SMS Module

The SMS Module enables HR Professionals to bulk send text messages to employees, providing a faster and convenient alternative to e-mails. This module includes the following benefits:

Key Benefits

  • Ability to communicate to your company in emergency situations.
  • Ability to keep in contact and engage with employees, especially if your employees are not office-based.
  • Upholding your company culture by sending encouraging/motivational texts.
  • Ensure employees are reading your messages as, on average, text messages have a better open rate than e-mails.

This article contains an overview on how to set up and send SMS Messages in Cezanne and includes the following sections:

  1. Cost of SMS Messages
  2. Adding an SMS Message
  3. SMS Overview Screen
  4. Number Formatting
  5. Sending an SMS Message
  6. Reasons for Failed SMS Messages
  7. Adding Additional Owners
  8. Available Countries
  9. Searches

1. Cost of SMS Messages

The SMS Module, unlike our other modules, is mainly pay-as-you-go. So you will be charged per message that you send. However, it is important to be aware how these charges are incurred and when you can expect to be charged. For example:

  1. Although your message will be sent as 1 full text to recipients, from a cost perspective there is a character limit of 160 characters for SMS Messages. Therefore, you will be charged multiple times if you have written a longer message.
  2. Failed messages can incur charges as well, so be sure you are not attempting to send messages to an invalid phone number or using an invalid Sender ID. For more information, see: Number Formatting and Reasons for Failed SMS Messages sections below.

For more information on the cost of SMS Messaging module, please contact our Support or Sales Team.

2. Adding an SMS Message

Note:

  • An SMS Message uses contact numbers entered in a person's Contact Details. Navigate to: People >> Search Person >> Personal Details >> Contact Details.

To add an SMS Message, navigate to: Administration >> SMS >> Add New SMS Message

1. Enter SMS Message Name.
2. Active is automatically ticked.
3. Select the Region of your employees. This will need to be used if the country code has not already been entered in employees' Contact Details.

Note:

  • If you want to send an SMS Message to multiple regions ensure your employees' contact details are updated with their correct Country Code. To update your employees' contact details, see: Communications Import.
  • Currently, we do not support SMS Messaging to some countries. For more information, see Available Countries section below.
4. Select the Send Policy. This determines which numbers will be pulled through when you add a recipient on the Overview screen
    • All Selected Numbers - Tick which Number Type(s) to pull through for each recipient selected on the SMS Overview Screen.
    • First Available Number - Set the order of priority for each Number Type. This will only pull through the first available number for each recipient selected on the SMS Overview screen.

Note:

  • Number Types cannot be ticked or unticked using the 'All Selected Number' Send Policy after an SMS Message is Sending/Sent to at least 1 recipient.
  • The Priority Order on the 'First Available Number' Send Policy can be edited after an SMS Message is Sending/Sent.
5. Type the message you want to send to employees. This can be up to 1000 characters depending on the characters used in your message.

Note:

  • Using certain characters, such as emojis or accents, will reduce the maximum characters to 600 and the character limit of 1 SMS.
  • Although your message will be sent as 1 full text to recipients, there is a character limit of 160 characters for SMS Messages so you will be charged multiple times if you have written a longer message.
6. Enter the Sender ID. This will be used to send the SMS Message from if Cezanne does not have a registered phone number, in which case the SMS will be sent from that number.
7. Click Save. Messages will not be sent after clicking Save.

Note:

  • The Sender ID must consist only of number and letter characters, not including spaces. Your message may fail if a space has been entered, however, you will not be charged.
  • If the Sender ID is less than 3 characters, your SMS Message may be considered as spam and you may be charged.

3. SMS Overview Screen

1. Search for recipients added to the SMS Message.
2. Filter added recipients by the SMS Message status.
3. Tick Blank Numbers Only to view all recipients with no Number Type that matches the Send Policy (SMS Details tab). You can then decide whether these employees' Communication Records need updating.

Note:

  • Blank numbers will fail if you attempt to send an SMS Message, however you will not be charged.
  • A recipient will show no Number Type and Number if they do not have a Communications Record.
4. List of all the recipients and their number the SMS Message will send to. To remove a recipient's number, click the bin icon.

Note:

  • If a person has had more than one number that matches the Send Policy (SMS Details tab), they will appear in the list more than once.
  • If there are any duplicate numbers in the list, the message will be sent once when you press 'Send All'.
5. Click Update Numbers after you have made changes to an added person's Contact Details record.
6. Click Add People to add recipients to the SMS Message. For more information, see Sending an SMS Message section below.
7. Select Send All to send the SMS Message to all people added.

4. Number Formatting

Note:

  • SMS Messages can not be sent to landline numbers. If you attempt to send a text to a landline it will fail, but you will still be charged.
  • If a number has a country code this will take preference if a Region has been selected on the Details tab.

It is important to have your employees' numbers formatted correctly to ensure an SMS Message sent does not fail, as you may still be charged. However, some mistakes and formats are automatically corrected by the system when attempting to send an SMS Message.

The table below illustrates how a number can be inputted in a person's Communication record.

Number Format Example Will Send with no Region? Will Send with a Region? Notes
+447123456789 If a valid phone number, this type of number format which includes the country code will send to the UK and takes precedent over the Region selected (if any) in the SMS Details screen.
07123456789 If a valid phone number, this type of number format will only send if a region has been selected in the SMS Details screen.
(+44)7123456789 If a valid phone number, this will send and removes the brackets around the country code
07(123)456789 If a valid phone number and region is selected, this will send and removes the brackets
07123456789 (M) If a valid phone number and region is selected, this will send and removes the '(M)' in brackets
07123 456789 If a valid phone number and region is selected, this will send and removes any spaces
07123A456789 If a valid phone number and region is selected, this will send and removes the 'A'
007123456789 If a valid phone number and region is selected, this will send and removes the repeated number at the beginning
 

5. Sending an SMS Message

To send an SMS Message, you first have to add recipients:

     
1. Click Add People.
2. Add recipients individually, from a Saved Search or from a Saved Set.
3. Click Add.

After you have added recipients, there are 2 ways to send an SMS Message.

  • Individually by clicking Send next to the recipient.
  • Or, send to all the added people by click Send All.

Once sent, you can see the SMS Message status:

  • Pending - All Messages which have not yet been queued to send.
  • Queued - All Messages which are in the period before being sent.
  • Sending - All Messages that are about to be sent and have found a valid phone number.
  • Sent - All Messages which have been successfully sent to a valid phone number.
  • Failed - All Messages which have attempted to be sent but failed during processing.

6. Reasons for Failed SMS Messages

There a several reasons an SMS Message may fail and it is important to ensure you have as few failures as possible as you may be charged for every attempted send of each SMS Message.

An SMS Message could fail because:

  • Recipients number is a landline. You will be charged.
  • Recipients number has no country code and a Region has not been selected in the SMS Details Screen. You will be charged.
  • Recipients number is entered incorrectly. For more information, see 'Number Formatting' section above.
  • Recipients has no number entered (blank number). You will not be charged.
  • Sender ID had a space.
  • Sender ID was less than 3 characters.
  • Sender ID had characters like ! or &.
  • Sender ID is considered SPAM

To view the SMS Message Error, click on the recipient's row on the Overview Screen:

7. Adding Additional Owners

In order for Restricted HR Professionals to manage an SMS Message that they didn't create, they will need to be added as an Owner by an HR Professional.

To do this:

     
1. Select the Owners Tab.
2. Click Add New.
3. Select the Restricted HR user you want to be an Owner.
4. Click Save.
8. Available Countries

The table below shows which countries the SMS module will and will not support text messaging to. For example, currently, we are not able to send texts to US, Canada and India.

 
Country Name Phone Code Available for SMS?
Afghanistan 93
Albania 355
Algeria 213
Andorra 376
Angola 244
Anguilla 1264
Antarctica 0
Antigua and Barbuda 1268
Argentina 54
Armenia 374
Aruba 297
Australia 61
Austria 43
Azerbaijan 994
Bahamas 1242
Bahrain 973
Bangladesh 880
Barbados 1246
Belarus 375
Belgium 32
Belize 501
Benin 229
Bermuda 1441
Bhutan 975
Bolivia 591
Bosnia and Herzegovina 387
Botswana 267
Brazil 55
Brunei 673
Bulgaria 359
Burkina Faso 226
Burundi 257
Cambodia 855
Cameroon 237
Canada 1
Cape Verde 238
Cayman Islands 1345
Central African Republic 236
Chad 235
Chile 56
China 86
Columbia 57
Comoros 269
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 242
Cook Islands 682
Costa Rica 506
Cote D'Ivoire 225
Croatia 385
Cyprus 357
Czech Republic 420
Denmark 45
Djibouti 253
Dominica 1767
Dominican Republic 1809
Ecuador 593
Egypt 20
El Salvador 503
Equatorial Guinea 240
Estonia 372
Ethiopia 251
Faroe Islands 298
Fiji 679
Finland 358
France 33
French Guiana 594
Gabon 241
Gambia 220
Georgia 995
Germany 49
Ghana 233
Gibraltar 350
Greece 30
Greenland 299
Grenada 1473
Guadeloupe 590
Guam 1671
Guatemala 502
Guinea 224
Guinea-Bissau 245
Guyana 592
Haiti 509
Honduras 504
Hong Kong 852
Hungary 36
Iceland 354
India 91
Indonesia 62
Iraq 964
Ireland 353
Israel 972
Italy 39
Jamaica 1876
Japan 81
Jordan 962
Kazakhstan 7
Kenya 254
Kiribati 686
Kuwait 965
Kyrgyzstan 996
Laos 856
Latvia 371
Lebanon 961
Lesotho 266
Liberia 231
Libya 218
Liechtenstein 423
Lithuania 370
Luxembourg 352
Macao 853
Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of 389
Madagascar 261
Malawi 265
Malaysia 60
Maldives 960
Mali 223
Malta 356
Martinique 596
Mauritania 222
Mauritius 230
Mexico 52
Moldova, Republic of 373
Monaco 377
Mongolia 976
Montenegro 382
Montserrat 1664
Morocco 212
Mozambique 258
Myanmar 95
Namibia 264
Nepal 977
Netherlands 31
Netherlands Antilles 599
New Caledonia 687
New Zealand 64
Nicaragua 505
Niger 227
Nigeria 234
Norway 47
Oman 968
Pakistan 92
Palau 680
Palestinian Territory 970
Panama 507
Papua New Guinea 675
Paraguay 595
Peru 51
Philippines 63
Poland 48
Portugal 351
Puerto Rico 1787
Qatar 974
Reunion Island 262
Romania 40
Russia 70
Rwanda 250
Saint Kitts and Nevis 1869
Saint Lucia 1758
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1784
Samoa 684
Sao Tome and Principe 239
Saudi Arabia 966
Senegal 221
Serbia 381
Seychelles 248
Sierra Leone 232
Singapore 65
Slovakia 421
Slovenia 386
Solomon Islands 677
Somalia 252
South Africa 27
South Korea 82
South Sudan 211
Spain 34
Sri Lanka 94
Suriname 597
Swaziland 268
Sweden 46
Switzerland 41
Taiwan, Province of China 886
Tajikistan 992
Tanzania, United Republic of 255
Thailand 66
Timor-Leste 670
Togo 228
Tonga 676
Trinidad and Tobago 1868
Tunisia 216
Turkey 90
Turkmenistan 7370
Turks and Caicos Islands 1649
Uganda 256
Ukraine 380
United Arab Emirates 971
United Kingdom 44
United States 1
Uruguay 598
Uzbekistan 998
Vanuatu 678
Venezuela 58
Vietnam 84
Virgin Islands, British 1284
Virgin Islands, US 1340
Yemen 967
Zambia 260
Zimbabwe 263

9. Searches

There are 2 searches that can be used for the SMS Search:

SMS Messages - People Search

The SMS Messages - People search results show a log of all the SMS Messages by person.

To add this search:

1. Click on the Searches Tab in the Right-hand Menu.
2. Ensure that People has been selected, and click the 3 dots.
3. Search for and tick SMS Messages.
4. Click Add.

For more information on how to use an Advanced Search, see: Full Search Options

SMS Message Search

This search results show all the SMS Messages that have been created:

To use this search, navigate to: Administration >> SMS Messages

  • Click on Advanced Search.

For more information on how to use an Advanced Search, see: Full Search Options