The Batch SMS feature allows you to send a message to multiple recipients at once by referencing a Saved Search. Messages can be personalized by using merge fields or templates and can be sent immediately, scheduled for a later date, or set to send at recurring intervals. The Batch SMS feature is available on the Customer, Lead, Prospect, Employee, Contact, Vendor, Partner and Sales Order record types.
Saved Search Recipient List
To send a Batch SMS, the recipient records will need to be selected from a Saved Search. To create a Saved Search that works well with Batch SMS:
- The destination phone field should be included in the search, should not be empty and should match the record type’s preferred phone field setting in the Sinch Preferences record.
- Transaction saved searches for Sales Orders should filter by Type = Sales Orders and Mainline = True
- Customer saved search should include Stage and filter by Customer, Lead or Prospect
Send messages with Batch SMS
To send messages with Batch SMS:
- In the top-navigation bar, hover over the Sinch SMS tab.
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Hover over Batch SMS and then click on New Batch SMS.
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Configure the Batch SMS:
- Saved Search: Add your messaging recipients by clicking the drop-down or type into the search field to select the Saved Search you want to use. This will automatically populate the Recipients List.
- Select all: Once you've selected your Saved Search, you can select individual records from the list to send to, or check the Select all box.
- Use custom phone field: You can opt to use the custom phone field (set in Sinch Preferences) as the destination instead of the default preferred field.
- Header: Create a header for every message you send to this contact e.g. “Hi Jane"
- Footer: Add a footer to every message you send to this contact e.g. signature
- User notes: Click the down-arrow to add any relevant user notes.
- Sender ID: If you want to change the Sender ID, click the down-arrow and select from the drop-down list.
- Templates: Click this to choose a saved template to use in your message
- Compose Message: Compose your message.Write your main message here.
- Highlight special characters (Unicode alert) toggle: Toggle this switch to highlight any Unicode characters in your message to help manage your SMS cost.
- Character counter: Use this counter to track how many characters your message is using.
- Merge Fields: To personalize your message, you can add merge fields from records e.g. name.
- Preview: Displays how your message looks before sending.
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Attach file button: Attach images to send MMS messages by clicking this button and selecting a file. You can upload .jpg, .png or .gif files up to 410kB.
Note: MMS is currently only available when sending to the US and Australia. To send MMS messages, you’ll need to enable the feature on your Sinch MessageMedia account by contacting support.
- Send or Schedule: Click Send (to send now) or Schedule (to schedule the send for another time).
Schedule Batch SMS
Scheduled messages can be set to send as a one-time occurrence or can be set to recur automatically at repeated and predetermined intervals.
Note: Messages will be sent based on the time zone related to the user's profile in NetSuite, not the time zone of the end recipient. Each recurrence of the send will use the results of the saved search at the time scheduled.
To send a scheduled Batch SMS:
- Once you’ve composed your message, click the Schedule button.
- You can select either Scheduled or Recurring.
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Scheduled: Select the Date and Time you want to send the one-time message.
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Recurring: Select the Recurring Interval, Date and Time you want to send the recurring message.
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Disable recurring Batch SMS
A user with the Administrator role can choose to disable a recurring Batch SMS:
- Use the Global Search bar to navigate to the Sinch - Recurring SMS Job record page.
- Toggle the EDIT button on to enable inline editing.
- Locate the Recurring SMS Job you want to disable.
- Under the ACTIVE column, click on the line item and uncheck the box.
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Toggle the EDIT button off to confirm the changes.
- The Recurring SMS Job is now disabled (the ACTIVE option will indicate No).
API credential prioritization
When sending an SMS message, the application will send using API credentials in the following priority:
- Individual credentials
- Global credentials
If a user has individual credentials assigned, messages sent from that user will send using their individual credentials. If not, then the messages will be sent using the global credential.