SMS campaigns and texting rules (A2P)

Text campaigns get read — most texts are opened within minutes. They also come with rules worth understanding.

Sending an SMS campaign

SMS is a Campaign Type in the campaign wizard: pick SMS Only (or SMS + Email), compose within the character counter, and send. Texts go out from your practice’s registered number, which the wizard shows in two places:

A green phone pill on the SMS Only card in Step 1.
The Content step header: “<Practice>‘s outgoing number: (xxx) xxx-xxxx”.

The character counter and segments

SMS sends in 160-character segments (Teamio calls these message credits). Stay under 160 and your message is one segment. Go over and the message splits: the counter shows the segment count (for example, (2 segments)) and the phone-mockup preview renders the split bubbles (1/2, 2/2) so you see exactly what patients receive before you send.

For how credits are priced (your monthly allowance and the cost of extra texts), what makes a message cost more, and the automatic delivery protections, see Costs and delivery.

Why your number is “registered” (A2P, in plain English)

US carriers require businesses that text patients to register who they are and what they send — this is called A2P 10DLC. Teamio handles the registration as part of your setup. It’s why your texts reliably reach phones instead of being filtered as spam.

When a channel is locked

A Campaign Type you can’t use is locked with the exact reason:

SMS is not enabled for your site — your site has no texting number configured. Click Request to Enable on the texting preview (for example, the SMS credits button at the top of the page) and Teamio will reach out to finish your setup.
Email is not enabled for your site — your site has no verified sending email address. Hover the Email button on any patient’s profile and click Request to Enable, and Teamio will reach out to add and verify one.

Staying on the right side of the rules

Text your own patients — people with a real relationship with the practice.
Honor opt-outs. Replies like STOP are handled automatically; never re-add someone who opted out.
Identify yourselves in the message — name the practice every time. The {{site_name}} variable does this for you.
Reasonable hours — daytime, recipient’s local time.
Send what you registered to send — appointments, recall, practice news.