With our Text Messaging product, your agency gets a unique text messaging number which is used to send and receive unlimited text messages from your customers. The text messages are automatically saved under a customer's Text Message Conversation Pane and Activity tab to create a clear record of communication. Once saved to the Activity tab, the text messages cannot be edited or deleted which is ideal for errors and omissions. 

Did you know? - You can click on the images in our articles to zoom in!

How to Send a Text Message

1. When on a customer's account, select the Text Messaging icon from their applicant pane. This will open the Text Messaging pane on the right-side.

2. Use the Reply to dropdown to choose which person you would like to text from the account. This is useful if you have a primary and co-applicant on the account, or if your customer has multiple mobile numbers. You can even choose an account's contact. Just make sure the receiving phone number is able to receive text messages before you start the conversation. 

3. Create the Message in the Text Message box by either typing out a message from scratch or applying a text template using the Insert Template button. There is a character counter to help you keep an eye on the size of your text. 

Insert Template (optional)

1. If you inserting a template, use the Search Templates field to find and choose the text template you want to apply. Selecting it will allow you to preview the template on the right side of the window. 

2. When ready, choose Select template on the bottom-right of the window. This will close the window and insert the template into the Text Messaging Pane. When you insert the template, the system already prefills in the information for any personalization tags in the system. 

To learn how to create text templates, check out our Text Messaging Templates article.

Attachments (optional)

1. If you need to attach any PDF or IMAGE file types (.jpeg, .png, .gif.), click the Attachment icon. This will open the Document Picker window. The window will contain the files from the customer's document library but you can also upload files from your computer if need be.

2. Check the box next to the files you want to attach keeping in mind you can text up to 10 pages per message. The bottom of the window will tell you how many pages you are attaching depending on which boxes you check.

3. When ready, select Import. This will close the window and attach the files to the text message.

4. Once the text message is ready, select Send.

Once sent, the text message (including attachments) will be added to both the Text Message Pane and the Activity tab for errors and omissions records. Any received text messages that are connected to this account will also be recorded in these places. 

The Text Message Pane shows you the full conversation associated to the phone numbers on the account.

• The green messages are from your agency.
• The gray messages are from your customer.

Receiving a Text

By default, every user in the agency receives a Workspace Notification for every incoming text message. The customer's assigned producer will also receive an email about the text.

From the notification, you can navigate to that customer's account or reply to the text message. This is really useful so you do not need to move away from what you are currently working on to continue communicating with your customer.

A Text Messaging Admin can change the Text Notification Rules to designate specific users to receive the Workspace notifications instead of every user in the agency if desired. Please note, the email that goes to the Assigned Producer however, cannot be changed at this time. Admins, check out our Text Messaging - Settings for Admins article to learn more.

Unresolved Text Messages

To avoid confusion, EZLynx will not assign a text message to a customer's account unless it is 100% sure which account it belongs to. When an incoming text is from a number that does not match to any customer account, the text is designated as Unresolved. This could also happen if the phone number matches the phone number for multiple customer accounts. To provide excellent service, it is important for you to work unresolved text messages regularly. 

By default, any time an unresolved text message is received every user in the agency is notified via Workspace Notification. The Text Message Admin can change the Unresolved Notification Rules to designate specific users to receive these notifications instead of every user if desired. Admins, check out our Text Messaging - Settings for Admins article to learn more.

To handle unresolved text message: 

1. Hover over the Communication Center icon. 

2.  Click Calls and Messages under Voice & Text. 

3. Then click the Unresolved tab.

4. The best practice is to identify (if possible) who the text message is from and associate the text with the correct customer account.

If you aren't sure who the customer is, you can reply to the text by selecting Actions and choosing Send text.

Once you know who the customer is, you can assign the text message to the account by selecting Actions and choosing Assign to applicant.

5. Using the Search Applicants field, type the customer's account and choose the correct option from the list below. Selecting from the list will automatically assign the text to that account. Once the text has been assigned to the correct customer account, it will appear in the Text Message Pane and the Activity tab.

Automated Replies

When a customer sends texts the agency's assigned text number, an automated reply is sent for the first incoming text from the customer during every 6-month period. By default, the automated reply states: "Thank you, we will respond as soon as possible. No coverage is bound until specifically confirmed." 

If someone calls the text number, they receive an automated voice reply. By default, the automated reply states: "This phone number only accepts texts. Please call our main office number directly." 

A Text Message Admin can customize both of these automated replies under the Text Messaging Settings. Admins, check out our Text Messaging - Settings for Admins article to learn more.

You can also setup EZLynx Virtual Agent or EVA. EVA has the ability to automatically send your customers their Auto ID cards when requested so you don't have to! Admins, check out our EZLynx Virtual Agent (EVA) article to learn more.

Finally, you can utilize the Automation Center to send automatic text replies to customers when a specified trigger happens on the account. There are all kinds of automations your agency can setup to help save you time. Check out our Automation Center - Recommended Workflow Templates article to learn more.

Text Messaging Opt-in/Opt-out

Customers can use certain keywords to opt-in or opt-out of text messages from your agency. Down below are the keywords you can share with your customers. 

Whenever a customer uses one of these keywords they will be sent a message depending on if they opted-in or out. 

Opt-in	Opt-out

Within EZLynx there is a Text Messaging Suppression List where you can see a list of customers who have opted-out of getting text messages from your agency. 

To access the Text Messaging Suppression List: 

1. Hover over the Communication Center icon (text bubbles). 

2. Choose the Suppression List option under the Voice and Text category. This will take you to the Text Messaging Suppression List page.

The Text Messaging Suppression List tab shows the following information: 

• Phone Number: This is the suppressed phone number which is a link that will take you directly to the customer's account in EZLynx. 
• Suppressed By: This shows how the phone number was suppressed. The options are: 
  • Recipient: The customer receiving the text message from your EZLynx has opted themselves out.
  • Name of Agent: An agent from your agency has manually opted the customer out by adding them to this list.
  • System: If an unresolved or unknown phone number was suppressed or if a phone number was suppressed from a different branch, then the system will automatically suppress the number. 
• Date Suppressed: This shows the day the phone number was added to the suppression list.

Depending on how the phone number will determine if you can take any actions on the Text Messaging Suppression List page. 

• If the phone number was suppressed by the recipient, you will not be able to take action on it. An information icon will display verifying the phone number cannot be removed from the suppression list. 

• If the phone number was added by an agent at your agency, a Delete icon (trash can) will be available. 

To remove a customer from the Text Messaging Suppression list that was manually added by an agent: 

1. Select the Delete icon (trash can). This will open the Remove from Suppression List window.

2. Once you have read the warning message, select the Remove button on the bottom-right. This will close the window and refresh the page where the number will no longer be on the Suppression List. 

To add a customer's phone number to the Text Messaging Suppression list: 

1. Select the Add button in the top-right. This will open the Add Suppressed Phone Number window. 

2. Once you have read the information text, input the phone number and select the Add button in the bottom-right. This will close the window and refresh the page where the number you have added will be on the list. 

If you try to text a customer's phone number that is on the Text Messaging Suppression List, you will see the following warning message: "This number has requested to not receive texts. 

The History tab on the Text Messaging Suppression list logs all the suppression related events to any phone number. It displays the history of opting out and opting in. It shows the following information: 

• Phone Number: This is the suppressed phone number which is a link that will take you directly to the customer's account in EZLynx. 
• Transaction: This shows the event that happened with the phone number. There are a total of four possible transactions:
  • Added: This means the phone number was added by an agent to the suppression list.
  • Removed: This means the phone number was removed by an agent from the suppression list.
  • Opt Out: This means the customer chose to opt out of receiving further text messages from your agency.
  • Opt In: This means the customer chose to opt in to receiving future text messages from your agency. 
• Suppressed By: This shows how the transaction was triggered. The options are: 
  • Name of the Agent: This means the phone number was added or removed by an agent. 
  • Recipient: This means the customer either added or removed their phone number. 
• Date: The date, down to the hour and minute, the transaction was triggered.

Did you know? - There is also a suppression list for email campaigns too! Check out our Email Campaigns Suppression List article to learn more.

Text Reminders for Tasks

One of the benefits of our Text Messaging product is that you can receive text message reminders about your upcoming tasks. 

To confirm you are setup for this: 

1. Select your User Icon on the top navigation bar.

2. Choose User Settings. This will open the User Settings page.

3. Make sure the phone number in the Mobile Phone field can receive text messages. If not, input the correct phone number and select Save.

Now that you have your mobile phone is added, when you are adding a Task you can check the Text option for reminders. 

We hope this training article was helpful in learning how to send/receive text messages, how to handle unresolved text messages, and tips on automating text replies to save you valuable time. Please let us know if this article was helpful by answering the question below. Check out our related articles on the right-side of the page to learn more about EZLynx!