Real-time, bidirectional SMS text messaging is a native component of Slate and doesn’t require integration with any third-party platform. You can:
Engage in conversations with a specific person
Schedule or trigger texts to populations of people
Automate responses for common questions
Assign messages automatically across staff
There is no limit to the number of texts your institution can send nor to the amount that can be included throughout any outreach campaign as long as you have purchased the appropriate amount of Slate Credits to cover the messages.
Configuration and setup
🛑 These steps are required.
You will not be able to send text messages if you don’t complete A2P 10DLC and business profile registration. Slate may still attempt to send text messages and you may still be charged for any attempted messages sent.
To begin using this feature, your institution must:
Purchase Slate Credits: You can purchase credits any time and use them for other communication methods beyond texting, like Slate Voice.
Provision Sender Numbers.
Configure SMS Inbox: Replies to text messages appear on the person record linked to that phone number and in Inbox. Text messages don’t have subjects or other conversation identifiers, so Slate displays all texts received to your numbers irrespective of any specific mailing. Clicking on an incoming message will display a conversation view of all texts to and from that number.
Submit your business profile and verify your A2P 10DLC status using the Compliance Dashboard.
Emoji
Emoji are small icons and images created using Unicode Standard, known to increase engagement throughout text messages, emails, and other digital communications.
To use emoji, visit a site like emojipedia.org, and copy and paste them into your message subject or body. You can also use your device’s built-in emoji input method, if available.
Display: Emoji have a device-specific presentation. The icons will also differ between Android and iPhone platforms.
Character Count: Using an emoji for an SMS message will reduce the available characters for a single message from 160 to 70. When editing the message, Slate displays the font-based representation of the emoji, and in the preview mode, a color representation using the open-source icon set from X/Twitter.
Unsubscribe / opt-out support
Slate supports standard unsubscribe messages. Sending an unsubscribe message will opt-out the mobile number from receiving future messages sent from all mobile numbers used by your institution. Opting out of text messaging won’t opt the recipient out of any other communications (for example, emails, postal mail), prevent users from sending one-off text messages, nor will it set the "Opt Out" tag.
A recipient simply needs to reply to a message with one of the following commands:
Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Unsubscribes the phone number. |
| Re-subscribes the phone number. The recipient must explicitly opt back in to text messaging by sending a "START" text, and an organization can’t act on behalf of the recipient in this regard. |
| Returns instructions about other available commands |
Delivery considerations
Different countries impose different restrictions on incoming message content. If you encounter a case where a message is marked as delivered, but the intended recipient hasn't received the message, consider looking at Twilio's SMS Guidelines for the recipient's country to better understand what may have happened.
📝 There is currently no capability for detecting text message "opens" on any platform.
Countries and regions where SMS messaging isn’t allowed
Regulatory, compliance, or sanctions requirements restrict SMS messaging in certain countries and regions. The list of countries is subject to change at any time. The following countries are currently or have previously been restricted:
Cuba
Iran
North Korea
Syria
Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions
Attempting to send messages to these destinations will result in errors and message failures.
Querying on SMS opt-outs
To query which records might have opted out, the SMS Opt Out filter is available on the Person Base that enables you to identify records with a phone number that’s currently opted-out of receiving text messages.