communication records to external archives. However, confirm compatibility, setup charges, export permissions, and retention settings before approving the connection.
Get up to 10 years of text archiving
Your firm should be able to produce a client conversation long after the advisor sends the last message. Choosing a service that combines business texting with long-term retention gives you an established process for preserving that correspondence.
With iPlum, you can give advisors a business line and automatically archive their incoming and outgoing texts for up to ten years.
Meanwhile, authorized reviewers can search and export retained records when a complaint, examination, or internal review requires them.
You also avoid purchasing a separate archive subscription for those conversations. Put your firm's mobile communication policy into practice with a service that advisors can use daily.
Sign up for iPlum's mobile compliance solution and bring your client texts into your firm's records program.
