Replies

Recipients can reply to the messages you send. There are two ways they can do this:

	Universal Reply	Dedicated virtual number
How the recipient replies	Taps a link in your message and types a reply	Replies by text message
Works with sender names	Yes	No, you send from the number
Cost	Free	Charged
Available	Now, including before you go live	Once your workspace is live

Whichever you use, replies reach you in exactly the same way, so you can build your integration with Universal Reply for free and add a virtual number later without changing any code.

Universal Reply

With Universal Reply, a short link is added to the end of your message. When the recipient taps it, they see a page where they can type a reply, and that reply is sent straight back to you.

Your appointment is confirmed for Tuesday at 10:00.
Reply: https://dv.gt/a1B2c3

Universal Reply works with any sender, including alphanumeric sender names that recipients can’t text back to. Replies are free. The link does add a few characters to your message, which may occasionally take it into an extra SMS part.

Sending a reply link

Add messageLink to your request when you send a message:

{
  "sender": "YourSender",
  "recipient": "+447700900123",
  "content": "Your appointment is confirmed for Tuesday at 10:00.",
  "messageLink": { "include": true, "mode": "Reply" }
}

Field	Description
include	true adds the link to this message.
mode	What the link offers: Reply, Unsubscribe or Both.
preText	Optional. The text shown before the link. Defaults to Reply:, Stop: or Reply / Stop: depending on mode.

Batch sends accept the same messageLink object, which applies to every message in the batch.

Dedicated virtual numbers

A dedicated virtual number is a real mobile number assigned to your workspace. Send from it, and recipients can reply by text message just as they would to anyone else.

Virtual numbers have a cost, so they are only available once your workspace is live. You can request a number within the Portal. Once you do, check your emails as we’ll be in touch.

We recommend using Universal Reply over dedicated virtual numbers to not only save you money, but retain your branded sender name (where applicable) and improve deliverability.

Receiving replies

Every reply, whether it came through a reply link or by SMS, is delivered to you as an Inbound SMS webhook, or can be picked up with Inbound SMS Synchronisation.

The webhook’s Channel field tells you how the reply arrived: web for a reply link, or sms for a virtual number.

Note

If a recipient replies STOP (or UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT or STOPALL), Connect adds their number to your suppression list automatically, whichever way they replied. See Compliance for STOP settings and unsubscribe links.

Testing replies

You can test replies for free with the Phone Simulator: send a message with a reply link to the Replies handset, +447700900003, and it replies a couple of seconds later. See Phone Simulator.