Step 3: Managing your Program: Texting
Opening, Closing, and Pausing a Program
Sending Initial Outbound Texts
Opening, Closing, and Pausing a Program
IOB Request Status
If you are sending your texts individually, you will need to change the "IOB Request Status" to "Open" before texters will be able to request Initial Outbound Messages. You can change this status in two places
1) Administration > Programs > Edit next to the program you want to open > Click the blue "Edit" button on the upper right > Scroll down to the "IOB Request Status" > Select "Open".
2) Administration > Programs > Request Status > There are two boxes > Click the box on the left > Select "Open"
To close the program to new Initial Outbound Message requests, you will do the same.
To pause the program you will do the same, pausing a program will close requests to Texters who require approval before receiving a batch of texts. Texters who do not require approval can still request and receive new texts.
Replies Request Status
If you checked the box "Initial Inbounds" in the Program Details under "Automatic Reassigns" you will want to make sure you "Open" your "Replies Request Status". This will allow texters to request replies.
You can change this status in two places
1) Administration > Programs > Edit next to the program you want to open > Click the blue "Edit" button on the upper right > Scroll down to the "Replies Request Status" > Select "Open".
2) Administration > Programs > Request Status > There are two boxes > Click the box on the right> Select "Open"
To close the program to new replies requests, you will do the same.
To pause the program you will do the same, pausing a program will close requests to Texters who require approval before receiving a batch of texts. Texters who do not require approval can still request and receive new texts.
Texter functionality depending upon Program Status for Initial Outbound & Replies Requests
| Status | Request New Texts/Replies | Send Already Received IOBs | Send Replies to Conversations in Inbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Paused | ✅* | ✅ | ✅ |
| Closed | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Sending Initial Outbound Texts
Sending Initial Outbound Messages one at a time
After you "Open" your program under "IOB Request Status" you can begin sending Initial Outbound Messages one at a time. You will go to your texting inbox screen. To return to this screen quickly, click the "TextOut" icon in the upper left. Click the program name > Click "Start Texting" > Click "Request Initial Texts" > Click "Send Initial" > Continue doing so until all texts are sent.
Sending Initial Outbound Messages with Power Send
To use Power Send to send your Initial Outbound Messages you will go to Administration > Programs > Edit next to the program you want to send > on the overview page scroll down towards the bottom of the screen to the "Power Send" section > then you have two choices
"Send all as Current User" - Clicking this option sends all of the texts as you, if you are using the dynamic field in your Initial Outbound Message, {{SenderFirstName}}, this field will be populated with your first name.
"Send all as User List" - Clicking this option will allow you to select a "User List" for the texts to send from, if you are using the dynamic field in your Initial Outbound Message, {{SenderFirstName}}, this field will be populated rotating through the user list of first names.
You can cancel the Power Send at any time if you want to pause sending and then restart by clicking either of the options again.
Replying to Texts
Requesting Replies
If your texting inbox is empty, you can click the button at the top "Request Replies". You will receive the number of replies allowed by your texter level. If you want to receive more at a time, you can change the number of replies you receive by changing the "Replies Batch Size" under Text Levels (Administration > Texter Levels > Click the pencil under actions next to your Texter Level > "Replies Batch Size")
Replying to Texts
Click the text in your inbox on the left side that you would like to reply to. You will see the conversation in the middle. You can now do two things. You can type in the box in the bottom or you can use the "Recommended Replies" you uploaded when building your program.
Recommended Replies are found in the right panel of the Texter’s Program Inbox. A texter can search Recommended Replies by scrolling down the list of replies, searching using keywords, or using the script filter buttons.
The script filter buttons are subcategories of script types within the Recommended Replies They appear as buttons at the top of the Recommended Replies on the right side of the Inbox. Clicking these buttons will display a subset of Recommended Replies.
The search bar will filter the Recommended Replies based on keywords to help find the scripted reply needed for a conversation. Hover over a Recommended Reply, and the text will become bold. Click the Recommended Reply to populate it in the text box located at the bottom of the texting conversation panel to send.
Flagging Texts
Sometimes a conversation requires more information or a follow-up response that isn’t immediately available to the Texter. A Contact can be "Flagged" to place the conversation aside for quick locating at a later time. Click the "Flag" (this button is at the top of the conversation) button to move the conversation to the "Flag" folder of the Inbox, situated on the left side of the screen.
A conversation can also be "Flagged" when sending a response using the "Flag & Send" option. To Flag & Send, click the dropdown (indicated by an arrow pointing downward) directly beside the "Send" button, and select "Flag & Send."
Remove a Flag
To remove a Flag from a conversation, select the conversation and click “Complete.” This action will move the message from the Flagged folder to the “Completed” folder of the Inbox. If a Contact responds while the Conversation is Flagged, it will move to the “Ready” queue for a response.
Reassigning Texts
To reassign all Conversations within a Program:
- In the Program Inbox, select a Conversation (Ready, Flagged, or Completed) in the Program.
- Click the “Reassign” button at the top of the screen beside the Contact name.
- Click the “All messages” option.
Confirm the reassignment by clicking the “Yes” button. All conversations from the Program will disappear from the Inbox. It will NOT affect conversations in other Programs.
To reassign a single conversation in a Program:
- In the Program Inbox, select the conversation to reassign.
- Click the “Reassign” button next to the Contact name at the top of the screen.
- Select a reassignment reason from the dropdown menu.
- Confirm the reassignment by clicking “Yes.” A notification will appear confirming the reassignment.
Completing Texts
There are two ways to complete a conversation in TextOut, they are:
- Automatic Complete: Conversations will automatically move to the “Completed” folder after a Texter replies. Conversations will reopen and move to the "Ready" section of the Texter’s Inbox if a new reply from the Contact is received.
- Manual Complete: Once the conversation has ended and does not require another response, click the “Complete” button (this button is found near the top of the conversation) to close out the conversation