SMS sent with Peptalkr are delivered to your clients using an Alphanumeric Sender ID (sometimes also referred to as a Short Code) - in other words - a non-reply SMS.
These SMS are received just like a normal SMS - except:
Instead of a phone number doing the sending, your Custom Sender ID (business name) appears at the top of the SMS.
Replies are disabled.
Ever received an SMS from your bank where the bank name is in place of a random mobile number? That's the same type of SMS we send.
Here's what they look like:
This enables businesses to deliver important SMS to recipients and clearly indicate who is sending the message before they open it.
How to choose your custom sender ID
You can set your custom sender ID by following the steps here:
Why your country matters
Some countries don't allow custom sender IDs. In which case, a phone number will be used to send the SMS. Click here for a list of countries that DO support custom sender IDs.
🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA - Important information
If you send SMS to Australian recipients you must apply for a custom sender ID - this is a government requirement. Luckily, we handle it all for you.
FAQs
Why can't I receive replies?
Alphanumeric Sender IDs cannot be replied to. As there is no actual phone number attached to the SMS, replies are not possible. They behave more like a notification service, than as a two-way channel of communication.
👉 The benefit of this is:
That they can send both transactional (non-marketing) and marketing SMS.
They reduce confusion if the recipient already receives reminder SMS from your Cliniko account (Cliniko has their own sending number).
They stop mass amounts of admin work for you by having to respond to replies.
They keep each SMS focused on prompting the recipient to take some kind of action (filling in an intake form, scheduling an appointment, cancelling an appointment, providing feedback, leaving a Google review etc).
🔐 But there's a security benefit too:
Handling SMS replies is sensitive business. Peptalkr does not handle ANY information that is not imperative to the functioning of our automation tools.
We'd rather not handle potentially sensitive patient responses. This is part of our multi-layered approach to privacy and security.
So what about patients replying to appointment reminders?
Luckily - Cliniko does handle replies. So if you really like receiving replies to reminders, keep using Cliniko for your reminder SMS.
Use Peptalkr for all the other stuff that Cliniko can't do 😊