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Text Messaging Overview

The system can send and receive text messages with your contacts.

To turn texting on, you connect your own account with a texting provider.

The system works with three providers: Textmagic, ClickSend and Twilio.

You sign up with the provider you choose, and they bill you directly for your texts.

Textmagic and ClickSend are the simplest to set up, and Twilio takes a bit more technical work.

In the United States, your provider will also ask you to register your business before you can send texts.

Registration usually takes a few days, and the provider's support team can walk you through it.

Once your provider account is ready, come back here and click your provider.

Copy your account details from your provider into these boxes.

Each provider names them a little differently, so match them to what you see in your provider account.

Enter your texting phone number with a plus sign and the country code, like the example shown.

Then click Save Provider Configuration.

Once you're connected, you can text a contact right from their record.

A number that's opted in for texting shows in green with a chat bubble.

Click it, type your message, and click Send.

Your texts and their replies show right here on the contact's record.

You can also send texts automatically by adding a text step to a workflow.

Go to Automation, then Workflows, and open a workflow.

Pick Send Text Message from the list of steps.

Type your message, or start from a saved text template.

To personalize it, pick Contact First Name from Available Fields.

That adds a mail merge field, and the system fills in each contact's own first name when the text goes out.

Then click Save.

To text a small group, like everyone working on one job, go to Group Actions and click Text Blast.

It's meant for small groups, not marketing to your whole list.

To send a marketing text to all your contacts, use your texting provider's own website.

Only text people who've agreed to get texts from you, and follow the texting rules where you do business.