Sending Text Messages to Target Group’s Contacts
The function to send text messages can be separately activated in the CRM. Text messages are always sent to target groups and the contacts in them – the phone numbers of the accounts therefore can not be used as recipients.
When the recipients have been created as a target group (for more information on creating target groups, see the guide Target Groups), you can send the group text messages on the target group’s Conditions tab by clicking the Send SMS messages button in the Actions section (see the picture below).
The button opens up a pop-up for creating the messages (see the picture below). The pop-up also shows the current message quota which is the number of messages still available. In addition to the message itself, you must determine the following information:
- Sender – shows as the sender of the text message. The operator number is used by default, but after a separate activation, it is also possible to select for example the name of the company to be shown as the sender.
- Puhelinnumerokenttä – determines the contact’s phone number field which is used as the number of the recipient. NOTE that the contacts’ phone numbers must contain the country code (+358 for Finnish numbers etc.).
One text message may contain up to 160 characters. The text message sent from the CRM can contain up to 480 characters (3 messages), but the text messages are always billed and the quota is reduced by the 160 characters/1 message principle. The message field starts to automatically delete the new characters to stop the writing if the 480 character limit is exceeded. With longer messages, it is recommended to use e.g. emails.
It is also possible to use tags in the text messages to make the message feel more personal and to provide information about the contact or the contact’s company. The needed tag can be selected from the picklist just above the message field and it is added to the message with the Add tag button.
When the message and the information concerning it are ready, the text messages are sent with the Submit button. The system will show a confirmation window about the number of messages and the current quota (see the picture below). The Yes button will send the messages. There can be a few minutes delay in the sending.
