The Communication module allows text messages to be sent directly from the site to people in your congregation.
Due to spam filters and carrier requirements for texting, some additional setup is required in order to take advantage of this feature.
The first step would be to turn on the opt-in page and allow people to sign up for texting. It's recommended to let congregants know this email is coming to avoid users marking the message as spam.
To send out a sign-up email,
1. Click on the gear icon to open your Settings view.
2. On the navigation menu on the left, select “Text Messaging Opt-In” under the Communications section.
3. Check the box to "Enable the text messaging opt-in feature".
4. Type an optional personalized message to send to recipients in addition to the invitation text.
- The personalized message has a 200 character limit.
- Click "Save Message" to save this message for future invites.
5. Under "Send Opt-In Email", select a Smart Group or Tag you'd like to send the opt-in email to, and click "Send Invite".
6. Review and mark all email addresses to receive the invitation and click "Send".
An email will be sent out to all email addresses inviting them to sign up for text messages from your church. Your name (the name attached to the login used to send the invitation email) and the church name will be included in the invitation message.
The second step to the opt-in process would be for users to go to the opt-in page and enter in their cell phone number. For security and spam-prevention purposes, texting opt-ins cannot be done in bulk.
When users click on the "Sign me up" link, they will be taken to your church's texting opt-in page ("[your-subdomain].church360.app/opt-in/texting") where they can enter in their cell phone number.
- If the number entered into the opt-in page is in the system under a person's record, the number will automatically be linked to that person's record.
- If the number entered into the opt-in page is not in the system, the page will also request a name to be entered. There is an additional step to connect these numbers to their respective person records.
Once a number has been entered into the opt-in page, the number in question will receive a confirmation text from the texting relay. Users have to reply with "Yes" in order to be fully opted-in.
If a person has fully opted-in and their number is listed on their person record, they should now be ready to receive text messages.
If the person has fully opted-in but their number is not yet connected to their person record, there is one additional step for an administrator to match them up.
To match up an opted-in number to their respective person record,
1. Click on the gear icon to open your Settings view.
2. On the navigation menu on the left, select “Text Messaging Opt-In” under the Communications section.
3. Under the Send Opt-in Email section, click to "Match Phone Number Submissions".
4. On the Opt-in Submissions page, click on any row that doesn't have a record selected in the "Members Contact" column and use the drop-down menu to select (or create) a person record to attach the phone number to.
5. Click "Link" to confirm the link.
Now your opted-in numbers are ready to receive text messages! For more information on creating and sending text messages, please visit our article here.