SurroHub vs. OpenPhone (Quo) and personal phones for agency texting
Surrogate applicants text. So do surrogates in the middle of a journey, usually at night and usually with a photo. Many agencies handle that on coordinators' personal phones; the more organised ones move to a business phone app such as OpenPhone, now called Quo. Here is how both compare with texting inside the agency platform.
Short answer: Personal phones are free and immediate but leave every conversation on one person's device. A business phone app such as Quo (formerly OpenPhone) fixes that with shared numbers, a team inbox, and calls as well as texts, and it is a good product. What it cannot do is put the conversation on the surrogate's profile next to her application, checklist and contracts, or send the next text because a journey step started. SurroHub gives your agency its own texting number, keeps every text and email with a person in one thread on their profile, translates threads into 38 languages, and lets Surro answer new inquiries around the clock.
The problem with personal phones
- The history leaves with the coordinator. When someone is on holiday, off sick or leaves the agency, months of conversation with a surrogate go with them.
- Nobody else can see it. The case manager does not know the surrogate texted the intake coordinator about a missed medication.
- Medical photos on a personal camera roll. Ultrasound images, insurance cards and records end up in a personal phone's photo library and cloud backup.
- Boundaries blur. Coordinators get texts at 11pm on the number they use for their own family.
What OpenPhone (Quo) does well
Quo gives a team business numbers that work in an app on every device, with shared inboxes, calling, voicemail transcription, contact notes and integrations with popular CRMs. It solves the personal-phone problem cleanly, and for an agency that also needs a full business phone system for calls, it is a strong choice.
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) list price as of October 2026, from their pricing page: From $15 per user/month. Prices change often; check before you buy. SurroHub is quoted per agency.
Where a phone app still leaves gaps
The thread is not on the record
The conversation is in the phone app; the application, documents and checklist are elsewhere. A coordinator still switches between them to answer "has she sent her records?".
Texts that should send themselves
"Your intake call is tomorrow at 10", "Please upload your delivery records", "Your contract is ready to sign": these texts depend on where each person is in their journey, and a phone app does not know.
Language
Many surrogates and international intended parents are more comfortable in a language other than English, and copying messages into a translator and back is slow and error-prone.
How texting works in SurroHub
- Your agency's own number, set up in the area code your business runs from, for compliant two-way texting branded as you.
- One thread per person on their profile, holding texts and emails together, visible to whoever on your team should see it.
- Texts from the journey. Workflow steps send texts on their own, and appointments, medications and deadlines get text reminders the day before and the day of.
- Consent respected. If someone has not agreed to texts, automated outreach texts skip them.
- Translated in place. Read any thread in any of 38 languages in one click; you write in yours, she reads in hers.
- Surro answers new inquiries 24/7 in your tone, using what you teach it about your agency, with guardrails on what it can discuss, and hands off to your team whenever you prefer. It also suggests a to-do, booking, note or reply from incoming messages.
| SurroHub | Quo (OpenPhone) | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Texting inside each surrogacy journey | Business phone for any team |
| Where the thread lives | On the surrogate, intended parent or egg donor profile | In the phone app, with CRM integrations |
| Automatic texts | From workflow steps and calendar reminders | Auto-replies and integrations |
| Languages | Threads translated into 38 languages in place | Not its focus |
| AI | Surro answers new inquiries 24/7, with your guardrails | AI features for calls and messages |
| Voice calls | Not a phone system; keep your phone line for calls | Calls, voicemail and transcription |
When to keep a phone app
SurroHub is not a phone system for voice calls. If your agency relies on a shared business line for calls, keep it. Move the texting that belongs to a journey into SurroHub, so every message about a surrogate, intended parent or egg donor sits with the rest of her record.
This page is part of a series. See the whole surrogacy agency tech stack: every tool agencies juggle, what each one costs, and what replaces it.
What you get with SurroHub
- Four profiles, one place. Surrogates, intended parents, egg donors and matches each get a complete profile: stage and sub-steps, every answer, document and message.
- Workflows that run themselves. Tick a step and the next one starts, messages go out on their own, and late steps are flagged before anyone has to ask.
- Profile sharing. Intended parents browse the surrogates and egg donors you share in their portal; surrogates browse families on their phone.
- Profiles that build themselves. Surro, the built-in AI assistant, lays out a polished profile from what is on file, ready to share as a link or PDF.
- Contracts and e-signatures, messaging in 38 languages, scheduling, and branded portals for surrogates, intended parents and egg donors.
- Live in about a week. Send your spreadsheets, files and forms in any format; we import them and set you up.
See SurroHub for yourself
The surrogacy and egg donor agency platform: one place for surrogates, intended parents, egg donors and matches, with branded portals, workflows, e-sign contracts and a built-in AI assistant.
Frequently asked questions
Should surrogacy coordinators text from personal phones?
It is common but risky: the conversation history stays on one person's device, nobody else on the team can see it, and medical photos end up in personal photo libraries. A shared agency number with threads on each profile avoids all three.
What number does SurroHub text from?
SurroHub sets your agency up with its own dedicated texting number in the area code your business runs from, used for two-way texts, updates and reminders.
Can SurroHub replace OpenPhone or Quo?
For texting with applicants, surrogates, intended parents and egg donors, yes. SurroHub is not a phone system for voice calls, so agencies that need a business line for calls usually keep one.
Can the AI reply to texts automatically?
Yes, if you want it to. Surro answers new inquiries using what you teach it about your agency, with guardrails on what it can and cannot discuss, and hands off to your team whenever you prefer.