The Inbox
Inbox and Sent Messages
The Messenger Inbox is a constantly updating stream of new messages. As new messages are received by the system they will be pushed to your inbox and highlighted in bold so you can stay on top of your communications.
| Menu | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Export | Download the Messages shown in the current view (up to 10000 messages) |
| Pause Refresh | If you don't want to be interrupted when new messages arrive, temporarily disable the updating of messages |
| Filter | An expanded Search function, allowing you to restrict the view by a time-range, or a specific Keyword |
| Translate | Translate the message from one language into another |
| Mark as Read/Unread | Indicate that you have/have not read the message. Unread messages are displayed in bold |
| Reply | Reply to this message |
| Create/Edit Contact | Edit the Contact associated with this message, or create a new one if they don't exist |
| View Contact's Messages | View all Messages that involve this Contact's number |
| Show Properties | View additional information about the message |
| Forward | Create a new message, reusing the current message body |
| Delete Message | Delete this single Message. All other replies will still be available |
| Delete Conversation | Delete all Messages in the selected Conversation, including any Sent messages and other replies; be careful |
| Print Messages | Print selected messages in a summarised format |
| Block | Add this message's number to the block list, so they won't be sent more messages |
All Messages
All Messages provides a sequential, unthreaded view of messages in real-time. This can be useful for monitoring activity (or use the powerful reporting interface)
You can set All Messages to be your home page by visiting Messenger Preference and changing the setting for Home Page.
Conversation
Messenger can show a view of your Inbox that allows you to see messages that are part of a conversation.
If you are expecting replies to your sent message then this may the best view for you. If you click on any message in the Inbox it will take you to the Conversation view.
Clicking on the pie chart beside the message shows the delivery statuses of the message.
Quick Reply
The option to Quick Reply means that you do not need to change screen, simply hit the Quick Reply icon and type your message. When you hit send the SMS message will be sent in the background and you can continue to answer your other messages.
On the right of the Send button is a dropdown providing you convenient access to your saved message templates - so you can use them in a Quick Reply.
Quick replies are billable SMS so count towards your account balance.
Block Lists
SMS messaging is a very personal form of communication and Bulletin would like you to take as much care with the people you message as possible. If someone replies with stop (or any other variant) then we would really like you to stop sending messages to that recipient. To help you stay on the good-side of your customers and also to prevent any accidents you should make use of the Messenger blocking functionality.
Whenever you are viewing a message you received you are able to easily Block that recipient. You can even do a batch of them at once to save you time. You can find your blocked number list in the 'Contacts' Sub-Menu 'Blocked Numbers'.
Some numbers may not be editable. If that is the case then these have been added by your administrator or at the system level. Do not ask to get them removed as they have been added at the explicit request of the recipient.
Block lists can be accessed on this page.
Unsolicited Messages
Sending unsolicited SMS messages is a breach of your terms of use and may result in your account being disconnected and other action being taken.
Sent Messages
As with the Inbox, the Sent Messagessection allows you to view messages in chronological order or in a conversation view that groups your messages together and shows how many replies each sent message has.
In the list view you can see a colour coded pie chart showing the delivery status for each message. We base this on data we get from the carriers as each message is sent. The more people you send to with a single message, the more 'pie' like the image becomes giving you a simple visual representation of the success of your campaign. To get more information on the message status click on the info-icon to the right of the status label.
You can also perform actions based on the status. For example, blocking all numbers that were flagged as 'Unreachable'.
Message Detail
The message properties and export options allow you to view and save data outside of Messenger if you need it for audit or other purposes.
Within the Conversation view, the status pie can be clicked to examine the recipient details and view or select a subsets of recipients for follow up messaging. Select the recipients by status to Resend, Start a new conversation or Block them. Resending will create a new message with all the same content as the last one. This is useful if you need to resend a message to a group that were unable to be reached.
You can start a new conversation with some or all of the recipients which is useful when you need to follow up the last one. For example you had 50 people respond to your first message and now you want to send a new message to only that 50.
Translation
Messages can be translated into other languages using our integration with Google Translate. Just click the 'Translate' button and choose your language.
Exporting Message Data
A message list or message detail can be exported to a standard CSV file using the Export option. This gives you the ability to take the data from Messenger and work with it in other applications such as Microsoft Excel.
If you require more information than is available in these data exports your administrator can run reports or you can contact Bulletin for customised Messenger reports (costs may apply).