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CloudMessage User Guide

The document provides a comprehensive guide on business text messaging features, including managing contacts, conversations, canned responses, and drip campaigns. It outlines functionalities such as setting away messages, archiving conversations, and managing opt-in statuses for contacts. Additionally, it covers the processes for creating and editing contact lists, sending MMS, and utilizing auto-responder loops to enhance communication efficiency.

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el435649
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
4 views

CloudMessage User Guide

The document provides a comprehensive guide on business text messaging features, including managing contacts, conversations, canned responses, and drip campaigns. It outlines functionalities such as setting away messages, archiving conversations, and managing opt-in statuses for contacts. Additionally, it covers the processes for creating and editing contact lists, sending MMS, and utilizing auto-responder loops to enhance communication efficiency.

Uploaded by

el435649
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 29

Business text messaging, at your

fingertips.

1
Contents

Number Switcher .................................................................................................................................. 4


Switching Numbers .......................................................................................................................... 4
Away Message ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Setting an Away Message ................................................................................................................ 4
Clearing an Away Message .............................................................................................................. 4
Auto Responder Loops .................................................................................................................... 4
Conversations ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Opt-in Status ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Consent Message Status .................................................................................................................. 6
Starting a new conversation ............................................................................................................ 7
Archiving Conversations .................................................................................................................. 8
Delete Individual Conversation ..................................................................................................... 10
Conversation Features.................................................................................................................... 11
Send MMS ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Send Canned Response ................................................................................................................. 13
Apply Drip Campaign ..................................................................................................................... 14
Contacts ............................................................................................................................................... 16
Adding a Contact ............................................................................................................................ 16
Editing a Contact ............................................................................................................................ 16
Deleting a Contact .......................................................................................................................... 17
Importing Contacts via CSV ........................................................................................................... 17
Deleting All Contacts ...................................................................................................................... 17
Contact List.......................................................................................................................................... 18
Create a List ..................................................................................................................................... 18
Edit a List ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Add Contacts to a List .................................................................................................................... 19
Remove Contact from a List .......................................................................................................... 19
Delete a List ..................................................................................................................................... 19
Canned Responses ............................................................................................................................. 19

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Creating / Editing a Canned Response......................................................................................... 20
Deleting a Canned Response ........................................................................................................ 20
Drip Campaign .................................................................................................................................... 20
Creating / Editing a Drip Campaign ............................................................................................. 21
Deleting a Drip Campaign ............................................................................................................. 21
Blasts .................................................................................................................................................... 22
Creating / Editing a Blast ............................................................................................................... 22
Deleting a Blast ............................................................................................................................... 22
Best Practices .................................................................................................................................. 23
Reminders ............................................................................................................................................ 24
Creating a Reminder....................................................................................................................... 24
Editing a Reminder ......................................................................................................................... 24
Deleting a Reminder ....................................................................................................................... 25
Admin Menu ....................................................................................................................................... 25
Add User .......................................................................................................................................... 25
Edit User........................................................................................................................................... 26
Delete User ...................................................................................................................................... 27
Organizations Overview ................................................................................................................. 27
Add Organization ........................................................................................................................... 27
Edit Organization ............................................................................................................................ 28
Delete Organization ....................................................................................................................... 29

3
Number Switcher
Away Message
Away messages act as auto-responders to inbound messages. When an away message is active and a
message is received, the contact which sent the message will receive an automatic reply containing
the away message as the body of the message.

Setting an Away Message


Away messages utilize the Canned Response library as a source of messages to choose from. In order
to set an away message, you must create at least one canned response. Once you have created a
canned response, simply hover on the "Available" status indicator to display a list of canned
responses to choose from.

Clearing an Away Message


To clear your away message, simply hover on the Away Message status indicator and select the
"Available" option at the top of the dropdown.

Auto Responder Loops


In the event you have an active away message, and a remote auto-responder sends you a message,
we take some steps to prevent both auto-responders from infinitely replying to eachother.

This scenario can quickly increase costs with your VoIP provider.

When an away message is sent to a contact, the body of the message that caused the auto-response
to be sent is associated with the contact. If that same contact sends the same message again, then
the auto-reponse will not be sent a second time.

4
Note that if a remote auto-responder sends messages with unique content each time, it is still
possible for auto-responder loops to occur.

Conversations
The conversations page of the application is where you will spend most of your time communicating
with your contacts.

Active conversations are listed on the left. You may view an individual conversation by selecting it
from the list. When viewing an active conversation, there are three types of messages:

Inbound
Inbound messages are left aligned and have a grey background.

Outbound
Outbound messages are right aligned and have a blue background.

Notes
Notes can be entered into a conversation via the API and are meant to be contextual to the
conversation, like a voicemail transcription or a note from a CRM / e-commerce system. This feature
may not be available or enabled on every account type.

Opt-in Status

5
Each contact has an opt-in status, which defaults to "opted-in." The opt-in status of a contact
controls the ability to use automated features of the application including but not limited to:

• Blasts & Contact Lists

• Drip Campaigns

• Reminders

A contact is opted-out when any one of the following keywords are received: STOP, END, QUIT,
CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE

Conversely, a contact is opted-in when any of the following keywords are received: START, UNSTOP

Depending on your carrier, you may still be able to send transactional and conversational (non-
automated) text messages to a contact who has opted-out. However, a contact opt-ing out with a
keyword may trigger a block on the contacts cellular network and messages may not be delivered.

You may also manually opt-out a contact from their contact details page by checking the "Opted
out" checkbox and clicking "Update Contact Details".

Consent Message Status


A consent message generally contains information identifying the sender, notifying the recipient of
your intent to communicate with them via text messaging and provide them an option to opt-out
(e.g. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.).

6
Some users may have a consent message requirement set at the Organization level by their account
admin. If enabled for a user, contacts' consent message status is displayed next to the contact name
in the active conversation view.

When sending a message to a new contact or a contact who has not yet received the consent
message, the intended message will be preceeded by a consent message, allowing the recipient an
opportunity to acknowledge or opt-out of receiving messages. Once the consent message has been
sent, an indicator will be added to the contact details and conversation views denoting their status.

Starting a new conversation


• Click "New Conversation" from the top right of the
app.

• Next, you can choose to send to a phone number or select a contact from your address
book.

7
• Send to Phone Number
You can send to a phone number by entering it into the "Send to Phone Number:" field and
clicking "Start Conversation".

• Choose Contact
Start a conversation with an existing contact by searching or scrolling through the address
book and clicking on the contact.

Archiving Conversations
It is important to archive inactive conversations in order to maintain the best performance and user
experience. When a conversation is archived, all message history is retained, but the conversation will
be hidden from the active conversation list.

Note: There is not currently a way to view all archived conversations, but they will appear in search
results.

8
Archive Conversations in Bulk

If you have a large number of conversations that you would like to archive, we recommend using the
bulk archive features. You can select the checkbox next to each conversation, or use the checkbox at
the top of the list to toggle the selection of all conversations. Once you've selected the conversations
that you would like to archive, click the archive button on the top right of the list.

9
Archive Individual Conversation

You can archive individual conversations by choosing the "Action" dropdown, and choosing the
"Archive" option.

Delete Individual Conversation

10
You can delete individual conversations by choosing the "Action" dropdown, and choosing the
"Delete" option. You will be asked to confirm deletion of message history. This will delete all
messages for this conversation and this action is NOT reversible.

Notice
Some users and account types may have the delete option disabled by their administrator.

Conversation Features
Export Message History
You are able to export conversation history from an individual conversation using the Export
Messages feature.

1. Click the "Export" button to open the export options modal.

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2. Choose a start and end date.

Note: Start and end dates must be within 7 days of each other.

3. Select an export format. The options are CSV and HTML.

4. Click "Export" to begin the export. Depending on the number of messages in the
conversation, the process can take up to 30 seconds. A download prompt will automatically
open when the export is complete, allowing you to save it to your preferred destination.

Send MMS
You are able to send and receive MMS messages. MMS messages are currently limited to pictures
and video in this app but will be updating it with better file support in the near future. MMS file
support will vary per carrier.

To send a MMS file, click the camera icon from the message composer section.

12
Note: It is recommended that MMS files stay under 1.5mb to prevent filtering by the recipient's
carrier.

Send Canned Response


Canned responses are pre-written messages that you can use as replies to common inquiries, as
away messages and as automatic replies to keywords.

1. To send a canned response, choose the double arrow icon in the message composer to
launch the selection modal.

13
2. Select a canned response from the list to prepopulate the message textarea with the canned
response. Canned responses are NOT automatically sent, to allow you the opportunity to edit
the message prior to sending.

3. Click Send (or hit Shift-Enter, when focused on the textarea)

Apply Drip Campaign


Drip campaigns are a set of scheduled messages that can be used to gain your contacts attention
and engage them in conversation. When applied, they are automatically scheduled consecutively
based on their interval from the time of application.

Example: You would like to apply a drip campaign that has a total of three messages. Drip 1 has an
interval of 1 day, Drip 2 has an interval of 3 days and Drip 3 has an interval of 5 days. When you
apply that campaign to a contact, the first message will be scheduled for 1 day from now. The
second message will be scheduled for 3 days from now and the third would be scheduled 5 days
from now.

Drip messages will be sent until a reply has been received by the contact. If a message is received
from the contact before any scheduled drip messages have been sent, any that are unsent will be
automatically deleted.

1. To apply a drip campaign to a contact, choose the water droplet icon from the message
composer area to launch the drip campaign modal.

14
2. Choose a campaign from the list and a preview of the campaign will be displayed.

3. Click "Apply Campaign" to initiate the drip campaign sequence.

15
Note: Some users and account types may not have the drip campaign feature enabled. Drip
campaigns will also be disabled for any contacts that have been opted-out from marketing and
automations.

Contacts
The contacts page allows you to manage your contacts and details like opt-out and consent message
status, import in bulk, and more.

Adding a Contact

1. Click "New Contact" from the top right of the app.

2. Next, enter in details, being sure to complete all required fields, denoted by a red asterisk.

Note: Although the app does not utilize the e-mail address for communication, the e-mail address
field is helpful when utilizing features like Relay Webhooks and the API as a secondary identifier field
for integrations.

3. When all required fields are complete, click "Add Contact"

Editing a Contact
1. Choose the contact that you would like to edit from the list on the left.

2. Next, edit any details, being sure to complete all required fields, denoted by a red asterisk.

Note: Although the app does not utilize the e-mail address for communication, the e-mail address
field is helpful when utilizing features like Relay Webhooks and the API as a secondary identifier field
for integrations.

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3. When all required fields are complete, click "Update Contact Details"

Note: Choosing to edit the "Opted out" checkbox manually will permanently opt this contact out,
until the contact replies back with START or UNSTOP.

Deleting a Contact
1. Locate the contact from the contact list on the left.

2. Next, choose the "Action" dropdown for that contact.

3. Finally, choose the "Delete" option to be prompted with a confirmation that you would like
to delete the contact.

Note: Some users and account types may have the delete feature disabled by their adminstrator.

Importing Contacts via CSV


Importing allows you to load contacts from a CSV file into your account, optionally allowing you to
segment your contacts into specific lists while uploading.

1. Click "Import" from the top right of the app.

Note: We provide a sample CSV that is pre-formatted for you to fill in your data. Please make sure
that your CSV files match the format before uploading. Improperly formatted CSVs, will result in the
entire import failing.

2. Choose the "Upload File" option or optionally paste in the content of your CSV.

Note: If you included a header row (e.g. "Full Name, Phone, Email") you may choose the "Skip First
Line" checkbox to intentionally skip the first row of the list.

Note: If you would like to import these contacts into a specific list for marketing purposes, you can
choose the list from the "Import Contacts into Selected List" dropdown. If the dropdown does not
display, you should double check that at least one list exists in your "Lists" page.

3. Click "Import Contacts". The list will be sent to the server for processing. Depending on the
list size, you should notice the contacts in your contact list within several minutes.

Deleting All Contacts


There may be a time where you need to delete all contacts for a user, like when reassigning a
number or after an import of invalid or unintentional contact data.

1. To delete all contacts, select the gear icon on the top right of the Contacts page to open
the Settings modal.

2. Choose the "Delete" button and you will be prompted to confirm that you would like to
delete all contacts. This option CANNOT BE UNDONE.

17
Depending on the size of your contact list, this process may take several minutes and your contact
list may refresh several times as it syncs with the server.

Note: Some users and account types may have the delete contacts feature disabled by their
administrator.

Contact List
Contact lists allow you to segment your contacts when sending Blasts.

Note: Some users and account types may have this feature disabled by their administrator.

Create a List
1. Click "New List" button on the top right of the screen.

2. Enter a name for the list and click "Add List"

3. After making any changes, be sure to click "Save List Changes"

Edit a List
1. Locate the list that you would like to edit on the left hand side.

2. Click the list to view the edit details view.

Tip: List name is meant to be a user-friendly identifier. (e.g. "Staff Alert" or "September Promo")

Auto-Subscribe Keywords

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A great way to build lists is to promote a subscription keyword to your contacts. When an Auto-
Subscribe Keyword is received from a contact, that contact will be automatically added to the contact
list.

Tip: To generate an auto-reply to a contact subscribing to the list via keyword, utilize the "Auto-
Reply Keyword" on the Canned Response feature, setting the keyword to the same as your list
subscription keyword.

Add Contacts to a List


You can manually add a contact to a list by:

1. Identify and view / edit the list.

2. Click "Add Contacts" to open the contact selection drawer.

3. Check the checkbox next to any contacts that you want to add to the list.

4. Click "Add Contacts"

Remove Contact from a List


1. Choose the list that you would like to edit.

2. Click the checkbox on the row that contains the contact(s) you would like to delete.

3. Click the trash can icon to delete the selected contacts from the list.

Delete a List
To delete a contact list, simply locate the list you would like to delete and choose the "Delete" link
on the right. You will be prompted to confirm deletion.

Canned Responses
Canned responses are pre-written messages that you can use as replies to common inquiries, as
away messages and as automatic replies to keywords.

19
Creating / Editing a Canned Response
1. To create a canned response, click the "Add New Response" button on the top right of the
screen. To edit a canned response, click on the canned response that you would like to edit
from the list to open the edit drawer.

2. Add or modify the canned response details, being sure to complete all required fields, as
denoted by a red asterisk.

Note: You may optionally enter a keyword into the "Auto-Reply to Keyword" field and when
a message containing that exact keyword is received, a message will be sent back to the
contact with the "Message Body" field as it's content.

3. Click "Add / Edit Canned Response" to save.

Deleting a Canned Response


1. Click on the canned response that you would like to delete from the list to open the edit
drawer.

2. Click the "Delete Response" button at the bottom of the drawer. You will be prompted to
confirm deletion of the canned response.

3. Click "OK" to confirm deletion.

Drip Campaign
Drip campaigns allow you to apply a scheduled set of messages to a contact based on intervals of
your choosing. Any replies received from the contact will break any future drips that have not yet
been sent.

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Creating / Editing a Drip Campaign
To create a new drip campaign, click the "Create New Campaign" button on the top right of the
screen.

To edit an existing drip campaign, locate the drip campaign that you would like to edit from the
list and click the "View" link under the "Actions" column to open the edit drawer.

Tip: We recommend setting the campaign name to something that will easily allow you to identify
the campaign and it's contents when applying the campaign.

To add a drip to a campaign, click the "Add Drips" button to add a row. Enter the drip campaign
message into the textarea and then select your drip campaigns interval, calculating it from time of
application.

Tip: We recommend that you allow at least one day in between each drip interval to prevent your
contact from becoming annoyed and opting-out of your message.

When you are done editing the campaign and individual drips, remember to click the "Save" button
on the bottom right of the drawer to save your changes.

Deleting a Drip Campaign


1. Locate the drip campaign that you would like to delete from the list.

2. Click the "Delete" link under the "Actions" column. You will be prompted to confirm deletion
of the campaign.

3. Click "OK" to confirm deletion.

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Blasts
Blasts are a great way to send the same message out to a list of contacts, often used for marketing,
staff alerts and organization notification systems.

Creating / Editing a Blast


1. Click "Send New Blast" button on the top right of the screen.

2. Complete all required fields, as denoted by a red asterisk.

Blast Status

Draft- This will save the blast in a draft state, allowing you to come back and edit it before sending
or scheduling in the future.
Send Now- This will queue the blast up to be sent in the next several minutes.
Schedule- This option will allow you to choose a timezone, date and time to send the blast.

Compliance Footer
The Compliance Footer will automatically be appended to the message body. It is recommended that
your compliance footer includes identifying information about the sender, a brief explanation as to
why you are contacting them (e.g. to discuss order details, appointments, etc.), and how they can
opt-out from receiving future communications (e.g. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.).

3. Click "Save Blast" to save or schedule your blast.

Note: We currently utilize a simple time-based queueing system to send out blasts. Users and
account types have varying limitations on the volume at which they can send / accept messages in
bulk. If you experience deliverability issues with blasts, please consider your carrier limitations and
plan your blasts accordingly.

Deleting a Blast
1. You can delete blasts that are in Draft or Scheduled status. First, select blast that you would
like to delete from either the Draft of Scheduled tab.

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2. Next, scroll to the bottom of the edit blast drawer. Click "Delete Blast" to open the
confirmation prompt.

3. Click "OK" to confirm deletion of the blast.

Best Practices
• You should always obtain proper opt-in before sending out marketing campaigns to
contacts.

• Identifying your brand and an opt-out option in the compliance footer helps to build trust
with your recipients.

• Be mindful of the length and content of your message.

• Avoid content that might be considered spammy.

• Try to avoid using URL shorteners as receiving carriers often block links from popular services
like bit.ly or goo.gl.

• When sending a high volume of messages, it is recommended that you register a campaign
and brand with The Campaign Registry (https://www.campaignregistry.com/) for the best
deliverability.

• Do not send messages related to S.H.A.F.T. (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco--including
cannabis)

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Reminders
Create reminders to send scheduled messages to individual contacts.

Tip:
Dates that have messages scheduled have a blue dot identifier above the day number.

Creating a Reminder
1. Choose the date on the calendar for which you would like to schedule the reminder.

2. Click "Create Reminder"

3. Select a contact as a recipient.

4. Select a timezone and time at which to send the message.

5. Enter your message.

6. Click "Save"

Editing a Reminder
1. Choose the date on the calendar for which the reminder is scheduled for. This will pull up a
list of reminders for that date on the right hand side.

2. Click the reminder that you would like to edit.

3. Edit the desired fields.

4. Click "Update"

Note Reminders can be edited or deleted up until their scheduled date / time.

24
Deleting a Reminder
1. Choose the date on the calendar for which the reminder is scheduled for. This will pull up a
list of reminders for that date on the right hand side.

2. Click the reminder that you would like to edit.

3. Click the "Delete" button to open the confirmation prompt.

4. Click "OK" to confirm deletion.

Admin Menu
Manage Users, Settings and Organizations.

Add User
1. Navigate to the "Users" tab.

2. Click "Add User" to open the add modal.

3. Enter Full Name and E-mail Address (this will be used for authentication and must be
unique).

4. If you would like to allow the user to use their PBX login to SSO into CloudMessage, enter
their PBX username (username_or_ext@domain) in the External Identifier field.

5. Select or Create an Organization (Domain) to assign to the new user.

Note
Users must belong to an organization, even if it is a single user organization. Organizations in
CloudMessage are synonymous to Domains.

6. Start typing the phone number that you would like to assign and allow the suggested search
to complete.

7. Select the desired number for this user from the suggested DIDs list.

Note
A phone number can only belong to a single user. If you would like share access to a number for
multiple users, see the Number Sharing feature.

8. Click "Add New User"

What's Next?
The user will receive an e-mail at the e-mail address entered welcoming them to the application. If

25
you entered an external identifier, they will be directed to sign in with their PBX credentials. If not,
they will be asked to click a button to confirm their e-mail and set a password on CloudMessage.

Edit User
To Edit Profile Details

1. Locate the user that you would like to edit and click the "View" link to open the edit drawer.

2. Edit desired fields.

3. Click "Save"

Change Password

For users who do not have SSO enabled, you may change their password by doing the following:

1. Locate the user that you would like to edit and click the "View" link to open the edit drawer.

2. Click the "Change Password" tab.

3. Enter in a password that satisfies the complexity requirements.

4. Enter the password again to confirm.

5. Click "Update Password"

Did you know?


Users have a self service option to reset their password via e-mail at the login screen as well.

Permissions
When editing a user profile, you have the option to enable and disable permissions to specific
features. To edit a permission, toggle the checkbox next to the permission and click "Update
Permissions" to apply changes.

Number Sharing
Number Sharing allows you to share access to numbers amongst users of the same organization.

Share a Number

1. To share a number with another user, navigate to the user / number that you would like to
share and click the Number Sharing tab.

2. Choose the user of whom you would like to share with from the dropdown.

3. Click "Share Number"

Stop Sharing a Number

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1. To stop sharing a number with another user, navigate to the user / number that you
would like to remove access to and click the Number Sharing tab.

2. Locate the user that you would like to stop sharing with and click the trash can icon to open
the confirmation prompt.

3. Click "OK" to confirm.

API & Relay Webhooks


The API and Relay webhook features allow you and your users to integrate with external applications
to synchronize data and automate workflows.

Relay Webhook URL


This URL will receive a HTTP POST request for every message that is sent or received for this user.
See Docs for more information on the format of the data included in this request.

1. To set a Relay Webhook URL, navigate to the user that you would like to edit.

2. Click the "API & Relay" tab.

3. Enter a valid HTTP-based URL (e.g. http:// or https://)

4. Click "Update Relay Webhook"

Delete User
WARNING: The deletion of a user is permanent and will delete all content related to that user
including messages, contacts, etc. This CANNOT be undone.

1. Click on the "Users" tab.

2. Locate the user that you would like to delete from the list.

Tip
Use the Organization filter to quickly find a user.

3. Click the "Delete" link to open the confirmation prompt.

4. Click "OK" to confirm deletion.

Organizations Overview
Assigning users to Organizations allows you to keep them organized, control plan type, enforce
consent messages, share numbers, and more.

Add Organization
1. Click the "Organizations" tab.

27
2. Click the "Add Organization" button.

3. Enter an Organization Name.

4. Select a value for the Domain for SkySwitch dropdown. This list will prepopulate from your
SkySwitch account's domain list.

5. Select a Plan for the organization. All users of an organization must utilize the same plan
type.

Organization Admins Organization admins may edit names and email addresses of users, and may
change passwords of users within an organization. Org. admins may not create or delete users or
organizations. Org. admins may not modify user provider settings (phone numbers, API keys, etc).

Designate an existing user as an Org. admin by typing their name, e-mail or assigned phone number
into the typeahead box and select a user from the results.

Require Consent Message?


Enabling the "Require Consent Message" checkbox will enforce that a consent message be sent
before any contact receive any message from a user. This will enable for all users of an organization.
See Consent Message Best Practices below for more information.

6. Click "Add Organization" to save.

Consent Message Best Practices


It is recommend that your consent message:

• Identify the sender or brand.

• Explain the intended nature of your messaging.

• Explain how they can opt-out from receiving future messages.

• When utilized in environments where personal or sensitive information may be shared, it is


recommended that a consent message also warn the recipient that text messaging may be
insecure and by continuting to communicate they understand the risk.

Edit Organization
1. Click the "Organizations" tab.

2. Click the "View" link next to the organization that you would like to edit.

3. Edit desired fields, completing required fields as denoted by a red asterisk.

See Require Consent Message? and Consent Message Best Practices sections above for more
information regarding the consent message settings.

4. Click "Update Organization"

28
Delete Organization
1. Click the "Organizations" tab.

2. Click the "Delete" link on the organization that you wish to delete. This will open a
confirmation prompt.

Note
Organizations can only be deleted when all users have been deleted from it.

3. Click "OK" to confirm deletion.

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