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Text messaging is a handy communication tool. It's convenient without being disruptive like a phone call. However, it often lacks in the group communication department.

You can send mass texts from most phones. But first you have to enter all the recipients. You'll also be dealing with multiple overlapping replies. It can quickly become a nightmare.

The free service GroupMe was designed to help. It lets you create multiple groups of contacts. For example, you could have a group for family or certain friends.

The service assigns each group a phone number. Sending a text to that number sends it to everyone in the group. You can reply to that number and everyone will see the reply.

Also, the GroupMe app doesn't require that you have a text plan. It sends text messages over your data service. So, it's a good way to save some money on your texts.