SMS Readiness
The 3 requirements to send an SMS are:
- A message title,
- Recipients,
- Message text
Act-On validates that these requirements are met. You can see the validation results in the Messages tab under the Send Message and Schedule Send buttons. If any of these are missing, you are not able to send your message, and the buttons are disabled.
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This message has passed validation and is ready to send: |
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This message is missing requirements and is NOT ready to send: |
Send your SMS
When you are ready to send your SMS, choose between sending the message now or scheduling the Send at a later time:
Send Now
To send your SMS now, click Send Message.
If you are sending a message during regular business hours, you will either a confirmation message with a Time Estimate for sending it to all Recipients.
Schedule Send
To schedule your SMS to send at a future time:
- Click Schedule Send.
- Click on Send On.
- Choose the date you want to schedule the SMS.
- Enter the time in 12-hour format.
- Choose AM/PM.
- Click Schedule.
Credits for Scheduled Messages
Scheduling a send will reserve the credits for the send upon scheduling.
After Hours Warning
Currently, business hours are set as 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri. If you schedule a message for after hours, Act-On will alert you with a warning:
When you see this warning, you have two choices:
- Click Schedule Anyway to confirm that you meant to schedule the SMS to send after hours.
- Click Back to Scheduler to go back and change the schedule.
Be Careful! Only alert or critical messages should be sent outside normal hours. Depending on the location of the recipient, it may be against regulations to send marketing messages outside of certain hours.
Canceling a Scheduled SMS
At any time before the scheduled send, you can go to the Scheduled tab of SMS messages, & from there, you can cancel the SMS.
- Canceling an SMS does not delete it but instead moves the message back to Drafts.
- Only SMS messages scheduled at a future time can be canceled. Act-On cannot intercept a pending outbound SMS.
To cancel the message:
- Go to SMS > Messages > Scheduled.
- Check the box next to the SMS you wish to cancel.
- Click Cancel Send:
FAQs & Troubleshooting
Can I change my Business Hours?
At this time, no. As we work on SMS enhancements, you may have the ability to define your business hours in a future release.
Can I cancel an SMS Message that is still processing?
No. When your message is sent using Send Now or it is past the scheduled time, we are unable to stop the message from sending. Our Technical Support team cannot assist with these requests.