Understanding SMS in Squareberry

Email to SMS

There are different types of SMS features in Squareberry. The "Email to SMS" allows you to utilize the automated calendar reminders. For example, on the top of each calendar there is a "Get Email & SMS Reminders" button that takes someone to this screen: http://squareberry.com/holidays - - - on this screen, people can sign-up to receive reminders about upcoming events for different categories. Subscribers will get automated messages about upcoming events.

These reminders are sent by email and by Email to SMS. "Email to SMS" is a free service most mobile carriers offer. Our system sends an email to the mobile number on that carrier, the carrier than attempts to deliver it as an SMS message. Email to SMS is not 100% reliable as carriers tone it down or sometimes fail to deliver the message. But, overall it is a nice free option for most organizations to utilize and take advantage of.

When using Email to SMS this is the extent of mobile SMS features that are offered.

True SMS With Twilio

Twilio allows you to send TRUE SMS messages. Twilio is a mobile gateway that will deliver the SMS message directly to the device from your phone number (number you purchase on Twilio). Deliverability is much more reliable and the message is cleaner (no From or meta content like when an Email to SMS is delivered).

Additionally, when a Twilio account is connected you can send/schedule custom SMS messages. This allows you to schedule messages to send to SMS subscribers the same way you can schedule message for Twitter and Facebook. This custom message publishing is only available when utilizing Twilio.

True SMS sending through Twilio does have extra costs. These fees are paid directly to Twilio and Squareberry does not up-charge or take a cut. You simply have a Twilio account you pay into and connect that account to Squareberry for publishing etc.

Lists & Subscription

When using Twilio for SMS, you are able to add multiple contact lists of SMS numbers. These lists can then be sent instant SMS messages or scheduled SMS messages. The SMS Subscription Widgets is used to get additional subscribers for your lists. Select a list and then copy the embed code. This code can be added to any website and displays a simple field for visitors to add their phone number and subscribe to your list.