SMS360 Setup Guide

How to create a mobile number service, activate SMS360, and define your messages

Our SMS360 service product offers the ability to send your customers a post-call SMS whenever they call you from their mobile phone.

You can customise your messages through the Delacon portal, allowing you to define the SMS that your customers receive straight after the call. If your customer replies to that message, it will be converted to an email and sent to an address specified by you. You can continue the conversation by emailing your response, which is then converted to an SMS and sent to the customer.

This guide will take you through a step-by-step process to get started with SMS360.

1. Assigning a mobile number for the SMS messages
2. Activating SMS360 in your chosen account
3. Defining the outgoing messages
4. Continuing the conversation
5. Viewing records of each conversation

Step 1 – Assigning a mobile number for the SMS messages

When you activate SMS360 on a Service/CID which uses a mobile tracking number, that mobile number will automatically be used for sending the SMS messages to your customers.

If you are activating SMS360 on a Service/CID which is using a landline tracking number, including 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers, you will need to create a separate CID with a mobile number to use as a proxy for sending the SMS messages.

If you need to create a new Service/CID, please follow our step-by-step guide to ordering new numbers. If no mobile numbers are available for your location, you can order new mobile numbers by emailing orders@delaconcorp.com.

Step 2 – Activating SMS360 in your chosen account

Step 2.1

Navigate to the Delacon Portal, log in, and navigate to the Services tab.

Step 2.2

Select which Service/CID you want to add SMS360 to by clicking the ‘Edit’ button.

Step 2.3

SMS messages from your customers will be converted into email messages that will be sent to your nominated email address. Add your chosen email address to the box marked ‘Notification Email’.

If you are adding SMS360 to an existing service, you may see that this field is already populated.

It is strongly advised that for any service where SMS360 is activated, you only have one notification email entered in this field. Having multiple email addresses in this field will result in SMS replies from your customers being forwarded to multiple emails, risking the possibility of multiple responses being sent back to the customer. 

Step 2.4

Click on the ‘Enable’ option next to the heading ‘SMS Communication’.

Step 2.5

Click on 'Configure SMS communication here'.

This will open a dialogue box where you should choose your newly created mobile number CID from the drop-down list labelled ‘From Number’. If you are enabling SMS360 in a Service/CID which uses a mobile tracking number, this field will be filled in automatically.

The mobile number associated with the displayed CID will be the ‘from’ number that appears on your customers’ phone, and to which they will reply.

Step 3 – Defining the outgoing messages

It is possible to define separate messages for callers whose calls were answered, were busy, and calls that were missed. The Default Message will be the message sent to all callers, unless you choose to have dedicated messages for each category.

If you choose to have dedicated messages for each category, the Default Message will be the message sent to callers whose calls were answered.

Step 3.1

You must define the content of the Default Message. Enter your chosen text in the dialogue box labelled ‘Default Message’. Each text message is limited to 140 characters, including spaces. You can enter messages that are longer than 140 characters in the Default Message box, but these will be sent as two (or more) messages of up to 140 characters each. Each outgoing SMS message is charged separately, so outgoing messages of more than 140 characters will incur extra charges.

Step 3.2

If you would like to define separate messages for each category of call, click the ‘Advanced Configuration’ button. This will open two additional dialogue boxes. Enter your message for missed calls in the ‘Message for Missed Calls’ box, and your message for busy calls in the ‘Message for Busy Calls’ box. The same conditions apply to these messages regarding message length.

Step 3.3

Once you have completed all of the above steps, click the ‘Confirm’ button. Your changes will be saved and SMS360 will be activated.

Step 4 – Continuing the conversation

Now that SMS360 is activated, your customers will receive an SMS from you whenever they call the number associated with the relevant Service/CID. If your customer replies to that SMS, you will receive an email to your nominated email address. To continue the conversation, reply to the email with your message. The email content will be converted to an SMS message and sent back to your customer, from the number you defined above.

Each outgoing SMS message has a limit of 140 characters – if your response is longer than 140 characters, your message will be split into multiple SMS messages of up to 140 characters each. You will be charged for each outgoing SMS message that you send, but there is no charge for incoming SMS messages from the customer.

Step 5 - Viewing records of each conversation

You can see a record of the conversations relating to each call: 

Step 5.1

Navigate to the Delacon Portal, log in, and navigate to the Reporting tab.

Step 5.2

Select ‘Call Log’.

Define the date range you want to report on, and select the Service/CID which has SMS360 activated from the ‘Select Services’ drop-down menu. Click ‘Submit’.

You can define further filters if you wish, using the Advanced Filter options.

Step 5.3

The Call Log Summary will display all the calls that have been received during the defined period. You can review the SMS messages sent for each call by clicking the ‘SMS Message’ link under the 'Call' column.

This will open a pop-up window displaying all of the messages exchanged between you and the customer.

If you have any further questions about SMS360 please contact your account manager or email support@delaconcorp.com

For other SMS product information, please click here