Customers can text your business number and reply to your emails, and both
come back into the Inbox as conversations you answer from PortaPro. This
article covers how that works, what opt-outs do, how conversations are
grouped, and what the delivery status on a sent message means. For replying
in general, see Replying to Customers.
Two-way texting
What you need
Texting runs on your company's own business number. It works once SMS is
set up and approved in Settings → SMS (US carriers require every
business sender to register before texts are delivered). Until then, a text
reply fails with SMS is not enabled for your organization. Complete SMS
setup in Settings → SMS first. Portal and email conversations work either
way.
Texts that come in
in that customer's text conversation.
shown as Unknown • and the number. Nothing is dropped. Open it and use
Link to customer in the customer details panel to file it under the
right customer.
to a closed conversation reopens it.
STOP, START and HELP
out. The opt-out is recorded, shown in the conversation, and PortaPro also
stops sending that customer review requests.
This number has opted out of SMS (STOP). Ask the customer to text START to
resume.
customer's own STOP.
texts are for, and how to opt out.
Two-way email
Replies come back automatically
When you email a customer from the Inbox (or PortaPro sends them an invoice,
quote or reminder), the email carries a reply address that routes back to
PortaPro. When the customer hits Reply:
admins and dispatchers are notified.
the same thread, so nothing goes missing from Gmail or Outlook.
answer to the customer through your normal sending address and records it
in the conversation. Out-of-office auto-replies are never passed on to a
customer, and attachments added in your mail program aren't sent on: send
files from your mailbox to the customer directly.
This needs no access to your mailbox. It is controlled by Capture replies
in the Inbox on Settings → Company Sending → Email Inbox Capture, which
is on by default. Turned off, customer replies go only to your sending
mailbox and email conversations in the Inbox are outbound only.
Emails a customer sends you out of the blue (not a reply to something sent
from PortaPro) need one more step to reach the Inbox. See
How email conversations are grouped
Email conversations are grouped by subject line, the way the customer's own
mail program groups them:
matching), even if someone edited the subject.
Portal and text are different: each customer has one portal conversation and
one text conversation, and new messages join them.
Closing and reopening
Close Conversation moves a conversation to Closed. A closed
conversation reopens on its own when the customer sends a new message on that
channel (a text, an email reply or a portal message), and that message also
wakes a snoozed text or email conversation. There is no manual reopen
button, and sending a reply yourself doesn't reopen it.
Delivery status and retry
Texts and emails you send show a status beside the time:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting to be handed to the mail provider. |
| Sent | Handed to the carrier or mail provider. |
| Delivered | The receiving phone carrier or mail server accepted it. |
| Bounced | The address rejected it. Check the address and resend. |
| Marked as spam | The recipient reported it as spam. Don't email this address again; reach them another way. |
| Failed | It could not be sent. |
Hover over the status for the explanation. Failed and Bounced
messages show Retry, which sends again using the customer's current phone
or email, so correct the customer's details first. Marked as spam never
offers a retry.
Email sent through a connected Gmail or Outlook mailbox stops at Sent:
those mailboxes don't report delivery back, so Sent is the final status,
and a bounce arrives in that mailbox as an undeliverable notice. Portal
messages don't show a delivery status.
Troubleshooting
A customer says they replied by email but it isn't in the Inbox.
Check that Capture replies in the Inbox is on. A reply to something sent
from PortaPro is captured automatically. An email they sent straight to your
own address is only captured if you forward it, BCC your inbox address, or
your mailbox auto-forwards to it (see
A text shows Failed. Hover the status for the reason. Common causes: the
number can't receive texts, the number is wrong, or the customer texted STOP.
Texts won't send at all. SMS isn't set up or approved yet in
Settings → SMS.
A conversation shows Unknown. The phone number or email address doesn't
match a customer on file. Use Link to customer in the customer details
panel.