Messaging (SMS) · How-to
Text one client
Send a single SMS to a client from the messaging screen, see straight away whether it went, and stop texting a client who asked you to.
Open the Compose tab
Open Messaging (SMS); the “Compose” tab and its “Text a contact” card open first. If you do not see the tab, your role does not allow sending messages.
Choose the client
Under “Recipient”, search for the client and pick them. If they have no phone number, a line under the field says so, and the text cannot go until you add one to their card. If the client unsubscribed from your offers, a line says since when; that does not stop a text you write yourself.
Write the message
Type in “Message”, up to 480 characters. The counter under the box shows the characters used and how many segments a gateway bills the text as: 160 characters fit one segment in plain Latin letters, and with a few accented letters such as é, ü and ñ, but only 70 once the text has a Cyrillic letter or another character outside the SMS alphabet, such as á, ç, a curly quote or an emoji. A text you type to one client counts as one SMS of the Setvos allowance, whatever its segments, and the counter says so.
Send it
Press “Send”. The text goes as an SMS at once, even during quiet hours, because it is you answering someone rather than a machine. It counts against the Setvos allowance unless it goes through your own gateway.
Check it went
A note confirms the message was sent, or says why it was not, for example that the client asked not to be texted. The message and its status are also on the “History” tab.
Common questions
- How do I stop texting a client who asked me to?
On the “Compose” tab, choose the client and turn on “Opt out of messages”. The switch is there only if your role can edit Messaging; without it, a line reads “The client asked not to be texted.” when they are opted out. It stops every text to them, SMS, WhatsApp and Viber, reminders included, and every automatic message on any channel. The switch shows whether the client is opted out now, so turn it off again to opt them back in.
- What does the line saying a client unsubscribed from offers mean?
The client used the link in one of your campaigns or text broadcasts to stop your offers, on the date shown. Campaigns, broadcasts and the automatic messages that are offers now skip them on every channel, while texts you write yourself, confirmations and reminders still reach them. Only the client can take an unsubscribe back; there is no switch for it.
- Can I text a client from the phone?
Yes, in Compose under Messages, if you may send messages. Pick a client; one with no phone cannot be texted. A text counts as one of the allowance, whatever its length. The “Opt out of messages” switch stops every text to that client, reminders included; a client who used a stop link shows the date they unsubscribed from offers. Sending needs a connection.
Read next
Check whether a message went out
Find any message in the log, read its status, and understand why one was skipped or failed.
Text a group of clients at once
Send the same SMS to everyone with a tag or in a saved audience, and see how many were queued and skipped.
Messaging: common questions
Why a message did not arrive, what uses your SMS allowance, what happens when your own gateway fails, and how clients stop your messages.
Work with a client’s card
Read a client’s history, log notes and calls, and keep their details, files and tasks up to date from one screen.
More in Messaging (SMS)
Open in Setvos
Signed in? This article is also in the Help menu of the app.
Still stuck?
Tell us what you were trying to do — we answer in chat, in six languages. Write to us
Move your bookings off paper, WhatsApp and three spreadsheets.
Bring your clients, services and past visits in from a spreadsheet or your old system’s export, with a preview before anything is written — and help in chat, in six languages, whenever you want it. Most studios are live the same day.