Using the SMS functionality

Owned by Support Team
Last updated: Nov 15, 2024 by Artemiy Firsov
4 min read

This guide will help you understand how to use the SMS functionality available within the system. The SMS feature is accessible from two locations in the system:

  • Side Bar

  • Contact/Account Page:

    • Click to send (available from contact or account panels)

    • Timeline tab

Prerequisites:

  • The admin has added Confirmed Numbers to the Lookups section

Side Bar

  • On the right-hand side, the user can access the Communication Panel (fig.1).

  • Once the SMS functionality is set up, a new SMS tab (fig.1) will appear in this panel.

Fig.1 SMS tab on the Communication Panel

image-20240925-170649.png

  • The SMS tab allows users to view the SMS message history for the given user. Messages can be filtered (fig.2) by the following process states:

    • All

    • Read

    • Unread

    • Answered

FIg.2 Process States Filter

image-20240925-170755.png

  • To send a new SMS:

    • Click the Send Message (fig.3) button in the upper-right corner of the panel.

Fig.3 Send Message

  • A modal window will appear. Inside, select the number from which the SMS will be sent, the number to which the SMS will be sent, and enter the text of the message.

  • For each existing message, the following options (fig.4) are available in the highlighted dropdown:

    • Reply – Allows the user to reply to the SMS.

    • Mark as unread /read– Marks the message as unread or read.

Fig.4 Message options

  • New SMS Notifications:
    Show new SMS (fig.5) button will appear at the top of the panel, where "n" represents the number of new messages. This feature helps users avoid missing new SMS messages in the general history.

Fig.5 New SMS Notification

Contact/Account Page:

1. Click to Send SMS

  • In the Contacts section (fig.6), users can select a contact to send an SMS. This will open the contact card.

Fig.6 Contacts

  • If the Mobile phone (or any other phone) field contains a number linked to the contact (fig.7), hovering over this field will reveal a contextual menu in the form of three dots.

Fig.7 Contact card

  • Click the three dots to open the menu, and you will see the Send SMS option.

  • After selecting Send SMS, a modal window (fig.8) will appear. Inside the window:

    • In the From field, choose the number from which the SMS will be sent. The available numbers in the drop-down list correspond to the ones added as 'Confirmed Numbers’ by the administrator in the Lookups section.
      If the number is missing, contact your administrator or Velvetel support for assistance.

    • The To field will automatically populate with the contact's number.

    • In the Text field, type the message you wish to send.

    • Click Send to dispatch the message.

Fig.8 New message modal

  • Do not use SMS option (fig.9): Inside the contact card, there is an option called Do not use SMS. Enabling this option will deactivate the Send SMS action in the contextual menu for this contact. However, it's important to note that enabling this option does not prohibit sending SMS to the contact—it only deactivates the corresponding button within the contact card's context menu.

Fig.9 Do not use SMS option

  • The same SMS functionality is also available within client account cards.

2. Timeline Tab

  • Inside the account or contact card, users can view the Timeline tab (fig.10).

Fig.10 Timeline tab

  • This tab displays the history of SMS messages exchanged with the specific contact or account.