Text Messages, Sending and Receiving

You may test this system by sending up to 25 texts FREE OF CHARGE (see “Set-up, SMS Text Messaging”).

To send an SMS text message (i.e. Short Message Service text) from your Durell system...

· Find the person’s record (see “Clients, Finding Records (The Binoculars Button)”)

· Click the “>” button next to their “Mobile” phone number...

If you haven’t already set-up a trial account with Esendex to allow texting, click the “Settings” button and follow the instructions in “Set-up, SMS Text Messaging”. Otherwise just type your text message and click the “Send” button, as shown below...

Long Messages

The numbers at the bottom right of the “Message” window indicate the number of characters that you’ve typed so far. Each SMS text can be up to 160 characters long, after which it’ll automatically be split into two consecutive ones. For example after character 160(1) the counter will increment the number of messages in the brackets to 161(2).

Delayed Messages

If you’d prefer to send the message at a future date or time, before clicking the “Send” button simply click “Send on” at the bottom of the window and select when.

Your Number to Receive Texts

Most people will just reply to the texts you send, but if you wish to give them your number then...

· Click on the “Settings” button, as shown above

· On the “SMS Account Settings” pop-up click on the “Check Account Status” button

· Your Esendex texting number will then be displayed as the “Address” (e.g. 447786203034, as shown below)

Contacts List

The simplest approach is just to use the “Mobile” number on every contact’s address record, which automatically gets copied to a Mobile Number Lookup table. For example, if you change a contact’s “Mobile” number, then click the “>” to send them a text, you’ll get the following message...

Once on the pop-up to “Create a New SMS Text Message”, as shown below, you can choose to click the “>” button to select a different recipient, or edit the current one’s number...

On the resulting pop-up called “Mobile Number Lookup” you can find any contact for whom you’ve already entered a mobile number (n.b. they are not split into address sets). You can also add new ones (n.b. but these will not be new clients), delete them, clear and amend them. This is particularly useful, for example, if you wish to text friends and family that don’t have client records in your office system...

Check Sent Messages

To confirm what messages have been sent, starting from Durell’s Main Menu...

· Click the “People” button

· Click the “Signpost” button on the toolbar

· Select “SMS Texting / Outbox”

Delete Sent Messages

To delete a sent message simply double-click it and then click the “Delete” button, as shown below...

Check Received Messages

The system will automatically check for unread messages each time you log-in, and prompt you to read them accordingly.

To manually check for newly received messages, starting from Durell’s Main Menu...

· Click the “People” button

· Click the “Signpost” button on the toolbar

· Select “SMS Texting / Inbox”

· Double-click any message to either reply to, or delete it.

Messages from people who don’t have mobile phone numbers in either your client records or your “Mobile Number Lookup” table will appear with a blank name, as shown above, in which case you should...

· Double-click that message in your Inbox

· Click the “>” button to the right of the blank “Person” on the “Read SMS Message” pop-up, as shown below

· Type their “Name” in the subsequent “Mobile Number Lookup” screen, then click “ Add” followed by “OK”