Sending and Receiving SMS Messages from your SAS Flex Portal
With the Specialty Answering Service SMS component, you can text callers right from your SAS Flex portal. The SMS feature can accept both SMS and MMS messages. While you can only initiate a text thread with an existing contact in your call log, any inbound texts to your SAS forward number will create a thread.
In this tutorial we'll show you:
How it works
Once someone sends a text to your SAS forward number, you can view and respond to the message in your portal. The SMS message is sent from the SAS number you've attached to the script, and the message is sent to the Caller ID of the caller.
How you are alerted of a new SMS message
Notification of new SMS messages will be displayed on the Messages icon on the left-hand navigation panel.
To view the actual message, click on the SMS Message icon. On the next page, select the message you'd like to respond to. Any unopened messages will be displayed with a green box.
In order for the caller's name to appear in the text thread instead of their number, they'll need to be saved as a Customer. To save a caller as a Customer, click your user icon in the upper right corner and select Customers. From there, you can edit and add customer data accordingly.
Once you click on the message, a chat box will appear that will allow you to respond to the customer accordingly. On the right side of your screen, you'll see Customer History. If the customer has not called your line before, there will be no previous data collected.
How to Send and Receive SMS Messages
To view or respond to any previous text conversation, use the applicable filters in the call log to search for the contact you wish to correspond with. Text threads can be found in any call that shares the same phone number of the person who sent the SMS message.
For example, if Peter Parker has called your business before, and then sends a text, that text thread can be found in any previous call that Peter has made to your business, as long as the same phone number has been used.
Once you select a call, the text thread can be found on the right side of the Call Details page, as shown below. From there, simply type your message and hit [Enter] or click the Send icon. This will deliver your message to the customer.
If your account is medical, you will see the following HIPAA Compliance Alert located above the text thread.
Additionally, you can always find a history of all of your SMS messages under the Messages icon on the left-hand navigation panel.
Troubleshooting SMS issues
Below are some issues you may encounter while using the SMS channel:
- Your SMS message from the Flex portal isn't being received: This can happen if the Caller ID is a blocked number or an international number. If the Caller ID is showing up as blocked, the number can't be texted. This can also happen if you are trying to text a landline.
- You are receiving your own text messages sent from the portal: This can happen if the Caller ID recorded is your own telephone number. If this is the case, please contact your phone provider to see if they can pass the caller's Caller ID instead of your business phone number when calls are forwarded to SAS.
- You have a Toll Free Number: If you are trying to text with a Toll Free Number, messages may not be sent.