I'm seeking advice on establishing a text messaging system for our organization where about 600 members can easily report facility issues. The idea is for anyone to send a text to a shared number, like (555) 555-5555, and then that message would be forwarded to 5-10 members of our facilities team. We've had discussions about possible challenges with this setup, like duplicate requests and spam, but my team insists on implementing this as they don't want to rely on emails or phone calls. Has anyone experienced this type of setup before, particularly with Cisco Unified? What do you suggest?
5 Answers
Get ready for complaints at all hours! People will for sure text at 2 AM if they can. Just brace yourself for that chaos!
Careful with the SMS aspect! Carriers are strict about spam now. You’ll need to register for A2P 10DLC and get your texting campaigns approved, which involves more work than you'd guess. Have you considered integrating SMS alerts into an existing ticketing system instead?
One solid option is to get a number from Twilio and set up a community server with Chatwoot. You can automate replies, have macros for messaging, and even track conversations to resolve issues. The cost might scale with usage, but it provides a robust way to manage texts.
Many service management systems can work with SMS. You could set it up to text multiple people when someone submits a request. Just wait until they see their phones buzzing non-stop. That'll quickly show them the downsides of this idea! At least then they might realize they need a proper ticketing system to handle requests more efficiently.
Totally agree! And when they do realize it’s a bad idea, at least you can point them to a better solution.
If you have Power Automate with M365, using Twilio can help manage SMS messages effectively. You can set it up to send texts and also notify other channels like emails or Teams chats. Plus, you could maintain a record of requests in SharePoint. Just remember, you'll need to manage the regulations around your texting number!
So true! Sometimes people just have to see the chaos for themselves before they understand why it's not the best plan. It's better to let them experience it than keep explaining endlessly.