Two-way texting can be used to send and receive one-off text messages with your customers. If you would like to learn more about setting up automated text messages, please read our article: SMS settings for automated text messages.
Once SMS functionality is turned on for your facility, sending your customer a text is as simple as clicking on the text bubble next to their mobile phone number in their tenant page. Any phone number that is classified as a mobile number and opted in to SMS will have a text bubble icon that, when clicked, will open up an SMS dialog box.
You can opt your customers in to SMS messages by selecting the SMS checkbox next to their mobile number in their tenant profile or during the move-in process.
Once opted in, you can send an SMS (text) to the customer by clicking the text bubble next to the mobile phone number in their tenant profile or through an automated SMS.
Type your message and click Send.
The dialog box will update when the message has been sent.
To send an image, click Attach Images.
Select the file/s from your computer that you would like to send. You can select up to 5 files to send at a time. The following file formats are supported: JPEG, PNG, GIF.
You will see a thumbnail of the image/s you selected. Click the red X next to the thumbnail if you want to remove a file.
If the customer replies after you've closed the dialog box, a pop-up window will appear in the upper right corner of your screen with the new message. Simply click the Reply button to continue the conversation.
The history of your conversations will be recorded in the history tab of the tenant profile as well as the SMS tab in the Communication section of storEDGE.
If an SMS message is received when you no longer have the message dialog box open, a notification will be added to your Task List alerting you to the new message. Clicking on SMS then SMS Received in the Task List will direct you to the SMS tab in the Communications section. The new SMS messages will be highlighted. To respond to the message, click on the phone number under the tenant's name. Clicking on the phone number under the tenant's name will also clear the highlight and clear the notification from the task list.
If an SMS message fails to be delivered, a notification will be added to your Task List alerting you to the failed message. Clicking on SMS then SMS Failed in the Task List will direct you to the SMS tab in the Communications section. The failed SMS messages will be highlighted. To clear the highlight and clear the notification from the task list, click on the phone number under the tenant's name. It is also a good idea to remove the SMS checkmark next to the mobile phone number in the tenant's profile so you no longer attempt to send an SMS to this phone number.
SMS signatures
You have the option to configure SMS signature templates to easily include standardized information in your two-way text messages to tenants. Follow the instructions below to enable SMS signatures:
1. Create an SMS signature template
You can create an SMS signature template in the Corporate area of your software by navigating to Software Settings, clicking SMS under the Documents section and then selecting the Signatures tab.
Click Add new SMS Signature.
Enter the information you would like to be included in your signature such as user name and facility name. Click Save & Exit when you are done creating the template.
2. Enable SMS Signatures
Please note: A template must have been created in order to enable this setting.
Navigate back ton the Settings tab. Click Software Settings and then Settings under the Documents section.
Under Enable SMS Signatures, select the radio button next to Yes to enable the setting.
Select the Signature template from the dropdown menu that you created in the previous step.
Check the box next to Include signature by default if you would like the signature to be included in two-way text messages by default.
If you chose to Include signature by default, you will see that Include signature is automatically selected when sending a text message. Uncheck the box if you would like to send a message without a signature.
Select the facilities you want to apply the signature to by checking the boxes in the facility dropdown section.
Click Save when you are done.
Things to know about SMS (texting)
1. Message Length: Any message greater than 160 characters will be split into multiple messages by the storEDGE message carrier. The multiple messages will be annotated on the receiver's mobile device.
2. Opting Out: Your customers may opt out of receiving SMS (text) messages at any time by texting STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT. Only single word messages will trigger the block. For example, if the customer texts STOP, they will stop receiving messages from you, but replying STOP PLEASE will not stop them from receiving messages from you.
3. Opting Back In: If your customer has previously opted out and would like to receive messages again, the customer needs to text START or YES to your assigned tracked phone number from storEDGE.
4. From Number: The number from which your text messages originate is your tracked phone number assigned to you by storEDGE. If you are a storEDGE marketing website customer, your assigned phone number is the tracked phone number on your marketing website. If you are not a storEDGE marketing website customer, please contact storEDGE sales or support to inquire about a tracked phone number.
6. International SMS: SMS is only supported for US and Canadian mobile numbers.
7. Legal: Please note that text message campaigns may be subject to various legal compliance requirements depending on the nature of your text messaging campaign, the location from where you are sending your text messages, and the location of your recipients. While storEDGE will handle the above-described messages in the way described in this article, you should consult with your legal counsel to ensure that your text messaging campaign conforms with all applicable legal compliance requirements.
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