You can respond to inbound text messages, automate alerts, or send proactive messages using your Zendesk phone number. For example, you can send an automated text response when a customer submits a request or alert an agent via text when a ticket needs attention (for examples, see Text recipes).
Texts automatically create tickets so you can apply all the advantages of automated workflows, centralized reporting and full customer history to text support. There’s no coding or additional software required, so you and your team can get started in minutes.
Text message support
- Text messages can be up to the standard 160 character limitation in length.
If you type a longer message, it will be split into multiple messages, each 153 characters in length. For example, if you type a message of 161 characters, it will be split into two messages; one of 153 characters, and one of 8 characters.
- You can send up to 250 simultaneous text messages from the same number. If you exceed this, messages will no longer be sent, and you'll see a warning that the message was rejected by the provider.
- Text does not support short codes or alphanumeric sender ID
- You can receive inbound MMS messages on US local numbers, but Text does not currently support outbound MMS messages.
To learn about the supported countries, and prices for Text, see Zendesk Text number availability and pricing.
This article contains the following topics:
Setting up text
Use the following topics to help you set up text:
Choosing a text number
You set up a new text number in Admin Center under Messaging and social > Text.
If you want to add text to an existing Zendesk phone number, see Enabling a Zendesk phone number for text.
For detailed steps, see Adding and managing Text numbers.
Sending an inbound text
Now you can send a test text from a mobile phone to your text number. You’ll see that your text will automatically create a ticket. Public replies in the ticket will send a text back to you.
The following example show what a text ticket looks like and the texts the customer sees on their phone.
Note: To take advantage of user identification for inbound texts, set the mobile phone number you use for testing as the “direct line” for an end-user profile. Learn more here.
Automating an outbound text
Now that you’ve received and responded to an inbound text, take it to the next level and set up an automated outbound text using a trigger.
The following example shows a trigger that responds to text messages with a standard message and the text the customer sees on their phone.
.png)
For more help creating Text triggers, see Automating SMS support with Text triggers.
29 comments
Ronit Gieske
Two questions regarding SMS Texts:
1. We noticed that there is no option to reply back via email if customer initiates query via SMS Text channel. Is there a workaround? Or does it require that we create a new email ticket if we want to email customer instead
2. We have agent signature and universal signature enabled and these show up in our text replies when we reply back via text on an existing email ticket. This behavior is not the case when responding to a SMS ticket that was initiated/originated from the customer only if we reply back using a “Proactive Text” trigger which includes a Notify by text Action. Is there a way to have signatures removed so texts actually look like texts and not emails that have been texted?
1
Arianne Batiles
Hi 1263169421170
Based on this article, you can receive inbound MMS messages on US and CA numbers. Zendesk Text doesn't support outbound MMS messages. For more information, see the article: Getting started with Text.
As a workaround, you can send outbound SMS messages that contain a URL guiding recipients to an internet-hosted image.
0
Chris Smith
Trying to find instruction on including a pdf file in an SMS response to an end user (customer). Anyone have any information on this?
0
Destiny
Thank you for reaching out with your question about making SMS numbers clickable on mobile devices relating to the Zendesk platform.
Currently, Zendesk does not offer a built-in feature specifically for making SMS numbers clickable in the same way that telephone links work. However, there might be some creative workarounds that could be implemented depending on the context in which you want the SMS number to be clickable.
One common method is to use standard HTML anchor tags with the
hrefattribute set tosms:followed by the phone number. This would look something like<a href="sms:+1234567890">Send a Message</a>. This can create a clickable link that, when tapped on a mobile device, would open the default messaging app with the number pre-filled.Please note that this approach's effectiveness can vary based on the device, browser, or email client being used, and it may not always function as intended within all aspects of the Zendesk interface.
I encourage you to share this question with the Zendesk community or other support forums, as other users may have found innovative solutions and could offer alternative suggestions. In the meantime, if the clickable SMS functionality is critical for your operations, you might need to explore external tools or integrations that provide this feature more robustly.
If you find a solution that works well for you, or if you have further questions, please feel free to share your findings or reach out again.
0
Chris Smith
Is there a trick to making the SMS number clickable on mobile devices?
0
Brian Chapman
Why doesnt the sms screen have a send button like the chat screen does?
0
Shannon Kertis
I do see you submitted a Support request regarding this issue so please be on the lookout for my reply so we can work more closely together getting this set up for you. Talk to you soon!
0
Danielle
Are there better visuals of the agent experience using Text in Agent Workspace? To my understanding we cannot test Text with a Talk Trial. In that case, it would be really helpful to have a video walkthrough of the workflow of an agent using Text in Zendesk. Can you please help to point me in the right direction? My searches have not been successful. Thank you
0
Philani Hlatshwayo
The link provided in your response was more than useful. Thanks, 1263082121069!
0
Destiny
Could you provide a bit more clarity on what you mean by "outbound bulk SMS as a system"? If you're referring to the capability to send mass outbound text messages, I must inform you that Zendesk currently does not support this feature. For further information, you can check out this support article: Can I use Zendesk to send mass text messages?.
However, if you meant something else, please don't hesitate to elaborate further so we can provide the most relevant recommendations. Thank you!
0
Sign in to leave a comment.