Bland launches iMessage and SMS agents that answer customers from business websites

Bland has launched agents that turn a business's website into a branded text-message line customers can contact, according to Elvis Saravia and Santiago, who posted about the product on X. Saravia says the agent pulls prices, hours and inventory live from the site and can text back a screenshot of a page it opens in a browser. Santiago says Bland builds the agent from a website URL and plugs into the business's APIs, using a hair salon example in which a customer texts for an open Wednesday afternoon slot and gets an answer.

Bland says its agents can also send Tapbacks, embedded components and accept payments within a chat. Testing Catalog reports that Bland has launched a public demo called Blandie, which creates voice and SMS agents for businesses. It says messages come from a verified sender showing the company's name and logo, over RCS on Android or iMessage on iPhone, and that the agent remembers prior calls to Bland's number. Rohan Paul says Blandie reads photos customers send, such as insurance cards, and that Apple's Business Register gates every verified sender.