text message multiple contact in one group contact?

Is there an option to set up a group for text messaging and add multiple contacts to that group? If so, when texting a single message will everyone in that group receive the message without having to individually select each member from the group?

We use iphones for our work and when an event occurs we want to send one message very quickly to multiple people. I have only found the option of selecting each individual contact with the + sign, which is very time consuming. Is there a way to create a group and when that group is selected for the text message everyone in the group will receive the text?

I was able to create a group in icloud.com and attach all the contacts I needed to that group and it did sync to the iphone but it still requires me to select each contact in the group if I want to send a text message.

I'm new to iphone 5c and need some help. thanks