Reply to incoming messages using Chats

Chat is a quick and easy way to send and reply to texts and have two-way conversations.

Before using Chats, you must ensure you are able to receive incoming messages and are not using a Sender ID (as people cannot reply to you if you send messages from your company name). Learn more about Sender settings.

You can also watch the SMS Chat introduction video that explains how to use this tool.

Send a message using Chats

Select Chats from the main menu.
Click New chat.
Type a number or contact name and click on the chat.
Type your message. Next to the Send button, you will see how many characters and parts your message contains, as well as the cost of the message. (Learn more about SMS length.)
Click Send.

Receiving replies with SMS Chat

When a person either replies or sends a new incoming text message to your dedicated virtual number, you will see a red notification next to the chat and the message preview highlighted in bold. You will also receive a desktop notification and hear a notification sound when a new message reaches your SMS chat.

If incoming SMS alerts are enabled on your account, you will also receive a copy of every incoming message to your email.

SMS Chat left column features

The left column displays the list of chats that are currently open (or closed). It also has a menu with the following actions:

Select chats: This option allows you to enter selection mode to edit multiple chats at once (like marking chats as read/unread, closing/reopening, or deleting them).
Mark all as read: Quickly mark all unread chats as read.
Close all read chats: Close all chats that have been read in one go.
Show only unread chats: You can filter your view to display only the chats you haven’t read yet.
Settings: Access chat settings, including notifications, call options, and messaging preferences.

Please note: Closing a chat does not delete the message history. If you receive a new text message to the closed chat, it will be reopened automatically and appear in your Open chats tab again.

SMS Chat right column features

The right column displays the conversation history of the selected chat.

See the conversation history of the active chat.
Send/schedule new messages to the active chat.

Additional actions are available in the chats menu:

Select messages: This option allows you to enter selection mode to copy, download, or delete multiple messages at once.
Add note: Use this option to add one or several notes to a contact.
Date filter: You can filter messages for a specific time period.
Download history: Request a link to download the conversation history as an Excel file via email.
Print visible conversation: Print the part of the chat that’s currently displayed.
Sender settings: Access the settings for the sender in a specific chat.
Block contact: Block the number to prevent unwanted messages or calls.
Unsubscribe contact: Remove a number from further communications from your company and delete it from all lists.
Delete chat: Use this option to delete all messages in that chat.