Channels
Missed-call text-back
When you can’t pick up the phone, the caller hears a short message and gets a text from your AI front desk within seconds — and can book right there. It comes with the Front Desk plan.
Before you start
- A texting number: unanswered calls are forwarded to it. See SMS.
- A shop phone that can forward calls you don’t answer (“conditional call forwarding” — most can).
- Owner or Manager access in roles.
How it works
You forward unanswered calls
Your shop phone sends calls you don’t answer (or when the line is busy) to your texting number. You keep your number, and calls you answer aren’t affected.
The caller hears a short message
“Thanks for calling Fade Street. We can’t pick up right now. We’re sending you a text so you can book by message.” It’s spoken in your business’s main language.
The caller gets a text
“Hi, it’s Fade Street. Sorry we missed your call! Want to book? Just reply here.” It’s in the language we have on file for them, or your business’s main language. The first text to a number ends with “Reply STOP to opt out.”
The assistant takes it from there
Their reply is a normal text conversation: same assistant, same rules, same calendar as your other channels.
Set it up
Go to Settings → Channels → Missed-call text-back
Text back callers I miss is on by default. It works as soon as you have a texting number and calls are forwarded to it.
Optional: write your own text
Up to 300 characters. Leave it empty to use ours, in the caller’s language.
Turn on call forwarding
Dial the code for your phone company from your shop phone. Settings shows each code with your texting number already filled in.
Test it
Choose Start a test call, then call your shop from another phone and let it ring out. Settings tells you when the call arrives and whether a text went out. If no call arrives within 5 minutes, check the code and try again.
Forwarding codes
| Phone company | When nobody answers | When the line is busy | To turn it off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers, Bell or Telus landline | *92 and your texting number | *90 and your texting number | *93 (no answer), *91 (busy) |
| Most mobiles (Rogers, Bell, Telus, Fido, Freedom, AT&T, T-Mobile) | **61* your texting number # | **67* your texting number # | ##61#, ##67# |
| Verizon | *71 and your texting number (no answer or busy) | Same code | *73 |
Note
Mobiles can also forward when the phone is off or has no signal (**62* your texting number #; ##62# to turn it off). Codes can differ by plan. If one doesn’t work, ask your phone company for “conditional call forwarding”.
When no text is sent
- Once per caller per hour. People redial, so a second call from the same number within an hour doesn’t send another text.
- Hidden numbers (no caller ID) can’t be texted.
- Numbers that texted STOP and blocked clients are never texted.
- Text-back is switched off. Callers then hear “We can’t pick up right now. Please call back later.” (so do hidden numbers).
Texting back someone who just called you is a reply to their own call, so it’s recorded as permission for service messages on that number — never marketing. See Consent.
In Results
In Results, the Recovery section has a Missed calls card for the period: calls forwarded to your texting number, how many were texted back, how many replied and how many booked.