SMS "Wild Card" replies
We've just added the "wild card" replies feature to our SMS service. By default when you sent out an SMS, if you hadn't selected a set "SMS Header" we used to use the SMS Header "SMS4U", which did not allow replies. We can now apply one of our random numbers. As long as the recpient replies within 48 hours, you will get any reply back to you via email.
As a brief explanation on how this works - We have over 40 random numbers which the system will select from. If we get a reply, we look at the number that the reply came from and match it to the latest SMS sent that had the reply to number, and replied number combination. From this we can determine the job that the reply is relevant to and hence who to send the email to. Note that the chances of finding a combination of the 2 that are sent from 2 different users is some astronomical number. But, it is possible. So this solution will work for some, but not all. Our recommendation will always be to get a virtual number. It might add a cost, but it is 100% guarunteed.
The upside is that you can get SMS to email replies now without having to order a virtual number. The downside of this is, the chances of the SMS Header being the same each time is very small. So if you have multiple messages to the same user, it will create multiple SMS "Conversations" on their phone. If you want to have just the one "conversation" flow on the recipients device, including replies, you will need to use a constant number, which will either need to be one of your mobile numbers, or a virtual number. For now we will leave you with the SMS4U option, but if you want to be switched to the new random number option, please call support on 1300 132 739.
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