Getting started with Text

Zendesk Talk for voice enables you to respond to inbound text messages, automate alerts, or send proactive messages. 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 in Zendesk Support 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
• Next steps

Setting up text

Use the following topics to help you set up Text for a 30 day trial:

• Choosing a text number
• Sending an inbound text
• Automating an outbound 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 Talk number, see Enabling a Talk number for Text.

For detailed steps, see Adding and managing Text numbers.

Text is a feature of Zendesk Talk, so selecting a number for Text will initiate your free trial of Zendesk Talk if you don't already have it. Trials include one free phone number and a $1 of usage credit.

My team has a Talk Team, Professional, or Enterprise account.

If you have a Talk Team, Professional, or Enterprise account, you can choose a separate phone number to try Text -- it'll be yours, free, for 30 days (you may be able to use the same number for Text that you use for Talk. Contact our customer service team for more information).

If you are currently trialing Talk Team, Professional, or Enterprise, your free $1 credit will apply to Text. If you are a current customer with Talk Team, Professional, or Enterprise, any Text usage fees will be applied to your account.

My team has a Talk Lite account.

If you are on our Talk Lite plan, you will need to upgrade to our Talk Team, Professional, or Enterprise plan to use Text. To try Text before upgrading your Talk plan, contact our customer service team.

My team uses another SMS provider -- can I use that number for Text?

If you decide to purchase Text (included on the Talk Team, Professional, or Enterprise plans), you can port over an existing phone number from another provider to use for Text. Learn more here, or contact our customer service team for more information.

Sending an inbound text

Now that you’ve started your free Text trial, send a test text from a mobile phone to your new Text trial number. You’ll see that your text will automatically create a ticket in your Zendesk Support account. 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.

For more help creating Text triggers, see Automating SMS support with Text triggers.

Note: Because SMS messages have a 160 character limit, when you send a URL as part of a message, our provider Twilio automatically creates a shortened version of it. While this URL shortening generally works well, it might occasionally cause a problem with message delivery. If you notice your messages are not being delivered, let us know.

Next steps

When you’ve reached the end of your free 30 day trial or use your $1 free credit, add Team, Professional, or Enterprise to your Zendesk subscription to continue using Text.