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Create reusable SMS templates

Write the message bodies that call menus and assistants text to callers, choose which number they send from, and retire them safely.

An SMS template is a saved message body that the phone system can text to a caller — your address and hours, a booking link, a follow-up after an unanswered call. You write it once here, then a call menu option or an assistant sends it, so the wording stays consistent and changing it in one place changes it everywhere.

Open Settings, then SMS Templates.

Prerequisites

  • The intended phone system selected in the dashboard header. Templates belong to one phone system.
  • A role that can change phone-system settings. Anyone with access can read the list; creating, editing, and deleting are administrator actions.
  • An active phone number in the system if you want a template to send from a specific number.

Create a template

  1. Select Add SMS Template.
  2. Enter a Template Name of up to 200 characters. This is the label pickers show, so name it for the situation — Hours & Directions, not Template 3.
  3. Choose Send From:
    • System default leaves the sending number to the caller’s context. A call menu texts from the number the caller dialed, and an assistant falls back to the call’s own number or the phone system’s default.
    • Choosing a specific active number pins every send to that number, which is what you want when replies should land on one line.
  4. Write the Message Body, up to 320 characters. The counter below the box shows characters remaining and how many SMS segments the message will take, and turns amber and then red as you approach the limit. Fewer segments cost less and arrive more reliably, so trim where you can.
  5. Insert variables where the message should say something call-specific — select a badge above the box and it is inserted at the cursor.
  6. Leave Active on. Turning it off keeps the template but hides it from the pickers.
  7. Select Create.

Variables you can insert

Variable Fills in
{{callerNumber}} The number the caller is calling from
{{calledNumber}} The number the caller dialed
{{businessName}} The spoken name, or the system name if unset
{{businessPhone}} The business contact phone number
{{businessAddress}} The street address, including any unit
{{businessCity}} The city
{{businessState}} The state or province
{{businessZip}} The postal code

The business variables read from the phone system’s business address and contact, so fill those in before you lean on them in a message. A variable with nothing behind it is replaced with an empty string rather than left as {{...}} in the text, so an incomplete address shows up as a gap in the message instead of an obvious error.

Curly quotes, en and em dashes, and ellipses are converted to their plain equivalents when the template is saved. That is deliberate: those characters would otherwise force a message into a character set that halves how much text fits in a segment.

Use a template

A template does nothing on its own — something has to send it:

  • A call menu option. Give a menu key or button a Send SMS action and choose the template. Sending a text can also precede the option’s final action, so a caller can be texted a link and then transferred in the same step.
  • An assistant. A Call Assistant can text the caller during a call, using the template as the message body.

Edit, deactivate, or delete

  • Edit from the row, or by selecting the template name. Changes apply to every future send.
  • Deactivate by turning Active off. The template stays in the list, marked Inactive, and disappears from the pickers — the safe way to retire wording you might want back.
  • Delete permanently, from the row’s delete action. Deletion is refused while a call menu button or an assistant tool still points at the template; the message names which kind of reference is in the way. Repoint or remove that first, then delete.

Expected result

The list shows each template with its name, body, sending number or System default, and active state. Templates you left active appear in the Send SMS picker when you configure a call menu, and callers receive the message with the variables filled in.

Troubleshooting

  • Create or Save is disabled: The name or the body is empty, or the body is over 320 characters. The counter shows how far over you are.
  • Saving fails with a permission error: Reading the list needs only access to the phone system, but creating and editing need a role that can change phone-system settings.
  • Send From offers no numbers: The phone system has no active number yet. Add one, or leave the template on System default.
  • A number you previously chose shows as Inactive: The number is no longer active but the template still points at it. Choose another number or switch to System default.
  • The template is missing from a call menu picker: It is set to Inactive, or it belongs to a different phone system.
  • Delete is refused: A call menu button or an assistant tool still uses the template. Change that reference first.
  • A message arrives with {{businessAddress}} empty: The business address on System Details is incomplete.