Your assistant can reply to texts and WhatsApp messages as well as answer calls. It uses the same instructions and knowledge.
Before you start
- Publish the assistant.
- Connect a number to it in Phone Numbers. See Connecting a number.
Turning it on
- On the assistant's page, under SMS & WhatsApp, choose Answer SMS & WhatsApp.
- In Phone Numbers, choose Turn on SMS under the number.
- For WhatsApp, connect the number to WhatsApp too. See WhatsApp.
Owners and admins can turn messaging on.
What happens next
- Texts to the number appear in Conversations, and the assistant replies.
- With SMS on but the assistant's messaging off, texts still reach Conversations so your team can reply.
- Each conversation shows calls, texts and WhatsApp messages from the same person together.
Daily spend cap
Messaging spend is capped daily, so a burst of messages can't run up costs. The number of messages each period is shown in Billing & Usage.
Turning it off
Choose Stop answering messages on the assistant's page to stop it replying, or Turn off SMS on the number to stop texts altogether.
Good to know
US carriers require registration before texts are reliably delivered. Do this before you rely on texting. See US texting rules.