SMS sent with Peptalkr are delivered using an Alphanumeric Sender ID. These are non-reply SMS. They behave like a normal SMS, except that instead of a 'mobile number' doing the sending, your business name appears at the top of the SMS, and replies are disabled. Ever received an SMS from your bank where the bank name is in place of a random mobile number? That's a non-reply SMS.
This enables businesses to deliver important SMS to recipients and clearly indicate who is sending the message before they open it.
Receiving 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, and reduce confusion if the recipient already receives SMS from your Cliniko account mobile number.
Cliniko sends SMS from an actual phone number, and it would be confusing if a user was receiving SMS from two different phone numbers for your business - and may lead to users attempting to call the numbers.
To minimise confusion, we made the choice to utilise SMS that cannot be replied to. As such we recommend including your contact information in the body of the SMS that you send, to clearly indicate to patients how to contact you if needed.
🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA - Important information
If you send SMS to Australian recipients you must apply for a custom sender ID. In the meantime, any SMS you send will come from 'Peptalkr' rather the chosen 11-character sender ID specified on the settings page.
SMS credits
Every SMS you send will require credits. 1 credit is 160 characters. If an SMS you send contains more than 160 characters, it will require another credit.
For example, if you send an SMS which is 200 characters - it will cost 2 credits per recipient that receives it.
Emojis are disabled in SMS because they occupy a huge number of characters (1 emoji is not 1 character - it's made up of symbols and code - so we have disabled them).
Cost of SMS credits:
Peptalkr is an Australian-based company. As such, we charge in Australian dollars.
1 credit = 10c + GST (Australian dollars)
To purchase credits, you can top up and buy a pack of SMS credits. Larger packs come with discounts.
Auto top up
This is one of the most requested features. We are working on it, it will be released in an upcoming version of Peptalkr around the middle of 2024.
For now, you will be emailed by us if your SMS credits are running low. Please mark any emails from Peptalkr as important so you don't miss them.
Once your credits run out, topping up again will not send any unsent SMS except for those due in the last hour.