Messages

Send an SMS or email to one customer, now or later.

A message goes to one customer, by SMS or email. To reach many customers with the same message, send a broadcast instead.

Before you start

SMS need SMS on your account; buy SMS first. Email is free.

Send a message

  1. In Engagement → Messages, select New message.
  2. Choose who it's To, and Send by SMS or email.
  3. Choose who it's From. For SMS, that's one of your sender IDs. For email, also add a subject.
  4. Write your message.
  5. Choose Now, or Later with a day and time, up to a year ahead.
  6. Send.

Track a message

Each message shows its status:

StatusWhat it means
ScheduledWaiting for the time you chose.
SendingOn its way to the network.
SentThe network accepted it.
DeliveredIt reached the customer's phone.
FailedIt couldn't be sent or delivered.
CanceledYou canceled it before it went.

To cancel a scheduled message, open it and select Cancel message. To send any other message again, now, select Resend.

How SMS are counted

One SMS holds 160 characters. A longer text is split into parts of 153 characters, and each part uses one SMS.

A text with a character outside the standard SMS alphabet, such as an emoji or ē, holds 70 characters, or 67 per part. A few standard characters, such as €, [ and ], count as two.

A text can be up to 6 parts. As you write, the message box shows how many parts it takes and how many SMS you have left.

SMS are only used when the network takes your message. If a message never leaves, its SMS are returned.

Analytics

Engagement → Analytics shows how many messages you sent, how many were delivered, and why any failed.