Sending Automated Text Messages
Your Lawmatics account comes with automated text messaging capabilities. This feature allows you to send out templated text messages triggered by an automation. For example, when someone books a consultation you could have a standardized confirmation text automatically sent. You can also use merge fields, such as the person's name or the date & time of their consultation, to add more personalization to your text templates.
As part of this feature, you also have the option to enable user notifications for text message replies, so that you or your staff will receive any responses to your automated texts sent to you via email. However, this feature does not allow you to engage in two-way text messaging with your clients, you will simply be notified of their response but then you would need to respond elsewhere.
If you are looking for two-way text messaging within Lawmatics, this can be added to your account for an additional charge. Click here to learn more about the features included with two-way text, or visit our website's pricing page for more details on the price.
If you are new to Lawmatics, you will need to make sure that a phone number has been activated for your account before you can start using automated text messages. The phone number will be random, it will not be your firm phone number or the individual cell phone number of any of your users. You do, however, get to choose the area code for the number.
To activate your phone number, simply email us at support@lawmatics.com, including your firm name and the area code that you would like to use for your phone number, and we'll take care of it from there. The phone number will not change once it has been activated, it will remain the same from that point on.
Once your phone number has been activated, you will see the Send SMS option when building an automation, shown below.
When you select the Send SMS option, you will see a menu pop up on the right side of your screen where you can write your text message.
Click the Merge Fields button, highlighted below, to merge any of your fields into the text message. Select from standard fields, custom fields, and even appointment fields.
Highlighted above you will also see the option to "Skip this action if target doesn't have a valid Phone Number".
Of course, in order to send a text message, the target recipient must have a valid phone number populated into the Phone(Primary) field. If you do NOT check the box shown above, then the automation will fail on the Send SMS action if the recipient does not have a valid phone number. If you DO check the box, then the automation will simply skip over the Send SMS action if there is no valid phone number, and continue with any further action items in the automation.
Learn more about automation failures and other automation statuses here.
Note that you also have the option to set a delivery window for text messages, so that they are only delivered during a certain window of time of your choosing.
Also note that only SMS (short message service) is supported, as opposed to MMS (multimedia messaging service), meaning that you can not send images or videos via Lawmatics text message.
If you are sending any text messages via Lawmatics we strongly recommend turning on your notifications for SMS Received. You'll find this option in settings > notification settings.
Each user at your firm can opt to receive notifications for SMS Received, which will notify them of all text message replies received across the whole firm, or SMS Only Mine Received, which will only notify them of texts from a matter that they are the owner of.
Your text recipients can opt out of text messaging from your firm at any time by simply replying STOP. If they change their mind, they can resume text communication once more by texting START in the same text thread.
FAQ's
When I get an email notification that a matter has replied to my text, can I reply to that email to text them back?
No, replying to the notification email will not text the client. When you receive the notification email it is up to you to reach back out to the client. The only way to engage in two-way texting with the client in Lawmatics is to subscribe to our two-way texting option. Email support@lawmatics.com if you would like to add this feature to your account.
Can my automated texts come from my firm phone number?
No, your automated texts will come from a randomly generated phone number with an area code of your choosing.
How do I find out what my firm's Lawmatics phone number is?
The best way to find out your firm number is to enter yourself into Lawmatics as a matter, and trigger that matter to run in an automation that sends out a text message. When you receive the text message, you will now have your firm's Lawmatics phone number that will be used for all text messages.