Request: Group SMS

[proskater1223]

There is one thing that is holding us back from moving 3cx customers to our Vodia platform, is group inbound SMS. We have customers that require the ability to have multiple people see inbound SMS messages and then reply. Maybe dump the sms messages into a chat, then assign what users have access to the chat. I know Vodia is working on revamping the user dashboard, hoping you could add this aspect. 

[RichardDCG]

12 months on, is this an option?

[Vodia PBX]

We have added in 69.2.4 the possibility to send a message to the members of a SMS policy. This would be useful for sending messages like "school is closed today". What is different to regular groups is that participants can send opt-out and opt-in messages and also group members cannot send each other messages through the group, or even see who is in the group. 

[mcbsys]

I believe this request is about allowing groups to handle INbound SMS, a group chat so multiple PBX users can see and respond to messages coming in from outside. I believe 3CX shows the message to everyone in the group, then lets one user take ownership of the conversation. That lets you confirm that the SMS has been handled, but it would still be good if others could see and participate in the discussion (a supervisor wanting to jump in on a thread, for example).

[RichardDCG]

3 hours ago, mcbsys said:

I believe this request is about allowing groups to handle INbound SMS, a group chat so multiple PBX users can see and respond to messages coming in from outside. I believe 3CX shows the message to everyone in the group, then lets one user take ownership of the conversation. That lets you confirm that the SMS has been handled, but it would still be good if others could see and participate in the discussion (a supervisor wanting to jump in on a thread, for example).

exactly.

[jvoiptel]

I think their SMS needs to be revamped before even tackling group SMS. If you take a look at how group SMS messages are delivered in a JSON payload, it's actually treated as MMS. There are also many strange things reported in this forum about the way SMS works in general. An then there's the mobile apps...

[Vodia PBX]

There are two different topics. One is the problem of sending bulk SMS to e.g. a group of parents and the other one is group messaging where everyone sees everyone else message. They both are obviously valid requirements.

So far we have worked on the bulk part of it; as we see users starting to use it we will have to address the problem of transferring conversations around in the team, similar how you would transfer a call. 

As for the group chat, we actually had that in the early plannings. However in the real world, as of today, it seems most users don't use the PBX for such group chat. This is the world of the mobile phone chat apps, including iMessage and Android Messages that do that job very well. 

[RichardDCG]

15 minutes ago, Vodia PBX said:

However in the real world, as of today, it seems most users don't use the PBX for such group chat. This is the world of the mobile phone chat apps, including iMessage and Android Messages that do that job very well.

If you have a business mobile and potentially have more than one employee they may not want to use their personal mobiles to manage business chat..

[mcbsys]

Is it clear that the request is not about chatting amongst colleagues but about handling/forwarding inbound SMS from external people?

There are lots of options for colleagues who want to chat with each other, including professional apps like Teams. I have one customer that uses QuickBooks chat in the office--someone showed them that once, it meets the need, so they keep using it. Phone app chat might be nice but there are alternatives.

The need is for handling interactions with "outsiders" (customers, vendors, etc.) who randomly send text messages to the company phone number because they assume that every phone number in the world is capable of texting. This more clearly belongs in the PBX; the only alternative is to split voice from SMS and use separate software for the SMS.