Send & reply to SMS

Similar to TaxDome chats,  SMS  allows you to have real-time messaging with your clients. Utilize it to request missing information, schedule appointments or promote your services effectively.

Send SMS

You can send SMS messages to your contacts if their phone numbers are from the United States or Canada. The phone number must include the country code (e.g., +12565557689). If there is more than one number for the contact, the SMS will be sent to the contact’s primary phone number.

To help your clients instantly identify your firm, you can automatically include your firm’s name in all SMS messages. To do this, set up auto-adding of the firm’s name .

Note

$0.04 for each SMS will be charged from your firm balance.

Send SMS to one contact

SMS can be sent by firm owners, admins or team members assigned to the account or with the View all accounts access rights.

1. Start creating SMS with one of the following ways:

   • Click New at the top and select SMS. 

   

   • Go to Clients > Accounts > Communication > SMS and click New SMS.

   

   • Go to Communications > SMS and click New SMS.

   

2. Compose a message. Here’s a detailed overview of all the fields you need to fill out.

3. Click Send.

Send SMS in bulk

If you need to send the same message to multiple clients, use the bulk messaging feature. It will be quite similar to the regular sending of messages, but you’ll choose your recipients right away and don’t have to fill them out separately in the sidebar. 

1. Navigate to Clients > Accounts in the sidebar menu.

2. Select the checkboxes next to the clients you want to message.

3. Click More actions in the top menu bar.

4. Select Send SMS from the dropdown menu. 

5. In the New SMS sidebar, choose an SMS template or  compose a new text , check if all numbers are in the correct format, remove any contacts you do not wish to include. You’ll be able to send a bulk message only if all the numbers are valid .

6. Click Send.

You can also send bulk SMS the same way you send personal SMS —just select all contacts you need.

When the bulk action is completed, you will receive a notification to your Inbox+ . Here you can:

a) check the total amount of messages, sent and failed;

b) download a CSV file with sent SMS;

c) go to the Integrations page via Go to.

Best practices

Here are several pieces of advice that will help you maximize your SMS communication channel efficiency:

• Be concise. Try to keep your message to a minimum number of characters (like on Twitter). The max length of an SMS message is 160 characters with spaces. 

  Example: Hello! Your invoice is ready. Please review it and pay by the end of the week. Thanks! (= 86 characters).

• Personalize when possible: Include the client’s name or specific details to make the message feel personal. Use shortcodes in SMS templates for personalization.

  Example: Hi [CONTACT_NAME], your report for [CURRENT_MONTH_NAME] is complete. Let me know if you have questions. (the required information will be substituted for the words in square brackets).

• Provide contact options: Let clients know how to reach you if they need help.

  Example: If you have questions, feel free to call or reply to this message.

• Respect timing: Send messages during business hours to avoid bothering clients. Aim to send reminders or updates mid-morning or early afternoon.

Respond to the client’s SMS

To reply to a client’s message, go to the SMS subtab of the Communication tab in their account or to Communications > SMS section. Click on a thread to view it and respond. Then:

1. Type your message in the Text SMS field.

2. Press the paper plane icon in the bottom right corner, or Ctrl/Cmd + Enter to send your reply.

   

Show firm name in SMS

To help your clients instantly identify your firm’s messages and avoid mistaking them for spam, set up auto-adding your firm’s name to every text message you send. To enable this feature:

1. Go to Integrations > SMS.

2. Toggle on the Show firm name in SMS.

Once enabled, all new messages will automatically start with your firm name. You can still remove the shortcode from individual messages if needed—simply delete it from the message text before sending.

Track SMS status

You can track SMS status in Clients > Accounts > Communication > SMS or Communications > SMS sections. There are two types of statuses:

The message was successfully sent.

The message was not send due to te insufficient funds, or other technical issues. What can I do?

Reference: New SMS screen

Below, we explain sections in the New SMS screen where you create a new short message:

a. Link to job. Link the SMS thread to a job so that all the elements of the job (one client task) are linked.

b. Contacts. Select the contact for whom the SMS is intended. If you want to send SMS in bulk , you can select several clients. 

c. Template. Select a template for frequently sent SMS . You can’t select a template when responding to SMS, only when creating one.

d. Content. Compose the SMS content or edit the template if it was selected. To personalize the message, use shortcodes (dynamic data) , such as the recipient’s name, street address, or date. 

Attention

Don’t use link shorteners. Shared or free public URL shorteners (e.g., https://bit.ly/3XYZabc) cannot be used in Twilio. If you insert them into a message, it will not be delivered.

e. Total. Review the amount of SMS you will be charged for.

f. Recipients. View the recipients of your SMS. Here, you can edit the phone number and other contact details or click the cross icon to remove a contact from SMS recipients

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