Text notifications (Enterprise)¶

Text notifications send your customers short, one-way texts about their appointments: a confirmation when a visit is booked, a reminder the day before, and a heads-up when the technician sets off. They go out in addition to the emails your customers already get, from your own Twilio account, so you pay Twilio directly for the texts you send.

Customers can't reply to these texts. Every text ends with a phone number they can call instead, and a customer can reply STOP at any time to stop getting them.

Before you start¶

You need:

• An Enterprise plan (or an Enterprise trial).
• A Twilio account with a phone number you text from, inside a Twilio Messaging Service.
• A2P 10DLC registration for that Messaging Service. US carriers require every business that texts customers from a regular 10-digit number to register a brand and a campaign with Twilio. Twilio reviews it; approval can take a few days, so start early.
• Or a verified toll-free number. If you text from a toll-free number (800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877 or 888) instead, Twilio needs a toll-free verification rather than an A2P campaign. See Sending from a toll-free number.
• Your company time zone, set in Company info. Texts only go out during sensible hours in your time zone, so you can't connect without one.
• A number customers can call: your company phone, or a different number you enter on the Text Notifications tab.

The Owner and the Administrator set up and change text notifications on the Company Settings page.

Connect your Twilio account¶

1. Go to Company Settings and open the Text Notifications tab.
2. In the Twilio Console, find your Account SID and Auth Token, create an API key (Account → API keys), and copy the Messaging Service SID of the service that holds your sending number.
3. Paste them into Connect your Twilio account:
   • Account SID, Messaging Service SID, API Key SID and API Key Secret: used to send your texts.
   • Auth Token: used only to confirm that delivery reports really come from Twilio.
   • Sender name: up to 20 characters. It starts every text, for example "Acme Heating:".
4. In the Twilio Console, turn on Advanced Opt-Out for that Messaging Service and set its HELP reply to your business name and phone number. Then tick I turned on Advanced Opt-Out on this Messaging Service in Twilio. You can't connect without it.
5. Select Connect Twilio. FSM Navigator checks the details with Twilio and sets up delivery reports for you; there's nothing to paste back into Twilio. The Connection card then shows your Sending number, as Twilio reports it.

Saved secrets are never shown again. To change them later, use Replace credentials. The old Auth Token keeps working for delivery reports for 24 hours, so nothing is lost while you switch.

Connection status¶

The Connection card shows where things stand:

The Sender registration line on the card shows what Twilio reported, for example "A2P campaign verified" or "Toll-free number verified by Twilio".

Sending from a toll-free number¶

If your Messaging Service has no A2P campaign, FSM Navigator asks Twilio whether its toll-free number is verified each time it checks the connection. When Twilio says it's approved, the status turns to Connected on its own. While Twilio is still reviewing it, texts wait.

Sometimes Twilio can't report the verification for your account, for example when someone else's Twilio account submitted it for you. The card then shows No A2P campaign or toll-free verification found and a Confirm toll-free verification button. Use it only when your Twilio Console shows the toll-free number as verified:

1. Select Confirm toll-free verification.
2. Read the message and select Confirm and start sending.

The status changes to Connected and texts start going out. Carriers block texts from toll-free numbers that aren't verified, so don't confirm early. If Twilio later reports the verification itself, its answer is used instead. Connecting a different Twilio account clears the confirmation. | Credentials rejected | Twilio no longer accepts the saved details. Connect again with current ones. | | Twilio not reachable | Twilio couldn't be reached. Re-check in a few minutes. | | Paused | Texts are paused (see below). | | Disconnected | Twilio isn't connected. |

The number customers should call¶

Customers can't reply, so every text tells them which number to call. By default it's your company phone. To use a different number just for texts, enter it under Number customers should call and select Save contact number. US and Canadian numbers can be entered as (555) 123-4567; include the country code for anywhere else.

If there's no usable number, texts pause until you add one.

Which texts are sent¶

Each message has its own switch under Which texts to send. The wording is fixed, so every text stays short and compliant. You choose only the sender name and the contact number.

Two more texts don't have their own switch:

• Sign-up confirmation: one text to a number right after someone records that customer's agreement, so the customer knows they're signed up and how to stop.
• Reply when a customer texts back (its own switch, on by default): if a customer replies with anything other than STOP, START or HELP, they get one answer a day saying the number doesn't take replies, with your contact number.

Texts never include links. For invoices, quotes and surveys, the email carries the link and the text points to it.

Here's what a confirmation looks like:

Acme Heating: appointment confirmed for Tue Oct 7, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM. Questions? Call (555) 123-4567. Reply STOP to opt out.

And the text someone gets after booking online:

Acme Heating: got your request for Tue Oct 7. Msg freq varies. Msg&data rates may apply. Help: (555) 123-4567 or reply HELP. STOP to opt out.

Bulk-created and imported Jobs don't send texts.

Sending hours and limits¶

• Sending hours: texts go out only between 8 AM and 9 PM in your company time zone. A text triggered outside those hours waits until 8 AM. A text that would be out of date by then, such as an on-the-way text, is dropped instead.
• Limits per phone number: at most 3 texts in 24 hours and 8 texts in 7 days. Anything over the limit isn't sent. This keeps a busy week from turning into a stream of texts.
• One text per event: the same confirmation or reminder is never sent twice for the same visit time.

Customer consent¶

A customer only gets texts after they agree to them. Consent belongs to a phone number, so one agreement covers every visit for that number.

There are three ways to record it:

• On the customer's page. Owners, Managers and Dispatchers can open the customer in the web app and use the Text notifications card. Read the agreement shown on the card to the customer, and record it only when they say yes. You can record consent for the customer's main number and for each location contact.
• In the Customer Portal. The customer can turn texts on or off for their own number on their Profile page.
• On your online booking page. The visitor can tick the box to get text updates. Their agreement is saved as soon as they send the request, and they get the Online booking received text. Approving the request later doesn't send it again. A 10-digit number typed without the country code is read as a US or Canadian number.

Review requests¶

Appointment texts and review requests are agreed to separately. On the customer's Text notifications card and in the Customer Portal there's a second, optional box, Also send review requests, which starts unticked. The Feedback survey text goes only to numbers where that box was ticked; every other text needs only the appointment agreement.

Stopping and restarting texts¶

• A customer can reply STOP (or UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, REVOKE or OPTOUT), or a clear request such as "stop texting me" or "please stop". No more texts go to that number.
• Replying START turns texts back on. Replying HELP gets your help message from Twilio.
• Your team can turn texts off for a number from the customer's Text notifications card.
• Once a customer has said stop, only the customer can turn texts back on, by replying START, or from the Customer Portal if they turned them off there. Your team can't re-add the number.
• If a number fails twice in a row because it can't receive texts, FSM Navigator stops trying it.

Pausing and resuming¶

Turn on Pause text notifications to stop all texts at once, for example during a quiet period or while you sort out your Twilio account, and turn it off again to resume. While paused, nothing is sent and nothing is saved up to send later.

Texts also pause on their own when your plan drops below Enterprise, an Enterprise trial ends, your Twilio details stop working, your campaign isn't approved yet, or there's no contact number.

When texts resume after a longer pause, each customer with visits in the next 7 days gets one summary text with their next visit, rather than every text they missed. Reminders and on-the-way texts that are no longer relevant aren't sent late.

To stop permanently, select Disconnect Twilio. Texts stop at once and the saved credentials are deleted. You can connect again later.

Recent texts¶

The Recent texts list on the Text Notifications tab shows the latest texts and what happened to each one: waiting for sending hours, sent, delivered, not delivered, or not sent (with the reason). Phone numbers and message text aren't shown there.

Frequently asked questions¶

Related¶

• Customer Portal: where customers manage their own text settings
• Customer details: where your team records consent
• Online booking: the booking form's text checkbox
• Roles and permissions: who can change text settings