Overview: Send SMS workflow module (Console)

Console > Workflows > Workflow modules > Overview: Send SMS workflow module (Console)

This article provides an overview of the Send SMS workflow module in Console.

Overview

The Send SMS workflow module gives you the ability to send an SMS (short message service, also known as a “text message”) to a recipient.

With the Send SMS module, you can send text messages to customers on an interaction or to specific phone numbers.

There are three primary components to the Send SMS module:

To (the phone number you’re sending the message to)
From (the phone number that’s sending the message)
Message (the contents of the message)

You can have a potentially unlimited number of recipients of a text message, but each module can only send from one phone number.

Common use cases

Below are some common use cases for the Send SMS module:

Internal alerts – “Supervisor, the {{queueName}} is currently at capacity.”
Customer satisfaction survey – “Thanks for opting into our short survey. Question 1. Did we resolve your issue? Text back 1 for Yes or 2 for No.”
Confirmations – “Hi {{firstName}}, we just emailed you the proposal. If you don’t initially see it, check your SPAM folder. Call us at 555-555-5555 with any questions.”
Sharing resources – “Here’s a link to more resources – https://catalyst.avaya.cx."

Breakdown

This section contains a breakdown of each configurable option in the Send SMS module.

To

The To menu is where you select the type of destination for the SMS message. There are three options in this menu:

Source Number
Other
Variable

Example of the To field configured for Source Number

The Source Number field pulls the phone number of the customer on the communication that triggered the workflow to run. For example, if a customer calls a phone number and the phone number is configured to trigger the workflow, the source number would be the phone number of the customer.

Example of the To field configured for “Other” numbers. You can add as many numbers as you’d like.

The Other field provides a text box to put in defined phone numbers. You can put an unlimited number of phone numbers in this field.

Example of the To field configured for a variable. You have to click +Add to add additional variables.

The Variable field provides a text box to provide a variable. A variable is text wrapped in curly brackets that represents a piece of information. To learn more about variables, see: Overview: Variable replacement in Workflows.

Note: Each Name field can only contain one variable. To send messages to multiple variable phone numbers, you must click +Add to add additional Name fields.

From

The From menu is where you select the phone number that will send the SMS message.

Message

The Message field is where you define the contents of the message to send to the recipient. The suggested maximum is 140 characters. Attempting to send more than 140 characters may result in the messaging being delivered over multiple SMS messages or failing to deliver entirely.

Wait For Notification

The Wait For Notification toggle defines whether the module should wait to receive a delivery notification from the recipient’s phone carrier.

When Wait For Notification is disabled, the Send SMS module treats all outgoing SMS messages as successful regardless of actual outcome.
When Wait for Notification is enabled, the Send SMS module waits for a predefined amount of time (defined in the Max Time to Wait field). If the Send SMS module doesn’t receive confirmation of delivery within the specified time, it routes down the Failed path.

In this screenshot, Wait For Notification is enabled and the Max Time to Wait (Seconds) is set to 10. This workflow would send the SMS and then wait to receive confirmation of delivery from the recipient’s carrier. If the module doesn’t receive confirmation within 10 seconds, it would route down the Failed path.

Wait For Response

The Wait For Response toggle defines whether the module should wait for the recipient of the text message to respond before proceeding.

Enabled: The Send SMS module waits for a predefined amount of time (defined in the Max Time to Wait field). If the recipient doesn’t send a response within the specified time or if the message is not delivered within the specified time, it routes down the Failed path.
Disabled: The Send SMS module treats all outgoing SMS messages as successful regardless of whether a response is received from the recipient. If Wait for Notification is enabled, then that setting takes priority.

Max Time to Wait (Seconds)

The Max Time to Wait (Seconds) field is a text box used when the Wait For Notification field is enabled or when the Wait For Notification and the Wait For Response fields are enabled. Input the number of seconds you would like the system to wait to receive a delivery notification, or a response.Refer to the descriptions of those fields for more information.