Two-way texting can be used to send and receive one-off text messages with your customers. If you would like to learn more about setting up automated text messages, please read our article: SMS settings for automated text messages.

Once SMS functionality is turned on for your facility, sending your customer a text is as simple as clicking on the text bubble next to their mobile phone number in their tenant page. Any phone number that is classified as a mobile number and opted in to SMS will have a text bubble icon that, when clicked, will open up an SMS dialog box.

To be compliant with our SMS provider’s messaging policy, tenants must give consent to receive text message communications. If a customer provides verbal consent to receive text messages, you can opt your customers into SMS messages by selecting the SMS checkbox next to their mobile number in their tenant profile or during the move-in process. If you use Rental Center, customers can opt themselves in or out of text messaging from their tenant portal. If they make a change, it will automatically sync with the checkbox here in your software.

Once opted in, you can send an SMS (text messages) to the customer by clicking the text bubble next to the mobile phone number in their tenant profile or through an automated SMS.

Type your message and click Send.

The dialog box will update when the message has been sent.

To send an image, click Attach Images.

Select the file/s from your computer that you would like to send. You can select up to 5 files to send at a time. The following file formats are supported: JPEG, PNG, GIF. 

You will see a thumbnail of the image/s you selected. Click the red X next to the thumbnail if you want to remove a file.

If the customer replies after you've closed the dialog box, a pop-up window will appear in the upper right corner of your screen with the new message. Simply click the Reply button to continue the conversation.

The history of your conversations will be recorded in the history tab of the tenant profile as well as the SMS tab in the Communication section of storEDGE.

If an SMS message is received when you no longer have the message dialog box open, a notification will be added to your Task List alerting you to the new message. Clicking on SMS then SMS Received in the Task List will direct you to the SMS tab in the Communications section. The new SMS messages will be highlighted. To respond to the message, click on the phone number under the tenant's name. Clicking on the phone number under the tenant's name will also clear the highlight and clear the notification from the task list.

If an SMS message fails to be delivered, a notification will be added to your Task List alerting you to the failed message. Clicking on SMS then SMS Failed in the Task List will direct you to the SMS tab in the Communications section. The failed SMS messages will be highlighted. To clear the highlight and clear the notification from the task list, click on the phone number under the tenant's name. It is also a good idea to remove the SMS checkmark next to the mobile phone number in the tenant's profile so you no longer attempt to send an SMS to this phone number.

⚠️ Prohibited SMS content: There are a number of messaging use cases that are not allowed in the United States or Canada. storEDGE users are prohibited from using storEDGE SMS capabilities for these activities. You can view more details and a list of prohibited messaging categories that apply to long code messaging (A2P 10DLC) and Toll-Free messaging on our messaging partner's website.

SMS signatures 

You have the option to configure SMS signature templates to easily include standardized information in your two-way text messages to tenants. Follow the instructions below to enable SMS signatures:

1. Create an SMS signature template

You can create an SMS signature template in the Corporate area of your software by navigating to Software Settings, clicking SMS under the Documents section and then selecting the Signatures tab.

Click Add new SMS Signature. 

Enter the information you would like to be included in your signature such as user name and facility name. Click Save & Exit when you are done creating the template.

2. Enable SMS Signatures

Please note: A template must have been created in order to enable this setting.

Navigate back ton the Settings tab. Click Software Settings and then Settings under the Documents section.

Under Enable SMS Signatures, select the radio button next to Yes to enable the setting. 

Select the Signature template from the dropdown menu that you created in the previous step. 

Check the box next to Include signature by default if you would like the signature to be included in two-way text messages by default. 

If you chose to Include signature by default, you will see that Include signature is automatically selected when sending a text message. Uncheck the box if you would like to send a message without a signature. 

Select the facilities you want to apply the signature to by checking the boxes in the facility dropdown section. 

Click Save when you are done. 

Expand, Save, or Delete SMS Images

When tenants send you an important or sensitive document via text, you can open the image in a new window to see it more clearly. You can save the image to their account. You can also delete the image.

Click the thought bubble to open the text message. Next to the image, select the icon for the action you'd like to take.

⚠ To delete media/attachments, you must have these permissions in your user role.

Things to know about SMS (texting)

1. Message Length: Any message greater than 160 characters will be split into multiple messages by the storEDGE message carrier. The multiple messages will be annotated on the receiver's mobile device.

2. Opting Out: Your customers may opt out of receiving SMS (text) messages at any time by texting STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT. Only single word messages will trigger the block. For example, if the customer texts STOP, they will stop receiving messages from you, but replying STOP PLEASE will not stop them from receiving messages from you.

If you use Rental Center, the tenant can also opt out from their tenant portal. Read more in our Help Article: Rental Center - Customer View

3. Opting Back In: If your customer has previously opted out and would like to receive messages again, the customer needs to text START or YES to your assigned tracked phone number from storEDGE.

4. From Number: The number from which your text messages originate is your tracked phone number assigned to you by storEDGE. If you are a storEDGE marketing website customer, your assigned phone number is the tracked phone number on your marketing website. If you are not a storEDGE marketing website customer, please contact storEDGE sales or support to inquire about a tracked phone number.

6. International SMS: SMS is only supported for US and Canadian mobile numbers.

7. Legal: Please note that text message campaigns may be subject to various legal compliance requirements depending on the nature of your text messaging campaign, the location from where you are sending your text messages, and the location of your recipients. While storEDGE will handle the above-described messages in the way described in this article, you should consult with your legal counsel to ensure that your text messaging campaign conforms with all applicable legal compliance requirements.

8. SMS registration: Due to U.S. regulations, mobile carriers will block text messages that are sent from unregistered business phone numbers starting on September 1, 2023. Prior to using Two-Way texting, you must register your business brand/s in order to ensure that your text messages are delivered as intended. To access our registration portal, navigate to your Corporate Settings and click SMS Registration. 

You can find more information and answers to common questions in our article: Registering your SMS phone numbers.