The Messaging dashboard: SMS on/off, credits and sends

Text messages get read. Pickup reminders, "your order is on the way", a Sunday nudge before cutoff. The Messaging dashboard is where you see all of it at a glance: whether SMS is on, what it costs, what is scheduled, and how many credits you have left.

Find it under Messaging (SMS & Email) > Messaging Dashboard. It comes with the SMS Message Preferences feature, listed on the Features page.

The SMS switch

SMS Enabled at the top is the master switch for every text your site sends.

  • Turn it off and no SMS goes out, not even delivery notifications. A notice says so across the page, with who turned it off, when, and why.
  • Turn it back on and texts resume. With a Minimum SMS Balance set, SMS turns on only while your balance is above zero.

Staff and up can turn SMS off in an emergency, for example to stop a message that went out wrong. Turning it back on needs the Manager or Owner role.

Each time SMS turns off, your team gets an SMS Turned Off email with the reason: someone turned it off by hand, your credits ran out, or a charge for SMS use did not go through. It goes to the address that gets your contact form messages, set on your Company Info page, and it links back to this dashboard.

Your number and your rate

Your site has a dedicated number, the Send From Number, that is used for all SMS sends. Find it on this page, and copy it with a click to pass on to a customer. Your Rate per message segment is also shown here. A segment is one chunk of a text: a short message is one segment, a long one or one with emoji can be two or three. Buying credits in bulk lowers your rate; the page links to Purchase credits on your Billing page.

Bill After Bulk Send

  • On: a bulk text can go out even when your credits run short. The card on file is billed within 90 minutes of the send finishing. The Minimum SMS Balance does not apply.
  • Off: you buy credits in advance, and a bulk text goes out only when your credits cover it.
  • After a failed charge: when we cannot charge your card for SMS use, SMS turns off and so does Bill After Bulk Send. Check the card on your Billing page, buy more credits than you owe, then turn SMS back on. The failed charge can also raise your Minimum SMS Balance to what you owed. From then on, a bulk send needs credits in advance, and at least that minimum, as described in "Credits for a bulk send" below.

The Manager or Owner role can turn it off. To turn it on, message us.

Credits for a bulk send

With Bill After Bulk Send on, every text goes out and you are billed after. With it off:

  • A bulk send starts only when your balance covers its estimate: the number of recipients times the segments in your message. With a Minimum SMS Balance set, it also needs at least the minimum. If not, the send does not go out, and your team gets an SMS Send Failure email.
  • A single text goes out while your balance is above zero.
  • At zero, no text goes out. With a Minimum SMS Balance set, SMS also turns off (No SMS credits left). Add credits, then turn SMS back on.
  • A scheduled send your balance does not cover shows a warning here and on the message page from 48 hours before, and your team gets an email, up to once a day for each message. Add credits, or open the message and click Skip a week.

The real count can end a little above the estimate, so a running send gets some room: texts keep going past zero until the send has used 110% of its estimate. Past that, with a Minimum SMS Balance set, SMS turns off and the rest of the list gets no text.

Scheduled and active messages

  • Scheduled Messages lists each message with its next send time, and marks Sending Now while one is going out.
  • Active Messages lists the messages that are on.
  • View All opens every message. See How to edit SMS order reminders.

Credits and usage

  • SMS segment credits remaining, green when you are in credit, red when you are below zero.
  • SMS sent this month, with the segment count.
  • Minimum SMS Balance, when your site has one: what a bulk send needs to start.
  • Outstanding Balance, when you owe for use already recorded.

Refresh counts updates the numbers.

Buying credits in bulk

Buying SMS credits in advance lowers the price of every text. Click Buy Credits (or Purchase credits next to your rate) to open your Billing page. Under SMS, each credit pack shows its discount and how much you save; click Buy on the one you want. It is charged to the card on your Eat Fresh account, and the credits appear in your balance here. Credits roll over and do not expire while your account is in good standing. See Your Eat Fresh billing page: plan, invoices, SMS credits and payments.

Replies and logs

  • Canned SMS Messages holds the automatic replies: Welcome, HELP and MENU.
  • Logs opens SMS Logs, also in the side menu under Messaging (SMS & Email). It lists every text sent, with its type and status. Use Search Filters to find a customer, a message or an error.
  • Recent Bulk Sends shows your last three bulk sends: when each ran, how long it took, and how many sent and failed.

Keywords: text credits, turn off texts

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