How to set up missed-call text back

Which phone setups can send a missed-call text

Whether you can text missed callers automatically depends on where your business number lives. Find your setup below.

• A cell phone used as the business line. iPhone and Android phones let you decline a ringing call and send a text you pick from a short list (Apple, Google). You still have to tap it while the phone rings, so a call you didn't see gets nothing. The iPhone's Driving Focus auto-reply answers messages, so it doesn't cover calls either (Apple).
• A business number on a cloud phone system. Many of these include a basic missed-call auto-reply or can connect to a service that sends one. Check that texting is turned on for the number customers already call.
• A landline, or a number whose carrier doesn't send texts. Many texting providers can add texting to an existing number while calls stay with your current carrier. The system also needs to know a call was missed, which usually means forwarding unanswered calls to it.
• A Google Voice number. Google's acceptable use policy says not to automate Google Voice to send messages automatically (Google Voice), so automated text back would mean moving the number to a provider that allows it.

Send the text from the number the customer called. A text from a number they don't recognize looks like spam, and their reply may go somewhere nobody is watching.

How to set up missed-call text back, step by step

1. 1

   Confirm the number can text

   Check with your phone provider that your main business number can send and receive texts from software. If it can't, add texting to the number or move it to a provider that supports it.

2. 2

   Let the system see missed calls

   If your calls ring on a separate line, set it to forward unanswered calls to the phone system. Ask your carrier how many rings happen before voicemail, so the text goes out after a real miss.

3. 3

   Register the number for business texting

   Your texting provider submits the A2P 10DLC registration for your business. Start it early, because review can take weeks.

4. 4

   Write the texts

   Write one version for business hours and one for after hours, both with opt-out wording. The templates below are a starting point.

5. 5

   Decide who sees replies

   Pick the person or shared inbox that gets notified when a caller texts back, and how quickly they should answer.

6. 6

   Test it

   Call your business number from another phone and let it ring out. Check that the text arrives from your business number, reply to it, then text STOP and confirm nothing more comes.

Registering the number for business texting (A2P 10DLC)

US carriers require businesses that text from ordinary 10-digit numbers to register. The Campaign Registry, the hub carriers use for this, says it applies to any business texting customers on these numbers, including businesses that send individual messages that aren't marketing (The Campaign Registry). A missed-call text counts.

Registration has two parts. The brand is your business, identified by its legal details. The campaign is what you text about. A missed-call text and the conversation after it usually fit a customer care campaign, and your provider will help you pick the right type.

You don't register with The Campaign Registry yourself. Your texting provider submits it for you. Campaign review is done by the companies between your provider and the carriers, and The Campaign Registry says it can take 1 to 4 weeks (The Campaign Registry). Complete, accurate business details speed it up.

What the first text should say

The first text names your business, says you missed the call and asks one question the caller can answer in a few words. Leave out offers and discounts, which can make it a promotional message. Replace the parts in brackets with your own details.

Send only one text per missed call, even if the same person calls three times in ten minutes. Skip numbers that have opted out and your own team's phones.

Permission and opt-outs

CTIA, the wireless industry association, publishes guidelines for business texting. Its guidelines treat a quick reply to someone who texted you first as conversational, needing no extra permission. They also say adding a call to action such as a coupon code may make a message promotional, which calls for written consent (CTIA). A caller has phoned you rather than texted you, so keep the first text a plain reply to their call.

CTIA's guidelines also set out how opt-outs work (CTIA).

• Say in the message how to opt out, using the word STOP.
• Act on everyday wording too, such as stop, end, cancel, quit, unsubscribe or “please opt me out,” in any capitalization.
• Send one confirmation that the person has opted out, then nothing more.
• Keep a record of every opt-out so the number is never texted again.

These are carrier guidelines. Texts that go beyond replying to callers, such as promotions, can also fall under federal and state telemarketing laws, so check those before you send them.

What happens after the caller replies

A missed-call text only helps if someone answers the reply. A caller who writes back “Do you do weekend work?” and hears nothing for a day has been missed twice. Settle these before you turn it on.

• Where replies land. One inbox that everyone answering customers can see, rather than one person's phone.
• Who gets notified, and how fast they answer during business hours.
• Which questions can be answered by text, such as hours, service area or how to book, and what those answers are.
• What counts as urgent and gets a phone call instead of a text.
• How the conversation is saved, so whoever calls back can read what the customer already said.
• When the automation stops. Once a person replies, no more automatic texts go to that caller.

If the caller never replies, one follow-up the next business day is enough. More than that starts to feel like marketing.

When it's worth having it built

A phone system's built-in auto-reply sends one fixed text. That's enough when one person answers every reply quickly and callers mostly want a call back.

It falls short when you want the text to change with your hours, answer common questions from your own information, offer real open times on your calendar, and pass the conversation to the right person with everything already said. It also falls short when your number lives with a carrier the auto-reply can't work with.

That's what we build, on the number your customers already call. If more of your callers would rather talk than text, an AI receptionist can answer the call itself.

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