{"id":296,"date":"2026-04-08T22:44:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/?p=296"},"modified":"2026-04-10T18:49:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:49:47","slug":"distribution-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/distribution-lists\/","title":{"rendered":"Distribution Lists: Send a Single Email to a Group of Phone Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sometimes you just need to set up an <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/email-to-text\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"16\">email-to-text<\/a> alert to yourself. That&#8217;s simple in <strong>text.email<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what happens <strong>when you need to an text alert to go out to several people<\/strong>? And especially, what happens when that list of people is always changing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s what text.email&#8217;s <strong>distribution lists<\/strong> are here for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, let&#8217;s say you need the entire on-call team to get alerts when there&#8217;s a server outage. Now you can set up a list address (something like <code>oncall@acme.text.email<\/code>) and everyone on the list will get a text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how to set it up&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Distribution Lists: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#setup\">How to Set Up a Distribution List in text.email<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#ready\">Ready to Get Started with Email-to-Text Distribution Lists?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#whylists\">Why Distribution Lists for Email-to-Text Are Even More Valuable Than You Might Think<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#waystouse\">Some Ways You Can Use Distribution Lists<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#today\">Start Using Distribution Lists Today<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"setup\">How to Set Up a Distribution List in text.email<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how to set up a distribution list so you can text multiple people with a single email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#1. Go to the Distribution Lists settings in text.email<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can access the <strong>Distribution Lists<\/strong> settings from your account menu in the top right.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"564\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified-1024x564.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified-1024x564.png 1024w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified-768x423.png 768w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified-1536x846.png 1536w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-menu-tinified-2048x1128.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll see any current distribution lists you have set up, and you can also create a new list on this screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#2. Create a new distribution list<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on the <strong>Create new<\/strong> button in the top right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-createnew-tinified.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-createnew-tinified-1024x320.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-298\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On the next page, give your distribution list a name (something descriptive, so it&#8217;s easy for you to remember what the list is later). Also <strong>give it an alias<\/strong> \u2014 that&#8217;s what you&#8217;ll use as part of the distribution list email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, I&#8217;ll set up the distribution list here for all of the on-call technicians on our team.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-createlist-tinified.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-createlist-tinified-1024x437.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-299\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Then click <strong>Create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#3. Add members to your distribution list<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll now see your new list on the main Distribution Lists screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on the <strong>Manage members<\/strong> button to add members (or, in the future, to manage who&#8217;s on the list).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-managemembers-tinified.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-managemembers-tinified-1024x480.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-300\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Now you can add members to your list one at a time with the <strong>Add phone<\/strong> button, or bulk import your list with the <strong>Bulk paste<\/strong> option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here I&#8217;ll add a single phone number with <strong>Add phone<\/strong>&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-addsinglephone-tinified.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-addsinglephone-tinified-1024x379.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-301\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>And here I&#8217;ll bulk import several numbers. I just pasted them in, though you can import a CSV as well.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified-1024x533.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified-1024x533.png 1024w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified-768x400.png 768w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified-1536x800.png 1536w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-bulkadd-tinified-2048x1067.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#4. Copy your distribution list address <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your list is all set. You can copy the address and drop it any place you&#8217;re setting up your group alerts.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"698\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2-1024x698.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2-1024x698.png 1024w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2-768x523.png 768w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2-1536x1046.png 1536w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/distlist-emaillist-tinified-2-2048x1395.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>And if and when you need to change who&#8217;s on your distribution list, <strong>head back to this page to manage your members<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"ready\">Ready to Get Started with Email-to-Text Distribution Lists?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our goal is really simple at text.email: We want to <strong>make it as easy as possible for you to turn emails into texts<\/strong> without APIs, software integrations, <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/a2p-10dlc\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"34\">regulatory paperwork<\/a>, or any of the other things other texting solutions require.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Distribution lists are the latest feature we&#8217;ve added to <strong>make it as quick and painless as possible for you to transform critical alerts into can&#8217;t-miss texts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Distribution lists are included on all text.email plans<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can sign up for an account at <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\">text.email<\/a> \u2014 and you&#8217;ll be able to start dropping in your email-to-text address (and email-to-text distribution list addresses) in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"whylists\">Why Distribution Lists for Email-to-Text Are Even More Valuable Than You Might Think<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>text.email&#8217;s drop-in, no-code email-to-text process is easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But most of the systems where people <em>use<\/em> text.email are NOT so easy. Whether it&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/scada-text-alerts\/\">SCADA controller<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/text-alerts-for-sysadmins\/\">Prometheus system<\/a>, or any of the other hundreds of monitors and platforms \u2014 it&#8217;s never quite <em>that<\/em> easy to change alert recipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The <\/strong>&#8220;<strong>recipient<\/strong>&#8220;<strong> field on those systems is usually buried three menus deep<\/strong>. And you pretty much always need to look up how to find all three layers of those menus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the people who need the alerts change constantly. Techs rotate on and off call. Contractors get added. Somebody quits. A new facilities manager wants to be in the loop for compressor lockouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every one of those personnel changes used to mean editing things at the source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Distribution lists separate the two.<\/strong> The controller points at one address, forever (in this case, the distribution list). The people list is where the churn happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why we built distribution lists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We built distribution lists just a few months into text.email because we kept seeing users manually CC&#8217;ing four or five <code>@text.email<\/code> addresses on the same alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That works, but it&#8217;s fragile. Miss one in the config and somebody stops getting paged. And, of course, who needs to be included is always changing (and, as I just talked about, making those changes is far more cumbersome than it looks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more we thought about it, the more it felt like the feature that makes text.email fit how alerting actually works in the real world. <strong>The source of the alert is the hardest thing to change. The list of people who care about it is the thing that changes most often.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"waystouse\">Some Ways You Can Use Distribution Lists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are just a few of the scenarios that make sense for distribution lists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>On-call rotations<\/strong> where the list changes every week or two<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Facility teams<\/strong> where the lead tech, the backup tech, and an off-site manager all need the same compressor alarm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>After-hours contractor coverage<\/strong> where you want your refrigeration vendor&#8217;s on-call number on the list without giving them access to your controller<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Home and family alerts<\/strong> (or even just an easier way to coordinate family plans).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Multi-site ops with a shared response team<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Escalation coverage without a full, expensive paging tool like <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/pagerduty-alternatives\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"32\">PagerDuty<\/a><\/strong>. For instance, primary + secondary + supervisor all notified at once instead of setting up actual escalation logic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Compliance\/audit observers<\/strong> \u2014 a QA manager or compliance officer who needs the same alert the operator gets for logging purposes, even if they&#8217;re not responding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"today\">Start Using Distribution Lists Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re already on a paid plan, <strong>distribution lists are live in text.email now.<\/strong> Choose Distribution Lists, create a new list, and add your numbers. Then update your systems to point at the new address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re not on <a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\">text.email<\/a> yet and this is the feature that makes it click for you, welcome aboard! You can <strong>sign up right here on the website<\/strong> (or, if you want to see it in action first, send a test email to <code>yournumber@text.email<\/code> to see how delivery works).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to set up distribution lists so a single email can go out as a text to multiple people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-email-to-sms","category-text-email-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":357,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions\/357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}