Troubleshooting for Text Messaging

Below are some troubleshooting tips for when your members do not receive a text message as expected.

Member(s) not receiving text message(s).

Here are a few things to check if a member is not receiving their text message(s) as expected.

1. Ensure the member's phone number is listed in the Family Members Details.

The text message will only send to the phone number listed for an individual (not the family) under the Edit Family Member Details page. If a phone number is listed under the Family Email(s) section, they will not receive a text message.

2. Ensure the member's phone number is set to receive text messages.

The individual family member's phone number must be marked to Allow Text Message. This must be checked in order for a text message to be sent.

NOTE: If you Schedule and Send a Text Message first and then check Allow Text Message, the text message will not go to that phone number. You must have all phone numbers who should receive the text set to Allow Text Message before scheduling and sending the text message. This includes messages that are scheduled into the future. Once you click Schedule and Send, the phone number list can not be updated.

3. Ensure member has not opted out of receiving text messages.

A family member can "opt-out" to no longer receive text messages. Members can opt-out by replying STOP to any text message that they receive from your organization. You can see the individuals who have opted out of receiving text messages under Broadcast News. After you've created a draft, click Select Contacts and Send, and you'll be able to view members in the list.

Click the magnifying glass icon next to your contact list to show your contacts list and their status.

Individuals' status will be noted as to whether they have "opted out" or not. An individual that has a Yes under the Opted Out column, means they have replied STOP to a previous text message they received.

IMPORTANT: If a member wishes to join again, they can text your church's text message name to 61894, and we will start sending SMS messages to them once again.

You can see your church's text message name under My Account >> Text Message Settings. For more details, read this help document.

4. Ensure only one phone number (and no other text) is listed per member.

Only one phone number can be listed in the individual phone number field and only one phone number. If more than one number is listed in an individual phone field, the text message will stop sending to that member and no member listed after them will receive the text message.

If there are additional details or other text in the phone number field, that can also cause a text message to stop sending.

My text messages were not received immediately.

Even when selecting Send Immediately, a text message can take up to 15-20 minutes for all texts to be sent. When you select Send Immediately, the text message is added at that time to the queue at our text messaging provider. The time it takes to actually send all text messages will depend on how many are in the queue ahead of you.

I want to cancel a text message that has been sent.

We are sorry, but once a text message is sent, we cannot stop it or cancel it. We hope to have this feature enabled soon.

The member is blocking the shortcode we use

The member may have blocked the texting short code we use to send broadcast text messages. If the phone isn't receiving texts here are the steps you can pass along to your member to try:

Open the Phone App (not the Instant Church Directory app).
Menu in upper-right (3 dots)
Settings
Block Numbers
Look for 61894 and remove it if it is on the list