Text Messages

Overview

Open Phone → Text Messages. The page has two panels: Conversations on the left and the message thread on the right. You see the conversations for every number you've been given access to, merged into one list.

• Personal inbox — a number granted to one person. Only they see its texts.
• Shared team inbox — a number granted to several people. Everyone on it sees the same conversations and can reply from it.

Who Can Use Text Messages

Grant Numbers (Admins)

Organization admins decide who can read and send from each number.

1. On the Text Messages page, click the gear icon (Change phone number) next to New Message.
2. In the Phone Number window, find Team number access.
3. Choose a number in Number… and a person in Member…, then click Grant.
4. Repeat with other members to turn the number into a shared team inbox.

Grants are listed by number, with shared (N) shown when more than one person has access. Click the × next to a name to revoke access — that person immediately stops seeing the number's conversations and email alerts.

Your Phone Number

The same window has a Your VINSI phone number list for your own number. Pick it and click Save (you'll see Phone number saved). Members can only choose a number they've been granted, and a number can't be saved by two people.

The Inbox

Each conversation in the list shows:

• The other person's phone number and the time of the last message (today's time, Yesterday, or the date).
• A preview of the last message — prefixed with You: if you sent it.
• An unread count badge when there are new incoming texts.
• A small tag with the number the conversation is on (its friendly name, if it has one) — shown only when you have access to more than one number.

If the same person texts two of your numbers, you get two separate conversations. Click a conversation to open it; replies always go out from the number that conversation is on.

Start a Conversation

1. Click New Message.
2. In To:, enter the phone number, e.g. +1 805 555 1234. A 10-digit US number gets +1 added automatically.
3. If you have access to more than one number, choose the sending number in From. Otherwise your number is used automatically.
4. Type in Type a message... and press Enter or click the send button.

Press Shift + Enter for a new line. To reply to an existing conversation, open it and type in the box at the bottom.

Photos, Video & Audio

Click the paperclip (Attach photo or video) to add files. They upload right away and show as thumbnails above the message box — click × on a thumbnail to remove it. You can send attachments with or without text.

Send stays disabled until every upload finishes. Incoming pictures appear in the thread (click one to open it full size), videos play inline, and other files show as an Attachment link with their size.

Delivery Status

While a conversation is open, the page checks for new messages and status changes every 5 seconds.

Unread Messages & Email Alerts

Opening a conversation marks its incoming texts as read. On a shared inbox, read status is shared — once anyone opens the conversation, it's read for everyone on that number.

If an incoming text stays unread for 5 minutes, VINSI emails everyone who has access to that number. The email comes from VINSI.AI Text Messages with the subject New text from (805) 555-1234 (or N new texts from…), previews up to 5 messages, and has an Open Text Messages button. Alerts go out within about 10 minutes of the text arriving. Several texts from the same sender are bundled into one email, and each text is alerted only once.

Writing Messages That Get Delivered

The Phone Number window includes the guidance Write messages that look real — even after 10DLC. Even with a registered number, carriers such as T-Mobile filter texts by content. A message can show ✓✓ delivered and still be silently dropped before it reaches the phone.

Checklist for a deliverable text:

• Say who you are ("Hi from Acme").
• State a clear purpose ("your invoice is ready").
• Use full website addresses — no link shorteners like bit.ly.
• Include opt-out language ("Reply STOP") at least monthly.

SMS History on a Contact

In CRM → Contacts, open a contact and choose the SMS tab to see texts between your organization's numbers and any of the contact's phone numbers, newest first. Each entry shows the message, From or To, the date and time, and the delivery status of sent texts. The tab is read-only — reply from Phone → Text Messages.

SMS Templates & Workflows

Reusable texts live in CRM Admin → SMS Templates (see CRM Configuration). They're used by the Send SMS workflow action — they aren't offered in the Text Messages page.

1. Click New SMS Template.
2. Enter a Template Name (e.g. Appointment Reminder) and choose an Icon.
3. Write the Message. Use {{name}} for the contact's first name, plus {{email}}, {{phone}}, and {{company}}. A counter shows characters and segments (160 characters per segment).
4. Click Create.

Use the arrows to reorder templates, the pencil to edit, and the trash icon to delete. Workflows that used a deleted template fall back to their own message text.

In a workflow, the Send SMS action has these settings:

Limits

Troubleshooting