Sending Messages – mTXT

There are a few different methods that can be used to send messages in the Web Portal depending on your needs. In this article, we'll look at:

How to use the Quick Message function
How to construct messages using the "New Message" function with the phone preview
How to send new messages from the inbox
How to perform a bulk-send to a list of numbers (also known as a mail-merge)
How to save draft messages
How to forward sent messages to new recipients
Important things to remember when sending messages

Quick Message

Just like sending a message from your own handset, Quick Message is an easy way to send ad hoc messages fast!

You will find a Quick Message link in the header bar of every page so it's always one click away.

It contains two simple fields:

To - type a mobile number, contact name or group name – or combination
Compose - type your message. The character count and credits are calculated as you type

Once you’re finished, simply hit Send now and your message will be processed! Simple!

Helpful Tips:

You can send to multiple contacts and/or groups with QuickMessage
You can add a simple opt-out message by clicking the “Opt-out message” button
Check the bottom of the message box to see how many characters and messages are being utilised for your send

"New Message" with preview

In the left-hand menu, click "Messaging" and then "New Message":

Next, enter the recipient number(s), contact name(s) or group name(s) in the recipient field:

Now, compose your message in the "Message Content" field. You will see that as you type, the message preview on the right will update in real-time:

When you are happy with your message, click "Send"

Helpful Tips:

You can send to multiple contacts and/or groups
You can add a simple opt-out message by clicking the “Opt-out message” button
If you are using personalisation, the preview will show you the content in line with the fields you are using (e.g., if you are sending to a saved contact who's first name, is John and you type "Hi #Firstname# ..." the preview will show "Hi John")

Sending from the Inbox

The inbox now allows you to send a message to a recipient, without needing to receive an inbound message from them first.

To create a new message simply click the “New” button at the top of the conversation list:

A new conversation will open, and you can then type a phone number of a contact name into the “To” field above the conversation thread:

Once you've added your recipient, type your message or select a saved template from the Templates drop-down menu and click Send.

Note that if you are sending to a new number as in the example above, the contact panel on the right gives you the opportunity to save this number as a new contact. You can enter all of the contact information (including their subscription status) and click Save. This will add the new contact to your contacts list.

Sending to a List of Numbers

To send the same message content to a large list of numbers, navigate to Messaging > New Message:

There are a few different ways you can add multiple numbers:

Paste Numbers

If you have a list of numbers in a spreadsheet, you can copy them directly from the spreadsheet and paste them into the “To” field:

2. Add Contacts / Groups

Click on “Browse Contacts” or “Browse Contact Groups” next to the “To” field
Tick the box next to each contact or group you want to add
You can search for specific contacts using the search box

3. Import from file

Click on “Import from file” above the “To” field
Either drag & Drop your contact list into the upload box, or click “browse” to search for your file (Note – you will need to ensure each contact number has the leading “Zero” at the start – you can do this by formatting the spreadsheet column as “Text”)

You will also need to indicate the column in the spreadsheet which contains the contact numbers
Scroll down to “Match Columns” and choose the appropriate column header from the dropdown list:

Next, compose your message in the “Message Content” field. You can also add an opt-out message by clicking the “Opt-out message” button in the top right of the dialogue box.

To see how the message will display on a recipient handset, you can click Send test. This allows you to send the composed message to yourself and/or a colleague without losing any of your data so you can continue with the send after vetting the message.
Once you are happy, simply click Send now

Draft Messages

It is possible to create a draft of a message that can be saved and reviewed before sending. The "Save as draft" button will appear as an action on the "New Message" screen. To view all draft messages, click on "Drafts" in the Messaging menu:

In the Draft Messages list, you will have the ability to edit or delete draft messages by clicking on the three dots to the right of each message:

Forwarding Sent Messages

You can forward sent messages without having to copy the content and paste it into a new message.

This is done by going to Messages, then Sent, then clicking the three dots alongside the message you wish to forward to a new recipient and clicking "Forward":

This will then open a new message screen with the content field pre-populated with the message being forwarded.

Important things to remember

If your messages are not sending correctly, check these important things to see if there are any errors with your broadcast:

If you are entering numbers in International format, you must include the "+" at the start of the prefix
- E.g. for sending to Australian numbers, "614xxxxxxxx" will not work - but "+614xxxxxx" will work
If you are sending to numbers in the local country (e.g. sending to Australian numbers only, from Australia) then you do not need to add the international prefix
- If you do add the international code, the send should still work; however, as mentioned above, you will need to ensure it is added correctly
If you are copying and pasting numbers into the recipient field, the web portal will automatically add the international prefix of whatever country you have set as your location, if this prefix is not already present in the number
- E.g. your location is set as New Zealand, and you are copying numbers from an Excel spreadsheet where the numbers are stored as "21xxxxxx" (i.e. the leading zero is missing due to the cell format), then the web portal will automatically paste these numbers into the recipient field as "+6421xxxxxx"
- If your location is set as the UK, then these numbers would be automatically pasted with "+44" as the international prefix etc.