SMS in Detail

Sending a SMS and MMS text message is very similar to sending an email. The only difference is you have fewer fields to enter. You still have the ability to add merge fields to your messages so make sure to use this powerful feature. Let’s look at how SMS communications work.

SMS Replies

Normally text conversations occur between two phones. With Rock, the conversation actually occurs between the phone and the SMS phone number you configure through your SMS provider (e.g., Twilio). We’ve worked hard to provide you with advanced tools to be able to dialogue with your audience. Here’s how it works.

When you send a SMS message, you select a number to send from. This number is configured to have a Response Recipient that will receive all of the responses for the number. When a response is received, the message will be forwarded to the response recipient along with the sender’s name and a response code. The response code consists of the @ symbol followed by a three-digit number (e.g., @347). If further followup is required, the response recipient can use this code to reply back.

If your mind is swimming a bit, that’s OK. Let’s look at an example. In our example Jenny has just sent out a bulk SMS message to several attendees reminding them of the car show that afternoon. Let’s walk through a conversation she has with Alisha.

1. The original bulk SMS message. Notice Jenny has cleverly used merge fields to personalize the text message with each recipient’s name.
2. Alisha then responds to the message.
3. The response goes back to Rock’s SMS phone number. Rock then looks up that number’s response recipient and relays the message to Jenny’s phone. Because the message is no longer directly from Alisha, Rock adds Alisha’s name to the message and also the response code @671.
4. Jenny decides she would like to continue the conversation so she writes a quick message back including the response code. Rock will use this code to match the conversation back to Alisha.
5. Alisha receives Jenny’s response. Note how Rock has removed the response code. To Alisha it appears that she is texting Jenny directly. Notice that both sides of the conversation are texting to Rock’s SMS number (555) 351-5392. Little does Alisha know that Jenny’s real number is 867-5309.