How to configure OpenCRM to send SMS Text Messages
already has an inbuilt email function but with email having a fairly low open and read rate it is not always the bets method of contact. When a message is urgent too, you want to make sure it gets there, and quickly. Sending an SMS from OpenCRM is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of OpenCRM and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.
Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.
We’ve tested this process with a number of OpenCRM users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of OpenCRM, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from OpenCRM.
Step 1 – Open an SMS account
First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.
Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code OpenCRM and we’ll add 50 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).
Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from
Go in to your Message Box account and click on Account Details, then click on the Account Details Tab.
See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click Active next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.
Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Save button to save those changes.
Step 3 – Updating a contact record in OpenCRM to have an Email-to-SMS address
You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.
The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.
Choose a test contact in OpenCRM and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.
Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in OpenCRM
Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.
Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.
There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).
For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in OpenCRM. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“
Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.
You’ve now sent your first SMS message from OpenCRM!
FAQ’s
Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.
How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.
I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to Account Settings then click on the Account Details Tab. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Save.
I’d like to be able to send from other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.