Set up SMS

Available on: Starter, Growth, Pro, Enterprise. This feature is in beta: it is still being built and may change.

With an SMS channel, text messages to your number become tickets, and agents' replies go back as texts. Triggers and automations can also send a text message.

ChaosDesk sends SMS through Twilio, or through any gateway that speaks Twilio's Messaging API. You can use your own Twilio account, or buy a number on ours.

Use your own Twilio account

1. Open Admin Center, Channels, Messaging.
2. Under Connect a channel, choose SMS with your Twilio, then Use Twilio.
3. Enter the Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio console and choose Show numbers.
4. Choose Connect next to the number you want. Numbers without SMS are marked No SMS.

ChaosDesk points that number's incoming messages at itself, so there is no webhook to copy. You pay Twilio directly for the messages; we only count them for your usage page.

Buy a number on our account

1. Under Connect a channel, choose Buy an SMS number, then Buy a number.
2. Enter the two-letter Country and, if you like, digits the number should contain, then Search.
3. Choose Buy next to a number.

You need no Twilio account: the number runs in a Twilio subaccount of your workspace, and the messages are billed on your ChaosDesk invoice at the rate on the pricing page. Texting from a ChaosDesk number needs a paid plan: it is blocked during a trial.

A Twilio-compatible gateway

For a gateway that speaks Twilio's Messaging API, choose Add channel instead, pick SMS (Twilio or a Twilio-compatible gateway), enter the sending number (for example +27…) or a Messaging Service SID (MG…) as the Account id, fill in the credentials and the API base, then set the channel's Webhook URL as the incoming message webhook at the gateway.

How SMS tickets work

• Customers are matched by phone number, so texts from the same number thread into the same ticket.
• SMS has no reply window: you can answer at any time.
• Long replies are cut at 1600 characters, Twilio's limit. Pictures sent as MMS are attached to the ticket.

Send a text from a rule

In a trigger or automation, add the action Text message (SMS), pick the SMS channel and write the Text message (up to 1600 characters, with ticket placeholders). People without a phone number are skipped. See Actions you can use in rules.

Fraud protection

ChaosDesk never texts premium-rate, shared-cost or known toll-fraud number ranges, on any account. A blocked message is marked Not delivered with the reason, so the agent sees why.

A number on our account has three more limits, because its bill is ours:

• Allowed countries: in the channel's settings, list the calling codes this number may text. Empty means only the number's own country.
• 500 message segments per workspace per day, resetting at midnight UTC.
• A brake on automatic texts to numbers that never wrote to you, per hour, which stops SMS pumping bursts.

Related

• Channels
• Actions you can use in rules