Use the 'Send Message' action to send your contacts an automated message when they reach a particular step in a flow.


In the example below, we're creating a 'Send Message' action that asks students if they have questions about the application or scholarship program. Actions are created each time you drag a connection from the red square at the bottom of each RuleSet.




Attach Media

Click the paperclip icon to attach media to messages sent via Twilio (US & CA only), Facebook Messenger, and Telegram channels.


Note the following:

  • Outgoing media is displayed in-app for Facebook Messenger, Telegram and Twilio channels, but converted to a link for others.
  • Twilio only supports MMS in the US and Canada, and will convert a picture message into an SMS with linked media when sending to MMS-incompatible numbers.
  • Twilio will also automatically resize the images you send to meet your contacts' carriers' requirements. 
  • Image attachments are limited to 500KB while video attachments are limited to 20MB. 



Send to All Number for Each Contact



Check the 'Send to all contact addresses' setting to include each phone number for contacts who have multiple phone numbers attached to their profile.



SMS Character Limit

If a 'Send Message' action exceeds 160 characters, it'll be split by carriers and sent as two messages. There's a character-counter beneath the dialogue box that shows how many characters remain until you've entered 160 characters. In the example below, the message contains exactly 160 characters.  



Note that it's possible to split messages that exceed more than 160 characters by adding an additional action containing any characters that remain after the 160 character limit has been reached. Also note that each SMS channel handles lengthy messages differently, so whereas a single long message might work best for Twilio channels, it may not for others. As always, we encourage you to test and see ;)


UNICODE

Note that certain content will trigger your messages to be sent asUnicode instead of standard GSM7. SMS messages by default are 160 characters, but only if they contain the standard GSM7 alphabet. If you use characters outside this (e.g., the special quotes Word inserts into text), the message gets sent as Unicode, which changes the limit to 57 characters.