SMS

If you use CXone SMS Messaging or Digital First Omnichannel SMS, this topic does not apply to you.

You can configure a channelClosed A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on. to let agents handle SMS (text) messages. It works the same as when they receive interactions in other channels like chat, email, or inbound voice. CXone supports inbound SMS and manual outbound SMS through a specialized use of work items.

Inbound SMS

Inbound SMS messages can be routed directly to agents for handling based on the Studio scripts, skills, and points of contact you define. Agents process and disposition SMS messages in their agent application, just as they would any other interaction.

Tom Sawyer runs one of the services contact centers at Classics, Inc. His team specializes in fence painting. On the web page for Tom's products and services, he publishes a special number for customers to text feedback after their fence painting is complete. Because customers generally carry their cell phones with them while inspecting the fence, this has increased the amount of feedback his team receives on their work. It allows Tom's team to address any issues more quickly.

Tom's department runs frequent advertising campaigns with various specials. These campaigns include TV and radio commercials, website banner ads, and billboards with a special SMS number. The ads encourage prospects to text WHITEWASH to the designated SMS number. This lets the prospect "opt in" to receive specials from Classics, and triggers an agent to call the prospect and complete a fence painting sale.

Sometimes, Tom runs a special for current customers. His team uses the CXone outbound solution, Personal Connection, to contact customers and offer them a discount on fence painting. For this effort, Tom has set up a skill that first calls the customer. If the call reaches an answering machine or voicemail, Personal Connection then uses Proactive SMS to send an SMS message to the customer's cell phone.

Manual Outbound SMS

Outbound SMS messages can be sent by agents to individual contacts when appropriate for your organization's needs. These messages are sent from the agent application, just as the agent would make a manual phone call. You can use the SendSMSPayload action in your script to configure manual outbound SMS. Using this action requires that you have a provisioned SMS long or short code for your business unitClosed High-level organizational grouping used to manage technical support, billing, and global settings for your CXone environment.

When one of Tom Sawyer's agents sets a fence painting appointment, the agent sends the customer a text message confirming the date and time.

If customers need to change an appointment later, they can call Classics. They can also reply to the confirmation text asking to reschedule. This reply is routed as an inbound SMS message, and the agent who receives it can carry on a text conversation with the customer to set a new appointment.

Key Facts About SMS

  • SMS requires initial configuration and scripting by CXone Professional Services.
  • This channel is not designed for large-scale SMS campaigns. See Proactive SMS for the CXone solution for this need.
  • If you use Proactive SMS, and want your agents to be able to handle replies to an outbound text message campaign, you must have the SMS channel licensed and configured.
  • Your organization can opt in to allow your agents to receive images in customer messages and to include images in their own messages. Images must be 600 KB or smaller and in one of these supported formats: BMP, PNG, GIF, or JPG. This feature is only available for U.S.-based numbers.

  • Your CXone Account Representative will set up your transport codes, and assign SMS registrations for the codes. The number and types of codes you choose may vary depending on your planned usage. Once your SMS registrations are set up, your account manager will give you specific information that you'll need to use the channel. There are two types of transport codes:

    • A long transport code is a dedicated 10-digit telephone number that can carry limited traffic. In some cases, long codes carry a maximum of 5 messages per second. They cost less to provision than short codes and take approximately 5-7 days to set up.
    • A short transport code is a 5-digit premium dedicated number service that large-scale mobile messaging campaigns or brands often use. Short codes can take 12 or more weeks to provision.