SMS

SMS is manual and prepaid. Nothing is ever texted automatically - you compose and send, and each message draws down a credit balance you have bought in advance.

Two screens are involved: Settings → General → SMS switches it on and sets who it comes from, and Tools → SMS is where you actually send.

Switching it on

Enable SMS on the Settings tab. Until it is on, the rest of the tab is greyed out and no messages can be sent.

Sender ID

The name that appears on your recipients’ phones. Maximum 11 characters, letters and numbers only.

It has to plausibly represent you, because the networks vet it:

Use your own name - St. Stephens Hall becomes StStephens. Something generic like Manufacturer is unlikely to be approved
Well-known brand names are banned - Apple, Google and the like
It cannot start with a number - 1TimePin, 2FA and similar are refused

Update saves the tab.

The SMS tab of Settings → General, with Enable SMS switched on, a Sender ID section explaining the 11-character limit and a Sender ID field, and a blue Tip panel giving the sender-name rules.

Sending a message

Tools → SMS. Your credit balance, the estimated messages it buys and the current rate per message sit along the top.

Add recipients from your client list. Only clients with a phone number on their record can be picked
Type the message. The counter below the box shows characters remaining, and the number of parts if it has grown past one
Check the cost preview, which shows what the send will actually charge
Send SMS

Afterwards a banner reports how many sent and how many failed, naming the failures.

Clear empties the recipients and the message without sending.

The Tools → SMS screen. A header strip shows SMS Credit of £9.95, roughly 199 messages, at 5p per message, with Top Up, Clear and Send SMS buttons. Below are three columns: a Client picker, a Recipients grid holding one name and phone number, and a Message box reading 160 characters remaining above the costing tip. — The counter starts at **160 characters remaining** - the first plain-text part. It drops to 153 per part once the message runs past one.

Why a message costs what it does

Each part costs one credit, per recipient. This is the part that surprises people, and it is worth understanding before a large send.

Message type	First part	Each part after
Plain text	160 characters	153 characters
Unicode	70 characters	67 characters

So a 300-character plain message to 50 clients is 2 parts × 50 = 100 credits. Paste one smart quote into it and it becomes 5 parts × 50 = 250 credits. The cost preview always reflects the real figure - read it before sending.

Credits and topping up

SMS credit is not part of your subscription - it is bought separately and drawn down per part. Top Up appears both here and on the subscription page.

Balance, rate, minimum top-up and how paying works are covered in your subscription.