If you're looking for an option that sends normal texts and doesn't depend on a separate mobile app installed on each device:
Sendmail is easy to set up, as long as you have an email address that works w/it:
If you're a Gmail user the email>text option in this integration is rock solid. You could just create a separate gmail address for use w/the integration. This integration takes some work to set up, but is very cool, worth it.
I purchased Pushover to try it out, but don't use it as didn't like having another app on my phone for notifications personally, and with family members using email>text service allows me to send texts without asking them to add another app to their phones, which usually generates resistance.
