SMS or Text Messaging is a core part of the ShareDo system. We support this across the platform in several ways, including inbound messaging, outbound messaging, inbox management, workflow automated messaging, templates, and delivery receipts.

The ‘Adapter Pattern’ Approach

ShareDo supports a couple of providers for SMS messaging, and this can be extended. If you are interested in a specific provider, please get in touch with ShareDo's Professional Services team.

At the time of writing, we support:

Name		Website
	TextLocal*	https://textlocal.com/
	Twilio	https://www.twilio.com/en-us/messaging/channels/sms

Included Functionality

Inbox Management

SMS falls under Channel Content in ShareDo. SMS is a first-party citizen with its own set of controls for setting out how you want to manage inbound messaging.

From the Admin > Channels > SMS page, you can add, edit, and remove numbers assigned to your ShareDo account. 

The Status shows either a green square or spinning icon. This indicator displays the status of the integration as of the most recent check for new messages.

When you click Add New, you are presented with a blade that asks you to select the inbox (number) you want to manage. The list of inboxes available is populated automatically by the system from the integration you have connected.

When you select an item in the Inbox field, more information related to that inbox is displayed.

ShortCode	Regular Number

If you have selected a ShortCode number, you will also see the Keyword field populated. If it is a standard ISO E.164 formatted number, it will display n/a where the keyword is listed.

The Display name is available in the final field; however, this functionality depends on the provider you have chosen. Some will pass this information through the provider, while others require it to be set directly in the SMS Providers Console. Please refer to your specific Integration.

Where applicable, this will display as the From field when a user receives a text message from the system.

Allocation Rules

By clicking the inbox icon, you can set an Allocation Rule and the SLA for the new inbound item. This allows you to dictate which team or person the work will be distributed to and the time in which they are expected to respond.

Messaging

Messages in ShareDo are a subtype of the Work Type Task. If you wanted to edit any configuration within them, you can find them in Modeller, under Work Types:

• Task > Activity > SMS > Inbound SMS
• Task > Activity > SMS > Outbound SMS

They each have their own Phase Plans for directing the SMS work item, based on its current status.

• Outbound SMS Phases
  • Draft
  • Pending
  • Sent
  • Failed
  • Delivered
  • Deleted
• Inbound SMS Phases
  • Unread
  • Action
  • Complete
  • Junk

Outbound Messages

Outbound messages are quite straightforward. Note that some fields are mandatory.

Fields in the SMS Details blade:

• To: Which either loads the contact details from an ODS Person record, or you can directly type in an ISO E.164 formatted phone number.
• From: This will usually be autopopulated as configured in the SMS Global Feature.

Then you can choose between Template or Message fields.

Selecting a Template will use a pre-populated message (you can find out more about templates here).

To set up a SMS template, navigate to the Document Admin portal and select SMS templates from the Document Templates section in the left-hand menu.

You can then create a new template in the same way you would an email template - see Preparing a New Email Template‍.

Or, if you choose to compose the message manually, you simply type in the Message box, which keeps track of the number of characters and informs you how many messages it will be sent as.

Depending on the configuration of your Task work type that Outbound SMS inherits from, you may also be required to populate some other fields. For example, Title and what Matter the SMS refers to (if you aren't directly creating it as a child of a Matter or instruction).

Once sent, your SMS work item will be changed to 'closed', and only the SMS delivery status will be updated. Once sent, it will change to ‘Sent’, then ‘Still awaiting delivery confirmation’, and eventually, ideally, to ‘Delivered’. By default, ShareDo checks for updates every 15 minutes; however, some providers do allow live updates.

Please be aware that not all carriers allow delivery reports, so you may experience a timeout while waiting for it. 

Expected outputs in this field are:

Inbound Messages

Inbound Messages are also straightforward; they require only a few mandatory fields, with little effort needed from you.

So long as you have set up the inbound routing as detailed in the Inbox Management section above, new inbound messages will follow an Allocation Rule, or be assigned to an Individual, and also have an SLA assignment.

One of your users can then pick up the messages via their worklist. Since a single person could have multiple matters associated with them, ShareDo does not assign a parent or ‘related item' initially. However, this can be set by the user when they process the inbound message.

The Key details here are the From, To, and Message fields.

At this stage, the SMS is in the 'Unread' phase, which, as noted earlier, can progress through: Unread > Action > Complete > Junk.

Managing Messages through Workflows

In addition to manually sending messages as described above, it is also possible to automate the creation and dispatch of SMS messages to clients via a workflow.

The workflow block has a number of required inputs:

• Parent work item, under which to create the task
• Task title
• Recipient

You then have the option to either ‘auto-send’ the SMS or simply create the work item as a draft, assigning it to a user for review and sending.

There are also several other optional parameters. For full details on using the workflow action, see this article - Create Outbound SMS - Workflow Toolbox.