Send Automatic Text Message for Missed Calls

[millennium2]

Was wondering if 3CX has or will eventually have a feature where if someone calls into the 3cx pbx and hangs up because no one answered, 3CX will automatically text message the number of the person who called in with a "Sorry We Missed Your Call. Please Text Us Back" etc. Or is that something the SIP Provider can do?

 

[cobaltit]

It is probably something 3CX can do today with the use of a CFD app. I don't think it's something 3CX will ever do out of the box as it seems to be a very specific use case and not something the general public would do. Your SIP provider would likely not be able to do this as there is no visibility into the call status once the PBX accepts it. I guess if your 'No Answer' destination in 3CX then bounced the call back to the provider in some fashion they could do something but that's a big if.

 

[leejor]

You are automatically assuming that the call was placed from a mobile, if you expect them to get a text message. I know that some mobile companies do send text (audible) to a landline, but they are extremely annoying, and it is not a given that the original caller is going to be the one to receive it.

 

[millennium2]

Ok, thank you for both your responses and I see your points. The reason I asked, was because I called a number, hung up when it went to the autoattendent, and then received a text saying "Sorry We Missed Your Call. Please Text Us Back", etc. Pretty slick. Was wondering if 3cx could do the same, but I guess not. I will try and find out what system they are using. Cheers!

 

[VoIPTools]

Leejor pointed out one of the biggest challenges -- the caller might not be on a cell phone. The second challenge is where customer replies go?

3CX is working on integrating SMS into the PBX but it is not released yet. When they do release SMS capabilities (hopefully soon) we will presumably have more options for direct integration.

Regardless of what 3CX does in the future, your SIP provider may provide SMS capabilities today. It is not uncommon, for example, for carriers to provide an email to SMS gateway you can use to send outbound texts simply by sending an email to <phone-number>@<my-SIP-carrier>.com. The body of the email is converted to text and sent out as SMS to the phone number specified in the email address.

A server-side application could be written to watch for missed calls and send the appropriate email (SMS text). Depending on the capabilities of your carrier, you could either validate the phone number is associated with a cell phone prior to sending the email, or they may just ignore requests sent to a number that is not associated with a cell phone.

When / If the customer replies, we could have a web application subscribe to SMS events generated by your carrier. The web application (via popup) could notify you of a new incoming text. In the web application you could see and respond to inbound texts.

How much of this solution you need to build and how much may be provided by 3CX in the future is unclear, but it absolutely is possible today regardless of what 3CX chooses to implement. I should point out that it is very rare that someone asks for a new feature that cannot be implemented either natively in 3CX or through custom programming. The real challenge, almost always, is coming up with adequate funding when custom development is required.

 

[millennium2]

Thanks Matthew. Yes, our SIP Provider supports SMS/MMS to DIDs (which go to email addresses), so we're seeing what's possible. LIkely though, we will just wait for this feature to be released hopefully in an upcoming version of 3cx. Its not a critical feature, just a kewl fancy one. Thanks again and cheers!