Edgility has launched an Australian first Microsoft integrations – Edgility SMS for Teams.
Edgility SMS for Teams
Connect instantly and maximise your reach with SMS for Teams.
How to send SMS from Teams?
Edgility for Teams is a great way to stay on top of support, marketing or customer service queries, as inbound SMS and SMS replies are routed to the Team or Chat of your choice. All messages sent and received appear in your message history, so you always have a record of communication.
Once Edgility for Teams is added to your Microsoft Teams profile, touchSMS will appear in your Message Extensions for quick sending. Select Send SMS to reveal the SMS sending screen, where you can enter one or multiple numbers, compose your message and just click SEND!
Why SMS is so effective?
With almost as many handsets in circulation as there are people on earth, SMS is perhaps the most widely accepted form of communication available. 98% of text messages are read by their intended recipient with 3 minutes of delivery. The immediacy and rate of successful delivery make it more effective for reminders, alerts, and notifications than email.
How do I use SMS for Teams?
Signup
Signup to Edgility by complete the online registration form click here.
We’ll process your application and generate your account within 24 hours.
If you already have an Edgility account, log in and navigate to Integrations > Teams, click configure.
Download & install the Add-in
You can enable the Add-in within Teams:
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- Opening Teams
- Click on Apps from your left menu bar
- Search Edgility SMS for Teams in the search field
- Click Add to install the app to your personal chat thread or use the down arrow to install touchSMS sending to one of your existing teams. Note: You will need to add Edgility to each team individually, so feel free to repeat this step if needed.
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Alternatively, to download the Add-in from Microsoft AppSource:
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- Visit Microsoft AppSource and search Edgility SMS for Teams
- Click Get it Now – you may be asked to log in to your Microsoft account before it takes you to the installation page
- Click Open in Teams
- Click Add to install the app to your personal chat thread or use the down arrow to install touchSMS sending to one of your existing teams. Note: You will need to add touchSMS to each team individually, so feel free to repeat this step if needed.
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This will install Edgility to Teams – now let’s connect them.
Configure Edgility SMS in Teams
The first time you use Edgility SMS for Teams, you will need to connect Teams to your Edgility account using your API keys. To set up an API key, log in to your Edgility account:
1. Navigate to Settings > API Keys
2. Click Create API Key.
3. Enter a Name (for example; Teams) for your API Key, the status will be set to Active by default, and click Save.
To complete the setup of your Edgility SMS for Teams Add-in, you’ll need to enter your API Keys into the Edgility configuration in Teams.
1. Once installed, Edgility will trigger the following screen in the Edgility SMS bot chat thread:
2. To initiate the configuration, click in the message content box and select SETUP from the prepopulated Suggestions or type SETUP in the message box and click SEND. This will trigger the SMS Configuration screen to open.
3. Copy and paste your Edgility API Keys into the Add-in screen and click Connect.
4. Once your App is successfully configured, you will see a confirmation.
Sending from Teams
Send SMS using the Edgility SMS App from:
Edgility SMS Teams App – Chat
1. From your menu bar in Teams, click on Edgility SMS App – click on the three dots to display more installed Apps if Edgility SMS is not pinned to your main menu and select it from the list.
2. In the Edgility SMS App, select Chat from the top tab.
3. Click in the message content box and select SEND from the prepopulated Suggestions or type SEND in the message box and click SEND. This will trigger the SMS Sending screen in your message thread.
From within any Team or Chat thread
NOTE: Before sending SMS from any Team or Chat, ensure you have enabled your Edgility SMS App for this team or chat.
To do this, click Apps > Seach for Edgility > Click the down arrow next to ADD > Click Add to a Team
You will then be able to search and select the Team to enable SMS.
1. Select your Team thread, and click New Conversation.
2. Click on the three dots to display more Message Extensions, then select Edgility SMS.
3. Select Send SMS from the suggestions, this will trigger your sending screen.
4. Once you have composed your message, click Send SMS to send to your recipient/s
5. To keep a record of the message in your Teams thread, submit the sent SMS card to your thread by clicking SEND in the Teams message box.
Receiving SMS in Teams
To streamline communication, touchSMS for Teams allows you to use your Team environment as your SMS inbox also.
To receive inbound SMS or replies to your messages in Teams, you will need to assign a Team or Chat to have them routed to. Only one Team or Chat can be assigned to receive inbound SMS at a time, but you can change the assigned Team or Chat anytime.
To enable replies,
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- Select your Team or Chat thread, and click New Conversation or click on the three dots to display more Message Extensions, then select Edgility SMS.
- Select Enable Replies from the suggestions.
- When the following dialogue box appears, click Enable Inbound SMS to have replies routed to this thread.
- The Edgility bot will confirm the assignment in your chat thread.
SMS Sending Screen
Here’s a breakdown of how the sending screen works:
FROM
Use the From dropdown to select your Sender ID – this is what your SMS is sent from, the name or number that appears as the sender when your contact receives the SMS. Here are your options:
Shared Local Number – Replies to Web Inbox & Email (Allow Replies)
- This is a shared pool of mobile numbers that allow you to receive replies to SMS sent. Numbers are randomly selected, so recipients receive messages from a different number each time you send. This is free to use and receive replies.
Virtual Number – Replies to Web Inbox & Email (Allow Replies)
- You can purchase a Virtual Number for your account or one number per user on your account (pricing and availability varies per region). Messages you send from Teams will be sent from this number, recipient are able to reply as well as text in.
Sender ID – No Replies
- Replace the sender number with a word like ALERT, URGENT or send from your brand name, by setting up an alphanumeric Sender ID (availability varies per region). Telco protocols limit an Alpha Sender ID to a max 11 characters long and cannot contain any spaces or symbols, so you sometimes need to get creative with abbreviating longer names. Recipients CANNOT reply to messages sent using a Sender ID.
Own Number – Replies to Your Mobile
- As your mobile number is verified at signup, you can send SMS using your registered mobile number. Replies to messages sent using your own mobile number, will be received by your mobile therefore not received in your Edgility account.
Sender ID’s are managed from your Edgility account. To add a new Sender ID or manage existing ones, simply login and navigate to Profile > Allowed Sender ID’s
RECIPIENT NUMBER
Type in or past numbers into the recipient field – when sending to multiple numbers, ensure you separate them using commas.
Always use numbers in their international format, which includes country code.
MESSAGE
Type the content of your message in the Message box. 1 standard SMS = 160 characters.
Hiding or removing Edgility SMS App
To disconnect Edgility SMS in Teams, type DISCONNECT in the Edgility SMS chat message box and click SEND.
This will trigger the disconnection process.
To completely remove Edgility SMS for Teams, simply right click on the App in the menu ribbon and select “Uninstall”