SMS Setup

SMS lets customers reply in the channel they check fastest while your team keeps the full thread, tasks, and AI history in one dashboard. When AI text responses are on, inbound texts use the same AI conversation engine, knowledge base, settings, and integration context as your phone calls and website chat.

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Before You Start

• SMS must be active for your team.
• You need owner or admin access to submit registration details.
• Use accurate legal business information. Carriers review the submission before your team can send from a registered number.

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Set Up SMS

1. Open Dashboard > Team Settings > Texting Settings.
2. If SMS is not active, choose Activate Add-On and complete the billing flow.
3. Fill out the A2P 10DLC registration form with your legal business name, registration number, contact details, and business address.
4. Submit the registration for carrier review.
5. After approval, choose the default sender number customers will see.
6. Turn on AI Text Responses when your team is ready for automated replies.

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AI Text Responses

When AI text responses are enabled, Answering Agent can automatically reply to new inbound customer texts. The AI uses the same context as your phone agent:

• Business knowledge and location settings
• Team and phone-number AI instructions
• Safe customer-action rules available to the written-message channel
• Prior messages in the same SMS conversation

SMS replies are short, plain text, and written for texting. They do not use markdown, headings, or long lists.

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When The AI Replies

The AI replies when a customer starts or continues an AI-owned SMS conversation and AI text responses are enabled for that number.

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When The AI Does Not Reply

The AI does not reply when the thread is already human-owned. For example, if your team sends a dashboard SMS and the customer replies, Answering Agent stores the reply in the dashboard but does not send an automatic AI response. The AI also pauses for active task threads, opt-outs, human handoff, spam, and conversations that have already started extraction.

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Conversation Extraction

SMS conversations are extracted after 30 minutes of inactivity. Answering Agent then creates dashboard tasks, questions, and follow-up context from the thread, similar to phone calls and website chat. The extraction job runs every 5 minutes, so tasks usually appear shortly after the 30-minute quiet window has passed.

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What Happens Next

While registration is pending, the settings page shows the review status and locks submitted details. When SMS conversations arrive, they appear under Dashboard > Conversations with the SMS filter applied. If your inbox already has SMS conversations, the conversation list becomes the primary screen. Use Setup & Instructions from the filtered inbox when you need to revisit the setup page.

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Troubleshooting

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Registration Was Rejected

Open Texting Settings, review the carrier note, correct the highlighted business information, and resubmit.

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Customers Still See A Shared Number

Confirm A2P 10DLC is approved and that messaging is enabled for the team. Then choose the registered number as the default sender.

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SMS Does Not Appear In Conversations

Check that SMS is active, the sender is approved, and the customer has replied to one of your team numbers.

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